An extraordinary journey to...our HOMES

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“Normal is an ideal. But it’s not reality. Reality is brutal, it’s beautiful, it’s every shade between black and white, and it’s magical. Yes, magical. Because every now and then, it turns nothing into something.” – Tara Kelly

In a normal world, Sue and I would be flying round about now with special friends, Ian and Sue Prior, to Vancouver, Canada. But the reality is something completely different. Covid-19 arrived about six months ago and turned nothing into something big, which humanity is still desperately trying to comprehend. Vancouver ranks in my top three cities I have ever visited (Cape town and Sydney being the other two). Beautiful waterways and snow-capped peaks in the city background. This is where around about 9th July we were scheduled to collect our RV’s and set off on a six-week adventure through big chunks of British Columbia. Not to be. But someone in the dreamy world of travel where I do tend to linger, had my back and Netflix were kind of enough to notify me this week of a movie offering entitled “Leisure Seeker”. The timing of the message was impeccable as it is all about an RV journey undertaken by an elderly couple on the east coast of the USA. Starring an ageing Donald Sutherland and Helen Mirren with her specially cultivated American accent, it provided some solace and was a timely reminder of just how captivating RV travel really is. Needless to say, our RV booking has been put forward to the exact same dates in 2021. Let’s hope “normal” will be the elusive reality in our lives by then.



Covid-19 refuses to play by any virus rules, if there are indeed any. Casting one’s mind back to March there seemed to be a deafening consensus from politicians and scientists that there would be some light at the end of the tunnel by end July. Well, here we are in July and that theory has gone pear-shaped with infections rising at alarming rates in many countries. It is somehow ironic that America, the world’s most advanced and prosperous country is at the epicentre of the pandemic with 2.8 million cases and 51,933 deaths as of 5^th July 2020. The relaxing of lock down and other regulations has no doubt fuelled their massive daily infection increases and there is obvious conflict across different states as to what to do to slow down the spread of the virus. Interesting facts emerging include that the Reproductive Number (R0) is roughly 1 meaning the virus for the time being is “under control.” The average age of people being infected has dropped significantly which again, is viewed positively as the mortality rate of those infected in their thirties is 0.4 percent whereas above 70 years of age it jumps to 10 percent. The realisation is that America is still in it’s first wave of infections and there are concerned whispers that a second wave could hit the country in the fall and winter later this year. No doubt the camp fire conversations five years hence will include one Donald Trump. Love him or dislike him, this poor guy is in an impossible situation. Most of the cable TV networks and media outlets are owned and run by Democrats who spend an inordinate amount of time every single day looking to find some dirt or whatever about Trump. The George Floyd incident and massive assault on historical sites and statues has fed into their agenda which is seemingly focused on treating America as collateral damage as they pursue their maniacal anti Trump campaign. The only hope that he has is that the economy recovers quickly enough to offset the relentless socialist campaign driven by Trump’s opponents. One wonders where this great nation is headed?

In the midst of the Covid-19 turmoil there are some very noticeable changes in the way we live and work. From a behavioural aspect, there is no doubt that human beings will pay much more attention to hygiene habits. Wearing of masks during flu season may become the new normal. We now understand far better how easily germs spread. Governments will realise the importance of delivering better services to people such as water and access to healthcare. On the economic front, there is a realisation of the world’s reliance on China for manufactured products. The knock-on consequence of this is that countries will look to upscale local manufacturing to reduce dependence on China whose handling of the virus from the outset has upset many nations. There is no doubt the onset of Covid-19 caught countries and people ill prepared financially to cope with the severe financial impact. Will there be a greater focus on “saving for a rainy day?” The long-term financial consequences of this virus will be enormous and here in South Africa we are staring down the barrel of having to borrow way beyond our means. No doubt that there will be some nasty tax surprises in the future. The WFH phenomenon is now well established and there are some significant savings for business going forward. For example, less office space needed, less actual on-site meetings, less air travel and accommodation needed, less traffic on the roads. There are definite losers in this unfolding scenario and it will add to the pain and misery for airlines, hotels and those corporates in commercial and office rental. Even the retail sector will feel increasing pain as foot traffic through shopping centres is eroded by the growing online shopping explosion. And then bizarrely, maybe this virus will reverse the undoubted growth in obesity around the world. Lock downs smacked the take away food cult as people were forced to prepare meals at home which may just have been a little healthier than oil drenched Kentucky fried chicken. Underpinning many of these significant changes is the internet and the rapid development of new software platforms to fill gaps and create demand. No surprise that the stock market recoveries in many countries is being jet propelled by digital tech companies like Google, Zoom, Microsoft, Amazon and others.

Difficult not to include a synopsis of what is happening here in South Africa. As of 5^th July, our confirmed cases number 177,124 and deaths 2,952. These numbers are deceptive and to some extent distort the reality of large daily increases in infections, especially in Gauteng and the Eastern Cape. In the case of the latter province, it’s a case of the “chickens coming home to roost” as the record of the provincial government is dismal on most fronts but now highlighted by shocking health infrastructure preparations to deal with the virus. Reports of ill people not being able to access over crowded hospitals in Port Elizabeth and patients literally dying in the passageways are alarming. There is increasing noise that Gauteng may need to lock down again but this will prove to be almost impossible to impose given the recent behaviour of the taxi industry. The leaders of the taxi association claimed the Government had not given enough cash to their struggling members. This “demand” was followed by the usual “ultimatum” and next thing they announced that they would fill their taxis back to 100 percent (read 120 percent). There are absolutely no surprises here as the taxi operators in this country have zero respect for any road or other regulations. The minute they get grumpy and dissatisfied (read often), they cause illegal blockades and cause untold chaos on road networks. If one taxi operator is arrested, the rest go ballistic. Bottom line, there is simply no chance of this ever changing and there is zero chance that any taxi operator will ever pay a fine or generally obey the rules of the road. Consider this; 14,050 people died in road related accidents in 2017. One wonders how many of these people lost their lives in taxi crashes? Apart from that little snippet, the micro management of the “Command Council” continues including a few cameo court appearances defending the ongoing ban on smoking despite losing an estimated R1 billion per month in tax revenue.

Level 3 of the overall lock down plan at least allows more recreational activity and the Covid-19 woes have been lessened a bit by being back on the golf course and tennis courts. In the case of tennis, the protocols are plain ludicrous with players having to bring their own balls, not being allowed to touch other players balls (read tennis), having your temperature taken on arrival and not being allowed to sit outside and satiate a thirst with a cold one. And right alongside the courts are rows of poor folk sitting alongside each other waiting hopefully for a work-related pick up; no social distancing and few masks in evidence. No prize for guessing who the police are watching closely!

Many of the world’s not so esteemed politicians and the medical scientists pushed a button way back in March which suggested that by end July, “things” would be largely improved and we just needed to hang in there and batten down the hatches. Now the goal post seems to have moved to September. Really! The reality is that these people know as much as you and I do about Covid-19; very little. I suspect this nasty little bug will be around for a lot longer than anyone could probably guess or imagine. It is not following any logical flight path and has humanity guessing.

“Is everything around us, in this world, logical then? We just get used to things around us and get familiar with them without thinking about their logicality or illogicality.” – Mohamed Adly

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Photos

Covid-19
Beaches in Florida. No wonder there is rapid virus spread in that state.

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The destruction of statues and denigration of history is difficult to comprehend.

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Democrat Presidential contender Joe Biden who turns 78 in November. Where are the young politicians to lead change and a new order?

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The South African trajectory remains steeply and relentlessly upward.