Lockdown diaries - COVID-19 matters!

What are you going to be doing during the lockdown?

  • At home. I’m non essential

    Votes: 70 41.2%
  • Working. The virus doesn’t scare me

    Votes: 41 24.1%
  • On standby

    Votes: 10 5.9%
  • Working from home. Too essential to take any risk!

    Votes: 66 38.8%

  • Total voters
    170
  • Poll closed .
Five planets visible without a telescope this weekend
https://www.capetownetc.com/news/five-planets-visible-without-a-telescope-this-weekend
17 July 2020

"It’s going to be a busy weekend of astronomical events. Saturn, Jupiter, Mercury, Venus and Mars will be visible to the naked eye before sunrise on Sunday, July 19.

The five planets will all make an appearance for 45 minutes and will be accompanied by a beautiful crescent moon.

The planets and moon will form a curve across the sky and those eager to see the show are encouraged to find a viewing spot with a clear horizon to ensure the best visibility.

You’ll be able to tell the planets from one another as Jupiter will appear two hours before sunrise in a southwesterly part of the sky, and Saturn will be just above it to the right. Mars will appear in a southeastern direction and Venus will be visible in the eastern sky. Mercury will appear to the right of the moon and will be low in the sky in a east-northeast direction according to Space.com. Mercury will be the most difficult planet to see from Cape Town but will be visible nonetheless.

While you won’t need a telescope to see the show, those wanting to get a closer or clearer look at the planets and the moon should use binoculars."

Not for me. Have you seen my eyes from this side?...lol
 
I've just heard on CNN that in Miami if you're not wearing a mask you will be fined $50. There will no longer be a warning - a first offence gets a fine. I wonder how much is $50 relative to the American society, not simply converting it to Rands. Is $50 an expensive fine in Miami?
According to the Big Mac Index it's under R300.
 
Cover.JPG

This book was written by Donald Trump's niece and it was released a few days ago. I was hoping that SA would have it but no such luck, so I've ordered it from Amazon. Shipping costs more than the book, but Trump's shenanigans fascinate - and appall - me.

"In this revelatory, authoritative portrait of Donald J. Trump and the toxic family that made him, Mary L. Trump, a trained clinical psychologist and Donald’s only niece, shines a bright light on the dark history of their family in order to explain how her uncle became the man who now threatens the world’s health, economic security, and social fabric.

Mary Trump spent much of her childhood in her grandparents’ large, imposing house in the heart of Queens, New York, where Donald and his four siblings grew up. She describes a nightmare of traumas, destructive relationships, and a tragic combination of neglect and abuse. She explains how specific events and general family patterns created the damaged man who currently occupies the Oval Office, including the strange and harmful relationship between Fred Trump and his two oldest sons, Fred Jr. and Donald.

A firsthand witness to countless holiday meals and interactions, Mary brings an incisive wit and unexpected humor to sometimes grim, often confounding family events. She recounts in unsparing detail everything from her uncle Donald’s place in the family spotlight and Ivana’s penchant for regifting to her grandmother’s frequent injuries and illnesses and the appalling way Donald, Fred Trump’s favorite son, dismissed and derided him when he began to succumb to Alzheimer’s.

Numerous pundits, armchair psychologists, and journalists have sought to parse Donald J. Trump’s lethal flaws. Mary L. Trump has the education, insight, and intimate familiarity needed to reveal what makes Donald, and the rest of her clan, tick. She alone can recount this fascinating, unnerving saga, not just because of her insider’s perspective but also because she is the only Trump willing to tell the truth about one of the world’s most powerful and dysfunctional families."
 
Here's something interesting. A magnesium vape juice which claims to improve lung function and increase energy. Read here.
 
Five planets visible without a telescope this weekend
https://www.capetownetc.com/news/five-planets-visible-without-a-telescope-this-weekend
17 July 2020

"It’s going to be a busy weekend of astronomical events. Saturn, Jupiter, Mercury, Venus and Mars will be visible to the naked eye before sunrise on Sunday, July 19.

The five planets will all make an appearance for 45 minutes and will be accompanied by a beautiful crescent moon.

The planets and moon will form a curve across the sky and those eager to see the show are encouraged to find a viewing spot with a clear horizon to ensure the best visibility.

