Wed 27 Aug: Well, on Saturday at about 5pm the water went off.  So these things happen, for about half a day. Sunday early morning, oh good heavens – still no water worth speaking of, just an occasional trickle, while it poured with rain outside, and I became convinced we had a leak or else our water tank was kaput. And it was freezing. And it poured. And the temperature plummeted even more. No showers, no baths, and teeth-cleaning was rinsed with Listerine. Thinking sensibly went out the window, metaphorically, although a half-way sensible blog was written.  Sue and I sit and ignore each other. On Monday at 7.15am as soon as it was properly light, I inspected the pipes then the hatch to the tank in the roof etc etc. At 7.30am I arrived at campus Housekeeping Services. A perfectly groomed sweet-spelling woman told grubby disheveled me with my hair on end that the whole of Grahamstown was without water. Groan. A cold miserable Monday at Cory. We arrived having forgotten plugs, USB backup sticks, snacks, you name it. And still no water, so ladling water with a jug from a bucket in order to pee (thank goodness for hand-wipes). I didn’t think all day Monday, I just consumed letter after invoice after letter. Thankfully, Pick ‘N Pay had had a massive delivery of bottled water. And the local press stated there was to be no reconnection for a few days… Sue is sighing and grim, saying all the bottled water must go on a good wash; I sulk and throw a wobbler about washing up. Tuesday came and went; we were told lower-lying areas could line up to have external water tanks filled, but not much use of you don’t have such a thing. On Wednesday…

The photo? – the heroes of the hour!

Last updated: 27 August 2014