What happened?

The last time I posted something was way back in August. Not even the middle of August. I started a project to write more: “Blog a day August“. Who remembers that?

I wrote something every day during that month. I just never posted it. I might just post it in the future. But not as part of a “blog a day” idea.

Today is Monday. An ideal day to start new ideas, new projects, new thoughts.
I want to clean up my blog a little. Any ideas what I can do? I recently changed the lay-out. Anything else?

I also have an Afrikaans blog site. If you understand Afrikaans, check that out as well. If you do not mind. And look at the Afrikaans post that are related to this post.

Blog a day in August

31 July 2018
I tried this before. In fact, I tried to do this just two months ago. I wanted to write one blog post every day, and publish these posts as soon as possible.
August is my favourite month of the year. I will write about the reason for that soon. That is why I am going to try to write one blog post every day for a month. Again.
I can write a post every day. I will be writing about any kind of topic that I think of. Sometimes I read a meme and it triggers an idea. I hope that happens throughout this coming month. Sometimes I hear a song and it triggers an idea, or I see a news story, and that triggers an idea to write about. I don’t have fixed topic I write about, although I do have some pet loves that I write about more than others. Those readers who have been following me for a while – if there are any – would have notices a long time ago that I do not have a fixed topic that I write about. I am all over the place when it comes to topics, really.
I do not, however, have reliable and available wifi spots. I use these, because my only alternative is mobile data, and that is to expensive. So I can’t publish my posts every day.
In any case. Join me on this ride of daily writing. Please follow me, comment on my posts, and share it if you want to and/or if you enjoy the writing.

31 July 2018: Introduction to August 2018 in my blogging evolution [Or: Blog a day in August]
01 August 2018: Where is our power? Where is Eskom?
02 August 2018: Talking about prayer

Father’s Day 2018… no father

Blog-a-day-June… Sunday, 17 June
Today is Father’s Day.
Today is the first Father’s Day after the death of my father.
So, in my home, there will be no Father’s Day “celebrations”.

Youth day 2018

Blog-a-day-June… Saturday, 16 June
Today is Youth day in South Africa. A public holiday.
What is Youth day all about?
On 16 June 1976, many young people from schools in Soweto marched to Orlando Stadium. They were mainly protesting the 1974 order that some subjects were to be taught in Afrikaans only.
During the protest, police started shooting at the (mostly) high school students, which led to many deaths of students.
Every year, we commemorate the role of the youth in the fight against Apartheid in South Africa, and especially the tragic deaths of the students on 16 June 1976.

May we never forget!

For more details, please read the following:

• SA History website
• News24 website

Spain vs Portugal

Blog-a-day-June… Friday, 15 June
I have to type this before going to bed. It is after 22:00. The best soccer/football match I have seen in a long time just finished.
Spain and Portugal, in 2018 FIFA World Cup, was a brilliant match.
Spain seemed the better team on the field for large parts of the match. The goals they scored were very good.
But Portugal had Ronaldo. He scored 3 goals. Every one of the goals pretty special in it’s own way.
Do yourself a favour, and read the reports at the following sites:

• The Guardian newspaper
• Soccer Laduma newspaper
• BBC
• KickOff magazine

I enjoyed this match a lot.

Soccer World Cup kick-off

Blog-a-day-June… Thursday, 14 June
And there we have it! The first match of FIFA Soccer World Cup is done and dusted.
Russia beat Saudi Arabia 5-0. I must say, it was a little against my own expectation. I expected Saudi Arabia to win, or at most a 2-0 score if Russia were to win.
Tomorrow, I am looking forward to Portugal against Spain. My prediction? I believe the Spanish team is stronger than the #CR7-factor.

Eskom consequences

Blog-a-day-June… Wednesday, 13 June
In South Africa, we have Eskom, our power provider.
Over the last few years, there were a lot of corruption taking place in South Africa, and Eskom were not spared. A lot of money were lost in this way.
It was announced recently that workers will not get a salary raise, due to lack of money. Perfectly understandable.
The issue is this, though: the workers seems to be carrying the consequences of years of bad decisions and corruption by politicians and top management.
I don’t like the possible consequences of a possible strike by workers at Eskom, but I think I support the plight of the workers at Eskom in this case. I really hope that there will not be negative consequences for country at large.

Countdown to World Cups

Blog-a-day-June… Monday, 11 June
I am an avid fan of hockey. Field hockey, not ice hockey. I also follow a little bit of football (or soccer, to some readers).
The FIFA World Cup, for soccer, starts on 14 June.
The World Cup for hockey, this time for women, starts on 21 July.
I really look forward to both of these World Cups.
I just read that the World Cup for Sevens Rugby for men starts at the end of July as well. I don’t know when the World Cup for Sevens for women will start, though. The World Cup for hockey for men starts in November.
There is something special about World Cups, I think. I don’t know what, exactly. Some say it is because it is the highest level for a sportsperson to achieve. I don’t know if this is the reason I find it so special. It might be.
In any case, I really look forward to all of these, and especially the Soccer World Cup, because it starts in a few days time.
How about you? Do you look forward to any of these, or any other World Cup that is scheduled for the next few days, weeks or months? Which one? Why? Who do you hope will win? Who will you bet on, if you had to bet something on a team/person? Why?

Comrades

Blog-a-day-June… Sunday, 10 June
Today is Comrades Marathon-day. Google that!
My pastor ran the race. At about 60 km he couldn’t go on. Something went wrong with one of his feet. It was his 17th Comrades. He hoped to go for his 20th at the 10oth Comrades. I hope he doesn’t stop running Comrades. He is really an example in this.
I thought about whether I might be able to do Comrades in 2020. Tomorrow, I will start exercising for this. At least by walking about 2-4 km every day.

Savings idea

Blog-a-day-June… Saturday, 9 June
I had an idea to save some money today.
I do not have a fixed job. I do not get a lot of money from the loose jobs that I do.
Here is my idea: Every time I drink a glass of cold drink (which I normally drink from a bottle or from my Soda Stream), I “pay” myself R5 a glass. When I drink coffee/tea/hot chocolate/something similar, I “pay” myself R3 a mug/cup. From those R5s and R3s, I should be able to save enough money for the next milk, coffee, sugar, cold drink bottles, Soda Stream refills, etc.. Some time in the future I could even save enough money for a new coffee machine or a new fridge.
Well, that is the idea. I will test this idea from today.