Kabouter card number next

Up in the morning and off to school. We were awake earlier than the rest of the house and lay in bed waiting for the family to wake up. This because they have an alarm on in the house and most zones are set to motion detection. It did not take long for my brother to let the dog out for a wee and we got out of bed for the ritual coffee.

Todays plan was to go down to the beachfront for a walk and perhaps meet up with my dad for brekkie. The wind was still blowing quite a bit and there was lots of activity at the beach. There was the 5km park run and a spinning marathon to keep a lot of people active. All shapes and sizes and type. Dad joined us as we were just down the road from his place.  While we had brekkie, Dad just had a coffee. Dad and I had a good catch up about some of the things that he is facing in the business and the short sightedness of the power people trying to make a statement.

After a nice return walk along the boardwalk Ingrid bought a typical sun hat which is commonly used here. On arriving back at my brothers place I helped him with a bit of stuff as he was installing something and every now and then needed a pair of extra hands. Today was going to be help the parents day again. My Dad popped in to boeties house as my brother is an accountant and my Dad needed some advice or something for his business.

I left the wife with my sister in law and hopped in the car to go and visit my Mother who was having an issue with her water tanks. It is quite common here to have tanks next to the house that collect rain water off of the roof when it rains. This water is then used as "grey water" to flush the toilets and I am not sure, but probably some other uses. One that comes to mind is irrigation or watering the garden.  Mom's grey water system was not working and she said that it was probably something small causing the disruption. After checking that the taps running from the tanks to the pump were open I got down on my knees (and prayed would be the rest of the sentence in the song Gansters Paradise).

The pump worked for 2 seconds then shut off. Plug out, plug in and we got about 5 seconds of play from the pump. Enter my Gold Rush watching knowledge and I was pretty sure that there was an air lock in the system which caused the impellor (fantype thing which spins and draws and pushes water through the pump) to signal that things were not okay and the pump was shut off. I phoned my brother as I did not know how to prime the system to get rid of the air bubble/pocket. His first question was, "Is there any water in the tanks?" They must be full my Mom said, it rained a few days ago.

Tapping on the tanks they sounded hollow, so I got a screwdriver and unscrewed the fastener screws on the lid and the tanks were practically bone dry! That would explain the inability of the pump to prime. So, if it had rained then why were the tanks not full? Perhaps because there was a leak in the system or that it had not rained sufficiently to fill the gutters to drain into the tanks. I checked the gutters for blockages and could not find any.

TIme for a cuppa tea and a think. Back outside i started to trace the pipes coming out of the tanks and going to the pump and then subsequently from the pump to the house. Nothing sprang out at me so that looked okay. Outside there were 2 taps. One was for the hose pipe and the end was laying in a type of plastic pond. I checked the tap and it was open. AHA. Eureka, I have found it!

On taking the other end of the hose out of the pond I was surprised that the nozzle was in the closed position! Damn, that could not be the problem. For some reason I decided to trace the hose from the tap and beyond expectation, it was not even connected to the hose that was laying in the pond. Tracing that other piece of hose we soon found the tell tale sign of the sorry state. Erosion and a large wet area where that piece of hose ended. Unbeknown to my Mother, the pump was pumping water into the house from the tanks, but because of the tap to the garden being open, the water was basically being pumped straigh back into the garden. I know a plumber in Holland who might be laughing now, but may give me a point for finding the solution!

My brother was quite pleased that he was not the one to be called on to help the Old People. Normally he would be the scape goat, but I am glad that I could help and he could continue with his chore at home.  After finding the solution I had a good chat to my mother about things in Holland and the wife and kids and my own thoughts and dreams. I guess we all dream that we would win the Lottery!

Back at Boeties we prepared for a dinner date with the four of us. I was treated to a present from my wife. Minds out of the gutter! She had bought me a pair of braai shorts.  These are the rage here, shorts made of dish towel material used to wipe your hands on when you braai. We have to go back to that shop sometime she told me. Shopping there with sister in law had got her attention. Such a lovely little place I was told.

What a great meal at a local Asian restaurant!  I ordered a beer that I was unfamiliar with and Boy George could give me a medal, but it tasted like Peanut butter! Serious dinkem!  I think that we might go there again before we leave. 

Another eventful day in Africa. Tomorrow we rise again!