The most Dutch thing in this world that a foreigner can do is get a baiskeli. Considering just how many baiskelis there are in this country and what with the soaring costs of gasoline in the world and the fact that it cost one arm and part of your leg to get a driving license in this country, perhaps a baiskeli is not so bad an option.
Well in the spirit of my living in this here parts of the good Lord’s earth, I had to comply with being Dutch. So a day after I landed in the Netherlands, I got a bike.
My bike is a story on its own; its an absolute student bike. It has a good solid layer of rust on one side and a squeaky chain in-between the rusty guard. Its lights didn’t work and still don’t but somehow decided to start working one random evening so I guess there is someone out there looking out for me.
If all humans in this world could adopt an attitude where they care for their fellow man, wouldn’t this world be a so much better place to live in? Remember the statements that have been repeated over the ages; I was hungry and you gave me to eat, thirsty and you gave me to drink and such like statements. In this light, my bike would be a saint by now. Yes, if I was you I’d also be struggling with the puzzled look on my face right about now but I will explain.
Ever since day one when I got my bike, it has been picking up stray abandoned and unwanted noises and packing them deep inside it. Talk of magnanimity; no noise is too large, or too horrible or too loud to be accommodated by my bike; a true saint indeed. I’m all for generosity and looking after the abandoned and lonely, but where do you draw the line on your bike’s chronic adoption issues? Is it when riding your bike sounds like a mobile orchestra as mine does currently? I think it is. Riding my bike is hard enough and only this week, it adopted two new noises; a squeak when I pedal and a clanging noise cause by a broken spoke sticking out of the standard position spokes should be maintaining. It was hilarious the expression I drew out of a lady as I was riding right by her; she almost stopped to ensure that the circus was not in town what with all the clanging and banging noises moving right by her. Classic stuff I tell you.
So really, I tell you when you get a bicycle, it should be like my bicycle; the kind which can be a conversation starter even with the people that you don’t know.
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
Thursday, October 02, 2008
Ngeli ya baiskeli
Baiskeli is Swahili for bicycle; the rest you will pick up as we go along.
Where I come from, cyclists have very few rights...scrap that...cyclists have absolutely no rights. Shouts of 'jinga wewe toa mkebe barabarani' (idiot, get that piece of junk of the road) rent the air as the struggle for road supremacy between cyclists and motorists peaks right around rush hour. Needless to say, the motorists always win primarily because cyclists may as well be a non-entity on Kenyan roads, what with no designated bike paths, cycling is really at your own risk.
Be that as it may, there are still very many cyclists riding to their various destinations in Nairobi; surprisingly, most of them ride a black called a black mamba christened Blackie. This is typically a bike that is mainly used by casual workers as it is really really cheap...and in some areas, the carrier region is modified with a really comfortable seat and colours of all sorts and it becomes a taxi commonly known as a boda boda...
Flash-forward to Delft, where everyone rides a bike....and the most typical is the Dutch city bike which bears a startling resemblance to the blackie....so imagine my shock and surprise when on landing in first world central, I find a blackie and get this, its the coolest bike to have around and seeing as I tend to be a cool one in general terms and everyone here rides a blackie, I now own a blackie.
Isn't irony just the bomb?
Where I come from, cyclists have very few rights...scrap that...cyclists have absolutely no rights. Shouts of 'jinga wewe toa mkebe barabarani' (idiot, get that piece of junk of the road) rent the air as the struggle for road supremacy between cyclists and motorists peaks right around rush hour. Needless to say, the motorists always win primarily because cyclists may as well be a non-entity on Kenyan roads, what with no designated bike paths, cycling is really at your own risk.
Be that as it may, there are still very many cyclists riding to their various destinations in Nairobi; surprisingly, most of them ride a black called a black mamba christened Blackie. This is typically a bike that is mainly used by casual workers as it is really really cheap...and in some areas, the carrier region is modified with a really comfortable seat and colours of all sorts and it becomes a taxi commonly known as a boda boda...
