A colleague at Calvin (Steve) sent me this article about internet speeds in South Africa. The stunt proves a point that is quite true: internet speeds in South Africa are slower than in the U.S. But, it is fast enough, and we've been thankful for email and Skype this year.
A couple notes about today. Catherine went to daycare and had a good day. She and I played Three Billy Goat's Gruff this evening after dinner. She loves to be "thrown" into the "river."
Mark's first "Once Upon a Pumpkin" production was this evening. Tracy attended and said it was really fun. The kids had a blast, and Mark did well as one of the "boys who watch the girls go by." Catherine and I will attend on Thursday evening.
Tracy worked on her paper, completing another section.
I went to Paarl to visit the South African Revenue Service (SARS) office. (Think IRS here.) I joined the queue that formed on the sidewalk at 08h30. I saw the SARS agent at 12h30: 4 hours! But, everyone in the queue was basically pleasant and there were no problems. Thankfully, I brought a 100-page economics paper. I finished it. The topic was an endogenous unified growth theory that explains Malthusian stagnation, the post-Malthusian period, and continuous growth. Written like that, it looks boring. But, trust me, it was very interesting and relevant for a research project on which I'm working.
Once at the window, the SARS agent was very helpful. She actually completed my South African tax return for me and submitted it electronically, all in 10 minutes! Plus, I should receive a South African taxpayer's ID number in the next week. So, as they say here, we're all sorted. (Until I have to file again next year.) Not much grading was done. I guess I'll work on that tomorrow.
--Matt