Pictures and Stories
Click the photo to read about Catherine's picture and Mark's story.
ZA2009 Archive July 2009
2009-07-30
Garbage Bag Bandit
I had several meetings today: with Richard for the Conventional Energy Systems class, with the Sustainability Think Tank, with the owner of Noodlebosch about recycling, and with Graham about his BTech solar water heater project.
Mark finished his garbage bag outfit and tried it on this afternoon. Check the photo at the right.
--Matt
First Bellville Class
I taught my first evening class at the CPUT-Bellville campus. The topic, again, is refrigeration. The class periods run from 17h30 to 19h30 once per week. It was fun to do a the introduction to refrigeration and cover conductive heat transfer.
Tracy and Mark worked on his garbage bag project this afternoon. Everything is done except for trimming the sleeves.
Mark went to karate this afternoon, and he loved it.
Catherine is not tired when we put her to sleep at 19h30 anymore. She's really stretching her days, even with no nap.
--Matt
2009-07-28
On this Tuesday, I worked on my lectures or the upcoming conventional energy systems class in Stellenbosch.
Not much else to report.
--Matt
A Speech at UCT
I had a meeting in Cape Town for the CPUT refrigeration project this morning. Thereafter, I went to the University of Cape Town where I gave a talk on using the pedagogy of service learning to advance the sustainability agenda of a campus. In the first hour, I talked for about 35 minutes and there were several questions. The second hour was an internal planning meeting, and I played a consultant's role, reflecting on their conversation.
After my meetings, I met Sarah, the daughter of a Calvin colleague who is studying at UCT this semester.
Tracy worked on research today. Mark went to school and had a good day. Catherine did Playball at daycare, so that was fun for her.
--Matt
2009-07-26
We had a lazy day today. I helped Mark with his garbage bag project, and Catherine toddled about. We wanted to take a walk in the vineyards this afternoon, but we couldn't find the trail head.
Later in the afternoon, Catherine and I took Tosca for a walk. Such excursions always lead to a lot of barking by the neighborhood dogs, which is always entertaining.
--Matt
Crazy Night
Mark and Catherine had mostly regular days today.
Tracy sent more interview request letters for her research project.
I worked at CPUT's Bellville campus for the first time. I tried to get my computer set up on their network. I had to reset my password three times due to the system rejecting it. At 15h30, it happened again, and I just left in frustration. I'll try again on Wednesday.
The, I had an evening meeting at 19h00 at the V&A Waterfront in Cape Town tonight. I had to meet Louis at 18h00 at his house, but I was late due to a taxi crash in Stellenbosch near the Die Boord Shopping Centre. Then, in Cape Town, the meeting was great, but we somehow didn't get dinner. We were not sure if they guy we were meeting was supposed to buy or if we were. But, it never happened. So, we went back to Stellenbosch to have pizza at Col 'Cacchio at about 21h30. I had to eat the pizza quickly to get home for a telecon at 22h30.
--Matt
2009-07-22
We had another near-normal day today. Some non-normal things that happened were:
* A really big and nice rainbow at 5 PM.
* Mark did karate at Eikestad after school.
* I had a meeting with the Student Representative Council (SRC) member whose portfolio is environmental issues (Cal). We talked about sorting out the recycling problems at Stellenbosch University.
* Tracy decided to sign up for a John Calvin conference in August at Stellenbosch.
--Matt
2009-07-21
It was a very normal day here today. Mark did chess after school. Catherine went to Auntie Liezel's house during daycare, which was fun even if she was nipped by a dog. Tracy worked on research, preparing request letters for potential interviewees.
In the morning, I worked at Lynedoch on lectures for my hydro class. At Noon, I had a meeting with someone from the community radio station (mFM) about their upcoming green month (October). In the early afternoon, I attended a planning meeting for a Sustainability Summit at the Tygerberg health sciences faculty. Then, later, I gave a talk on campus sustainability to the heads of departments of the health sciences faculty.
