If your office has a shared kitchen, chances are that the microwave oven is in use for most of the day; warming up food, warming up coffee, making noodles…
I've noticed a pattern; most of the time when I get to the microwave, the timer shows 9 seconds left.
Why?
Driving home this evening, I came across a sight which is not unfamiliar to my fellow South Africans: cars parked on the side of the road with "for sale" signs and numbers to call.
Neither of them had a price tag.
My fellow South Africans, help me understand, why do we do this?
Driving into Gauteng this evening with a magnificent thunderstorm in full glory over Johannesburg in the distance, and (of course), my fellow Gatties,1 at the slightest hint of a cloudburst, slow to a crawl in the fast lane of the freeways, and put on their hazard lights.
If you know the type of person who puts on their hazards during a storm, do they know that’s really stupid? Here’s what you should tell them:
If you’re visiting any of South Africa’s magnificent game reserves and look down, chances are you will see one these: Scarabaeus Zambesianus is the African Dung Beetle, and its lot in life is to find a mound of fæces, roll it a couple of hundred metres from where it was dumped, and bury it in an underground chamber. The beetle lays an egg in the ball which hatches into larva which feeds on the dung. The larva turns into a pupa, the pupa hatches into a new beetle which goes out into the world in search of more dung…
A quick listicle from the World Economic Forum on cognitive biases that could be holding some of us back at work.
Ever stop to observe the behaviour of vehicles entering a shopping center parking lot?
They will generally circle close to the entrance of the shop they want to go to. Frequently, they will stop in a row, hazards flashing, waiting for someone to leave their space.
Eventually, when someone does leave and another vehicle approaches from the other side, our driver waiting for the parking space will furiously flash lights or honk or wave or all of the above.
Here's my strategy for parking lots: I will generally grab the first unoccupied parking I find.
Barely 24 hours ago at 9h12 GMT, a Russian Soyuz spacecraft carrying Christina Koch safely parachuted down in Kazakhstan.
She had spent 328 days (including her 41st birthday on 29 January) on board the International Space Station. During that time, she and fellow astronaut Jessica Meir made history with the first all women spacewalk.
Then on 28 December 2019, Koch set another record; the longest continuous time spent in outer space by a woman,
Earlier this week, someone expressed an opinion as to why he/she should be forced to subscribe to company medical aid. "The problem is companies to do not give us a choice. We are forced into joining (Discovery Health). That's what we need our government to look at. Why are we forced to join our provider"
I responded: "You’re not forced to work for such companies. Do the honorable thing. Resign and use public healthcare.?"
Naturally, outrage ensued.
