Alasdair Craig

The week of Jul 13, 2020 – Jul 19, 2020

Some DIY …

Monday: A busy work day. YouTube watching.

Tuesday: Sue made a nice curry. Early to bed. Fire in the bedroom fireplace.

Wednesday: Exercise session with Johnny. Two grocery deliveries, both having less than I’d ordered. Walk around the neighborhood. Load shedding. We played rummy by firelight.

Thursday: Watched movie, YouTube and two series episodes.

Friday: Exercise session with Johnny. I popped in at work to top up the generator and took the opportunity to borrow the work ladder. Chicken dinner then TV watching.

Saturday: A busy DIY day. We assembled the awnings. I did a lot more waterproofing on the roof. Catch-up with mom. Video call with Sue’s father and Marian. Tired.

Sunday: Feeling stuff and sore from yesterday’s work. Second coat of waterproofing. Christmas in July dinner with gammon roast potatoes and vegetables.

My work week was divided into: Testing 60%; Bug fixing 40%.

Podcasts listened to this week: <none>

The week of Jul 6, 2020 – Jul 12, 2020

A very busy week…

Monday: A very busy day. Plumbers came round and fixed the leak. Then tree fellers came and gave a good quote and we accepted for them to do the work immediately. Turned out to be bigger than we expected with a huge amount of branches removed. I thought I’d lost a set of house keys but they turned up. We made a good pok-choi stir-fry for supper.

Tuesday: Online deliveries. Another day of lock down. The roof now gets daytime sunlight with the tree branches removed. I put the (second) first coat of waterproofing on the roof repair.

Wednesday: Lovely sunny winters day. Exercise session with Johnny. A second coat of waterproofing on the roof.

Thursday: A very rainy day. One roof leak has turned into three. Today marks one year since Susan and I had our photoshoot.

Friday: Very inconvenient return of load shedding. We made a lovely fire in the bedroom fireplace.

Saturday: We went for a relaxing sight-seeing drive around the peninsula. A little coffee shop close to Score shop in Kenilworth has incredible sausage rolls and chocolate brownies. We made another fire in the bedroom fireplace to carry us through evening load shedding.

Sunday: Turned out to be a very busy day. I went for a jog/run around Harfield Village. I made a split pea and basil soup. We watched the formula 1. Susan is becoming a convert. Group WhatsApp video chat with Barbs, Julia, Paul, Jill and Benton. Online grocery purchases for us and for mom. Poor mom is very depressed. We watched Ramaphosa’s address where alcohol got banned again.

My work week was divided into: Bug fixing 40%; Testing 40%; Meetings/meeting preparation 20%.

Podcasts listened to this week: <none>

The week of Jun 29, 2020 – Jul 5, 2020

Little to report…

Monday: Online grocery deliveries. Exercise session with Johnny. Susan made an awesome Tom yum soup. We’re now watching The Alienist.

Tuesday: Full time testing at work. Hardware shop visit.

Wednesday: Put a coat of waterproofing on where I think the roof leak might be.

Thursday: A rainy day which didn’t help with the waterproofing. Finished reading Due South from Copenhagen by Mark Winkler

Due South of Copenhagen by Mark Winkler
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I like Mark’s books, every one so far. Long may they keep coming. This one has a theme of recollections and how memories can fail us, and sometimes that’s a good thing too. It reminds me of Atonement.

Friday: A lunch time run around the neighborhood. It felt good to get moving. Played Monopoly with Sue.

Saturday: A woodworking morning. Pizza for lunch. Big disappointment at finding a plumbing leak. Watched first F1 qualifying of the season. TV watching. Loki cat stayed over.

Sunday: Lazy Morning, then I got a little DIY done. We watched the first Formula 1 race of the season. Then TV watching. Probably too much.

My work week was divided into: Testing 90%; Bug fixing 10%.

Podcasts listened to this week: Book Lounge’s A Readers Community

The week of Jun 22, 2020 – Jun 28, 2020

Leaking roof…

Monday: Zoom exercise session with Johnny. Up on the for more leak testing.

Tuesday: I finished reading In The Shadow of the Banyan by Vaddey Ratner. Up again on the roof for more leak testing. Inconclusive. Sue made a marvelous oxtail stew.

In the Shadow of the Banyan by Vaddey Ratner
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I found this book stunning. It gives a poignant sense of one family’s despair without detailing the horror that we know was going on at the time.

Wednesday: Exercise session with Johnny. Sue and I did a little waterproofing on the underside of the roof at the gutter end. We binged watched 3 episodes of Money Heist.

