Lockdown? What Lockdown?

I don't know how lockdown is going where you live, but here in South Africa things have gotten a little strange and seemingly out of control.

What started well with apparently strong leadership has disintegrated in to a situation where lockdown is all but over - unofficially - whilst certain lockdown rules and regulations remain in place.

We moved to Level 3 on June 1 much to the relief of many, as now most non-essential businesses could reopen and the economy could start up again. This was desperately needed! Then on June 18 President Ramaphosa made one of his now rare appearances and told us we were entering Level 3 Advanced, in which a whole load more businesses could reopen.

Happy Birthday

I want to wish my lovely wife the happiest of happy lockdown birthdays.

It was a bit strange going out for a post-workout breakfast without Eli who was at school but the rest of us had a fun time at Dinner for 20  where we were spoilt rotten by the lovely hosts.

Tonight a bottle of bubbly will lose its cork as we continue to celebrate under these bizarrest of circumstances.

I Do Not Box...

Being able to box regularly again is worth celebrating, especially when I get to do it with Joel, so here's a post about our love of boxing...

There's a whole raft of reasons why I took up boxing.

Mostly it was about my health and fitness, I knew I couldn't (and didn't want to) do regular gym life, and having given up cycling I needed to do something to shake off the excess baggage that was gathering around my waist.

It's Good To Be Back!

Joel and I were back boxing 🥊 with our coach this morning and it felt really good! We have missed being with him so much, and whilst we've had some good sessions in the garage with our home equipment, you simply cannot beat face to face coaching. Not only for technique and style but also for pushing yourself in a way that is almost impossible at home.

Coronavirus Mutation (Not)

If the coronavirus was a plant...

Punching An Old Bag

Joel and I are super thrilled to finally have a 45kg punchbag installed in the garage. We've been after one since just before the lockdown began and on the last day of freedom before it started the local sports shop was stripped bare of all but the most basic of equipment, so we had to make do with our old 12kg bag which just didn't cut it.

Home Taping Is Killing Music

I know that taping music back in the day, and downloading it from the web today are both illegal, but... I do think there is a discussion to be had here.

Let me explain... Today, I own six of Joe Bonamassa's LPs, but until a few years ago I had never heard of him. Then one day I was at home alone for a weekend as I was tasked with swapping Joel's bedroom with our office which involved a lot of decorating, installing shelves &  moving furniture etc.

Whilst busy with that, I was streaming a UK rock station, and in the middle of one of their 30 minute non-stop segments I had to stop and just listen to one particular track that blew me away.

Missionary Blogs

It's been a while but it's nice to see that Facing the Mountain has once again been featured on Missionary Blogs's Blog Watch as part of a feature entitled "Small Blessings?". Our featured post was Rough Night which we posted about some of our homeless Soup Kitchen regulars.

It's always a good feeling when one of your posts gets picked up in this way.

Huawei Schmawei

I'm not one for conspiracy theories and would side with David Baddiel who says conspiracy theories are "how idiots get to feel like intellectuals", and I certainly do not lean towards trump and his ridiculousness. However... I am beginning to wonder if there might be something in this Huawei stuff.

Now bear with me here as I explain...

We stream all of our TV and we do it on my PC in our office and cast it with Chromecast on to our living room TV.

Disaster In The Making

Paula received this from one of our church members this morning, she is a teacher in a local primary school in a poorer community.  It is one of many similar WhatsApp messages from her over the last three weeks about the appalling circumstances at her school.

The government are supposed to have given each school the necessary resources and training to enable them to open safely in the midst of this pandemic, as well as putting clear protocols in place in the event of any Covid-19 infections

Sadly the truth is something else as teachers like this are actually providing their own PPE, cleaning their own classes in their own time, as well as helping the children cope with the frightening reality of it all.

Lockdown Reading Part 2

It's been a little while since my previous post Lockdown Reading Part 1, but in that time I've red some great books.

I picked up Austerlitz in the second hand bookshop in Kalk Bay (sadly it closed down) and I wasn't disappointed. The subject matter is something I've read lots of; a man impacted by the Holocaust seeks to find the truth. The storytelling however, that's a whole different thing. No paraphrasing, no chapters, long sentences; one running to seven pages and all narrated by the author. A bit weird but an eminently good read!

I had never heard of Sebald before but I'll definitely read some more of his stuff based on this, though it's sad to learn that he died in a car crash in 2001.

Here's an older post from 2018 about books: Ten books