Category Archives: History

Review: 2021

Posted on Saturday, 25. December 2021 by hmvh

Although the year 2021 isn’t quite over yet, we may as well write it off now. In all honesty, sometimes I’m not sure what even happened this year because I was cooped up for most of it. I felt disconnected, as if my head was stuck in sand for most of the year — but some noteworthy events did take place after all. Continue reading →

Posted in History | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Revision: 2020

Posted on Saturday, 2. January 2021 by hmvh

2020 was a year of infamy. It will probably go down as the year of SARS-CoV-2 but sorry, we’re still in the middle of the very same pandemic. We still have a stretch to go. Continue reading →

Posted in History | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Civil unrest may be the second wave

Posted on Thursday, 25. June 2020 by hmvh

The coronavirus crisis is far from over. I have returned to working from home after a symbolic three-week stint at the company office. This should be “the new normal”. Continue reading →

Posted in History | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

A few thoughts on the current coronavirus crisis

Posted on Friday, 10. April 2020 by hmvh

Here’s to another day of “social distancing” and “home office”. This is my fourth week of “lockdown”. City streets are deserted, roads are empty. Nature is taking a breather. My dining table has become my temporary office desk (I need the space for the monitors). This may become the “new normal”. While I’m no stranger to “remote working” and some of the luxuries it affords on account of my job functions I still think this ain’t right. Continue reading →

Posted in History | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Review: 2019

Posted on Wednesday, 1. January 2020 by hmvh

2019 was a year full of anniversaries, astronomical achievements, cataclysmic failures and other maladies on a global scale disrupted by brief glimmers of hope for humanity. Let’s recap, shall we? Continue reading →

Posted in History | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

The fall of walls

Posted on Saturday, 9. November 2019 by hmvh

It was thirty years ago today that the Berlin Wall fell. The Iron Curtain had been breached, the Eastern Bloc was beginning to crumble. This most cruel of social experiments had finally run its course. A peaceful revolution was under way, and there was no stopping this tide from turning. The world was evolving. Even in a country as far away as South Africa, the developments made headlines. Continue reading →

Posted in History | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Review: 2018

Posted on Monday, 24. December 2018 by hmvh

As 2018 nears its end, it’s time to reflect on a year that isn’t particularly memorable. Thanos snapped his fingers. Courage, our Jack Russell terrier died. Continue reading →

Posted in History | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Review: 2017

Posted on Monday, 25. December 2017 by hmvh

It’s Christmas. 2017 is almost history, and what a busy year it’s been! I quit an unsatisfying job and took a minor sabbatical. A lot of old stuff was deleted, sold, thrown out, or upgraded. December’s me is certainly not the same as the one in January. 2017 was the year in which humanity manoeuvred itself into a situation where our lives depend on the wisdom of Kim Jong-un and Donald Trump. Continue reading →

Posted in History | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment