FLAKES: A heavy load

I arrived at my rented accommodation in a foreign land and was wise enough to greet my neighbour. She immediately informed me that, “Please note that load shedding will begin in 20 minutes.”

I wondered what she meant by this. Could our neighbourhood be engaging in some sort of synchronised slimming exercise?

She observed my confusion and explained that an electricity-rationing effort was in force whereby each suburb remained without electricity at strictly specified periods each week. Our suburb was scheduled to be without power from 8 to 10pm for three weekdays.

Since it was a wintry evening and I was hungry, dirty and tired, my prioritisation gear immediately kicked into force.

What was the biggest necessity to secure in the next 18 minutes – heat, light, hot water or hot food? Quick as a flash I put the kettle to boil and all the cooker burners to full heat.

I then went back to the friendly neighbour and begged a source of light; she gave me a candle and a box of matches. By the time the power went off, on schedule, I had a lukewarm snack, half a bucket of hot water and a burning candle that refused to stand on its own.

MOTHER OF INVENTION?

They say that necessity is the mother of invention and I soon discovered that you can convert an empty yoghurt tub into an effective candle stand (and no, it is not just a matter of pouring hot wax into the tub and standing the candle in it.)

Despite the load shedding I was able to climb into bed clean, fed and relatively warm. However, as you can imagine, this experience focused my mind on loads.

Loads are burdens that are placed upon us and that are difficult, or at least uncomfortable, to carry.

Whenever I complained about a burden in my youth my mother repeated the traditional saying that, “Every elephant must carry its own tusks.” I would have liked to argue that I was neither an elephant nor did I possess tusks. (Okay my brother and sisters teased me about having teeth that are shaped like fangs, but they did not by any means protrude to the extent of being described as tusks!)

However, I am sure that my defense would have fallen on deaf ears, so I went ahead and bore the load of the day.

But loads continue to haunt me. I am sure that you have shared that experience on a busy Saturday morning when you are in a hurry and desperately searching for that rare parking slot. Just then you spot an opening and step on the accelerator to rush there before some other wise guy sees the opportunity – only to find that irritating little sign that says “Loading Zone. No Parking.”

LEGITIMATE SLOT BECOMES AVAILABLE

In the meantime, of course, a legitimate slot becomes available and the guy you were viciously denying the Loading Zone gets it! And the elephant, tusks and all, becomes psychologically burdened!

And what about those lorries that tie a little red flag onto some object that is protruding from the back of the truck, or worse still those that are marked “wide load” to indicate that they are taking up more space than they would normally be allowed.

If you have ever been perched on the edge of a shared seat in a public service vehicle then you are probably of the opinion that some human beings should also be labelled “wide load” to warn their companions to keep their distance or get knocked out of the way.

Load balancing is a concept in computer science where the workload is equitably shared among computers so that no one computer is overwhelmed with work.

I guess many people would like to see load balancing applied in their workplaces. You can also try load balancing by sharing your shopping between your right and left hands (yes, the other hand is not just a spare in case of accident!) to avoid forming your spine into a question mark. Or maybe you solve that one by just letting your spouse carry the whole lot!

However, if you are heavily burdened this weekend, try load shedding by reading the Bible verse Matthew 11:28-30.