Flash-forward to Delft, where everyone rides a bike....and the most typical is the Dutch city bike which bears a startling resemblance to the blackie....so imagine my shock and surprise when on landing in first world central, I find a blackie and get this, its the coolest bike to have around and seeing as I tend to be a cool one in general terms and everyone here rides a blackie, I now own a blackie.
Isn't irony just the bomb?
Thursday, September 25, 2008
The onion layer theorem; Dutch style
I’ve been in this country for all of four weeks now (give or take a few hours).I must say its been quite the ride thus far (no pun intended) but I’m settling into the ebb and flow of things around here. Be that as it may, there are still a few things that I have noteworthy and shall proceed to share them with you:
1. They have very subtle ways of making you learn Dutch(even when they say you don’t really have to); what with writing names of all the products in Dutch at the supermarket and all notices, road signs and such like items are all in Dutch;
2. A ‘high-speed’ head on collision with another bicycle is not only a possibility but a very painful reality and not as comical as it sounds; I know!
3. Onions are a very big part of the Dutch culture (though they don’t really know it yet or won’t admit to it).
The last of this we shall dwell on for a bit of a while.
I come from the sunny side of the world; where the only use for jackets is filling up the wardrobe except for one month in a year, after which they assume their prescribed purpose of filling out the space in the closet. With this in mind, its pretty evident to see why I’d learn to take good weather for granted. However, this is not the land of sunny days and warm nights; this is the land of schizophrenic weather patterns and misguided rainfall patterns- misguided mainly because the rain always catches me off-guard.
I have, through misguided bravado and really bad weather prediction skills, learnt that the weather cannot be taken for granted in this not so sunny side of the world.
The few Dutch friends I have made have taught me the layering principle i.e. to put on a ridiculous number of clothing layers to combat the cold and strange weather patterns and then proceed to shed off the unnecessary layers as the day warms up and layer up as it cools down. Needless to say that dressing up like this in the house is a bit retarded and thus one must strip down the extra layers and leave only the basic layer of clothes…just like an onion…
Doesn’t it make you wonder, aren’t onions grand?
1. They have very subtle ways of making you learn Dutch(even when they say you don’t really have to); what with writing names of all the products in Dutch at the supermarket and all notices, road signs and such like items are all in Dutch;
2. A ‘high-speed’ head on collision with another bicycle is not only a possibility but a very painful reality and not as comical as it sounds; I know!
3. Onions are a very big part of the Dutch culture (though they don’t really know it yet or won’t admit to it).
The last of this we shall dwell on for a bit of a while.
I come from the sunny side of the world; where the only use for jackets is filling up the wardrobe except for one month in a year, after which they assume their prescribed purpose of filling out the space in the closet. With this in mind, its pretty evident to see why I’d learn to take good weather for granted. However, this is not the land of sunny days and warm nights; this is the land of schizophrenic weather patterns and misguided rainfall patterns- misguided mainly because the rain always catches me off-guard.
I have, through misguided bravado and really bad weather prediction skills, learnt that the weather cannot be taken for granted in this not so sunny side of the world.
The few Dutch friends I have made have taught me the layering principle i.e. to put on a ridiculous number of clothing layers to combat the cold and strange weather patterns and then proceed to shed off the unnecessary layers as the day warms up and layer up as it cools down. Needless to say that dressing up like this in the house is a bit retarded and thus one must strip down the extra layers and leave only the basic layer of clothes…just like an onion…
Doesn’t it make you wonder, aren’t onions grand?
Monday, September 22, 2008
Kinyozi hajinyoi...I wish I was a chamelon
Wahenga walisema 'Kinyozi hajinyoi' which when translated roughly comes to 'a barber never shaves himself'. The old folks, whoever they may have been, were pretty wise in their assessment and stipulation of the so called sayings and proverbs but there is always that idiot who will defy these sayings...
It is pretty obvious you realise when you think about it; its the same concept with the hairdressers, you'll never walk into a salon and find one of them trying to fix up their hair too much because really that is a bit of a complex application....
Well the idiot sits before you today...after literally defying the wahenga and literally tried to shave myself. There is a reason that the Lord created the human with only one set of eyes at the front of the face, so that for complex events as shaving, a barber is involved. its pretty easy to shave your beard but what happens when you try to shave the back of your head without a pair of eyes behind there?
