A quick Friday morning gratitude

in #life7 years ago (edited)

I'm grateful this Friday morning for living in Johannesburg, where despite our other troubles (crime, corrupt and inept public service, vicious meter taxi attacks on e-hailing services and the like), we are blessed with an extraordinary climate and reasonably stable geology.

Things I'm pretty confident we won't have to worry about in the near future in Joburg:

  • the rising sea levels resulting from climate change eroding our property (we're at about 1750m) - and yes, we get flooding when we have intense rainstorms...but nothing like Bangladesh experiences year after year, and nothing like those that Hurricanes Harvey and Irma have left under water
  • hurricanes (yes, we get the occasional high wind, freak hailstorm and twister, and those do wreak havoc particularly in vulnerable communities)
  • catastrophic earthquakes
  • ice storms, when there is precipitation around the freezing point
  • deep freezes
  • sharknadoes

I'm sparing a thought this morning for my compatriots in Cape Town, who are currently living with tight water restrictions because their dams are close to empty.

Stay sustainably

A two minute shower is an exercise in planning and logistics, especially if like me you need to wash your hair close to every day. Try it.

To those who are suffering under conditions of too much or too little water, please know that we are thinking of you and hope your situations are resolved with as little political self-interest and as much public interest as humanly possible. Oxymoron, anyone?

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A two minute shower? Wow, I'd have to try REAL hard to get that right 😳

Not easy! You basically do everything you can with the water off, then rinse really quickly. Helps to have one of those single lever controls - much tougher with separate hot and cold controls. A wake-up call that I couldn't ignore.

Eish!! We have two separate controls 😳

😢 Two minutes would be difficult unless you know exactly where to reset your hot and cold each time...or unless your cleaning objectives were more like @pjcswart's university friends'....😜😜

In college we used to have competitions I think the record was 20 seconds.

Wow!!

You can say that again! I hope you have a wonderful day.

It's much easier for men with short hair. My hairwashing takes the time my husband needs for the whole shower, because I have to rinse it much longer than he with his Bald head... 😀😎

Short hair makes it easier yes. Thanks for connecting on here!

Bald heads don't need rinsing? 😀😎

Not as much as long hair. Bald heads would only need a sponge... 😀😀

That is true. Thanks for connecting. I hope you have a WONDERFUL day!! 😀

Was there an objective of getting clean in there? 😜

Yes you had to go through a certain process. This girl from Hong Kong and a guy from Texas were really good at it but it was hard to break the 20 second barrier.

I'll bet!

I didn't even try to be honest.

Hello ! Nice post ! I really like the optimism ! "Oxymoron, anyone?" omg, great sense of humor too ! Nice to meet you Hon ! Following now ! and "like all things systemic" .... COOL ! A Systems Wench ! FTW !!!! lmao

Read More, Reason More ... JTS

And that was on five hours of sleep and only two teeny tiny coffees. Imagine the possibilities! 🤣🤣

Really glad you liked it. Feels like I've met a kindred spirit on the platform....>proffers hand to shake while curtseying<

/bow /kisses hand I feel the same Hon ! here is my Female Systems View ... IQ makes a woman sexy, Personality makes a woman Beautiful ... A woman that takes care of herself (Body/health) is an indication of the ability to empathize ... (If a person doesn't care for themselves, how can they TRULY care for someone else) I know that's stretching the definition of empathy, but you get my point .... means You are caring. oh yes being easy to look at is nice too !, lol
You pretty much hitting 10 of 10 on that System's Test, LMAo !!! BABY !!! lol, LOOK, I'm really NOT flirting, just my way of saying, YOU are COOL in MY book !!!!!

Thanks, JT! 😊😊

Hope you are smiling and having FUN, I am !

Totally! 😊😊

btw listening to Glory Road (Audiobook) atm. by Robert A. Heinlein ... I listen to lectures or audiobooks pretty much 24/7 these days ...

Robert A. Heinlein - grok. And witnesses. How prescient was that?

omg ... why are ALL the GOOD ones in friggin S. Africa of ALL places, lmao ... /cry
I know you grok ALL this ... very cool
He grok, she grok, we all grok a little, she grok ... omg, that just sad ... (Cyndi lauper would probably sue me for that, lol)

oh yea, YOU Rock my Dear !

Bepopaloo, she grok!

Wow, I am super grateful at our low risk of sharknadoes too lol. Sucks about the crime though!

Sometimes we have to be grateful for the little things, right 🙃😉? And yeah, the crime sucks. So do most of our politicians. The bad ones bring out the greatness in the very few good ones, though, so there's something to be said even for the rotten apples....

Be grateful anyway,
visit Bali for relax !

Now THAT's an inspired idea! Thanks for stopping in 😊😊

Upvoted & RESTEEMED!

Thank you for your wishes for Cape Town, we're all praying for the heavens to open right over the dams! 🙏

I have too many friends counting their daily allocation, and Ricardo Montalban playing in my head, saying "Good to the laaast drop!". Your situation in CT is cruel because nature can be harsh, but there's a lot of human mismanagement and political interference which have exacerbated it. Feel really bad for you guys.

wow, REAL coffee addiction there or is it just a lack of rain comparison ? lol, no need to reply My Dear !

A bit of both!

Atleast you all able to live a gudlife....happy to here that nothing like past will occure in future... happy with you all ....other wise two minute showers.....unimaginary....

