Last weekend was great for catching up with my social groups after my month in George. I saw so many of my pals either on Saturday, Sunday or both! I mentioned my Soul Circle group on Saturday in last week’s post.
On Sunday I met ‘L’, a woman who is here for work for a short time and we were talking about Cape Town and what a unique place it is when I said I was ‘Cape Town prepped’ because I have an automatic car and a wind proof lighter because everything is hanging off the side of a mountain and the wind is always blowing. My friend Tam laughed and said she loved that I see a problem and then I fix it. She attributed this characteristic to being American, I always thought it was due to being a Virgo! But she is right, if I perceive a problem, I implement a solution. It is why I am a good analyst, I enjoy both finding the problem, identifying the root cause of the issue and fixing it if it is possible. It gives me comfort knowing I am prepared for any imagined situation (which is an anxiety based mental illness named something I’ve forgotten, all I can think of is Doomsday Preppers and that is totally different).
For instance my bird feeder which was missing the hanger when I got home from my travels so it could not be hung from a tree. I put it on the little table by my seats and the birds went mad for it!
Side note: at bed time last night, we discovered said feeder empty on the hill with Finn having eaten the suet balls. Never mind.
It goes with my need to always strive for perfection. I expect perfection from others because I expect it of myself, but how do you measure such ephemeral things in such a distinct, measurable, consistent way? One person’s level of perfection might be their absolute best but to someone else with more energy or determination they may expect more based on their own achievements. That falls in with what I wrote about last week – doing your best. As long as you are putting forth your best effort at that point (because we all know about the inconsistencies of our efforts due to internal and external influences) then that is what matters.
Timing in life is everything but acknowledging that we are open and ready to ‘learn’ or grow or heal is also needed, so we ask for the teacher and the teacher appears.
I know my teachers are all around me, my shaman teacher Tass is so patient with me doing my homework. I just have so many things hurling around at the moment I do not feel my head is focused. It will come when I am ready. I would like to try and listen to one of my recordings today if I can carve some space for myself. I finally got around to unpacking my suitcases from my travels. I had one suitcase of clean clothes and one of dirty.
At least we have had beautiful warm weather since Thursday. It has been lovely and I take my coffee breaks outside so I can watch the birds.
Finn and the Poms sometimes hang with me.
Finn keeps me so amused with his nonsense.
On Thursday Norm went to the shops and came home with loads of food for me to cook, having forgotten that I had ordered delivery from a local Indian food take-out for Friday and Saturday nights.
I had kingklip to cook on Thursday evening and I covered mine in chill and garlic and popped them under the grill for about 13 minutes. I served with peas and I did air fryer chips, and steamed some asparagus. It was yummy!
There was mince for a beefy dish but he did not buy the things needed for either chili or tacos. I had an onion, a few tins of tomatoes, two tins of beans (one tin of kidney and one of borlotti) as well as fresh garlic and chili. I made a pseudo chili but we needed some cheese and some fromage frais. I was a bit heavy handed with the chili, Norm would spontaneously combust without something creamy to add to it.
Norm was going to pop into the shop on his way home from the CTICC when he got stuck in the traffic chaos of the taxi strike. The taxis blocked off all main thoroughfares.
The ‘protesters’ shot a bus driver and set multiple trucks, busses and police vehicles alight.
The motorways were like parking lots.
The one day Norm has to go into the city when we both generally work quite easily from home!! A 20 minute journey took him over 2 hours. Eventually he got home but still had to walk the beasty so that Finn was not a hyperactive lunatic. Norm only ate dinner quite late and then the electricity shut off at 8pm and left us in the dark in the middle of him eating it.
The taxis stayed off of the roads on Friday and have said they will be on strike for a week. Meanwhile how are the majority of people getting to work?? I do not know if the buses are running since they are shooting at them.
Today Norm was asked to take some tourists to the airport as Uber is also on strike. It is a nightmare!! The city is just held hostage to this nonsense. In most countries they would just impound and crush them if they are not roadworthy. The mayhem began on Thursday after the South African National Taxi Council (Santaco) announced it would embark on a seven-day strike. Taxi owners and drivers, who were attending Santaco’s meeting in Makhaza, Cape Town, to decide on whether to strike, walked out of the venue and pelted a law enforcement vehicle with stones.
“In the last two hours, we have responded to a blockade of the N2 by taxi drivers, numerous vehicles being set alight and sporadic incidents of stone-throwing,” said Mayoral Committee Member for Safety and Security JP Smith. “This includes petrol bomb attacks on four buses, three trucks and three panelvans or bakkies, as well as an ambulance. We also saw a Coca-Cola truck looted and an attack on a school.
“These actions speak of thuggery, criminality and contempt for the safety of all commuters and road users. These shameful and cowardly acts must be placed before the leadership of Santaco and the taxi associations involved.”
The protest is about a new by-law, which gives the municipality the power to impound vehicles rather than fine drivers for offences such as not displaying registration plates, being unlicensed, overloading and the failure to stop when instructed to do so by an officer. They object to being impounded which is an international standard.
I needed a new series to watch on my own when Norm is working (or hiding from me, who knows what he does?) and I started watching ‘Only Murders in the Building’. I absolutely adore the goofy comedy of Steve Martin and the rather camp and dramatic Martin Short is fabulous in errr short doses. I am not sure if young people are aware of these actors from Saturday Night Live back in the day or only from their more recent work? I was not familiar with Selina Gomez’s acting and I find her a bit monotone in her delivery and her voice is quite nasal, but overall I love this show.
One bit of dialogue was when Jan says to Charles: “My therapist says, we’re all driven to recreate the dynamic of our first wound so we can change the ending. Well, how did your parents wound you?”
For me it always goes back to the same period of time in my childhood – when I was 5 and I foresaw an armed home invasion but no one would believe me and when I was molested and no one would believe me. Something in me was broken or badly damaged and anytime I feel unheard or ignored it conjures up those same feelings.
I think I need to write about this as I obviously still have damage deeply rooted there.
They say it is good for your mental health to have ‘things to look forward to’ and I try to do that regularly, however minor it may seem to others who get out and about like normal humans. Making a commitment to me is a thing.
I booked an event on the afternoon of the 9th of August which is Women’s Day and we get off of work. I have invited ‘L’ the young lady who is working in Cape Town at the moment to come with me. I have no idea whether either of us will enjoy the show or the music but I am willing to give it a go! I love the videos of some of Dope Saint Jude’s songs which she has posted. I love the visuals in many of them too.
I also booked for a facial special which is every day stuff for most women but very rare for me! Self care is usually something pretty minor such as using a conditioner on my hair! It sounds very relaxing so I am looking forward to it. In fact it is often really painful as they poke, prod and pluck (refer to ‘I do little grooming’).
Tomorrow I am driving to Scarborough for our next session for our shaman class. It is a long drive but it is beautiful. This class has gone so quickly!
But time goes very quickly, our beautiful little Amelia Ray is 4 weeks old. My Panda pup turned 13 years old this week too. He is a such a little stinky bundle of laughter.
The next thing to plan is my birthday on the 3rd of September. I have decided to go to George for the weekend to see my children and grandbaby. I need to look for someplace to rent and book the tickets cos it will be here before I know it.
I hope you all enjoy your week ahead. Kisses from the Kitten xoxoxox
Kitten in the City 
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