Alasdair Craig

The week of Jul 27, 2026 – Aug 2, 2026

Monday: Back to work. The calves are feeling yesterday’s walk. After-work spin class.

Tuesday: Not the best day. Dull but hard work problems. Irritated and frustrated. After-work grocery shopping.

Wednesday: Not a good day at work because of an interpersonal confrontation with K. Managed to get to gym. After work, visited three shops to find my moisturiser brand. Bought Susan some blushing bride flowers.

Thursday: Work from home day. Preoccupied with yesterday’s confrontation.

Friday: Gym. We met Chris and Claire at the Century City Intaka Island Night Market, followed up with ice cream in Sea Point.

Saturday: Came to the realisation that the confrontation couldn’t have been avoided, but my response to it could have and should have been different. Keeping the peace was not the right course of action — it made me appear weak and was a lost opportunity to figure out why I caused offence. A casual day mostly spent reading. Susan and Claire visited a flower show. Chris and I collected them afterwards and had dinner at RCYC.

Sunday: Watched Odyssey at the V&A. Really enjoyed it. Lunch at Mozambik, good as usual. Visited Denise and saw Mom’s apartment again.

The week of Jul 20, 2026 – Jul 26, 2026

Monday: Disappointment at buying replacement remotes, the wrong type were delivered. First spin class in a month.

Tuesday: Haircut at lunchtime. Frustrating day at work trying to finish a silly little enhancement. After-work dinner at Al’s Place. Bumped into Brian and Di on our way out.

Wednesday: Got bumped in traffic on the way to work. Thankfully no damage done. Gym at lunchtime. Little to report.

Thursday: Work from home day derailed and became an office day instead due to internet issues. Ended up being a very disrupted day.

Friday: End of sprint day. Susan got a lift with Paul to the weekend away. Evening preparation for the weekend.

Saturday: Got on the road and away by 8:30. Slow, easy three-hour drive to Rockwood Farm, Citrusdal. Great seeing Theresa after at least 20 years. We went to watch Paul, Di and Cher finish the Rooibos MTB race. Evening braai.

Sunday: As a group we went for a nice walk, including seeing the rock art. We left for home around midday and stopped for lunch at the very nice Dessert Rose Farm Store. Saw the house sitter off and watched most of the F1. Rob & Marian chat, and an early night.

The week of Jul 13, 2026 – Jul 19, 2026

Monday: Did my tax return. Gave gym a skip.

Tuesday: Out of the ordinary work from home day. A walk around the neighbourhood for the first time in ages. Louise and Kelly popped round for a chat.

Wednesday: First time back at gym in four weeks.

Thursday: A day in the empty office while network switches got upgraded. Met Debbie, the house sitter.

Friday: Weights at gym. Going to feel it tomorrow. End of a long week.

Saturday: A little time in the workshop. Grocery shopping. F1 watching. Helped Susan with some admin, then TV watching.

Sunday: Some workshop time and chores. We visited Liz for cake and coffee. Rob & Marian chat. TV.

The week of Jul 6, 2026 – Jul 12, 2026

Monday: Went to work, but not feeling great. Missing gym.

Tuesday: Starting to feel better.

Wednesday: Feeling much better.

Thursday: Work from home day. Fixed a very old bug.

Friday: Not feeling as well as I have been. End of a long week.

Saturday: Quiet morning and midday. Braai with Tinky and Anthony. Very nice.

Sunday: A good day. Susan and I went to see a movie at the Waterfront, then a light lunch at Woolworths. Watched some of the Wimbledon final.

The week of Jun 29, 2026 – Jul 5, 2026

Monday: Last day of leave spent ticking admin and chores off a to-do list. Happy to have this as an easy introduction back to normality after a holiday.

Tuesday: First day back at work thankfully went smoothly. Work from home day because of strikes. Municipal water outage from 9am to 7pm. Kelly dropped off the keys.

Wednesday: Busy day at work — it seemed like colleagues had saved their questions for my return from leave. Even had to skip gym. Collected spare floorboards from my tenants. The new floor looks fine based on a very brief inspection.

Thursday: Waste of a work day babysitting cabling contractors. Hope it’ll be worth it, but I have my doubts.

Friday: Missed gym yet again due to work constraints. Bluebird Market in Muizenberg after work with Claire and Chris.

Saturday: A good day spent in the workshop doing this and that. Pharmacy visit. Starting to feel as if I’m catching a cold. F1 qualifying watching and marathon TV watching.

Sunday: Woke up feeling sick having caught a cold. Spent the whole morning in bed. Got up only to watch the F1. Rob & Marian chat.

The week of Jun 22, 2026 – Jun 28, 2026

Monday: Burchell’s morning game drive. Very cold. Afternoon drinks at the Train Station at Skukuza. Braai.

Tuesday: Day trip to Graskop and Harrie’s Pancakes, God’s Window and Berlin Falls. Grocery shopping in Hazyview. Drinks at the hotel. Braai.

Wednesday: A lazy morning. Game drive in the afternoon. We saw lions and southern ground hornbills.

Thursday: Morning game drive. Very cold, not much game viewing. Arrived back with a headache and needed a lie-down. Afternoon visit to Skukuza and Lake Panic. Yet another good braai.

Friday: Checked out of Burchell’s and travelled to Lower Sabie. An exciting sighting of a leopard along the way. The rondavel accommodation was basic but sufficient. Nice to stay inside the park.

Saturday: Morning drive to a picnic spot and a different bird hide. Sunset game drive organised for the evening. Fantastic sighting of lions mating, and a few other little things including an African wildcat.

Sunday: By 7:30 we were checked out and on the road to the airport via Crocodile Bridge Gate. Long wait at the airport. Flight back to a cold and rainy Cape Town. Good to be home and reunited with Loki.

The week of Jun 15, 2026 – Jun 21, 2026

Monday: Didn’t sleep well. Two walks up and down the road. After-work spin class. Tired.

Tuesday: Public holiday, but I worked a fair amount. Started packing for the trip. Dinner with Brian and Di for final planning. Alison was there too.

Wednesday: Gym. Unsuccessful at trying to finish work before going on leave. Handed over keys to Kelly, the house sitter.

Thursday: Work from home day. Last work day before going on leave went smoothly, which I’m grateful for. Packing and organising for the trip.

Friday: Early start. Brian and Di collected us and we arrived at the airport in plenty of time. The flight was easy and I started reading The Correspondent. The hired Toyota Fortuner drives nicely. Grocery shopping in Hazyview and arrived at Burchell’s early afternoon. Nice braai, early to bed.

Saturday: Early start and a self-drive game drive. Overcast weather, which we think is keeping the animals from being sighted. Lazy afternoon. Our planned reservation for the boma dinner turned out to be an unfortunate case of miscommunication — it ended up being just the buffet dinner on daily offer to hotel guests. Still a nice evening and a birthday treat for Di.

Sunday: A lazy morning. Another self-drive game drive, though Susan stayed behind. Braai.

The week of Jun 8, 2026 – Jun 14, 2026

Monday: A day of concentrated work. Realised at 5 o’clock that I wasn’t up to spinning — not feeling 100%. Gave gym a skip. Susan made a nice oxtail.

Tuesday: Feeling better. Got a haircut. Lazy evening.

Wednesday: Successful day at work. Got a working proof of concept for a Spanish translation of our software. After-work grocery shopping.

Thursday: Work from home day. Meeting with Brian Groom.

Friday: Gave gym a skip. Demoed the Spanish translation work.

Saturday: Visit to the tailor at KC. Quick stop at the Book Lounge to get something to read while on holiday. Lunch at Quay 4. Qualifying watching and TV watching.

Sunday: Chores and F1 watching. Dinner with Clare and Chris — we made pasta from scratch, which was good fun. Good hearing about their Italy trip. Let my PC do translations with a different LLM to before; outstanding how much slower it was.