Assimilation – fearing the defeat of the Self

The topic of assimilation had come up a few times over the last week. Or perhaps it only came up once, but because I was daydreaming about today’s post, I applied it to all scenarios in my mind’s eye.

Which may in fact not be in my eye at all.

You need to be a Trekkie to appreciate that.

I have been told before that memory is pliable. Each time you recall a memory, it travels down a certain path to your consciousness, you recall a certain scene, and it travels back to the filing cabinet along a different path. Each time this happens, it changes slightly. For example, you may recall the colour of your childhood neighbour’s cat being ginger. But when you dig out the photos, it is actually a tabby cat.

The cynic in me thinks it may also have to do with your Garfield obsession at the time, “painting” your observations to change perception into so called fact.

It just goes to show, just how personal your perceptions are, and hence, your recall of “the facts”.

I recall the quote that is serving as today’s inspiration, as

“We will add your distinctive uniqueness to our own”.

It is irony defined. We are unique, and therefore must be assimilated into the collective.

I like being the odd one out (Thank you for noting that on Thursday NU). I believe that taking a different angle, makes sure that the collective is well rounded, and at least considered different options available before committing on a course of action.

And by adding my different angle to the collective, I become the collective. I change just as much as the collective changes. Which means I am not so different after all, does it not?

Last week, I commented on the importance to retain Your Self. No, it is not a typo, I did mean the person who is the self, and not yourself.

When we are assimilated into a society, or a new future, it may be a little jarring, or uncertain, or even downright scary. But the more things change, the more they stay the same.

It was at the farewell event of a remarkable woman of courage and inspiration, that it dawned on me. We join a firm, we learn, we grow, and of course, we change. And being the pack animals that we are, we are assimilated. If it ended there, it would have been a pretty boring story. A one-dimensional result. But, when we take our experience elsewhere, we extricate ourselves from a particular subset of the collective. And we have the opportunity to become assimilators. We must surely take the best of our past pack and influence the new environment. Our uniqueness can and must add value to the collective, which in this case, is the Namibian economy.

Each person at that event, had their unique strong bond with their own timeline linked to a strong collection of experience. Like a maze. There are many different exits and entrances, and some paths do not even cross, but if you stand back, you can see that each path is vital to making the whole maze work.

Some of the previously assimilated individuals had sparked off into a different direction, to take the seeds of success to another part of our environment, while others remained, to make sure the origin remains intact.

And here the diverging tributaries of uniqueness, come together again to form a deluge of —–? That depends on all of us. And how we tolerate individuals like the Fishrot 6.

I will use my uniqueness, if I can, to block, temper, influence, assuage, mitigate, and otherwise optimistically brace our economy, our collective. For it to work, I need you to do the same.

PS – the Borg actually said:

“We will add your biological and technological distinctiveness to our own. Your culture will adapt to service us. Resistance is futile.”

And the optimist in me, must report that there was one Borg called Locutus, which shows that even the collective, needs individuals. For the non-Trekkies, The Borg are cybernetic organisms linked to a hive mind. There are individual parts, but no individuals, hence no one Borg unit with its own name. And in spite of their “uniformness”, they saw a need to assimilate, yet retain one individual. What happens after that, is whole different movie, for another day.

Live long and prosper, my fellow homo sapiens.

Where goats do roam

Today’s story is a story about a goat.

Part of the reason: it is too hot to be doing anything outside. So, I shall craft the life story of one Ziggy, son of Kruispad Cecil and Ewe X, brother to Cecil X.

The other part is that a friend of a friend reached out to me. She heard I had bravely swopped the world of financial management for full time farming and wanted goating advice. Well, my advice takes the form of much of my blog – experimental outcomes. And, I still have my day job.

The three Boerbok sons were born on 28 August 2020. Cecil X sometime during the night before, Ziggy in the exceedingly early morning hours, and last born at around 7am.

To appreciate our great excitement, you must understand that we had only taken ownership of these goats a mere 5 (plus a bit) months before.

Cecil X comes with papers, and was my xth (….) birthday gift.

Kruispad Cecil arrives at DBP

DeMille (his first lady friend) arrived 3 days later, and Little Millertjie 4 months later. You may be able to work it out, but Millertjie has not yet. We have not told her that Cecil is not her dad.

