Thanksgiving - and more

This afternoon I am babysitting my grandchildren, Gracie and Owen. Jake and Julie have gone Christmas shopping in Tilton at the outlet mall. Next week is Thanksgiving, and the day after is called Black Friday, traditionally the day on which prices tumble in an annual sell off.  Many outlets have already dropped their prices, and this week we invested in a new washer, a dryer and two-door Samsung fridge, saving about $1,000 on the usual retail price by taking advantage of the Black Friday deals. Jake and Julie will pick up Luke from day-care in a couple of hours' time and relieve me of my duties.

We have now entered my fourth season in the States, and a little more than a week ago the first snow fell - earlier than usual, and just a couple of inches here. On Wednesday there was a severe winter storm in New Hampshire that left some 200,000 people without power over Thanksgiving. Nine inches fell here, and another two the following night. With the daytime temperatures below freezing it was no wonder that I slipped and fell on the ice - still I should have been more careful, and can only blame myself. Many of the New  Hampshire and Vermont ski resorts have already opened up, and the pistes are open weeks before they normally do.

A little over a week ago Liz and I moved out of our tiny apartment and into a house in Littleton. We were going to use U-Haul, but they completely screwed us around. In the end my daughter Julie loaned us her Town & Country minivan, and we got almost everything moved the 13 miles in 5 or 6 trips. Jake helped out with the larger furniture when he got back from Pennsylvania a couple of days later. After a few hiccups with the pellet stove (I think the house has been empty for many months) everything is now working smoothly. It is wonderful to be living amongst one's possessions and to have enough room to swing the proverbial cat.

On Thursday I hosted my first ever Thanksgiving - the menu a mixture of Southern and British cooking. The main course consisted of the traditional turkey, which I cooked along with baby carrots and roast potatoes (which my family has always liked), and Liz cooked a sweet potato casserole with marshmallows, a green bean casserole with french fried onions, and a blue raspberry fluff with fruit and marshmallows. We also had sweet corn, stuffing and gravy (mine). To follow (at least an hour later) Julie had brought a home made apple pie, which was accompanied by cream, ice cream or snow cream (there were 11 inches of fresh snow on the ground). A filling time was had by all.

Saturday. I am feeling sorry for myself right now. On returning from the supermarket late this afternoon I took a tumble on the ice between the car and the front door, opening up a deep cut on my left cheek and a smaller one on my left eyebrow. Julie and Liz patched me up, but soon after Julie and the kids had left for home, I tripped over a chair leg and opened up the deep cut again. I have been sitting here with an ice pack waiting for the bleeding to stop.

Sunday. A good night's sleep and ready for another day. I have been in the States for almost seven months now. When I arrived at the end of April there were no leaves on the trees - just a few cherry trees in Boston had donned their Spring blossoms. Liz and I were living in a tiny (750 ft²) apartment. It was so small that there was little room to move, so small that when our possessions eventually arrived from South Africa after a 3-month journey, most of the 125 cardboard cartons had to be put into storage.

Well, the seven months has been enough time for me to have witnessed all four seasons. The maples, oaks and birches are once again bare, save for the blanket of snow on their branches. The brilliant green hues of Spring and Summer gave way to the browns, reds, yellows and oranges of Fall, and instead of decking the trees the leaves are now lying on the ground beneath eleven inches of snow. Today the daytime temperature has risen above freezing for the first time in several days.

South Africa Postal Unrest

The motto that appears on the South African Post Office press release page is "We deliver - whatever it takes". However, following several months of unrest, strikes, violence and pure vandalism, that is not the case and anyone thinking of sending Christmas parcels or indeed any type of post to South Africa should seriously consider how they send it - there is a much greater chance of delivery if it is sent through a courier company. Unrest in the post office started as early as 27th January 2014, and at the time of writing is still not resolved.

On the last day of January Mr Lungile Lose, SA Post Office’s Group Executive Corporate Affairs, stated that  the casual workers in mail sorting centres that had started an unprotected strike on Monday (27 January 2014) had not returned to work (an unprotected strike is one which that does not comply with the terms of South Africa's Labour Relations Act).  Striking casual workers were demanding that the SA Post Office employ them into permanent positions. This was not possible for reasons of affordability and operations; it was not possible to accommodate the demands of the striking employees as such a move will result in unstable financial consequences for the SA Post Office.  The total number of casual employees on strike was 1286 on this date.

On 4th February strikers had ignored their employer's final demand t return to their posts and a total of 1461 employees did not report for duty on that day. However the strike was resolved by arbitration on 11th February and striking workers returned to work on the following day. Further unrest occurred in late June that was quickly settled. However casual postal workers in Tshwane and the East Rand went on strike again on 18th August, supposedly because of the slow speed of conversion of some 900 casual workers into permanent (yet part time) positions. Striking workers received an ultimatum to return to work by 0800 on 22nd or face dismissal. At the same time the Post Office started to lay criminal charges in all cases where damage to property, intimidation or violence occurred, striking workers actions having been typified by intimidation and violence, by the blocking of workplaces, assaults on employees and wanton damage to property. A number of post offices and mail delivery depots had to be closed so as to ensure the safety of customers and employees. On 29th August the Post Office started issuing dismissal notices.

By 1st September a total of 473 casual and part-time employees that had taken part in the illegal strike had been dismissed, a Post Office spokesman stating that "All efforts to resolve the industrial action – which included negotiations, ultimatums and a Labour Court Interdict – came to nothing.  Therefore, the SA Post Office could not envisage of any other alternative but to dismiss the striking employees." The strike continued to spread and by 16th September after violent intimidation more than 80 post offices in the Johannesburg region were closed "for the safety of customers and employees".  A further 16 offices in Cape Town were closed as well as many others around the country, including Pretoria, Polokwane, Germiston and Benoni.

