Last morning in Pretoria - on to Germany -- Victor Kubik

  • strict warning: Non-static method view::load() should not be called statically in /home1/ucgit/public_html/goodworks/modules/acquia/views/views.module on line 843.
  • strict warning: Declaration of views_plugin_display::options_validate() should be compatible with views_plugin::options_validate(&$form, &$form_state) in /home1/ucgit/public_html/goodworks/modules/acquia/views/plugins/views_plugin_display.inc on line 0.
  • strict warning: Declaration of views_plugin_display_block::options_submit() should be compatible with views_plugin_display::options_submit(&$form, &$form_state) in /home1/ucgit/public_html/goodworks/modules/acquia/views/plugins/views_plugin_display_block.inc on line 0.
  • strict warning: Declaration of views_handler_field_broken::ui_name() should be compatible with views_handler::ui_name($short = false) in /home1/ucgit/public_html/goodworks/modules/acquia/views/handlers/views_handler_field.inc on line 0.
  • strict warning: Declaration of content_handler_field::options() should be compatible with views_object::options() in /home1/ucgit/public_html/goodworks/modules/acquia/cck/includes/views/handlers/content_handler_field.inc on line 0.
  • strict warning: Declaration of views_handler_sort_broken::ui_name() should be compatible with views_handler::ui_name($short = false) in /home1/ucgit/public_html/goodworks/modules/acquia/views/handlers/views_handler_sort.inc on line 0.
  • strict warning: Declaration of views_handler_filter::options_validate() should be compatible with views_handler::options_validate($form, &$form_state) in /home1/ucgit/public_html/goodworks/modules/acquia/views/handlers/views_handler_filter.inc on line 0.
  • strict warning: Declaration of views_handler_filter::options_submit() should be compatible with views_handler::options_submit($form, &$form_state) in /home1/ucgit/public_html/goodworks/modules/acquia/views/handlers/views_handler_filter.inc on line 0.
  • strict warning: Declaration of views_handler_filter_broken::ui_name() should be compatible with views_handler::ui_name($short = false) in /home1/ucgit/public_html/goodworks/modules/acquia/views/handlers/views_handler_filter.inc on line 0.
  • strict warning: Declaration of views_handler_filter_boolean_operator::value_validate() should be compatible with views_handler_filter::value_validate($form, &$form_state) in /home1/ucgit/public_html/goodworks/modules/acquia/views/handlers/views_handler_filter_boolean_operator.inc on line 0.
  • strict warning: Declaration of views_handler_filter_many_to_one::init() should be compatible with views_handler_filter::init(&$view, $options) in /home1/ucgit/public_html/goodworks/modules/acquia/views/handlers/views_handler_filter_many_to_one.inc on line 0.
  • strict warning: Declaration of views_plugin_style_default::options() should be compatible with views_object::options() in /home1/ucgit/public_html/goodworks/modules/acquia/views/plugins/views_plugin_style_default.inc on line 0.
  • strict warning: Declaration of views_plugin_row::options_validate() should be compatible with views_plugin::options_validate(&$form, &$form_state) in /home1/ucgit/public_html/goodworks/modules/acquia/views/plugins/views_plugin_row.inc on line 0.
  • strict warning: Declaration of views_plugin_row::options_submit() should be compatible with views_plugin::options_submit(&$form, &$form_state) in /home1/ucgit/public_html/goodworks/modules/acquia/views/plugins/views_plugin_row.inc on line 0.

January 21, 2013

This is my last morning in Pretoria.....A mixture of being anxious to get home to Bev and a feeling of sadness for leaving. This is the last morning hearing the awful sound of the Har Dee Dah birds that screech at 100 db outside my room. Someone in the Creation department failed to put in proper noise abatement. Boy, those birds are loud. They are part of the Ibis family, I think. I have a picture....I'll be putting pictures in this blog as well as editing all the horrible typos. I'm using a tablet and don't have a laptop on this trip. The tablet with an external keyboard works quite well...take up less weight and space, but the editing capability is awkward.  

I took and hour and a quarter walk past the Russian, Pakistani and Kenyan consulates this morning before breakfast. Fortunately, in the dining room after I returned, the TV wasn't on and there was no Aljazeera to send me home on. Today, I'd rather have no news than Aljazeera. I can't believe how slanted it is, but I suppose things we say and do seem slanted to others. I'm amazed at how widely it is watched here in South Africa. The story I saw a few days ago about the music torture in Guantanamo still runs through my head. One humorous note (at least for me) is that they interviewed one of the prisoners in Guantanamo who had had music torture applied to him. He was forced to listen to heavy rock music for hours. But, he had been a student in London and had been exposed to Zeppelin, Metallica and such and said he was "used" to it, so the "torture" element had less effect on him. It's just the others who had no reference point to this music that were really tortured.

I have finally adjusted to the time change completely. I automatically right for traffic coming my way and am used to cars turning opposite the way in they do in the US. And, the bathtub water swirls counter-clockwise. Now, I'll have to unlearn all that learn the US way all over again......

About Cathy Botha who has cystic fibrosis. I want to thank those who sent me email both through email, Facebook and on my timeline for your helpful replies about possible help for Cathy. I'll be getting to you very soon. I am really looking to find a way for her to be looked at OUTSIDE South Africa where she has come to the end of her options. The only other drastic option is a lung transplant. I will be communicating with you see what can be done, what LifeNets can contribute etc. If you want to write to me directly, my best email is vic@kubik.org.  I already have a number of people I will be calling after I return to the United States.

I need to get packing. The trip is coming to an end with clothes. I'm down to my last two Starbucks VIA's.....so the end is near.