You’ll be able to tell the planets from one another as Jupiter will appear two hours before sunrise in a southwesterly part of the sky, and Saturn will be just above it to the right. Mars will appear in a southeastern direction and Venus will be visible in the eastern sky. Mercury will appear to the right of the moon and will be low in the sky in a east-northeast direction according to Space.com. Mercury will be the most difficult planet to see from Cape Town but will be visible nonetheless.

While you won’t need a telescope to see the show, those wanting to get a closer or clearer look at the planets and the moon should use binoculars."
I better prep my telescope for viewing!
It’s been in its box since junior was born and I’m scared to take it out. Used to love in my car as I would go away at least once a month before junior fell out of his mother.

60F8D66F-7143-483C-8E0E-0278CDA38A96.jpeg B0F5642F-C2D0-40E4-9114-70223ED4545E.jpeg
 
OK folks this is how far we are inside ...
Rilley the building inspector -Saturday night after the door arrived late afternoon.
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Mob burns brand new Covid-19 facility and community hall in Khayelitsha
https://www.all4women.co.za/2066721...19-facility-and-community-hall-in-khayelitsha
20 July 2020

"The City of Cape Town’s newly built facility meant for Covid-19 patients in Makhaza, Khayelitsha was torched allegedly by people protesting over land on Saturday…
The estimated cost of the damage caused by the fire is about R1 million, according to Mayor Dan Plato. The clinic facility had only been open for a week.

In a statement released on Monday, Plato said the facility was meant to serve vulnerable Covid-19 positive patients with treatment, testing and isolation ... "

[My comment: WTF???? And when they get COVID they'll complain that the government is doing nothing to help them!!!!!!!!!!!!!]
 
SA scientists use poop to track Covid-19 & identify hotspots
https://www.all4women.co.za/2066145...-use-poop-to-track-covid-19-identify-hotspots
20 July 2020

"A group of South African scientists working from a KwaZulu-Natal lab is using faecal matter to detect and track Covid-19 hotspots
GreenHill Laboratories in Hilton, where SA’s first positive Covid-19 South African was disclosed, detected SARS-CoV-2 ribonucleic acid (RNA) in sewage early in June as part of a full-service virus risk forensic programme.

The lab says the development means South Africa has the capability for this kind of testing and samples do not have to be sent to other countries for testing.

It also means that statistically relevant sampling and timeous delivery to the laboratory are possible and that there is no need to develop specific kits.

The pilot entailed taking sewage samples from five wastewater treatment works in Gauteng and transporting them to GreenHill Laboratories in Hilton, KZN...

How does it work?

Groenink said the process involved samples taken from the inlet of waste treatment works over a 24-hour period.

“This is done so you get a full representative and statistically relevant sample from that community that is being served by that treatment works. If you just take a grab sample, it depends on the time of day and how often people are using ablutions. So, you need to take a sample over 24 hours to get a proper representative sample.”

“That sample is then transported to us. When we receive it, we concentrate the viral particles, if there are any, and then we extract the viral RNA.”

Taking it a step further
He said the technique or method from their Dutch counterparts “was just a qualitative essay, so it will tell you if it is [the virus] there or not”.

“We have been able to develop that slightly further and be able to quantify so we are able to tell you how much viral RNA is in that sample.”

Groenink said they were still refining this step... "
 
Monday afternoon report :
The sliding door is cemented in and the outside railing primed , they spread diesel on the windows to prevent cement and paint droplets on the glass . They also dug the groove for the new sliding gate , steel was delivered earlier , guess they will start welding the gate tomorrow . The one wall in the driveway is white now, it reflects the new lights and give it an ''open'' feel . If everything goes to plan I can relocate by Sunday .
20200720_170823.jpg
 
Monday afternoon report :
The sliding door is cemented in and the outside railing primed , they spread diesel on the windows to prevent cement and paint droplets on the glass . They also dug the groove for the new sliding gate , steel was delivered earlier , guess they will start welding the gate tomorrow . The one wall in the driveway is white now, it reflects the new lights and give it an ''open'' feel . If everything goes to plan I can relocate by Sunday .
View attachment 201878

Looking really good!
 
Monday afternoon report :
The sliding door is cemented in and the outside railing primed , they spread diesel on the windows to prevent cement and paint droplets on the glass . They also dug the groove for the new sliding gate , steel was delivered earlier , guess they will start welding the gate tomorrow . The one wall in the driveway is white now, it reflects the new lights and give it an ''open'' feel . If everything goes to plan I can relocate by Sunday .
View attachment 201878
I See the wall is higher too???
 
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