The natural contours of the African head combined with the steel-wool likeness of its attendant hair make for a really tough shave even by a barber, so how tough would you assume that the action would be to one who cannot see the back of his head...
this story need not continue for you can probably assume how badly this turned out...
The chameleon can rotate its eyes 360degrees about their axes...maybe thus even see the backs of their heads...sometimes I wish I was a chameleon....
It is pretty obvious you realise when you think about it; its the same concept with the hairdressers, you'll never walk into a salon and find one of them trying to fix up their hair too much because really that is a bit of a complex application....
Well the idiot sits before you today...after literally defying the wahenga and literally tried to shave myself. There is a reason that the Lord created the human with only one set of eyes at the front of the face, so that for complex events as shaving, a barber is involved. its pretty easy to shave your beard but what happens when you try to shave the back of your head without a pair of eyes behind there?
The natural contours of the African head combined with the steel-wool likeness of its attendant hair make for a really tough shave even by a barber, so how tough would you assume that the action would be to one who cannot see the back of his head...
this story need not continue for you can probably assume how badly this turned out...
The chameleon can rotate its eyes 360degrees about their axes...maybe thus even see the backs of their heads...sometimes I wish I was a chameleon....
Monday, September 15, 2008
The gods have spoken
The gods of Mt. Kirinyaga have heard my pleas and sent forth a petition to the gods of the northern regions that I now reside in.
In the petition, they say that the reason an African is the hue that he is so that he may absorb the rays of the glorious African sun and in this way stem away such maladies as may be suffered by the fairer hued members of the human race.
In this very same petition the gods insisted that should an African be subjected to too few rays of the sun then his hue would be reduced considerably to the extent of the not so hued as himself and this would predispose him to the same maladies that the fairer hued members of the human race suffer from as a result of the sun.
It further stated that the weather gods in the north should hold forthwith release of such aspects as rain, snow and sleet till a date that shall be agreed upon by the council of the gods.
I, the African in question, think the negotiations worked....the gods of the north sent us sunshine today.
Tomorrow is up to the gods...
In the petition, they say that the reason an African is the hue that he is so that he may absorb the rays of the glorious African sun and in this way stem away such maladies as may be suffered by the fairer hued members of the human race.
In this very same petition the gods insisted that should an African be subjected to too few rays of the sun then his hue would be reduced considerably to the extent of the not so hued as himself and this would predispose him to the same maladies that the fairer hued members of the human race suffer from as a result of the sun.
It further stated that the weather gods in the north should hold forthwith release of such aspects as rain, snow and sleet till a date that shall be agreed upon by the council of the gods.
I, the African in question, think the negotiations worked....the gods of the north sent us sunshine today.
Tomorrow is up to the gods...
Friday, September 05, 2008
Murphy's law
Murphy's law is an adage in Western culture that broadly states, "if anything can go wrong, it will." It is also cited as: "If there's more than one possible outcome of a job or task, and one of those outcomes will result in disaster or an undesirable consequence, then somebody will do it that way"; "Anything that can go wrong, will," the similar "Whatever can go wrong, will go wrong"; or, "Whatever can go wrong will go wrong, and at the worst possible time, in the worst possible way"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murphy's_law
I'm not Murphy...evidently, but I feel for this guy (go to the link above).
My story is not as bad but absolutely catastrophic in my eyes so you must share my pain...
Thursday morning:I wake up a bit confused; the alarm clock didn't ring so I'm ten minutes behind schedule but I will live. I run to the shower and turn on the hot water and wait....1 minute, two minutes...DAMN, the boiler has absconded duty so it means no hot shower that morning but who's to argue at that hour.
after a cold-inducing shower, I dash out and do the whole changing thing and then breakfast and with twenty minutes to my lecture, I run out and as I hop onto my bike, I realise I have a bloody flat tyre....
Long and short of it, I get to class late, sweaty and tired and still numb from an ice cold shower but I lived to tell the tale...Murphy are you listening...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murphy's_law
I'm not Murphy...evidently, but I feel for this guy (go to the link above).
