Sanathan Squatter Camp.
by subacati
The person I get a lift with didn't pitch up tonight. I tried to phone him, but he didn't answer. :irked:.
Well I had to get to work so I put my knapsack away, picked up my tonfa, locked vs and started walking. :awww:.
Remember that incident about a week ago? Remember that squatter camp I mentioned? Well I had to pass by that squatter camp again tonight. :rolleyes:.
there was a couple on the path ahead of me, returning from a night out. Apart from that it was quiet, everything looked deserted as might be expected at midnight. :left:.
Nonetheless, I kept my eyes peeled for anyone lurking in the shadows. It was quiet, no signs of life anywhere. An ambulanced passed.
"Ok!" the darkness said behind me! :insane:.
I glanced over my shoulder and there, off to the left, the lookout was reclining against a plastic construction barrier. :eyes:.
A light flicked on across the road, silhouetting a group of ten to fifteen men. :nervous:. They were busy reconnecting their cable to the pedestrian robot. :eyes:.
A tingle began at the top of my head and crawled down my spine. The shadows receded as the world became brighter. :nervous:.
Two meters further, and a passing Muslim stopped and offered me a lift, which I gladly accepted! :insane:.
It's a good think I'd evacuated my bowels before I left home. :faint:.
subacati 
WTF?
Originally posted by Dacotah:
+1 :left:
Glad you got a lift. What's a pedestrian robot?
robot is the South African word for a traffic light. :up:.This morning on my way home I saw what a neat job they did. If you don't know about it, you won't even notice the cable going into the ground. :faint:.Stealing electricity is common in South Africa. :rolleyes:.
A pedestrian robot
:faint:
Oh dear! :eyes: Getting a lift by friendly people is a *good* thing! :yes:
It would have been better had I found one sooner though. :p.
:eyes:I'm glad you found a ride!
Originally posted by qlue:
Good thing indeed. I don't think the guy who stopped for you would have been too amused!:insane:
Lordie. Here, walking at night alone and accepting a ride from a stranger = suicide….What a brave person to do this. …
Well, in a small community like this, 'stranger' is a relative term. :left:.I often get lifts from relative strangers here. But I don't accept just any lift. Most of the Muslims around here I've seen in the Mosque, even if I've never actually met them. :up:.There are people around here that will tell you that walking through town, even in daylight, is suicide. :rolleyes:.I've been in this town only five years and have had to walk to work many times. When I first started out, I didn't know the people and had to walk to and from night shift. That incident i little over a week ago was the first time anyone has challenged me in the streets, and that was a punk kid with less sense than an idiot. :irked:.It is a bit more dangerous than it was, but life still goes on and I still need to get to work every day. :rolleyes:.For some reason, my attitude to life has most people I know thinking I'm crazy. :whistle::p,
why don't u walk in the early morning it is safer for u
I work night shifts. Besides, things can happen at any time of the day. :awww:
that scooter sounds like a plan now.. :sherlock:
Can you stop going that way to work? Or carry a flamethrower, or something?
Of course, you could smoke a lot of weed and be invisible.
I was ROFL with your closing line. I WAS going to inquire as to what a Pedestrian Robot was, but I see it's been answered. I was envisioning a Linux-based Squatter 'Hood R2D2.
It's not uncommon over here for people to steal CABLE TV service, but I can't say that I've heard of stealing electricity being common. I'm sure it probably does happen somewhere over here. It just isn't remotely on the same level of being common as CABLE TV service stealing.One of my sisters has a neighbor who apparently got caught more than once stealing CABLE TV service and the CABLE TV company had had enough. So, they stuck it to her. I guess you could say the CABLE TV company is blackmailing her. They gave my sister's neighbor an ultimatum — Either you sign up for CABLE TV service right here and now … or we're taking legal action on you. I don't know if the ultimatum included a "forever" specification or a certain amount of years. But, yeah, as far as I know, right now my sister's neighbor is committed to having to have CABLE TV service whether she wants to or not. :doh: Well, I mean, she obviously wanted to. She just didn't want to have to PAY for it. 😆 And the bad thing is that what is my sister's neighbor going to do? Report the CABLE TV company? She wouldn't have any proof that the CABLE TV company was strong arming her, while the CABLE TV company WOULD have proof that she had been stealing their service.
There is no other route except past that squatter camp. :rolleyes:.Chuck, stealing electricity may not be unique to South Africa, but it's certainly part of the culture here. :faint:.We don't have a cable service. Our pay TV services are via digital satellite and virtually impossible to steal. :left:. (theoretically, one could use a beowulf cluster to crack the encryption, but the cost and time involved would still be formidable.)
Well, they like to trash each other as to which one has more downtime, which one fails more quickly with bad weather and about their prices.
I've never had Dish TV, so I don't have a personal assessment of Dish TV as per actual experience vs. when I had Cable TV. But, what does pop into my mind is — If Cellphones are sooo iffy and prone to cutting out whenever they feel like it vs. landline phones, I wonder if there is a similar scenario with Dish TV vs. Cable TV.
Those little Satellite Dishes are also all over the place over here. I don't know who has the edge now … Cable or Dish. I just know they both sling mud at each other as to their quality of service.
well, digital is digital. And I've yet to hear anyone complain about the service here. If your tv shows the channel you want, you probably won't complain much anyway. :left:.
Satellite is affected by bad weather, but it usually lakes a major storm. It seldom suffers from downtime and when it does, it's seldom for long. I can't imagine that cable can really compete actually. :sherlock:.
the problem with cellphones, esp. in America, is that they rely on radio cells that have a limited range and bandwidth. Other problems include the need for them to 'handover' from one cell to the next and having to handle at least two different signals. :awww:.Virtually all these problems are eliminated with a geostationary satellite. Even satellite phones work more reliably. :up:. A true gps receiver will usually only lord it's signal when the US military scramble the GPS signals during was time. But some commercial units require a subscription and this is regulated through the cellular network. (trust Big Business to find a way to charge for something that's free. :rolleyes:)Besides, the cable companies are using satellite to beam their signals around the country (and the world) anyway. So anything that will affect satellite tv will do exactly the same thing to cable. :rolleyes:.
Why is life getting more dangerous, Aadil? What is the name of your town?
Well, I have had cable TV and now have Direct TV Satellite (with the small dish on roof). During really bad weather, both had gone out; however, cable was out far more times proportionally to whole long we have had both systems. My parents have Dish Satellite, Direct doesn't say "loading" or "searching" as much as theirs does.So far, the Direct has been superior to cable for my family.
Umzinto. They've been rebuilding our main road for over six months now. The chaos caused by that has probably had an influence. :awww:.
Originally posted by qlue:
Mad Scientist " link the camel and trust in God " i think u understand what I mean
I've heard horror stories of what happened to whites in S.A. after the government changed. You're a scientist can't you afford an auto? Perhaps several of you could chip in and share an auto. We have squatters camps here, also. You don't dare go out alone after dark in any city. Even the small towns are becoming dangerous.:(
Agreed, Violence and hatred are never a solution. They only make things worse. A fig leaf may work. Perhaps, you could offer to help educate their children in exchange for safe passage. Honey often works where vinegar does not.:idea:
Originally posted by badkitty1967:
They're not nearly as bad as some of the horror stories of what happened to non-whites during Apartheid! :awww:.
honey attracts the flies.. 🙄 i just had to.. :doh: