Mark's school had the first day of their annual Swimming Gala today. I attached some pictures below. Mark swam 25 m backstroke and 25 m breaststroke. He'll do freestyle tomorrow.
The bad fires continued today. A News24 article covers the blazes, indicating that four helicopters are fighting the fires. I can verify that: they're continually flying over our house and making quite a racket. I took a couple pictures which you can see below.
We packed a few essentials, just in case we get a evacuation order. The homes at the top of our neighborhood (3 streets away) are in danger. And, it is a hot day (33 °C) with high winds. So, we're trying to be prepared.
IOL has a good story on the situation as of this afternoon.
This Cape Times story has details and a video news report. The Coetzenburg Sports Ground mentioned in the story is along my running route. And, Mark and I hiked through the fire area a couple weeks ago. It is a bit difficult to breathe, and I chose not to run today.
Bush Radio also has an account with eyewitness video from another part of the Cape.
Our bank account is finally set up. Well, not quite. Tracy still needs to sign a couple forms. And, we're waiting for our cheque card to come in the mail (next week some time). But, we finally have a working ATM card, and internet banking has been established. I estimate that I've spent a total of 7 hours inside the bank building working on getting this established.
With some progress finally made, it seems inevitable that we'll have another challenge. And so it is. Our rented red Volkswagen Microbus has decided that it no longer wants to idle. When I push in the clutch, it simply shuts off. Rather inconvenient when you're driving down the road. We'll have it looked at tomorrow.
--Matt
