Which is a relief. And fewer killed than they feared: people just kept turning in new paperwork, apparently, and they kept adding instead of realizing it was the same unfortunates.
Weather rolled in here while we were at the gym—turned right cold all of a sudden! And strong wind.
Tomorrow we get the kittehs to the vet for shots. This is going to be interesting. Ever since puberty, Shu has been a terror…we are going to give him kitteh vet-issued tranquilizer for tomorrow so he’s a bit more sedate…please God!
And meanwhile one or the other of us has to be here to receive—yes! my new computer!
My poor bewildered brother called me to ask why a mutual friend believes I live in South Africa, namely in Kwazulu Natal…
I change my residence weekly to interesting places on FB…I am so put out with their endless marketing of info, I just figure, hey, let them have something more colorful than Spokane…I think my current Location is Beijing. At one point it was Ulan Bator, which is an interesting city, capital of Mongolia…
It gets people to look up these interesting places and learn things!
I’m glad to hear that your family are all okay!
About getting people to look up interesting places… try GeoGuessr.com
It shows random locations all over the world from Google Street View, and you have to look around you and guess where in the world you are. It’s quite addictive.
Lhasa might be nice, or Katmandu, Bangkok, Djakarta, Colombo, La Paz (if you can handle the thin air), Aldana (Siberia), I try to stay away from countries with conflict (either military or civil).
You’ll have to look quite far to find any countries like that! 😀
Certainly not Tibet, Nepal, or Thailand – they all have serious internal conflicts.
With Tibet… and China… there are BIG issues.
The Nepalese Civil War against the Maoists, in which many thousands died, only ended a few years ago and there are still serious political conflicts.
Thailand – see this article for the current state of conflict.
i’m soooooo glad your family is safe. we’ve watched the footage of that horrendous, horrifying tornado and i find it amazing that more people weren’t killed!!!!!
yeah for a new computer 😉 new tech is always fun ;))
hugs to all of you 😉
D
KwaZulu Natal… ‘Natal’ is pronounced with the stress on the second syllable. The Portugese explorers gave it that name because they were sailing up that part of the coast around Christmas time.
KwaZulu means ‘Zulu-land’.
The province was called Natal up until 1994. Previously there were four provinces in South Africa – made up of the union of the British colonies of the Cape and Natal, and the Boer Republics of the Orange Free State and Transvaal.
After the new government took over, the original four provinces were rearranged into nine provinces. This was something that had been discussed for a number of years, even by the apartheid government. It really needed doing, and the current provinces are more logical and reflect the natural divisions of the country.
Natal stayed the same, but the new government wanted to rename it KwaZulu. However, that area also has the largest number of Indian people living anywhere outside India, and a large white population, who both wanted to keep the name Natal.
A very awkward compromise was reached – the double-barrelled name of KwaZulu Natal.
It really needed doing, and the current provinces are more logical and reflect the natural divisions of the country.
There’d have been a lot less strife in the world if that had been done in the Middle East, rather that the process that gave us what we have today. 😉
I agree. If the British Government had listened to Col. T. E. Lawrence after WWI, the Middle East would be a lot quieter than it is today. Typically the government listened to wallets (oil) instead of sense.
Glad your bro and family are OK, CJ.
I’m glad your family are OK!
Congrats on the upcoming new computer.
I still have to get my cats in for their annual shots, and I’ll need to see when my vet goes on vacation. I *think* I can get my guys in the carrier by surprise, but last time, they hid so well, I ended up cancelling.
Heheh, nothing like finding exotic places to “live.” Neat idea.
I somehow got a recommendation for a tricorn hat, but more dandified than suited me. This led to finding a nice brown piratical sort of tricorn, which looks well made from the reviews. In a moment of weakness, it’s ordered and on its way.
This led to looking through some of the ready-made costumes and patterns for the late 1700’s and early 1800’s, the Revolutionary era, Age of Exploration, Regency, Antebellum, etc. — All of which reminded me of Foreigner.
Also — I had thought of letting my hair grow and trying a ponytail or braided queue. But I’ve never worn my hair too long. It bothers me mightily when it gets over my forehead, ears, neck, and I want to fuss with it, heat especially. I chickened out and am once again short to medium length. (I prefer it shorter.) My hair has had a natural wave or curl since hitting 13 or so, which means it has a mind of its own. — Otherwise, if, on the remote chance I get to go to ApolloCon this year, I would’ve tried for a suitably Foreigner / Farscape / Firefly / Revolutionary / Piratical hair style. (I could fit a Bren Cameron look, though I’m not as athletic.) — I think I’m going to be on the lookout for a frock coat of that era, in case. Pictures may be forthcoming, when I have something ready. 🙂
Because of an interest in the Napoleonic Era which lasted for over a decade (I blame the Horatio Hornblower series on A&E!) DH and I dressed up at Halloween for a while as members of HRH’s Royal Navy, ca. 1790. Finding patterns for period dresses (or at least something you could pass off as period) was no trick, but finding a coat that would translate into Royal Navy took some doing, and modifying of existing patterns. We even got a ‘scraper’, a bicorn as Lord Nelson might have worn!
What a relief to know that your family is okay.
Good luck with kittehs to the vet. ( Aloysius has become a crazy cat in the last year or so.)
Happy New Computer!
So glad to hear that your family is safe. Hope the trip to the vet goes ok and the computer arrives in one piece.
Another author friend of mine (Dave Freer) really did live KwaZulu Natal, up until a few years ago. He and his family emigrated to Tasmania, in part because of the political situation.
I love it. I’d like Tasmania…they have cool wildlife and botany.
Flinders Island is the precise location. He’s got a very interesting blog on living there (not that I expect you have time to read other peoples blogs): http://flindersfreer.blogspot.com/
This is totally off the track, but I know it was a point of discussion months back and I thought folk would like to see the results. Here’s what popped up today on BBC about Richard III. http://news.yahoo.com/battle-bruised-king-richard-iii-buried-hasty-grave-230501174.html