1. The showers don't have taps; a heating unit is plumbed in, you turn the dial to the desired temperature and simply press a button. No sudden gush of icy water as you stand as far away from the shower head as possible, waiting a minute or two while the hot water courses through the pipes in the roof. A civilised interval allows you to press the button, get into the cubicle and await a steady flow of warm water. After a fairly lengthy shower (the pressure is not high), you press the button and it stops. Now I may be a complete plumbing pleb and this shower system may be freely available back home, but if I thought there was even a tiny chance of it working, I would bring one back in my suitcase. I still have 15kg of luggage allowance available. But the problem is you need electricity for it to work. With Eskom unable to guarantee a regular supply and no prospect of firing all of the current incumbents, we would be better off filling a plastic bag with hot water heated in the sun and punching holes in it.
2. Tesco's (!?) has a gadget that allows you to scan in the price of every item you buy as though it were passing through the till. You know exactly how much you have spent, pack it straight into your carrier bags that you remembered to bring with you, and then proceed to the self-service checkout. The screen machine asks whether you were able to scan everything and if not, a very efficient and polite lady is at your elbow to rectify it. You then put in your card, pay and leave. Honesty is a given. I ask you, with tears in my eyes, whether you can even imagine such a system in Pick n Pay (hysterical laughter in background)?
I'm sure the novelty will pass...
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