Here is a hint to the naming convention of this first family pack – You win a prize if you figure it out. The prize is, yep, you guessed, goat pie.

We have been told that goats often abandon their babies. Well, in the case of our goats, I think you will find it hard to find better mothers. Mommy number 1 was very protective and watched us very carefully as we bottle fed her middle kid. Unfortunately, last born did not make it. Mommy’s milk factory had only one outlet, and we did not know enough then, to take charge sooner.

The first triplets

Things went well, and we relocated the family to the stone kraal, for safe keeping. Mom was fed with feed, and delicacies such as Camel Thorn pods and Soutbos (one of the few tree names that translates correctly directly “saltbush”).

Soutbos (Full name: Oumansoutbos, or Atriplex Nummularia) is a firm favourite with Cattle (Daisy comes to fetch hers), sheep and goats. Of course, also with Kudu, who spend a few minutes on it, before tackling my butternut! It is a drought resistant plant and does very well on the run-off from the kitchen sink.

Ziggy’s first feed was about 300ml of box milk, with an egg. The egg is important as that first milk from mommy (called Colostrum, or colloquially – beestings) has critical starting nutrients for baby. Google says it can be frozen, but what did we know at the time.

Mr Delivery at DBP

You can continue using box milk, it is just awfully expensive. We bought some powered cow milk, and Ziggy loves it. The trick is less volume, more often. Apparently 10% of body weight, maybe 4 or 5 times a day. But they will let you know when they are hungry!

Ziggy and Cecil X at 2 weeks old

Ziggy’s progress was terribly slow. His brother, Cecil X, flourished, and while mommy was very attentive, she simply could not produce enough milk for both. More ewes delivered their kids, and it was becoming crowded in the pen. I use the word loosely. The kraal is large. But why I say crowded, I do believe that someone stepped on Ziggy, because two weekends later, he was dragging his feet, and not jumping around like the other kids. I was very worried.

Brother from another mother

We tried all manner of injections, from Swamycin (local equivalent of Terramycin). We tried an injection (which only the State Vet can prescribe, and there is only one such State Vet in Windhoek, who does not necessarily work on a Friday).

Lucky for Uncle Willem. I found him on Facebook. Or rather, he found my cries for advice on the Internet, and now I am part of the WhatsApp group that only deals with goat problems. It is highly informative, but I worry about what we are going to do if Uncle Willem is not around. If only I had the skills and attention to detail, to document each of his carefully considered symptom analysis questions, related advice, and final outcomes, I could write an app that could stand in for Uncle Willem. UW for President!

Yes, Disprin (although only ¼ Blue Disprin) is good for pain relief for Ziggy. And the only other advice was to be patient. If indeed it was an injury by a dominant other mother, it needed time to heal.

Ziggy at one month old

We eventually moved Ziggy closer to home, and now, we have our very own Jack Russel.

Our very own Jack Russel 😉 3 months old here.

He is now one week short of 3 months old. Becoming as handsome as his father. And I dare say, his legs will catch up with his brother’s soon enough, although his horns seem to be taking it slow.

Abbie, I am dying to hear how your goat start up is doing. Let us know!

Now, I shall take a dip in our water storage system. Good and productive week all!

Why would an aspirant farmer write about Uncanny Valley?

I do need to point out, in case you are not familiar with the term like I was until last week, that this does not mean it is a secret place on the farm, that looks eerily like another place like Table Mountain or some such.

Uncanny: strange or mysterious, especially in an unsettling way

Sci-Fi desert was taken from Dune 7, and modified (obviously…). It was only when I printed my picture, that I saw there was a car approaching from town.

The uncanny valley is a concept introduced in the 1970s by Masahiro Mori, a professor at the Tokyo Institute of Technology.

(No Herlode, not masehari )

https://spectrum.ieee.org/automaton/robotics/humanoids/what-is-the-uncanny-valley

Uncanny valley is a concept that describes how robots, as they become more humanlike, become more appealing – but only up to a certain point.

Masahiro Mori

As described in the book “Artificial Intelligence for Beginners “by Travis Goleman, it is a lot like Botox.

https://www.amazon.com/Artificial-Intelligence-Beginners-Techniques-Algorithms/dp/1090673191 . I must declare, I have succumbed to technology, I listen to Audible books on the drive into town…

Back to the Botox analogy. People of all persuasions use Botox to paint a picture of vitality that they feel rather than look; or want to portray eternal youth despite evidence of well-earned experience.

