Storms and Murphy's Movie Law
A massive thunderstorm broke in Durban in the early afternoon yesterday and since then it hasn’t stopped raining in the city and surrounding suburbs. But forget the complete lack of drainage in Durban – I’m sure all our storm drains are clogged, and have never been cleared in the history of their existance. Last night, driving home on the N3 after Jiu-Jitsu was a life-risking experience.
The municipality has ripped up all the tar in the Tollgate area, so leaving the city is dangerous in the pouring rain. Your tyres grumble and bounce on the exposed road surface. You aquaplane all over the road now free of lane indicators. Water sits in uneven grooves and when speeding taxis pass you they literally stir up waves to pound your windscreen, blinding you completely for about 3 seconds.
Once you get past the construction to the already revamped stretch of road, things aren’t much better. The combination of overhead lights and wet, non-draining tar make it difficult to determine where the lanes are.
So Durban drivers, beware!
I suppose it didn’t help that I’ve had a lot on my mind the last few days, including the fact that my golden retriever, Tara (the 13 year old ‘baby’ of the family) has a bad infection in her leg, and is anaemic as a result. Taking her to the vet we were really worried that she had cancer or that her spindly old legs were giving out – on Tuesday she was unable to put any weight on her right leg, and looked uncharacteristically miserable.
This morning though, now that she’s on a course of medication, Tara was much more cheerful. And no doubt enjoying being spoilt even more than usual.
Anyway, my review of Eddie Murphy’s Norbit should be appearing online sometime today. But before that, I’m curious to know whether anyone else has this experience, or whether it’s a localised phenomenon specific to me.
Surely when you’re approaching the cinema concession stand you know what you want? A box of popcorn, some Coke, maybe some Smarties or other candied treats? Particularly when you have to wait in a long queue, the most productive way to pass the time, and speed up the process, is to look at the board of combos and decide what you want before you reach the counter.
I raise this point because the vast majority of South African cinema goers seem incapable of doing this. And it drives me fricken insane! When I’m served, I’m finished under 1:30 minutes.
On Tuesday evening I stood waiting for 5 minutes while in one queue, a tweenie was telling her mother a long, incoherent story about God knows what (the attendee stared at them blank eyed, waiting for an order). In the other queue a student couple ordered items one at a time, and then changed their mind at the last minute. The order on the cash register then had to be reset, and the whole process repeated.
The municipality has ripped up all the tar in the Tollgate area, so leaving the city is dangerous in the pouring rain. Your tyres grumble and bounce on the exposed road surface. You aquaplane all over the road now free of lane indicators. Water sits in uneven grooves and when speeding taxis pass you they literally stir up waves to pound your windscreen, blinding you completely for about 3 seconds.
Once you get past the construction to the already revamped stretch of road, things aren’t much better. The combination of overhead lights and wet, non-draining tar make it difficult to determine where the lanes are.
So Durban drivers, beware!
I suppose it didn’t help that I’ve had a lot on my mind the last few days, including the fact that my golden retriever, Tara (the 13 year old ‘baby’ of the family) has a bad infection in her leg, and is anaemic as a result. Taking her to the vet we were really worried that she had cancer or that her spindly old legs were giving out – on Tuesday she was unable to put any weight on her right leg, and looked uncharacteristically miserable.
This morning though, now that she’s on a course of medication, Tara was much more cheerful. And no doubt enjoying being spoilt even more than usual.
Anyway, my review of Eddie Murphy’s Norbit should be appearing online sometime today. But before that, I’m curious to know whether anyone else has this experience, or whether it’s a localised phenomenon specific to me.
Surely when you’re approaching the cinema concession stand you know what you want? A box of popcorn, some Coke, maybe some Smarties or other candied treats? Particularly when you have to wait in a long queue, the most productive way to pass the time, and speed up the process, is to look at the board of combos and decide what you want before you reach the counter.
I raise this point because the vast majority of South African cinema goers seem incapable of doing this. And it drives me fricken insane! When I’m served, I’m finished under 1:30 minutes.
On Tuesday evening I stood waiting for 5 minutes while in one queue, a tweenie was telling her mother a long, incoherent story about God knows what (the attendee stared at them blank eyed, waiting for an order). In the other queue a student couple ordered items one at a time, and then changed their mind at the last minute. The order on the cash register then had to be reset, and the whole process repeated.
Comments
People taking their sweet time annoy the crap out of me, especially in movie lines. You should have taken off your shoe and smacked them over the head. It's even worse when the movie is about to start and you've got little time to spare. AARRRGH!!!
And Lord Spacemen, sheesh, all roads in Durban were terrible yesterday at rush hour, in the pouring rain. A single drop of rain hits the tar and suddenly half the traffic lights in the city stop working.