--Matt
2009-07-20
This was the first day of the third school term in the Western Cape. Rhenish school met for the first time in three weeks. Stellenbosch University had its first classes today. And, CPUT staff were expected back on campus.
I finalized the reader and accompanying CD for the Wind and Hydro course in Stellenbosch. I also prepared for a talk I'm giving tomorrow on campus sustainability.
Tracy spent the morning and early afternoon on research.
Catherine went to daycare. She was disappointed that Playball didn't happen today. (We thought they would have it on the first day of the new term.)
One interesting news item: Tito Mboweni was replaced as head of the South African Reserve Bank today. Mboweni followed the policy of "inflation targeting," that is, he wanted to keep inflation within certain (low) limits as a means to ensuring long-term economic growth. There are others who would rather see a bit higher inflation as a way to stimulate economic growth and reduce poverty. The growth faction has won out, it seems, and Mboweni had to depart.
--Matt
Clarence Drive
We followed Clarence Drive along the eastern side of False Bay this afternoon. Click the photo to learn more.
Interesting News Items
There have been a couple interesting news items lately.
The first is that a famous Hout Bay landmark, the Sentinel, is up for auction. But, locals aren't amused. They held a protest yesterday that turned a bit violent. The South African National Parks may simply expropriate the mountain and make it part of the Table Mountain National Park. That seems like the most reasonable plan, in my view. It just wouldn't be right for Oprah to put a house on it.
The second news item is that a woman broke her ankle on Table Mountain and had to be airlifted to safety. A good reminder to always be very careful.
A third news item concerns 2010 World Cup venues. Construction workers at several sites have been protesting over the last couple days in search of higher wages (13% increase). There has been an agreement, and work is back to normal, I believe.
Finally, vuvuzelas (the South African word for those noisy sports stadium horns) have been allowed by FIFA for the 2010 World Cup. For some reason, South Africans really love these things, and they blow them constantly during matches. FIFA had considered banning them for the world cup but thought better of it in the end. So, get ready for difficulty hearing the announcers during World Cup TV coverage next June.
Tonight, we went for dinner at Binnenhof Restaurant in Stellenbosch.
--Matt
2009-07-16
We went for dinner tonight at Jan and Hermine's house. They attend the same church as we do and live in our neighborhood. Because South African's usually eat dinner much later than Americans, the kids and Tracy had a snack at 17h30. But, dinner wasn't scheduled until 20h00.
We had a very nice time talking about international adventures and South Africa. Jan was involved in a traffic accident in Switzerland during the first week of his sabbatical several years ago.
Mark and Catherine watched a movie (Star Wars: The Clone Wars) with their kids after dinner. Catherine fell asleep on the floor during the movie. Mark fell asleep a little later. We got home at about 22h30 and dumped the kids into their beds.
--Matt
Cynthia: Away
Catherine went to daycare today. Debbie told me that she "never naps" any more, she just rests on her pad. That's another sign that she's growing up.
Mark stayed home all day. Cynthia tutored him on his US 4th Grade maths: the topic was "breaking up." I guess they worked on problems like 28 + 32, which can be re-distributed to 30 + 30. Same answer but easier to add in your head. Mark said it was "easy."
Mark and Catherine dropped Cynthia at the airport late this afternoon. She's taking the long flight back to the USA tonight and tomorrow.
I worked on a presentation for the Leadership Forum at the University of Stellenbosch Medical Campus (Tygerberg). The topic will be Sustainable Campuses. I also had a very interesting meeting with someone from the Stellenbosch Municipality regarding the potential for hydro power from the water reservoirs in the nearby mountains. I think I will assign a group project on this topic for my upcoming hydro class.
Because Tracy was driving to the airport, I left work early to pick up Catherine. On the way home, Catherine asked "Where is Aunt Cindy?" I said she was flying back to her home, and Catherine said "I want her to stay. I like Aunt Cindy."
--Matt
Winery Tours
Cynthia went to four wineries today, and I fought with the automatic gate opener. Click the wine bottle for details.
2009-07-11
Cynthia, Tracy, and Mark went to Robben Island today. Click the photo for all the details.
