Thousand Year Flasher

This one's a technical post. An electronic circuit I designed. It is a LED flasher which will flash for one-thousand years off high-capacity AA batteries. At least, theoretically (the batteries are likely to corrode or degrade in time). But think on it: your descendants could enjoy the Thousand Year Flasher through many generations. OBSERVATION: One could solder the batteries to the circuit, and encapsulate it in plastic, for longevity.

Catering at the New Year

I took this photo a few years ago in wife E's parents' home. E is in the foreground. There are a number of things one may notice about this photo: the many children in the background, and the large amount of food being prepared in the foreground. There are many photo frames on the wall in the background, too -- about half of the photos taken by me. OBSERVATION: Once a year, about 20 family members descend on the small house of E's parents, to see in the New Year. They may stay for a week or two.

Improvement on the Valve?

Wife E and I woke up this morning to no water. The prepaid water meter showed ERROR 2. "It's the Council," said a neighbour. "They shut off our whole block last week." "It's the battery inside your prepaid meter," said an officer in the complex. "No," said another officer, "the prepaid meter transmits to an external unit. When that battery is flat, it's ERROR 2." They now hunted down the person with authority over the external unit. Interestingly, the external unit then connects to a Smart Utility Network -- powered by another battery -- which is grid-tied. This Smart Utility Network transmits to a Head-End System -- which is powered by the grid. The Head-End System is connected then to a Meter Data Management System -- which in turn connects to Grid Operators -- and so on. The repairman who replaced the battery said, "When I was young, you just turned a valve!"

New Link List

There is a new appearance on this blog, in the right-hand column. I have added a link list -- which finally propels my blog into the 21st century. This is with a view to placing Google ads on my blog -- if Google should give me the thumbs up -- in which case such link lists are recommended. I have applied to display the minimum number of ads. OBSERVATION: This would seem to make good sense, with my blog now receiving up to, and beyond, 100,000 views a week sometimes. (Viewership is not a steady line, but up and down like a yoyo).

Slides to Digital

Six years ago, I bought a device that digitises slides, negatives, and (laboriously) film. Facebook reminds me of this today. This is one of the first photos I transferred from slides to digital. My father took it in the Gilbert Islands -- probably the Southern Gilberts, in the mid-1960's. I was there on that day. OBSERVATION: My father took photos at the same time with Kodak and Agfa film -- perhaps, I have thought, not to take any chances. 60 years later, Agfa has survived in much better condition. This photo is Kodak.

Commissioning a Student

This one's just a pretty picture. It is the commissioning of a student at the end of his studies at the Baptist Seminary in Cape Town. He preached on the verse, "All things work together for good for those who love the Lord." You may click on the photo to enlarge.

A Wife's HIV

A pretty young wife came to see me. She was dressed in a summer frock. She said that, when she got married, she had gone for an HIV test. She was negative. But recently, she had discovered that her husband was unfaithful (which he was -- he confessed to me). At about the same time, she developed symptoms of AIDS. She went for another HIV test, and she tested positive. I said, “Are you sure it couldn’t be you?” She said, “I am sure. I love him. There has been no one else.” OBSERVATION: What a tragedy. I told her that God has a personal plan for her, and in His wisdom it is perfect. 

2 Million Page-Views

I see that my blog (web log) today passed 2 million page-views. In fact it is more than this, because I didn't start counting at the start. I don't know where it stands now, but according to Technorati it was once (maybe still is) South Africa's no. 1 Religion blog. OBSERVATION: At the moment, my blog is most read in the United States, Seychelles, Brazil, India, and Vietnam. My most popular post ever is one of my technical posts: on how to wind a metal detector coil (pictured).

Journal of Theology

I was pleased to learn this week that I have a paper forthcoming in the South African Baptist Journal of Theology -- titled Philosophical-Theological Reflection on the Political Engagement of the Church: No Fixed Ideal. I propose that Christian nationalism and (its mirror image) progressive Christian politics both work towards a fixed ideal, while God Himself does not. In God's eyes, evil may be for good, and good for evil. OBSERVATION: The paper was said to be groundbreaking -- although it was not accepted without revision -- I am told that my style is too informal. While I have written many articles on theology, this is only my third paper. 

Kinship Terms

I married into a Xhosa clan. One of the things that struck me early on was that they do not use the familiar English kinship terms. In the more traditional scheme of things, there seem to be no uncles, aunts, nephews, nieces. Brothers and sisters are not always what we call them in English. It seems to me that the more traditional kinship terms are these:

• mothers and fathers (the older generation)
• sons and daughters (the younger generation)
• brothers and sisters (the same generation), and
• brothers- and sisters-in-law

Brothers and sisters include those of the same household. Uncles and aunts may sometimes be distinguished by calling them "little" mothers and "little" fathers. I am not sure whether there is such a thing as "cousins". The photo shows (in English terms) a niece and a cousin of my wife's. In Xhosa kinship terms, a daughter and a sister. OBSERVATION: It is interesting that family members actually treat each other as they call each other.

POSTSCRIPT: I received the comment that similar kinship terms were in use in the Pacific, until Generation Y marked a shift to more English kinship terms.

Writing an Interesting Lecture

It is not hard to write a lecture. It is harder to write a good lecture. But to write an interesting lecture, for me, requires quite some effort and thought. Here is one technique that I use. I tell the class, or the congregation, or the group: here is the common or popular view (say, on what providence is), but this leaves out five things. Here's what it leaves out. Here's the next thing that it leaves out. Here's the next ... OBSERVATION: Usually the common or popular view will leave out several things.

Voice Of A ‘Husband’

In South Africa, there are very many single young mothers. An Education MEC (a provincial cabinet member) has said, "It is an alarming situation, and is unheard of." With this in mind, a minister may not seldom be the voice of a "husband" as it were, to those who are struggling to get through, alone -- whether it be with an infant or an older child or children. The minister is the man who can understand, be practical, be spiritual -- and be their champion when the need arises. Often there is no other such man in their lives. OBSERVATION: And it is a privilege to be that person. The challenges for single young mothers are great.

Causes of Death

Recently I got to thinking of the causes of unnatural death of people I have personally known. "Let me count the ways" ...

literally falling off a log, 

stabbing, 

execution by shooting, 

a hydrogen bomb, 

punching, 

throttling, 

getting eaten by a shark, 

poisoning, 

medical malpractice, 

euthanasia, 

gassing, 

drowning, 

crashing a hang-glider ... 

and I think of several more besides. OBSERVATION: Perhaps it is partly through ministry that I have so many examples. Maybe the most unusual here is death by hydrogen bomb. A woman I knew saw the flash of a hydrogen bomb, and it slowly killed her.

$1,000 a Line

Back in 2021, I sought permission to use two lines from the 1962 hit The End of the World in my forthcoming book. I was quoted $2,000, with $200 up front. I said to my managing editor that the cost was "breathtaking". "It's not cheap," he said. OBSERVATION: I thought of a good solution: say goodbye to two lines of my book. It wouldn't be the end of the world. 

Medical Dictionary

There is a gift that a churchgoer gave me -- in one of those moments that stands out in my mind. He handed me a small, fat medical dictionary -- a brick of a book -- brand new. After that, he committed suicide. I didn't know that this was a final gift. As he gave it to me, he said, "These are all the things that can go wrong with you." It listed, alphabetically, thousands and thousands of things. OBSERVATION: I have wondered whether the thought of these things burdened him. Or, perhaps, his own sufferings at that time? Is one meant to think of the snares that might lie in wait? And yet we all do to some extent: we are all health conscious.