So you guys. I had a great post planned out for you today. It was all gussied up and waiting in the queue just to tickle your blog-reading fancy. But guess what? Africa had other plans.

Two of South Africa’s major telecommunications companies, Telkom and Eskom, have been having technical difficulties today. Translation: We didn’t have internet. So, being the clever cats we are, after our morning meeting with some great YWAM people in Cape Town, we came home for lunch, and thought, “Well, let’s head to the gym. Free wi-fi and free child-care (well, it’s included in our gym membership which is greatly subsidized by our health care plan but we don’t have to pay when we show up with the Bear) … who could ask for anything more?

We arrived at the gym and one of the staff members greeted us outside as we were coming in. “Our power’s been out all day. We’re running on generators, so there are only certain machines you can use. You won’t be able to have a hot shower, but you’re still welcome to come in.”

“Can we use the cafe?”

“Well the cafe’s closed because we don’t have power…”

“We just want somewhere to sit.”

“Oh, that’s fine and [gesturing at the Bear] child care is still open, so he’ll still be able to go and play although he won’t be able to watch DVDs.”

So Mark parks his MacBook and settles in to work — but of course by now you’ve realised limited power and running off generators means no wi-fi. The Bear and I venture off to check in atClub-V (the kids area). He walks in and immediately proceeds to point at the TV and say “Ba!”

Translation: “Why isn’t the TV on? I want to watch Barney.”

Alas, it took longer than usual for him to be distracted enough that I could leave. But he had a good wee play in the ball pit and coloured a little…fortunately not on the wall like he did earlier today at home.

And I typed some emails that waited in my outbox for a brief splash of bandwidth that they could ride into cyberspace. Swoosh! That brief splash finally arrived when we returned home this evening. However, it’s not a 5 – 8 foot swell. It’s more like a broken wave pool on a gently rocking cruise ship.

Translation: We’re moving at dial-up speed and I’ll be lucky if this post hits the internet before my head hits the pillow tonight.

On the overly-exciting off-chance that my MacBook finds some curl for this post to rip toward the cyberspace shore, I want to make sure you know this:

Friday, April 30th :::: duh, duh duh….

Translation: One of you lucky people is gonna win a really cute, free something on Friday. As long as you live in the continental US of A and aren’t immediately related to me. Sorry I have to add that disclaimer, it just throws off the whole rhythm. And in case you’re wondering, No, I’m not giving away a pair of Crocs that is supposed to be going on the feet of a kid in need. No way!

Anyway, I just want to make sure you know that you need to drop in between 12 am and 12 midnight on Friday, April 30th! And then again on Saturday, May 1st to find out if you won. (:

In the meantime, you can twiddle your thumbs, pray for the complete healing of my recurring sore throats, or dream about where Travelling Tuesday might take you tomorrow. If you’re clever, you can probably hazard a guess.

xCC