My story is not as bad but absolutely catastrophic in my eyes so you must share my pain...
Thursday morning:I wake up a bit confused; the alarm clock didn't ring so I'm ten minutes behind schedule but I will live. I run to the shower and turn on the hot water and wait....1 minute, two minutes...DAMN, the boiler has absconded duty so it means no hot shower that morning but who's to argue at that hour.
after a cold-inducing shower, I dash out and do the whole changing thing and then breakfast and with twenty minutes to my lecture, I run out and as I hop onto my bike, I realise I have a bloody flat tyre....
Long and short of it, I get to class late, sweaty and tired and still numb from an ice cold shower but I lived to tell the tale...Murphy are you listening...
Thursday, September 04, 2008
I miss the African sun
I've been here all of two weeks (give or take a few hours) and I have come to one conclusion: The weather has multi-personality disorder in this country and I will prove it.
When I arrived I was told its summer only to be greeted by confused looking raindrops at the airport but I didn't say a thing; we drove to my new apartment and then it actually cleared up, I saw the sun and a few white puffy clouds...so far so good I guess. Then night came (at about 9.30 the sun set - this is apparently only weird to Africans) and I went for a drink in the town only to be assaulted by large hail stones and rain with an attitude problem...all within the span of 6hours of my arrival.
Since then its been a wait and see kind of attitude with the weather; carry a jacket in your bag and such like things...and its still summer. On only two days since I've been here have I seen the sun fully and it was a weekend, a glorious I daresay hot weekend...no sweaters or jackets all day and night....
So please, understand me when I say the Dutch weather is schizophrenic, and I do so miss the African sun...
When I arrived I was told its summer only to be greeted by confused looking raindrops at the airport but I didn't say a thing; we drove to my new apartment and then it actually cleared up, I saw the sun and a few white puffy clouds...so far so good I guess. Then night came (at about 9.30 the sun set - this is apparently only weird to Africans) and I went for a drink in the town only to be assaulted by large hail stones and rain with an attitude problem...all within the span of 6hours of my arrival.
Since then its been a wait and see kind of attitude with the weather; carry a jacket in your bag and such like things...and its still summer. On only two days since I've been here have I seen the sun fully and it was a weekend, a glorious I daresay hot weekend...no sweaters or jackets all day and night....
So please, understand me when I say the Dutch weather is schizophrenic, and I do so miss the African sun...
Monday, July 28, 2008
Language
If language is not correct, then what is said is not what is meant; if what is said is not meant, then what ought to be done remains undone; if this remains undone, morals and arts will deteriorate; if morals and arts deteriorate, justice will go astray; if justice goes astray, the people will stand about in helpless confusion. Hence, there must be no arbitrariness in what is said. This matters above everything.
Kung Fu Tze (Confucius)
Doesn't it make you think?
Kung Fu Tze (Confucius)
Doesn't it make you think?
Wednesday, July 09, 2008
Generic....what the @"£$$?
There's a new fad in town...its the generic version of pretty much anything these days. Ever noticed the way you walk into a pharmacy and ask to buy some type of medication and the attendant asks, "Do you want the real version or the generic brand?!?!!!" aaaaaaarggggh! If i wanted the generic version would I not have asked for it?
This seems to have crossed over into the music industry....the other day I had the fortune or misfortune of watching 'Iris'. If you're a music buff, then you know what I'm talking about. Don't get me wrong, Iris is top of my list for all time favourite songs but this version of Iris left me a bit unsettled...
its the version by some chap called Ronan or Rowan or Rohan Keatin....its so annoying coz the video is about him on some horse just horsing around...
Dude, there's a reason THE GOO GOO DOLLS won awards with that song....has originality just popped right outta the window? someone please help me out there...
This seems to have crossed over into the music industry....the other day I had the fortune or misfortune of watching 'Iris'. If you're a music buff, then you know what I'm talking about. Don't get me wrong, Iris is top of my list for all time favourite songs but this version of Iris left me a bit unsettled...
its the version by some chap called Ronan or Rowan or Rohan Keatin....its so annoying coz the video is about him on some horse just horsing around...