Thursday: Virtual trustee meeting over Zoom. Disappointment with the roof still leaking.

Friday: Cooked a nice Asian style chicken and pak choi noodle soup.

Saturday: A very rainy day. Troubleshooting the leaking roof in Susan’s house is going nowhere. We watched TV the whole day, little else.

Sunday: I did a little housework. Visited my flat and took my car for a battery charging drive.

My work week was divided into: Testing 80%; Bug fixing 20%.

Podcasts listened to this week: A Reader’s Community

The week of Jun 15, 2020 – Jun 21, 2020

Venturing out of our safe space to do some shopping…

Monday: A day in-between a weekend and a public holiday. Skipped gym to get to the hardware store. I’m expecting doing more leak repairs on Susan’s roof.

Tuesday: Public holiday. We visited a pet store to buy a scratching post for Loki. Lazy day there-after waiting for the roof to dry out. Eventually got up there to put another coat of waterproofing slurry on. Trustee meeting over zoom. I’m less involved than ever. We finished watching the series The Woods.

Wednesday: Work day, exercise session. Up on the roof for coat #2 of the waterproofing.

Thursday: Delivery from Cool-Bananas. Waterproofing coat #3. Sue finished her bone broth fast and we had snoek and stir-fried pak choi for dinner. Really good.

Friday: End of week virtual drinks with colleagues. Nice chicken dinner with Sue. TV watching.

Saturday: A busy day. Sue and I visited the new Score factory shop, then to my fish shop in Lakeside where we bought some lovely fresh fish. We haven’t had fresh fish since before the lockdown. Then I did some woodworking while Sue defrosted my freezer with a hairdryer. We had lunch before Sue’s mom popped round and I visited my mom. I did some body corporate work. Then early evening to bed.

Sunday: Very disappointed that my efforts at waterproofing haven’t solved the problem. Some body corporate work, admin. An afternoon of marathon soup making. A beetroot and sweet potato soup, and a leek, sweet potato and ginger soup. 

My work week was divided into: Bug fixing 30%; Building install 30%; Holiday 20%; Video recording, marketing material 10%; Meetings/meeting preparation 10%.

Podcasts listened to this week: CppCast

The week of Jun 8, 2020 – Jun 14, 2020

Online meetings…

Monday: A morning of deliveries. Pick n Pay, Raw Nutrition and Book Lounge. Virtual exercise session with Johnny. YouTube watching. We made a broccoli and pea soup. We’re getting hooked on Money Heist.

Tuesday: A short walk around the neighborhood with Sue. We added extra cheese, avo and mushrooms to shop bought freezer pizzas which made them really nice. Watched TV.

Wednesday: Virtual exercise session with Johnny. Trip to Constantia Emporium to get bone broth. Collected office keys from Shantell and went into work. Dawie was there and I got to show Sue the office and to meet Dawie. Collected post and did a small shop at Constantia Village PnP.

Thursday: A very cold day. We cooked pak choi in a chicken stir-fry with a soy-sauce and ginger sauce. Very nice. We made a fire and watched TV.

Friday: End of sprint day which is always a busy day of meetings. I watched my niece do a recorder recital in The Netherlands over Zoom. I used Teams, GotoMeeting and Zoom today – how the world has changed. Susan and I watched TV from early in the evening. Gangs of New York.

Saturday: Made more banana bread, this time using 5 bananas which turned out to make it too moist to rise properly. I went to see mom for the first time in 3 months. We chatted through the fence for socially distancing. She’s lonely. Sue and I watched TV. We finished season 2 of Money Heist.

Sunday: A very lazy morning. I then did some garden work.

My work week was divided into: New development 80%; Meetings/meeting preparation 20%.

Podcasts listened to this week: <none>

The week of Jun 1, 2020 – Jun 7, 2020

Beer sales unbanned…

Monday: Susan’s having a day where the pain is back. She’s truly suffering.

Tuesday: Alcohol sales is unbanned again. I collected some beer from Home Bar, and some more from the bottle store which was thankfully quite empty (both of people and of stock). Nice to have a beer without rationing it. We made a nice mince and pasta dish.

Wednesday: A delivery of Jack Black beer. Exercise session over zoom with Johnny. A little walk around the neighborhood with Sue.

Thursday: Collected more beer from Home Bar again. I’m well stocked for weeks of social isolating, even level 5 lockdown if it returns like Sue thinks it will.

Friday: Ended the work week with virtual drinks over Teams with colleagues. Everyone has beer again after the unbanning if alcohol. Sue and I had pleasant evening with a warm fire and listening to music.

Saturday: Worked on my woodworking project in my garage. Sue came to see it and was impressed. We took a drive to get some frozen yoghurt in Rondebosch, and to see somewhere different. Loki greeted us when we got back and spent the evening with us making Sue happy. We finished season 1 of Money Heist.

Sunday: Lazy morning before raking up leaves and vacuuming the floors. Quick phone catch-up with Steph. Poor mom is getting depressed. Sue and I went for a short walk around the neighborhood. Watched TV.

My work week was divided into: New development 40%; Testing 30%; Research / planning 20%; Documentation 10%.

Podcasts listened to this week: NPR How I Built This; NY Times Book Review; Beyond The Grid; NPR What it Takes;

The week of May 25, 2020 – May 31, 2020

Quite a successful week…

Monday: Feeling the pressure of work at the moment. A lot to do in a little time. Susan and I had a great evening of listening to music, playing rummy, making broccoli soup and sitting in front of a fire.

Tuesday: A quick call in response to my car insurers latest increase led to a saving of R160. Lunchtime DIY on Susan’s roof to get her chimney cowl rotating too. Worked late. Finished watching an Indiana Jones movie I’ve been regularly falling asleep through.

Wednesday: Loki cat returned much to Susan’s delight. Johnny workout indoors. TV watching.

Thursday: A very rainy day. The ceiling sprung a leak. Takealot delivery of the Chromecast replacement. We made another fire and my DIY efforts with the cowl seemed to have worked. Nice supper. Watched TV.

Friday: We got the new Chromecast setup and it seems to be working.

Saturday: Morning visit to Mica to buy roof repair materials. A little woodworking in my garage exciting the parts for the gas stove box. Then hours of TV binge watching.

Sunday: I got up on the roof to fix the leak with water proofing slurry and membrane. Quite a busy day.

My work week was divided into: New development 90%; Meetings/meeting preparation 10%.

Podcasts listened to this week: Beyond the Grid

The week of May 18, 2020 – May 24, 2020

Just another week of lockdown…

Monday: Busy work day. Susan slept the longest I’ve known her to.

Tuesday: We took a drive to Rondebosch Common to watch the sunset, wearing masks. We had a long chat about ME/CFS.

Wednesday: I finished reading New York to Dallas, by J. D. Robb. Takealot delivery but the new Chromecast didn’t work.

New York to Dallas by J.D. Robb
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

A detective goes after a hardened killer from her past … yawn. Written in 2011 and set in the year 2060 but with very little futuristic about it, other than a device called a ‘link which is already unimpressive compared with today’s smart phones.

Thursday: Raw Nutrition delivery. We did a lot of cooking. One green curry and one briyani. This to use up a big bag of defrosted chicken breast. A fully stocked fridge and freezer.

Friday: Discovered a pretty good new series. The Break.

Saturday: Busy morning. We visited my flat, Mica Hardware and Builders Express. I have some materials to make a box for a two plate gas stove we bought. Watched TV and I did a little work.

Sunday: Lunch, then binge watched the rest of The Break. I did a little work while Sue watched the president’s next announcement. It didn’t interest me much.

My work week was divided into: New development 40%; Building install 30%; Bug fixing 20%; Meetings/meeting preparation 10%.

Podcasts listened to this week: Beyond the Grid

The week of May 11, 2020 – May 17, 2020

Susan’s fasting…

Monday: Slow start to the work day, but ended quite successfully. Susan started a bone broth fast. Nice relaxing evening of reading and music listening.

Tuesday: Another day of working while Susan slept. Then we got together, and spent a chilled evening listening to music, and watching TV.

Wednesday: Susan slept a lot today. I worked. A tiring exercise session with Johnny.

Thursday: Susan is feeling better after the bone broth fast. We had a Pick n Pay delivery and nice roast chicken supper. Started season 3 of Bordertown.

Friday: End of sprint day – always busy.

Saturday: Productive day of cleaning the house. Nice day outside. We tried playing Bao. Watched TV.

Sunday: Last morning. We’re loving the Wild Earth YouTube channel. I did a little work. Phone catch-up with mom and Susan’s dad and Marian. We watched TV.

My work week consisted of: New development 60%; Meetings/meeting preparation 20%; Testing 10%; Documentation 10%.

Podcasts listened to this week: Making It, Beyond the Grid