As of 16th October Negotiations to end the strike were continuing, and at that stage the Post Office had put several proposals on the table, which were then under discussion. In Bloemfontein, eight men were charged with common assault after they had allegedly assaulted and partly undressed a Post Office employee, who was on her way to work, at the local taxi rank. They are due to appear in court on 6th November.  Also in Bloemfontein, one person was charged with intimidation and he will also appear in the Bloemfontein magistrate’s court on 6th November. The Post Office’s security personnel continue to work closely with the SA Police, who are investigating a further 41 cases relating to the strike, including arson and assault.

As at the time of writing, mail in Gauteng Province (the Johannesburg, Pretoria and East Rand region) is currently delayed by around four weeks. The effects of this so called industrial action are far-reaching. For example chronic medication is not reaching patients, the University of South Africa (Unisa) has been forced to extend the dates for thousands of students to submit their assignments,  and direct marketing companies have been stuck with millions of pieces of mail.  — the South African Post Office is once again crippled by a strike.

Instant Recall from my Schooldays

About a half hour ago I walked down to out mail box - it is about a 50 yard walk down a steep incline and is surrounded by maples and oaks. I was immediately taken back more than 50 years (gee - am I that old?) to my schooldays. It is autumn or fall here in the North Country, and already many of the colorful leaves of the woods and forests of the area are lying on the ground. Today there is steady rain falling outside - it has been falling for some time and is due to continue into the early hours of the morning - indeed there is s flash flood warning out for the region, with much heavier rain forecast for later today. So how was I taken back all that time?

Well, my High School education was at Bromsgrove School in the County of Worcestershire in the UK. Back in those days the quad (I believe it is now called Gordon Green) was surrounded by horse-chestnut trees, and at exactly this time of the year, when the leaves were on the ground and had started to rot, they gave off a distinctive and, to me, very pleasant aroma. I experienced that same aroma today for the first time in all those years (I never once experienced it during my 42 years in southern Africa), and my brain or or consciousness immediately recognized and recalled where I had last smelled it.

The brain and our consciousness is a wonderful thing, with billions and billions of connections between its neurons - more than the number of stars in our galaxy. I have several previous posts that refer to it - just do a search for "consciousness" at the top of the page if you would like to read them. To be able to instantly recall something that has been "in storage" for 55 years is quite remarkable.

Fryeburg Fair

In concluding my previous post I promised to write about our visit to the Fryeburg Fair. Fryeburg is the oldest town in Maine's Oxford County and was settled in the mid 1750's. The town's Fryeburg Academy, a day and boarding prep school, was founded in 1792 and is one of America's oldest schools. The fair is held every year in late September and early October, and attracts more than 300,000 visitors, the season coinciding with a massive influx of tourists to the region to view the Fall foliage.

We drove down to Fryeburg on Saturday 4th October, my grandson Luke's 2nd birthday, following Route 302 through Littleton, Bethlehem, Bartlett and North Conway. This route takes you through the spectacular Crawford Notch around the foot of Mount Washington, and past the renowned Mount Washington Hotel, which opened in 1902.

It was unfortunate that the enjoyment of the day was marred by inclement weather. One of the main reasons that Liz and I visited the fair was to see the exhibits in the Natural Resource Center, which I had strong recollections of from my previous visit to the fair 9 years ago.This time we made some interesting woodworking contacts as well as meeting several people of interest. One of the most out of the ordinary exhibits was that of Antique Wagons, all of which turned out to be wonderfully restored Gypsey wagons. It's a pity that they were the only genre!

We returned to the North Country by way of the Kancamagus Highway, which winds through New Hampshire's White Mountains from Conway to Lincoln. On the way the rain, which had been mostly drizzle until then, became harder and harder, and by the time we hit Littleton it was a regular downpour. All in all though, a memorable day.

Fall - a Time of Change

It is a time of change here in New England. Autumn (or Fall as it is called in the States) started officially a few days ago, heralded by the pagan festival of Beltane. The magnificent forests of the North Country are starting to change into the glorious colors that Fall brings. The ever-green hardwood trees of summer - oaks, elms, maples and birches - have started their seasonal change of costume, bringing red, brown, orange and yellow hues to the already beautiful landscape. This is an event that has to be seen, and sees thousands of tourists pour into the region to witness it.

Today's picture

The time of change has come to our lives too. A few weeks back I discovered that I did not need to fly back and forth to the UK every 90 days, and have submitted the appropriate forms, documents and moneys to the USCIS. At about the same time Liz started a new job. She had been working at the local county nursing home in dietary - a job she had come to hate - the 5 a.m. rising, lack of benefits and an environment in which she was surrounded by Alzheimer's and other age-related ailments. She loves her new job, is making new friends, will soon be getting excellent benefits, and has regular hours.

At about the same time all of our freight arrived from Cape Town - all 105 boxes of it. We have only been able to unpack a small amount - the apartment we have rented is only 725ft² - ridiculously small when compared with the 4,570ft² of our Eastern Cape farmhouse. Anyway to cut a long story short this has prompted us to look for a larger property, and a few days ago we viewed what would be an ideal one. It is a good size, has loads of storage space, a heated workshop - in short, just our cup of tea, which has just prompted me to switch on the kettle. We also found what would be a good vehicle for me - a 2002 Subaru Legacy AWD station wagon with only 67,700 miles on the clock. Now all we have to do is raise finance for the to items, so "hold thumbs" please and say a few prayers for us.

In a little over a week's time Liz and I will be taking in the Fryeburg Fair in Maine. I visited it this time 9 years ago and was awestruck. Look forward to a report back on this page shortly.