The Half-Work Weekend near Christmas

Hello all, Zak here from Cape Town, South Africa. It has been a while since last I was able to really write anything that belongs in this community because I have been on a site for the last 7+ weeks that have been robbing me of having a weekend.

We worked most of the weekends and if we did not, perhaps I had a Sunday off or even a weekend off, we did not really go places or do things. The work on site is 12 hour shifts from 7am till 7pm and the environment is not very restful.

Regardless of the physical implications of working on a ship in dry dock and needing to carry equipment and yourself up and down flights of stairs and gangways many times each day – this is not the hardest part of it. The hardest part is the mental component where there is constantly a background fuzz of strife and confrontation. Even those who should be working together with you are so keyed towards pushing through resistance, that they start a conversation as an argument!

So when the weekend arrives, I take as much of it as possible to rest! So does my partner @clairemobey for she has to pick up my slack when I am working at the docks. 12 hours most ways on site, with an hour and a bit commuting time, plus the time it takes to get ready in the morning or to settle down once I am home… 14-16 hours a day are swallowed up by the ship.

If a person sleeps that “recommended” 8 hours then there would be no time at all for other things. I average on about 4-5 hours of sleep. I am feeling quite fatigued at the moment, but I feel that the effort is well worth it.

I have managed to get my Hive posting but to a regular again and I have managed to do a good amount of veggie gardening!

But, that is just the backdrop for the last couple of weeks. There were some cool stuff that happened this weekend too!

The Weekend

So a friend of mine – Nicolaas - was coming through to Cape Town via bus for a good 10-12 hour ride. He was to at least stay overnight.

At the same time @clairemobey and @jasperdick was taking part in Tom’s busking competition in order to win a guitar. This is on Facebook and if you do not mind, please go over there and give their video a watch, a like and a share.

https://www.facebook.com/clairemobeymusic/videos/527834912716871

The video with the most watches, wins! They need a good 100-150 to pull through as first prize!

Nicolaas and myself were camera support so after a quick warmup in the parking lot our musical duo went to do their best! It was a wonderful performance featuring the following songs:

A Song of Hope – written by @clairemobey when we were in the hardest parts of our Covid Lockdown. There had been many homeless people on the streets without help and newly homeless as well. The Community of Cape Town rallied several organisations to assist these and other struggling families!

Mamela (“Listen”) – written by @jasperdick as am empathic response that outlines the socio-economic fallout of the current political policy as it had been applied for the last 2, almost 3 decades. This is my own interpretation of the song. I do like it a lot. It speaks the truth. The population has been let down and it affects us all.

Demons Lurk – written by @clairemobey regarding her teenage years and the rough, messed up times brought on by an early and messed up relationship with an ex-boyfriend. This song should be seen as both an acknowledgement of how crazy those days were as well as how Claire stood up and realized that she was not as crazy as some would make her feel.

The song also enquires to her own self-worth after this incident and I think it very important to teach our youngsters both male and female that their worth is not determined by other people or by the status of their relationships.

Thus, all three songs are just amazing and heartfelt compositions!

After this we travelled back to Table View and stopped off at Sword and Board hobby shop. Nicolaas, my guest, lives in a small town in the middle of nowhere, but he plays Warhammer 40,000 as well. We arrived there and there must have been around 35-40 people in the hobby store! This was quite exciting though I unfortunately did not take any pictures.

We then went home, made brunch and I toured Nicolaas through my garden and workshop. He had been in Cape Town some months back and he could appreciate all the work I had put into it all.

Unfortunately, I was given a call and we would need to work on the Sunday. At least Nicolaas was leaving in the mid-morning anyway but I would have really liked some more time to rest and spend with my family.

And now it is Monday and I am off to work… once more…

I cannot wait for this project to be over. 1 more week, more or less.

Cheers!
@zakludick

Hive South Africa