It’s 1:00 pm on Friday, and our site is still having issues. According to our web developers and our hosting company, it is necessary to “debug” our over 3000 posts. This is taking quite a while. Our web guy just sent me an email, saying they are working on our 40,000 plus photos and with only 10,000 of them processed so far. It could be a while. We are anticipating another day or two.
Of course, we’re frustrated, but there’s nothing we can do but wait until they are done, and we are back up again. In the interim, I will continue to post, which you should see, although there is some computer dialogue on the page you can ignore.
Since we handle all of our financial matters and banking online, we often see popular sites we use down for a day or two during this process. We certainly understand the frustration of all of our worldwide readers. Also, we realize the frustration over our site being down off and on over the past nine months since we began the process of moving over to WordPress as opposed to Blogger.
We had no choice but to make this transition. The web company we’ve used has been on top of all of this, and we feel confident they will resolve this soon. In the interim, I will continue to prepare new posts while taking many new photos to share once everything is back on track.
Sadly, we realize we may lose many of our readers whose frustrations cause them to read our post no longer. We feel wrong about this and wish there was something more we could do. We can only promise that once we’re back up, we will continue to strive to provide all of you with the best possible content and photos from our current base of Marloth Park and wherever we may go from here in the future, yet to be determined.
As mentioned a few days ago, we’re continuing to research our options when we have to leave South Africa in April for our visa stamps. We selected a few possible options. But, here’s the dilemma. If the virus escalates in South Africa between now and then, we could potentially lose a ton of money if the borders are closed again, not only for South Africa but also for wherever we are planning to go.
Many would assume that when borders close due to Covid-19, those travel expenses are automatically refunded. This is not the case. We have spent days in total frustration attempting to receive refunds for various plans we’d booked. Some took months to receive, and others required us to contact our credit card companies to help us in getting a refund. It’s such a harmful process.
Thus, we’ve decided to “wing it” and wait until two or three weeks before our visas expire to pin down where we’ll go and what we’ll do for those possible ten days when we leave South Africa. The countries we may choose now may present an entirely different situation in the next 60 days. Again, our lives are based on a “play it by ear” scenario. WE can live with this.
Yesterday morning, Thursday, February 4th, we headed to Komatipoort for an eye doctor appointment for me. As it turned out, it was the same doctor we’d visited in 2018/2019 from whom we had eye exams, who was still working at the exact location in town, next door to Dr. Theo, family practice doc, and Dr. Luzanne, our dentist both of whom we’ll see while here.
We both have dental appointments this upcoming Monday with Dr. Luzanne for a cleaning and dental check. Also, I suffered from an abscessed tooth early on in our confinement in the hotel room in Mumbai and desperately need to get that tooth checked out and resolved if necessary. It no longer hurts but in these situations. It’s best to get it checked out. Also, Tom lost a tooth implant while in India, which we’ll bring with us and see if it can be re-inserted. If not, a crown might be in order, perhaps for both of us.
But, yesterday’s eye doctor appointment was necessary to give me peace of mind when several nights ago, while eating dinner, I noticed I had something in my eye, something I’d never seen in the past. It appeared to be a black stringy-looking thing in the right corner of my right eye. Immediately, I removed my contact lens and rinsed my eye with sterile saline solution. I kept doing this throughout the evening, and yet the particles would not go away.
Then, by the end of the evening, it dawned on me it might be a “floater,” not necessarily a dangerous condition, common as we age. If one’s vision itself is not impaired, there’s no light flashing and no pain; generally, a floater is not worrisome, although very annoying. After my considerable “Dr. Google” searches, Tom insisted that I have it checked out to ensure it wasn’t a potential retina detachment or another more serious issue.
I supposed I, too, was anxious to be assured it wasn’t anything more than a harmless floater which is an anomaly of the vitreous (clear floating liquid) of no particular use in the eye. When the eye doctor assured me, after careful examination, there was nothing to worry about. I was thrilled but not surprised. Nonetheless, peace of mind was definitely worth the 20-minute drive to Komatipoort. I guess I’ll have to learn to live with this black squiggly thing floating in my mind for the rest of my life. Ah, the perils of aging! How annoying.
Much to our surprise, the eye doctor appointment, for which he did a reasonably thorough exam also, only cost ZAR 300, which was only US $20.06. Wow!
I was more concerned about the up close and personal requirement of an eye exam. But, his packed office exhibited social distancing and good sanitation, although I had to ask one of the receptionists to cover her nose with her mask. I’m at a point where I don’t care what anyone thinks. I always ask people to protect their nose and mouth adequately when in “my space.” On occasion, I may get a dirty look, but I am unresponsive to those looks.
Back in Marloth Park, only 90 minutes later, we commenced our almost daily search for the large ostrich family wandering in the park, which we hope to see soon. Returning to our home after another unsuccessful hunt, we went about our usual activities, catering to our animal friend’s visits, enjoying an “adult” beverage at happy hour, and cooking ribeye steaks on the braai.
Last night, without a doubt, was the hottest night on the veranda we’ve experienced so far. It was stifling. Sure, we could have hunkered down in the bedroom with the air-con to keep us cool, but we were determined to continue to offer pellets and the remainder of the bananas to our visiting friends. Not surprisingly, when we finally had dinner while continuing to sit outdoors and headed to our room to cool off, a massive rainstorm ensued, with thunder continuing for several hours.
Only once during the storm did the power go off and, it was for less than a minute. We were thrilled. Today, although still humid with more rain on the horizon, it’s quite a bit cooler.
Although our new posts will look different over the next several days while the issues are being resolved, many of you will still be able to see them in the automatic emails you’ll receive if you signed up to do so in the past. If you’d like to sign up now (no charge), you can do so on our main homepage, and you will get the newest posts in your inbox during this period and after that. Thank you so much for being so patient.
Be well.
Photo from one year ago today, February 5, 2020:
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