Walkabout

I haven't written in a few days due to various reasons, the prime one being the construction crew at the house sealing the roof. They've been pounding on the roof for the last two days, but it appears that all the effort was for nought as a torrential downpour last night resulted in water bursting out of every seam under the veranda. After a rather heated late night phone call from Ivan, the crew is back today to finish the job.

Not wanting to languish another day in the apartment, it occurred to me that laptops are, in fact, a portable device. The result of this insight is me slurping down my Chai tea frosty at Lulu's, surrounded by many important looking people typing assuredly important things into their laptops. It occurred to me too late that I should have brought my camera, but then not everyone likes having close ups taken when they are sipping on their lattes.

Given that Marnie is once again with her Somali ladies in Mayfair, I was left to hoof it around the town, so I walked over to Rosebank to attain a "man bag". Like Marnie, I am quite the reluctant shopper, but I also realize that toting my purchases around the streets in shopping bags is like saying, "I have just purchased a shiny new object. If you like, you could hit me over the head with a brick and take it. Thanks for not stealing my shoes so that I can walk the rest of the way home."

After having visited seemingly every shop in Rosebank, I finally ventured into Wooly's- Woolworths for the uninitiated. Now this is not the discount department store you may remember from the States. During the apartheid years British retailers Marks and Spencer wanted to operate in South Africa, but didn't want the negative press of doing business in the sanctioned nation. The result is Wooly's, which is nearly identical to M&S (think of a more upmarket version of Target with a trendy grocery as well). Naturally, they had what I was looking for.

I walked the fifteen minutes back to Parktown to complete my errands, which included picking up a street map at the gas station, replenishing our wine supply and inquiring about some scotch at our friendly liquor merchants, picking up a Chinese take away menu and stopping here for a coffee to update the blog. It's all very trivial stuff, but it gives me something to do away from the flat. And you guys thought I wouldn't have anything to do here...