Mornings that start off with the Bunster are better than mornings that don’t.

There are are so many expressions and playful phrases using the word “stuff”. Get stuffed. Stuff it. I am stuffed. Stuffing. There is even a magazine with this word in the title. Jerry Seinfeld did a comedy bit once about collecting stuff. This is what many of us do with our lives. We are always looking for stuff, buying stuff, storing stuff.

I am sentimental person. I have been collecting stuff ever since I was a kid. I think I am a still a kid. An overgrown kid. And now I have a kid. I have been called a hoarder. I think that is fair. Most of the stuff I have has no material value, but to me, it makes sense. There is paraphernalia from IS, movie things (from our indie film projects), Canary swag, magic stuff, quirky gadgets, high tech toys, stand-up comedy DVDs, rare funny books, gizmos, pranks, Atari t-shirts (a small but cool collection), and the list goes on. A lot of it is geeky stuff. Yes, I am a bit of a nerd. My home office in the The Nest is overflowing with stuff, and now, I am not sure when will ever see this stuff again. The vast majority of my favourite stuff is in The Nest.

The pandemic showed the world that you don’t need a lot to live. Yes, to live, and to live well, does not require a dozen holiday homes and a fleet of luxury cars. We can only sleep in one bed, and as long as that bed is comfortable, and the house is clean and warm, and the fridge full of food, you are living pretty well. And we certainly don’t need all that stuff to live comfortable lives. I may never be able to see this stuff again and I will survive. But it does upset me. For some reason that stuff was dear to me. That stuff made me feel peaceful. I know it may sound a bit odd, as it is to most people, just worthless stuff, but to me it meant something.

The rockets striking Kyiv on Thursday made everyone more anxious. We have friends in Kyiv. The Nest is in Kyiv. All that stuff is in Kyiv. And this morning, the Bunster made a mess with a yogurt drink and got us both covered in stuff. Yes, stuff is everywhere. And from my perspective, the world is looking pretty stuffed. Ok ok, I was trying to play with words there. But you know what I mean.

The other thing about stuff is that we not only collect it, but then sometimes we put stuff in storage. I have never done that, but I know that self-storage facilities are a big industry. When we die what happens to all this stuff? And if you go away for the weekend and come back to discover your house burned down, then all your stuff is gone. Talk about a stuffing reset.

The thing about collecting is that a lot of people, I think the vast majority, collect things that have a perceived value, like art. Some just collect rent. A lot try and hoard cash. Money collecting is a popular past time. Everyone is collecting something. Most collect something that has a monetary value. Asset management could be referred to as asset collecting. And then you get those people who collect stories. The bible is the ultimate collection of stories. I love a good story. I am always writing down and capturing stories.

I should start thinking about collecting things that have value. Perhaps the war has made me aware of financial vulnerability. The stuff I collect is mostly stuff that makes people smile. Seeing people smile makes me happy.

This spider in a box prank is one of my favourites. The Bunster likes it too. I can’t wait to show it to him one day when we are back in The Nest. By then he will be a bit older and will find it even funnier.

Absolutely nothing.

We got a new Apple laptop, and my old faithful machine got fixed. Jackpot! The technician thinks the motherboard may have got fried by power surges from load shedding. Never a dull moment.

We are staying at a golfing estate called Fancourt, close to the small and charming city of George. It is very pretty here and quiet. We are staying at my brother Alon’s holiday home. Golf is the name of game here, but I have never played golf before and probably never will. I have always admired this game, and thought of it as graceful. A sport where you can compete against yourself. When I look out the bedroom window now I can some folk playing a round. It all looks very peaceful.

The house comes with a golf cart which is very cool. This has got me thinking. Isn’t this what a Tesla car is. Just with more flair and vooma. Perhaps Elon Musk is a golfer and got inspired by golfing estates. These golf carts are everywhere here, and they seem pretty nippy. Silent machines that the Bunster loves. I am convinced that golf carts are like simple Teslas. Interesting that they never evolved into family cars. Seems like this was staring everyone in the face for a long time, especially golfers. Ok, ok. I am being a bit silly.

I love photography and have a keen eye. I have tried to take some pics that can capture the beauty and scale of this place, but the camera does not do it justice. This needs to be seen in person. From what I understand this is a world-class resort and is up there with the best of the best. I hear a lot of people that retire come and live here permanently. I can definitely see the lifestyle that this provides and it is appealing, and again, I am not a golfer. The setting is magnificent, and the air fresh and crisp. You have the ocean about 10 minutes away by car, and there is lot of cool eating places all over the place.

The Cape Dutch looking houses here, in one part of the estate, are appealing to me, aesthetically. And in terms of what you get for your money it is not expensive in world pricing. Because of SA’s weak currency and the low confidence in the economy, the housing prices at Fancourt in US Dollars, for example, are not going to scare anyone away.

SA has a brain drain problem with so many skilled and good people leaving the country. Two of the newest and most popular countries where people are going to include Portugal and Holland. America is not on most people’s top 5 places any more, for quite a while now. And Australia, while it remains popular, has no appeal to me – you could not pay me to live there. So when we came to Fancourt 6 days ago, we started to think about this as a possibility. Since the war started in Ukraine and we had to leave our stunning home in magical Kyiv, we have spent a lot of time thinking about where we could live. Our plan is to return to Kyiv and help with the rebuilding. But, if God forbid, this war takes a turn for the worse, and we cannot return, then we need to think about where we are going to stay in more longer terms. I have to say that Fancourt has captured our imaginations for sure.

We are in Fancourt, staying at my brother Alon’s place here. He is here with us too. And Lisa and Aras are also here. They all came down with us from Johannesburg to settle us in. I was once here in Fancourt a long time ago, for a weekend. I think that was about 20 years ago. It is raining now, and we just finished some load shedding.

Last night my old faithful Dell laptop died on me. I was on the phone with Dell support this morning early and they said it sounds like the motherboard is poked. It is still raining … pouring.

One way I am dealing with the nightmare of this insane war is to write. I make so many notes all the time. There are so many observations, and a tidal wave of emotions, all bundled with exhaustion and confusion. So to have my laptop go kaput now is just the pits. I am now using Alon’s laptop and they are all in the lounge listening to ABBA music and playing Jenga. It is still raining. But the electricity is back on so everything is ok.

After I chatted with the Dell support man in India, who was very friendly and on-the-ball, we drove to the mall, about 15 minutes away, and we went to the Incredible Connection and looked at the laptops there. I have always worked on an IBM compatible PC, but never on a Mac. I know, I know. And then, with a burst of inspiration that came from Luke, our brother in Cape Town, who was on a Garden Route solo bike trip, the decision was made: we purchased a MacBook Air. They didn’t have stock in the shop – it should arrive Monday or Tuesday. Bye bye PC … hello Apple laptop.

After what we have been through recently I didn’t things could get any more stressful, but when your work is mainly involving a keyboard, having your laptop konk out is just not cool. But not the end of the world. Just a proper pain in the ass, and a waste of time and some money. Soon I will be a Mac person. I am told by all Apple fans that I am going to love it after a few days of getting familiar with the MacOS.

I hope to be up and running again soon with a new laptop, and then I can try and write some more. Meanwhile, in Ukraine there are much bigger problems than my stupid laptop. Please God this nightmare war ends soon.