Dude, there's a reason THE GOO GOO DOLLS won awards with that song....has originality just popped right outta the window? someone please help me out there...
Monday, January 07, 2008
Monday, December 10, 2007
Chronicles of a timewaster
Chapter I;
Did you know that;
If you stared at one point long enough, nothing substantial would happen but guaranteed your eyes would probably begin to tear?
If you tried playing polo for the first time you'd probably end up assaulting the horse you're riding on or end up on the ground trampled by some really annoyed animals?
If chameleones could talk, then the conversation would probably be the most retarded and annoying, stutter-thon you ever did hear?
Have you ever wondered if fish could survive in a coffee(the drink!) tank (in the event that the fish bowl breaks and stuff)?
Do snails migrate?
The chronicles continue...
Did you know that;
If you stared at one point long enough, nothing substantial would happen but guaranteed your eyes would probably begin to tear?
If you tried playing polo for the first time you'd probably end up assaulting the horse you're riding on or end up on the ground trampled by some really annoyed animals?
If chameleones could talk, then the conversation would probably be the most retarded and annoying, stutter-thon you ever did hear?
Have you ever wondered if fish could survive in a coffee(the drink!) tank (in the event that the fish bowl breaks and stuff)?
Do snails migrate?
The chronicles continue...
Saturday, November 03, 2007
Electioneering
I really wish I was the entrepreneurial type and had the funding...I'd open a printing company and specilise in printing campaign paraphanelia only! I'd be rich I tell you, what with so m uch political hype in the country right now, I'd print shirts, posters, banners and hats for every Tom, Dick, Harry, Anne, Jane and whoever who wanted to run for elective office and then I'd be stinking rich...better yet I'd learn how to make websites and make them sites for all them peeps and then I'd be rich....but alas I'm neither so I'll sit back and just rue the fact that others will capitalise on my ideas...if ony wishes were horses...
Wednesday, August 22, 2007
Intellectuals...
It may seem a wee bit far fetched but if you feel me on this, then just hi-five yourself for me. Isn't it true that all intellectuals have a few loose nuts in their heads? Indulge me for a moment;
Q1. Alexander Graham Bell decided to invent the telephone because....
- there was an incessant ringing in his ears?
- the running messenger was becoming a pain in the neck?
- there was a sudden urgent need for telephone communication ans the onus fell upon him?
Q2. Sir Isaac Newton thought it a good idea to waste a pretty long period of time sitting under an apple tree waiting for an apple to fall in order that he prove the existence of the force of gravity. Had he never seen something fall down before or had he never noticed that all the things ever thrown upwards, never quite stayed up there and came back to earth promptly?
Q3. The mother of all...Benjamin Franklin decided that the had to prove that there was electric current in lightning strikes. He decided to fly a kite in a thunder storm; as if this was not enough, he put a key on the end of the kite to improve conductivity. Where was he at the end of that 'brilliant' experiment?...Need I say more
Thursday, August 02, 2007
Tremore-tised!
So it’s been a pretty while hasn’t it? Well I’m back and its bumper harvest for you, article wise. So here goes…
I never thought I’d be ever writing this but dumb as it may sound, do the math:
What do you get when you add traumatised to a public living in fear of earth tremors? Well try tremor-tised on for size. In the last four weeks, Kenya has been hit by a series of tremors, some big some small and some fictional (but that’s a story for another day!). I’m not quite sure of the number of tremors that were experienced, but by around Thursday 19th of July, there had been about eight tremors, four of which I had felt. This is not an “I felt the tremors!” moment though, no! It’s a moment to put a few things in perspective. Though we lie on the Rift Valley, Kenya is fortunate not to experience much earthquake activity; so it was quite a shock when the tremors began to frequently rock the country and quite frequently they did. One actually has the audacity to get up to 6.0 on the Richter, so it was quite the scary experience.