Yet, when someone uses it too much, they shift their very humanity just a bit too much, and we, the casual observers, become a little unsettled by the appearance of something that is almost like, but not quite real.

(Apologies Travis, I am paraphrasing somewhat).

And that is the point I want to bring across today. I chose the topic of AI because I want to know. Not because I want to pretend to be an expert on it. It would be unsettling, if I had to launch into why exactly companies need a Chief IA officer (although it is something my gut tells me).

We need to future proof ourselves. It does not necessarily need to involve becoming cyborgs. Although I must agree with Elon Musk. The way we are “joined at the hip” with our smart phones, we have essentially become people extended by technology.

It does involve having no choice, but to learn what it means to operate in today’s world, and to use the automation available to us.

What it must necessarily involve, is staying true to yourself. Yes, stretch a bit, grow a bit every day. But never lose that essential elemental YOU. By hook or by crook, bend, and mould, but the core of you must remain as the part that extends into unknown reaches of the universe or the self.

People become uncomfortable when the lines are blurred too much. If something pretends to be real but is really just a little off. To be or not to be. To be real, is to be credible. Or is it, to be credible, is to be real?

Oh my goodness, I am waxing lyrical, it must be the green tea that had gone straight to my head.

Ethos – That is what it is for today.

Philosophical musings on a Saturday afternoon – wisdoms from Aristotle

(Cue the eerie alien music and fade the credits…..)

Eau-de-Vie: Inherent risks in an inherited water distribution network

Water of life.

Now if that title does not cause a blip of interest in your alpha & beta waves, then I am going to have to revert to shock tactics.

Like talking about the principles of doing the right thing because it is the right thing to do, with less subtle nuances referring to the state of ethics and tone at the top. In various real-life examples.

But for today, I am going to continue the theme of Wednesday’s greenfield promises. Yes, I was known for being able to raise a single chilli off a purchased ready-made pot plant. It was dire, and the tannin levels of all plants elevated when I entered the nursery. Now, I seem to be on my way to some measure of success, and today, I will explore water, as being what I now know was my fatal “subtraction”.

We have three options on the farm. Two of the three came with the farm, and still causes some consternation when we try and figure out where what goes.

Johannes accidentally found the pipe network, when he laid out my maze.

I will start with the most important point. The start.

The water comes from a reliable place underground, via a sun pump. The pump has a generator back up, for days that the sun may not be fully present. (Yes, that does happen maybe 2 times a year, here in the semi-arid country of Namibia).

What lies beneath

The water then has a choice. Kind off. The choice is to run up to the reservoir near camp 2 (about 2.8km), or to fill the tank.

DBP water storage

The tank feeds the house, and a selection of taps throughout the garden.

Once the tank is full, it feeds the dam, in which I have started my future experiment. Tilapia hydroponics.

Tilapia breeding stock

Out of the dam, it goes into various pipes in the garden.

The plumbing

It is important to know, because, like Isaac Asimov’s three laws for robots:

  1. A robot may not injure a human being, or through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.
    1. The people in the house get water first. And if there is no water, no one else gets.
  2. A robot must obey orders given it by human beings except when such orders would conflict with the First Law.
    1. Animals get water second, but if there is no water, revert to rule 1.
  3. A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Laws.
    1. The veges and garden can have as much water as it needs, provided 1 & 2 are met.

We have three ways of distribution:

Good old-fashioned flood irrigation.

It is not the most water effective method. Statistics say that as much as 90% of the water used through flood irrigation, is wasted as run off.

They also say, 75% of statistics are made up on the spot. 😉

 Most of the trees in our garden are watered in this manner, and I guess that works well, because their roots go deep.

This method is prettily demonstrated by the Rundu mielies over here.

These mielies may think they are on the banks of the Kavango river

This least water wise method is fed by law number 3. Whatever water is left for distribution.

Hosepipe & spray.

Somewhat less waste, but troublesome to get right if the wind is playing its games, and the sun is beating down.

I have chosen the ground nuts as the lucky recipients to demonstrate this method.

Its raining, its pouring, the old man is snoring

BUT the hosepipe run off the taps, and the taps are fed by the tank. And the tank is subject to rule 1 and 2. So timing is important.

