Baby, It’s Cold Outside!

So snuggle up at home with your Vox Connectivity, and let the weather do its thing without you…

Winter in South Africa has officially arrived around the country (and if you don’t believe me, just ask our Vox Weather meteorologists). Or to put it another way: “Eish guys, it’s freezing!”

It’s raining, it’s pouring, it’s snowing, it’s windy and it’s just plain ‘NO MORE SUNNY SOUTH AFRICA!’ right now, almost everywhere.

So what’s a person to do in the quest to stay warm and dry and happy?

Here at Vox, we have some ideas.

Don’t Worry…

• Grab your warm clothes and layer up against the weather. Beanies / scarves / gloves / rain jackets / warm socks, anyone? And as for leg warmers, let’s just call them retro cool; I mean, they can’t be a fashion faux pas any more when Shein and Temu are both bringing them back…
• Grab a blanket! Grab two! Or a ‘shoulder blanket’, aka a shawl.
• Close the doors, windows, curtains and blinds when the sun’s gone down. Conversely, open those curtains to catch some winter rays on sunny days when you wake up, to let any outside heat stream into your home and slowly warm it up. It’s a simple practice that doesn’t cost anything but it can make a difference.
• Put on the heater or light the fire – but safely, please! – and never leave an open flame or fireplace unattended. If you have small children, be aware of any hazards to their safety.
• Speaking of retro items, remember hot water bottles? The trick, apparently, is to avoid completely filling your bottle – instead, leave a little room for the hot air to expand so it doesn’t get a pressure build-up and burst. And cover your bottle with a towel if it didn’t come with a cover, to help keep the heat in and also not burn your skin.
• And then there’s the non-water bottle – wheat bags that go into the microwave – which are also great for sprains or sore muscles as well as staying warmer. If you don’t have a wheat bag, you could make something similar by filling an old sock with rice, tying the opening closed, and heating up in the microwave for a short while. (Safety note: you probably shouldn’t do this in an air fryer 😊.)
• Finally, warm your insides with a nice hot beverage. What’s your preference: coffee, hot chocolate, tea, Rooibos or herbal tea? And of course, wrapping your cold fingers around the hot mug helps as well.

… Be Happy

Right, now that we’ve sorted out some tips for keeping warm, let’s look at the positive side of the dropping thermometer, because cold weather is just made for home entertainment!  And when all your connectivity options are covered by Vox, home entertainment is a breeze for the whole family.

Why not settle into a cold weather weekend of online-enhanced fun – here are some of your options to consider:

• Streaming entertainment: Netflix, Showmax, Disney+, Amazon Prime Video, and Apple TV+ are all available locally – just grab the popcorn and chocolate (and blanket) and get comfy.
• For local content, we’ve got SABC+ especially for news hounds, eVOD with soapies galore, and Afriforum TV for Afrikaans series, podcasts, radio, reality shows and kids content.
• For sports options, there’s DSTV Stream and F1TV Pro, as well as Tennis TV Premium for live grand slam tournaments (hey there, Wimbledon season!).
• And don’t forget about your fix of YouTube, for the young and the young at heart.

Then there’s online gaming, of course, beloved by millions today around the world. Whether it’s World of Warcraft, Fortnite, Apex Legends, PUBG, Minecraft and so much more, there’s something for everyone, whether you’re a veteran or a curious newcomer, under 10 or a life-long teenager. You just need a keen imagination, fast fingers and faster connectivity. At Vox, we can’t do anything about your manual dexterity, but we can surely take care of your Internet speed!

Away from gaming, you might also want to stay in touch with friends and family with a long-overdue chat via WhatsApp or Vobi, and for those more introspective moments, the readers among us will reach out for a good book. Of course, you can always do it the old-fashioned paper-based way, but online books are also widely available – and often for far less cost.

And finally, let’s not forget about a fix of celebrity gossip – which high-profile million-dollar wedding is taking place for the international glitterati set? Who’s wearing what and who’s cosying up to who? (Looking at you here, Orlando Bloom!)

So really – who wants to leave home when “Baby, it’s cold outside!”

With Vox, the great news is that you don’t have to.

Enjoy!

PS: Just for an added bonus, here’s a link to a revamped version of the classic song, performed by John Legend and Kelly Clarkson (click on the image).