Hey, at least I could have a shower this morning. My friend @mother2chicks is still cleaning up after Hurricane Irma hit Florida, and I doubt she's been able to have a shower for at least five days now.

The risk of a sharknado always exists!

Don't tell the actuaries.😉

They'll never know!

How do they know if you are showering for less than 2 minutes?

They don't.

I hope.

Me neither actually.

😱 if they do.

Exactly😀😎

I also feel gratitude for the wonderful climate conditions in Israel, where I live. I feel gratitude for so many other things. 🙏❤️

Lovely response, @lindari. Thanks for stopping in 😊😊

@kiligirl What a wonderful and heartwarming Tale..

@kiligirl Excellent submit and very insightful. Have learnt a whole lot from it. Resteemed.

Thank you for stopping in, @dawnasheelagh 😊

Remember no one will be positive for you, that is you own job, and everything starts with Gratitude

Well said, @joe007, thank you 😊😊

Step into another persons shoes for just one day and be grateful for the ones you walk around in.

Nice thought provoking post @kiligirl the grass always looks greener on the other side, till you arrive there. Those enduring bad conditions I really hope the day will still be cheerful and you see the silver lining soon.

Ah, what lovely thoughts for a Friday afternoon, @joanstewart. I hope we can meet in real life sooner than later! 😊😊

Hi kiligirl... good to hear that you all are having a pleasant weather there.. you know, here the heat is unbearable and humidity is very high .. I loved your thought .. and we must think of collective interest rather than self interest .....

Hi, @momi5, nice to hear from you! I am really thankful for the weather here. I spent the first five years of my life in England (cold and wet) then the next 30 years in Canada (freezing cold, blazing hot, snow, ice, mosquitoes - all of which have their charm at times but can be difficult when there's too much of a good thing), so Joburg's climate now is an absolute blessing.

I think there's a balance between collective interest and self-interest and we need both (but maybe less politicians). Humans are hardwired to be self-interested and at the same time think of their communities.

Always good to be grateful of the basics in life. We forget that from time to time as we get caught in other things.

Too true....😊😊

I'm very glad for you to be in Johannesburg and spend a very nice time there. I envy you

Thanks, @amedeo...😊😊

My pleasure @kiligirl!

nice post..love it..thumbs up @kiligirl

Thank you so much, @mrblu! Appreciate you stopping in 😊😊

i like The Orbit

Do you mean the place in Braamfontein? Never been.

Yes that is it.

And? Cool?

Unbelievable. One time they had the person who was one of Miriam Makeba's BVs

Wow! Most cool.

Yeah it was pretty cool. She was like 80 or something and she danced like she was 20.

Kiligirl was that a joke about who gets the most or best privileges? Politicians of course. Why do we continue to adapt to their desires. Still it is important that we appreciate the beauty of every day. We have survived 6 days of no power, with splashes of water for a bath. I am greatful every time I can get on steemit and read about your antics on the other side of the world! Love you my friend! Ellie Mae 🐓🐓

It was a total, direct attack on the breed of human known as the politician. There is no more venal variety than them.

And I agree with you - when things are terrible, look for something beautiful.

Time to sit back and enjoy some Ellie Mae stories if you've had a chance to write some.

By the way, that trip to Cape Town was a success - it brought me one step closer to a client, then when I got back I had a call with another potential client with a really promising offering and no footprint in Africa. Things are looking up for 6th Wave Africa! 😊😊

Fantastic to hear you are making some good connections for your project Super Kiligirl. It makes me happy to think of you back in your element, nothing would make me happier than to read one day that your efforts have paid off for your community and for you. Nothing like the feeling that you have done something for the greater good. I admire your tenacity.

I too refuse to reply to the idjeets that swarm on the posts. No encouragement here. Got to get rid of them. More vigilance please on moderators part.

Hope you are doing well. Have missed being able to "chat" with you. You will always be my hero from the other side of the planet. It feels like you are a little busy.

Hard week here without the power. Made it till day 5 without much help. My Sister is a God send. My friend with MS didn't realize Irma was upon us. His beautiful wife has just been diagnosed with an aneurism in her heart. With no time to prepare it seemed like the best option for all.

Chickens wrapped in newspaper probably are protected from PTSD! What do you think?

Much Love to you my friend. Ellie Mae🐓🐓

Thanks for the support for my not-yet business, Ellie Mae! Makes a difference to know someone out there believes in me. I agree with you the moderators could do more - I suspect an algorithm could pick up those repeat nonsense comments, at least. I see quite a few of them have been slammed down to single digit reps. I wonder if that's because people like you are flagging them, in which case, it's working to flag them? I've missed being able to chat with you too, but I knew you were fighting something huge. I was shocked when you said your MS friend didn't know Irma was upon them...so sorry to hear about his wife...your kindness must have made such a difference to them.

Think you're on to something with the chickens wrapped in newspaper - lol!

Much love to you too. Stay safe. 😘😘

I think the best approach for the two minute shower is to wet oneself first. Then switch off the water and do the soap thing. After that one should rinse and enjoy the 1,5 minutes of water that is left!!

That's exactly how I did it, Marcel! Because I needed to wash my hair as well, I wet it while rinsing the soap off, turned off the water, shampooed, then rinsed quickly. Boom! Just under two minutes. I timed it 😊