Thursday, August 15
Aug. 16th, 2024 12:26 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
gottawonderToday I am grateful for:
Nice weather. Warm without being too hot. The smoke from yesterday cleared, so I guess the wind shifted.
My Sweetie took the truck to work this morning after having loaded it last night with all the metal and old vehicle batteries. He was able to recycle all of that, and got some money for it.
When he was done work, I met my Sweetie in a nearby town to get the mail, and we renewed the registration on the cars. Apparently my husband has been driving for a year now without his vehicle being registered. He swears that he paid for two years, so I wonder what happened there. Luckily mine was only just expired.
We also put both our names on the car he got two years ago, and his name on the car I drive. I've been insisting we do this in case something happens to one of us, and then there's no haggle about the vehicles.
Then we looked around in Rona to see what they had for good mesh for the catio that's been sitting beside the house for two years. We bought it second hand with the intention of changing the cheap plastic screen that wouldn't really hold a cat to something more durable, and it never happened. I don't know if it will be finished before the snow flies or not, but I'm trying.
We didn't even buy the mesh, as my husband wanted a roll that was a certain width, and he wants to "look around". Sigh.
We did buy a nice mirrored cabinet to go over the sink in the bathroom in the basement.
Then we got burritos. I like eating at this place because it's one of those deals where you pick your toppings, so I can just not have rice on it at all, and can put different veggies on it. It works with my sugar issues AND being vegetarian, and my Sweetie can have whatever he wants.
Afterwards, he took the truck to get a rock chip in the windshield fixed, and I went to the thrift store.
I did find some nice things today, though I still find it hard to believe that they want those prices for things that were donated. I took a risk on a nice pair of jeans that turned out to fit really well when I got them home to try on. It was an okay price since they fit, and it would have sucked if they didn't.
He got home before I did, and let everyone out. I usually let everyone out for about an hour. After that I worked with Wonder and Dandy, and they did well with staying with me today. I work them as a pair, so they are both walking with me at Liberty.
I'm glad, after all these years, to find something I can do with Wonder. I don't ride her because she's VERY hot and flighty, but Liberty is something I can do with her while I'm on the ground. She's always been a very sweet mare who loves to snuggle, and I like spending time with her, so this gives us something where we might have some fun and she gets some mental stimulation.
Then we watched an episode of "Justified".
The country of Lesotho is an enclave, meaning it remained independent of South Africa in spite of being entirely within it. It is the largest enclave in the world.
"The Sotho ethnic group (also known as Basotho), from which the country derives its name, composes 99.7% of the country's current population, making it one of the most ethnically homogenous in the world. Their native language, Sesotho, is the official language along with English. The name Lesotho translates to "land of the Sesotho speakers".[11][12]
Lesotho was formed in 1824 by King Moshoeshoe I. Continuous encroachments by Dutch settlers made the King enter into an agreement with the British Empire to become a protectorate in 1868 and, in 1884, a crown colony. It achieved independence in 1966, and was subsequently ruled by the Basotho National Party (BNP) for two decades. Its constitutional government was restored in 1993 after seven years of military rule. King Moshoeshoe II was exiled in 1990 but returned in 1992 and was reinstated in 1995. One year later, Moshoeshoe II died and his son Letsie III took the throne, which he still holds.[8]"
Lesotho has a constitutional monarchy, where there is indeed a monarch, but that monarch is making decisions within the framework of a constitution with a parliament of elected members.
It has about two million people, and about half of those people live below the poverty line (I'm not sure what that is, probably on something like less than two dollars a day). There are high rates of HIV/AIDs as well. In contrast, it has a decent school system and high rates of literacy.
I'm not sure I've got the idea correctly, but Lesotho was almost annexed from South Africa in efforts to control the border and try to slow the spread of HIV/AIDS within Lesotho (or was it to keep it from spreading within South Africa?). I am not sure I have that right. The infection rate is very high, nearly 25% of the (very young because so many adults have already died) population.
Lesotho has an interesting dual legal system made up of traditional laws of the Bathoso people meant for governing them, as well a "general law system" developed from Roman Dutch law. That must be a nightmare.
Lesotho is entirely above 1000 meters elevation, thus cooler, land locked, and has some mountains, some plateaus, and while it has arable land it is vulnerable to erosion. The plants and animals are adapted to the alpine climate.
As I mentioned, many people here are still impoverished, and there is food insecurity, and issues most of us never have to consider, like women and girls being raped/assaulted often as they have to walk to get water for their families.
Lesotho isn't too great in terms of human development (higher education, hospitals, etc.) and it has a very high rate of rape, and very low in terms of women's rights in general, and within marriages.
The economy is still largely based on agriculture and livestock, often on a subsistence level, some mining (diamonds) and manufacturing (It has become the largest exporter of garments to the US from sub-Saharan Africa.[53] US brands and retailers sourcing from Lesotho include Foot Locker, Gap, Gloria Vanderbilt, JCPenney, Levi Strauss, Saks, Sears, Timberland and Wal-Mart.[54]) , and also the remittances of workers from Lesotho sending money home to family.
Having both water and elevation, there is some development of hydroelectricity.
https://youtu.be/dgPLD_XzggY?si=fsTg7TXr0shHbraQ
Nice weather. Warm without being too hot. The smoke from yesterday cleared, so I guess the wind shifted.