We have forgotten to close taps before, and have suffered the consequence of a dry house.

Drip irrigation

The new way. Thanks to some much-valued input from a dear friend (who played rugby for Griquas) (how is that for subtle name dropping).

The weight of the water in the dam is not quite enough to provide pressure for adequate water flow, but we are working on that.

I think these wild rockets are the first candidates for commercial distribution.

A drop drip caught in mid air

And what I thought was going to be a few words on water, for those of you who are starting afresh, turned out to be quite a long article.

I’m thinking that later this week, I want to explore the concept of “Uncanny valley”. From green thumbs, to AI…..

It is possible to grow green thumbs

I’m going to paraphrase the lyrics by Terry Jacks, “we had joy, we had fun, we had seasons in the sun” as a jingle along the lines of “we had sweat, we had hard physical labour, we had so so seasonal success in the sun”.

I’ve discovered the most essential component to gardening – water regularly.

Here is the first progress report on the vegetable tunnel.

Take notes, and please, give notes too.

First, the construction:

We could have purchased more or less the same structure for about three times the price the materials cost we eventually paid.

Of course, we have Basie, who is an avid welder, and we have Johannes, who is a very neat “stitcher”.

Quality control

I must also share with you, an alternate structure, which good friends of ours have made. Less welding required, as the plastic water pipe is slipped over planted poles, and creates a robust skeleton. Note the critter control on this one!

Pipe dreams

Tip number 1: It is never big enough.

Basie said, the minute we finished the structure, I was going to ask for more space…… And yes, my tunnel is nearly fully planted, and I have not yet experimented with all the seeds.

Tip number 1b: Critter control

Dig your 2nd layer of defence (chicken mesh) at least 20cm deep, fortified by stone found on the farm (neatly dressed by an anonymous stone mason at some point in the history of the farm). Spring hares, meerkat and squirrels are just few of the cute little vegetable thieves that abound.

Critter Control x 2

We opted for 40% shade net. For mitigating sun damage; and defending pest control.

Tip number 2: Plan your seed purchases

The scene in the seed shop was reminiscent of a shark feeding frenzy. I purchased what I could lay my hands on, with no rhyme nor reason. (Why did I buy a big bag of sunflower seeds again?)

Seed capital

It is quite tough to work out what companion planting combinations to use, but I found that roughly, if you would eat the veges together, it probably works well for companion planting. Like Tomatoes and Basil. Or Peppers and Brinjals.

And cabbage and Broccoli are perhaps good for your eye sight, but the ground after a harvest cannot accommodate other planting for at least 2 years.

Tip number 3: smaller and more seed trays.

I thought I was being clever with these large trays. And it could have worked, if I used them for seeding veges that grow at the same rate. It makes replanting a whole lot easier.

3 September vs 27 September

I did also try a sample of direct planting, without the seed tray phase. No definitive outcome there yet.

20 Sept vs 8 Nov

Tip number 4: protect the small guys

We have this planting station near the kitchen door, which is good for remembering regular watering. And it is good to sun bake the earth for the sprouts to well, sprout. But the minute they start sprouting, get them protected. If it is not the sun that withers your micro herbs into dried herbs, then it will that one last snap of cold, as was the case with these Japanese Mustard offspring.

Less Success

Tip number 5: I see a bad moon arising

Legend has it, that you should plant above ground veges in a waxing moon, and below ground veges in a waning moon. It should be an interesting comparison of the 1st seedling trays which I took care to sow in a waxing moon, to the next batch of seedlings, where I was too impatient to wait.

Of all the veges I have tried, the rocket and ground nuts seem to do the best.

I may even harvest some oriental fingerling brinjals, and black beauty brinjals.

Parsley is soo slow. The Chamomile seems to be very fragile. Peppers and Chillies seem to be ready to take off.

I hope to exceed the “accidental vege patch” success, with the properly planned vege tunnel, and report back on the proceeds of my harvest sale within the next 3 months.

  • The infamous teepee, Rundu mielies, beets (which I have purposely let go to seed, and Sjelda’s onion gifts.
  • Butternut promises
  • Shop mielies, and carrots
  • Ground nut (otherwise known as peanuts) progress
Portent – a sign that a momentous event is likely to happen