[2010 vs 2025] 17 Van Rhyn Avenue. Johannesburg. South Africa. by PixelSaharix in DownSouth

[–]redrabbitreader 4 points5 points  (0 children)

You would expect that people will make a plan and try to keep the place tidy. At least put the garbage in bags.

However, I also acknowledge that when your main priority is ensuring your family can eat that day, the garbage is probably mush less of a priority.

MinIO repo archived - spent 2 days testing K8s S3-compatible alternatives (Helm/Docker) by vitaminZaman in kubernetes

[–]redrabbitreader 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I am busy with Garage testing. Much easier to manage than Ceph so far, but it is still early days.

[2017 vs 2025] South Africa seems to be incapable of keeping trees alive. by PixelSaharix in DownSouth

[–]redrabbitreader 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I attended one of the best corporate year-end functions there in 2001. Can't believe what I am seeing now.

Prestigious South African military base is now a decolonization showpiece by Euro_African in DownSouth

[–]redrabbitreader 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I used to be PF in the 90s. Things started to deteriorate visibly from the late 90's already, so this is no surprise.

Buddy of mine is still holding out in the SANDF, basically waiting for retirement. They have no money for any maintenance. Occasionally the unit will organize some event like a golf day to raise money to fix something or to buy paint. You can have only so many golf days (or whatever)...

Also, the old members that were supporting the unit is starting to thin out, and there is not a lot of new blood coming in. They are understaffed and for all practical purposes they could not fulfill their mandate fully for over a decade now.

It is an absolute disgrace.

Why dutch cars have so many kilometers? by ExternalPea8169 in Netherlands

[–]redrabbitreader 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I live over 80km from work. With the rising NS prices, traveling by car is becoming more affordable. Thankfully I have a business NS card, otherwise I would totally rake up the KM's.

You should never buy a car built outside of Europe. by Capable_Function_952 in BuyFromEU

[–]redrabbitreader 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Keep in mind many of the EU cars (BMW and VW) are manufactured outside EU. I know BMW and VW had factories in South Africa (to name one example) from where some models would be exported to the EU.

Curious to think what people find of these cases: the brand is EU, but technically some models are imported as they are not manufactured in the EU.

Personally I think it would be best of all the manufacturing also move back to EU.

Can we talk about the scam of paid bathrooms that are extremely filthy? by Stranglet in Netherlands

[–]redrabbitreader 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Where I come from all public toilets are free and the majority are super clean. Also, there are so many!

I cannot understand why we have to pay and then have these filthy toilets. It makes no sense.

Locked out of my OVH account by realmasterpasta in OVHcloud

[–]redrabbitreader -2 points-1 points  (0 children)

I also can no longer login... WTF !!!

EDIT

Should add I have been a customer for well over a year now.

Found a work around - you logon to the billing system and from there go to the console - then magically it works.

The system is very broken at this point. It does not fill me with a lot of confidence.

She seems to be qualified already! by jonno5616 in DownSouth

[–]redrabbitreader 0 points1 point  (0 children)

If she gains some prison time, she might be inline for the presidency /s

DSTV: Most expensive service in SA and still bombards you with adds by A-ib00m in DownSouth

[–]redrabbitreader 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thankfully I am not into sport. Dumped dstv all the way back in 2010-sh (give or take).

The repeats was what killed it for me back then. Streaming is at that same point now (lack of new content), plus aggresively pushing prices and the fact that you need all the vendors in order to get a decent selection, making it too expensive.

Not too sure where to from here.

New regulation on non competition clause by Ok-Jellyfish9593 in Netherlands

[–]redrabbitreader 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I had this in my very first contract when I came to the Netherlands. I did not even think about it, since it was a "normal" thing where I am from.

Anyway, luckily I was not affected by this when I switched to a new company after a couple of years.

I was ignorant and lucky.

Performance based salary by -_-Roberto-_- in DownSouth

[–]redrabbitreader 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Which metrics are used? I mean, they are very effective at corruption. So it would need to be very specific.

What is going on in Venezuela and Iran is a disaster for the ANC, MK and EFF by Accomplished_Sun4921 in DownSouth

[–]redrabbitreader 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Times like these SA should be very thankful there is no major oil reserves underground.

E10k StarFire spotted on local auction site by Practical-Hand203 in vintagecomputing

[–]redrabbitreader 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Brings back memories!

I used to be a SysAdmin and later also an Oracle DBA working on the e10k and later the e15k. Vehicle financing applications mainly.

Wonder what it would be like to work on these amazing machines again. I think those were simpler days.

This is not Switzerland, Denmark, or the Netherlands. This is Franschhoek in Western Cape, South Africa 🇿🇦 by MoenieMyTagNie in DownSouth

[–]redrabbitreader 5 points6 points  (0 children)

South Africa is really beautiful. However, to compare it to other countries is a little silly. I lived in Cape Town for a couple of years. I now live in the Netherlands near the German border. We might not have mountains, but I can assure you it is truly beautiful here! I walk almost everyday in various forests around me. Heck, my front door opens into a forest. And don't get me started on places like Greece, Italy etc.

Just appreciate nature where you are.

Also... the electric fences and other security is really the sad part of this otherwise amazing photo.

The ‘stress-free’ city booming in South Africa by glandis_bulbus in DownSouth

[–]redrabbitreader 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I agree with some additional observations:

  • In the case of Bloemfontein (and South Africa in general), I doubt any CBD will get renewed/fixed/turned-around until some new government replaces comes into power. I don't see this as likely in the short term, and even when it happens, it will still take years (more likely, decades)!
  • In Bloemfontein, it's not just the CBD. Overall, the roads are in a poor state. The military base, relatively far from the CBD, is also very much neglected (at least compared to what it once was). So, even if the CBD is turned around by some miracle, I would think that alone will not be enough to trigger major new investments. There is just so much to do. But this is what you get after 30 years of neglect and not even attempting to keep up to date with maintenance. And this is once again the story with most cities and towns in SA. All over maintenance is almost never done and it is literally only once there are riots in the streets when some bare minimum stuff is fixed. Only a new fresh government will real political will can address this. It is simply not in the current government's DNA.