My Sweetie took the truck to work this morning after having loaded it last night with all the metal and old vehicle batteries. He was able to recycle all of that, and got some money for it.
When he was done work, I met my Sweetie in a nearby town to get the mail, and we renewed the registration on the cars. Apparently my husband has been driving for a year now without his vehicle being registered. He swears that he paid for two years, so I wonder what happened there. Luckily mine was only just expired.
We also put both our names on the car he got two years ago, and his name on the car I drive. I've been insisting we do this in case something happens to one of us, and then there's no haggle about the vehicles.
Then we looked around in Rona to see what they had for good mesh for the catio that's been sitting beside the house for two years. We bought it second hand with the intention of changing the cheap plastic screen that wouldn't really hold a cat to something more durable, and it never happened. I don't know if it will be finished before the snow flies or not, but I'm trying.
We didn't even buy the mesh, as my husband wanted a roll that was a certain width, and he wants to "look around". Sigh.
We did buy a nice mirrored cabinet to go over the sink in the bathroom in the basement.
Then we got burritos. I like eating at this place because it's one of those deals where you pick your toppings, so I can just not have rice on it at all, and can put different veggies on it. It works with my sugar issues AND being vegetarian, and my Sweetie can have whatever he wants.
Afterwards, he took the truck to get a rock chip in the windshield fixed, and I went to the thrift store.
I did find some nice things today, though I still find it hard to believe that they want those prices for things that were donated. I took a risk on a nice pair of jeans that turned out to fit really well when I got them home to try on. It was an okay price since they fit, and it would have sucked if they didn't.
He got home before I did, and let everyone out. I usually let everyone out for about an hour. After that I worked with Wonder and Dandy, and they did well with staying with me today. I work them as a pair, so they are both walking with me at Liberty.
I'm glad, after all these years, to find something I can do with Wonder. I don't ride her because she's VERY hot and flighty, but Liberty is something I can do with her while I'm on the ground. She's always been a very sweet mare who loves to snuggle, and I like spending time with her, so this gives us something where we might have some fun and she gets some mental stimulation.
Then we watched an episode of "Justified".
The country of Lesotho is an enclave, meaning it remained independent of South Africa in spite of being entirely within it. It is the largest enclave in the world.
"The Sotho ethnic group (also known as Basotho), from which the country derives its name, composes 99.7% of the country's current population, making it one of the most ethnically homogenous in the world. Their native language, Sesotho, is the official language along with English. The name Lesotho translates to "land of the Sesotho speakers".[11][12]
Lesotho was formed in 1824 by King Moshoeshoe I. Continuous encroachments by Dutch settlers made the King enter into an agreement with the British Empire to become a protectorate in 1868 and, in 1884, a crown colony. It achieved independence in 1966, and was subsequently ruled by the Basotho National Party (BNP) for two decades. Its constitutional government was restored in 1993 after seven years of military rule. King Moshoeshoe II was exiled in 1990 but returned in 1992 and was reinstated in 1995. One year later, Moshoeshoe II died and his son Letsie III took the throne, which he still holds.[8]"
Lesotho has a constitutional monarchy, where there is indeed a monarch, but that monarch is making decisions within the framework of a constitution with a parliament of elected members.
It has about two million people, and about half of those people live below the poverty line (I'm not sure what that is, probably on something like less than two dollars a day). There are high rates of HIV/AIDs as well. In contrast, it has a decent school system and high rates of literacy.
I'm not sure I've got the idea correctly, but Lesotho was almost annexed from South Africa in efforts to control the border and try to slow the spread of HIV/AIDS within Lesotho (or was it to keep it from spreading within South Africa?). I am not sure I have that right. The infection rate is very high, nearly 25% of the (very young because so many adults have already died) population.
Lesotho has an interesting dual legal system made up of traditional laws of the Bathoso people meant for governing them, as well a "general law system" developed from Roman Dutch law. That must be a nightmare.
Lesotho is entirely above 1000 meters elevation, thus cooler, land locked, and has some mountains, some plateaus, and while it has arable land it is vulnerable to erosion. The plants and animals are adapted to the alpine climate.
As I mentioned, many people here are still impoverished, and there is food insecurity, and issues most of us never have to consider, like women and girls being raped/assaulted often as they have to walk to get water for their families.
Lesotho isn't too great in terms of human development (higher education, hospitals, etc.) and it has a very high rate of rape, and very low in terms of women's rights in general, and within marriages.
The economy is still largely based on agriculture and livestock, often on a subsistence level, some mining (diamonds) and manufacturing (It has become the largest exporter of garments to the US from sub-Saharan Africa.[53] US brands and retailers sourcing from Lesotho include Foot Locker, Gap, Gloria Vanderbilt, JCPenney, Levi Strauss, Saks, Sears, Timberland and Wal-Mart.[54]) , and also the remittances of workers from Lesotho sending money home to family.
Having both water and elevation, there is some development of hydroelectricity.
https://youtu.be/dgPLD_XzggY?si=fsTg7TXr0shHbraQ
no subject
Date: 2024-08-16 07:10 pm (UTC)It's lovely that you found a way to bond with Wonder. And super lovely about The Burrito Place!!
no subject
Date: 2024-08-16 10:47 pm (UTC)He drives that car to the city and back every day for work, over 200 km a day, and lots of city driving. He's so crazy lucky no one pulled him over.