There is a well-known curse: "May you live in interesting times". (It’s not actually Chinese.)
Enjoy boredom
We’ve all complained about the drudgery of our routines. We describe our lives as "same old, same old". We work, we do chores, we eat, we sleep. Rinse and repeat.
If nothing else, the Covid pandemic proved that interesting times can be a curse. Life was unpredictable, and we hated that. The current global economic uncertainty is another example of interesting times. And again, we are not enjoying it.
So if you can accurately predict the future about anything, you should enjoy it. Right?
My predictions
Well, maybe not. If you’ve read my posts for a while, you know that I sometimes need to rant about government software. Often that rant is devoted to the SARS e@syfile system.
This year the updated e@syfile system has a new look. It’s the first front-end upgrade in more years than I can remember. I made 3 predictions about the system:
- There will be a system problem that prevents me processing my data.
- The SARS call centre will not be able to help me. They will need to escalate the problem to the technical team.
- The turn-around time for the escalation is 21 working days. I will point out that this means I won’t get an answer before the deadline. The SARS consultant will tell me that I can ask for any penalty to be reversed.
And … wait for it … all my predictions came true! The only prediction I got wrong: the update did not want to install an older version of Java.
But this year I was calmer than usual. So maybe predictability does have benefits. Or I was exhausted after I had to log onto the Compensation Commissioner system 17 times to submit a simple return. And next week I must face the CIPC system.
Your predictions
If you predicted I would need chocolate before I tackled these systems, your prediction was 100% accurate! And caramel, lots of caramel.
Kittens and robots
Last year I had a similar rant. I suggested that photos of kittens might help.
I tried to think of a better solution this year. I watched the video of a humanoid robot apparently attacking two factory workers. Then I watched the video of humanoid robots on show at the 2025 ZGC Forum.
I still have no solution, but I have two unanswered questions:
- Why does the female robot have eyeliner, but the male robot have spectacles?
- Why are there no kitten robots?
A kitten robot won’t fix e@syfile, but it would make me feel better. If you have any solutions – or ideas for kitten robots – please share them.