ZA2009

Mark was still sick today. Although his fever has subsided, his throat remains red and sore. So, he spent the day at home, reading the seventh Harry Potter book.

Tracy interviewed the #2 person in the South African Council of Churches this morning. The circumstances were unusual. He lives in Gauteng but is in Stellenbsoch for a conference celebrating John Calvin's 500^th birthday. But, he had to be in the southern suburbs of Cape Town (Bishopscourt) this morning to meet with the current Archbishop of Cape Town. They worked it out where Tracy was his chauffeur and conducted the interview while they were fighting the morning rush-hour traffic inbound on the N2. This evening, Tracy is attending the conference and listening to a talk by Allan Boesak. 

Given all of Tracy's happenings and the fact that she held down the fort throughout most of the last couple weeks, it was my turn to stay home with Mark and do the running around for the kids. I also reviewed two chapters of Jean Gad's thesis and tried my best to catch up email from the last couple weeks.

I went to the bank to retrieve our cheque card, which the ATM machine ate on Thursday. They had it waiting for me, and we re-set the PIN, linked it to our account, and lifted the "hot" status from the card. I went downstairs to the ATM to try an account balance inquiry, and it failed with an "invalid action" error (whatever that means). I went back inside and was told that we should wait 24 hours, because there have been some problems with "the system." We'll try tomorrow, but I fear that Standard Bank really has no clue what is happening with their ATMs.

I added another entry to the Best of the Best page.

--Matt

Last day of teaching, more sickness, and a warm day. Click for details.

I had another day of the Wind and Hydro module. Otherwise, everyone went their separate ways as usual today.

I should point out that Mark is devouring the final Harry Potter book since last weekend.

Oh, and the ATM machine ate Tracy's cheque card today. Now, we have to deal with that next week. So, so frustrating!

--Matt

My Wind and Hydro class went to the demonstration wind farm at Klipheuwel today. Click the photo for details.

Click the photo for info on a short trip that we took to Helderbergplaas today.

I went to the office for 2 hours only, because I'm still feeling sick. Not that there isn't a lot to be done to prepare for our course on Monday. But, I have little energy.

Catherine tried on her Cinderella dress after dinner, and she required a prince to put on her glass slipper. Guess who?

Catherine's daycare organized a photo day today. We'll see the results in a few weeks.

Mark had chess after school. They're preparing for another tournament in a couple weeks.

Now, off to bed.

--Matt

We had a lots of rain and wind last night. The rain caused lots of problems in and around the western cape. Tracy had an interview today in Cape Town. It was sunny there, but raining in Stellenbosch when she returned. The weather has been erratic at the end of winter here.

Mark and Catherine had normal and good days. I taught in Bellville this evening. All in all, it was a rather normal day.

--Matt

We had a pretty normal day. Catherine enjoyed Playball. Mark went to school. Tracy had an interview at the University of Stellenbosch Theological School. I went to the Cape Town campus of the Cape Peninsula University of Technology where I had a research meeting.

Edwin came over to look at the leaky roof this morning. He'll come back later with his ladder to gather information he needs for a quote.

We're experiencing a lot of wind tonight, and the forecast is for a high of 10 °C tomorrow with rain. Spring is not yet here, it seems.

--Matt

For the first day of our mini-vacation, we drove to Paternoster. Click the photo for lots more.

We have experienced some cool and rainy weather lately in Stellenbosch. This has led to snow, yes snow in Africa, on the mountain peaks East of Stellenbosch. You have to be in just the right place to see it, but it is definitely there.

Tracy had a great interview with John De Gruchy in the morning. In the afternoon, she went to Kayamandi to help at a community development center.

I worked on preparing my Wind and Hydro course, met with the Sustainability Think Tank, and did homework with Mark.

And, Mark and Catherine went their ways to school and daycare.

--Matt

Tracy had an interview for her research project at UCT today. It went very well and gave her new new ideas. She saw two traffic accidents: one on the way TO Cape Town and one on the way HOME from Cape Town.

Mark had a Math tutoring session.

Catherine went to daycare today: everyone seems healthy again.

I had a productive meeting in Westlake regarding the Wind and Hydro class that I'll be teaching in the last week of August.

--Matt

We spent the afternoon unexpectedly at an experimental farm. Click the photo for details.

See this posting for details of our day.

My Conventional Energy Systems class went to the Koeberg and Ankerlig power stations for site visits today. Koeberg is the only nuclear power station in Africa, so it is a pretty exceptional place to visit. Ankerlig is a new gas turbine power station that Eskom uses to meet peak electricity demand in the Western Cape.

I was one of the drivers of the University of Stellenbosch vans, so I left my vehicle at the motor pool on the University of Stellenbosch campus. Because we couldn't take our laptops on site at the power plants, I left my laptop at the Sustainability Institute (just outside Stellenbosch).

We left Stellenbosch at 11 AM and arrived at Ankerlig for a Noon tour. (We drove past the Klipheuwel wind turbines on the route to Ankerlig.) Our tour at Koeberg started at about 13h30 and ended at about 17h00. By the time we were off site, it was about 17h30, which was too late for me to get back to Stellenbosch and then to Bellville for my refrigeration class which starts at 18h30. (We were scheduled to be done and off-site by 16h15. What to do?

After a LOT of hand-wringing and discussion, we made a plan. I drove the University of Stellenbosch van to the CPUT-Bellville campus and got out. I taught my lecture at 18h30 without my notes and without my laptop presentation. It would have been a disaster, except that the topic was convective and radiative heat transfer, which I know thoroughly. Then, Walter (one of the students) drove the University of Stellenbosch van to the Sustainability Institute to drop all the passengers. Walter drove the van onward to the motor pool and turned it in. Then, Richard (another student) drove from the Sustainability Institute to the CPUT-Bellville campus with my laptop. He listened to the last 30 minutes of my 2-hour lecture, and thereafter drove me to the University of Stellenbosch campus where my car had been parked from 08h00 in the morning.

It was a very long day. Fortunately everyone remained safe throughout the process and everyone was able to meet their obligations.

I should also point out that Tracy had her first personal interview for her research project. She met with the NGK's parliamentary liaison.

Today more than usual, I am aware of the goodness of the people around me that allows me to simply get along. Tracy was on duty at home getting the kids fed and off to bed. She is brilliant. The students Walter and Richard helped me with rides and driving around the Western Cape. They were wonderfully willing to help out. And students at both campuses have been submitting to my teaching throughout this week (especially) and this year in general. Thank you all!

--Matt

Catherine and Mark went their respective ways today. Mark is fully recovered from his weekend stomach problem. Catherine didn't have Playball today, but she didn't seem disappointed.

Tracy continued her research today.

I began teaching the Conventional Energy Systems module at the Sustainability Institute today. I did basically an entire day of teaching, and I'm pretty tired. Topics were Hubbert's Peak, the Keeling Curve, and thermodynamic cycles.

The photo at right is one of a series I took while trying to get a good one for Tracy's departmental website. Tracy thought it turned out well and wanted me to post it. So, there it is.

--Matt