Fidler in the Hood: Raindrops Keep Falling on my Head
Singing in the rain is fun, but enough's enough.
MANABA/UVONGO/ST MICHAEL'S/SHELLY BEACH
'DON'T know why there's no sun up in the sky; stormy weather.' so wrote Harold Arlen in 1933. So too writes your Uvongo scribe in 2019. 'Raindrops keep falling on my head' friends, and singing in the rain is fun, but enough's enough – exactly one of the main reasons for leaving 'rainy Manchester' many decades ago – vowing never 'to do rain' again. Of course, a sense of proportion is needed; we need good rains.
Who to turn to?
A couple of weeks back, the Uvongo news was all about the trials and tribulations of being a Uvongo ratepayer, trying to get 'something done', regarding the parlous state of grass verges which need to be properly cut and cleaned up. In many areas, verges lookeD worse than ever after contractors had been around – even allowing for the 'rainy season' and lush vegetation, unsupervised contractors just 'don't see' what is required for a good clean up. A good nosh-up, yes, but not a proper clean-up.
Uphill battle
DA representative George Henderson responded, but I guess it's a thankless, uphill battle to get those 'in power' to do their jobs. George probably has his hands full taking on the 'might' of our self-serving local municipalities who seem to be in a permanent state of inertia, paralysed by their own failings. Somewhere it was mentioned that the municipalities, both 'Uncle Ray' (Ray Nkonyeni Municipality) and his 'Ugu'ly sister, have actually conceded they 'might have made a few mistakes' and suggested 'a fresh start is made'! The mind boggles. It's a given that if 'the thing' is working properly, then don't try to fix it. The riddle here is: if 'the thing' is not working properly, then who do we get to fix it? Is there a doctor in the house? Preferably a saw doctor who can cut down overgrown trees, shrubs and 'stop the rot'?
Confusion reigns
In October 2018, a phone call and a message from Telkom informed that they were upgrading our fixed voice service. No more out-dated copper cables, to be replaced with wireless for greater reliability, at no extra cost. No more copper cable theft impacting on us. A new phone, worth more than R1 000, too. Delivery promised within one month. All we had to do was reply 'yes' and Telkom would call back.
Nil desperandum
A couple of weeks later, a 'lovely man' from Telkom personally phoned to make the same offer. Two weeks passed by, and, well, you guessed it. Yet another phone call 'from a lovely man' at Telkom. Same offer; same acceptance; same delivery discussions – like something out of the movie 'Groundhog Day'. Telkom repeatedly offered this amazing deal which was repeatedly accepted and the weeks passed by. The last call received from Telkom was on December 28th – a belated season's greetings message, and news that the phone would arrive 'early in the new year'. Late January is possibly still 'early new year? Rumour has it that there are locals who have actually received new phones. Anyone care to tell share where we went wrong and what we have to do to get this 'amazing new phone'?
Great show
The indefatigable Duchess of Glencoe, namely Liz 'Hen' Curran, she of the 'Inn of the Sixth Happiness' in Margate, called to say that 'Jolson Sings Again', sequel to the fabulous 'Jolson Story', was screened to a full house at the Ronnie Baker Hall last Sunday. It has been claimed that, in post-war years Liverpool (in the notorious Scotland Road area) with its more than 300 pubs (one on every corner), there was, without exception, some inebriated Scouser doing his own impersonation of Al Jolson, getting down on one knee, singing 'My Mammy' or 'Sonny Boy'. Those were the days!
See you, Rob.