Bearing all this in mind and the earthquake history of the country, it would be rather expected that mass hysteria be the absolute reaction of the Kenyan public. Some of the reactions however were ridiculous; I recall one lady being interviewed on news and she said that her workplace building had swayed in the tremors and she was feeling unsafe and thus was going home to recuperate; fair enough, but it was 8.15 a.m.! She should have just said she needed an excuse to go home. We also had ‘experts’ saying Kenya was being punished for her sinners and thus everyone had to repent their sins before the ‘big one’ hit; funny, I thought nobody could predict an earthquake, even scientifically!?>?@ Funny thing is Kenyans actually believed our ‘experts’ and actually were seen to say so on national television.
Well what to say, turns out some mountain in Tanzania (next door country) was having a tummy upset and just needed to belch out some lava and that would be it; and it did. Too bad they didn’t stop, turns out there was one more but it’s been pretty quiet ever since. I guess you can’t fault those Kenyans for being tremor-tised!
I never thought I’d be ever writing this but dumb as it may sound, do the math:
What do you get when you add traumatised to a public living in fear of earth tremors? Well try tremor-tised on for size. In the last four weeks, Kenya has been hit by a series of tremors, some big some small and some fictional (but that’s a story for another day!). I’m not quite sure of the number of tremors that were experienced, but by around Thursday 19th of July, there had been about eight tremors, four of which I had felt. This is not an “I felt the tremors!” moment though, no! It’s a moment to put a few things in perspective. Though we lie on the Rift Valley, Kenya is fortunate not to experience much earthquake activity; so it was quite a shock when the tremors began to frequently rock the country and quite frequently they did. One actually has the audacity to get up to 6.0 on the Richter, so it was quite the scary experience.
Bearing all this in mind and the earthquake history of the country, it would be rather expected that mass hysteria be the absolute reaction of the Kenyan public. Some of the reactions however were ridiculous; I recall one lady being interviewed on news and she said that her workplace building had swayed in the tremors and she was feeling unsafe and thus was going home to recuperate; fair enough, but it was 8.15 a.m.! She should have just said she needed an excuse to go home. We also had ‘experts’ saying Kenya was being punished for her sinners and thus everyone had to repent their sins before the ‘big one’ hit; funny, I thought nobody could predict an earthquake, even scientifically!?>?@ Funny thing is Kenyans actually believed our ‘experts’ and actually were seen to say so on national television.
Well what to say, turns out some mountain in Tanzania (next door country) was having a tummy upset and just needed to belch out some lava and that would be it; and it did. Too bad they didn’t stop, turns out there was one more but it’s been pretty quiet ever since. I guess you can’t fault those Kenyans for being tremor-tised!
Friday, April 20, 2007
Paradoxical oximorons Part I
My country rocks people, we totally rock. Not only for the sports and parties and nightlife, but for various other things that go on in the capital that we all love. Try this on for size...
Earlier last year, a prominent individual in the political scene stunned the public when he claimed that some mercenries (read bad arse dudes) ahd benn hired by the government to assasinate him. He went forward to add that he had copies of their passports and better yet knew where they were holed up at that particular moment. The said individuals (read tallish, biggish, white dudes with strange Eastern European accents) meanwhile were busy making headlines with ridiculous action after the other and throwing monster parties every other day; they were pretty much the talk of the day every other day...
Qn1: Who in their right mind would fork out copies of their passports to the individual they have been sent to assassinate so that they may be made public?
Qn2: If you were an assassin?why would you be in the news every other day thus becoming the second most famous face in the country after the president?
SceneII:
The other day the same guys were in the news for the umpteenth time...apparently after being deported, tehy are back in teh country to chill out in the state lodges and enjoy the security accorded to state guests; and guess what, the same dude, raised the alarm, which leads me to yet another set of queries.
Qn 3: How the hell does this dude know about these dudes (read bad arse dudes) every other day? has he no better task to accomplish all day?
Summary: I ain't trying to start nothing, so don't be saying I'm trying to bring up something.
Earlier last year, a prominent individual in the political scene stunned the public when he claimed that some mercenries (read bad arse dudes) ahd benn hired by the government to assasinate him. He went forward to add that he had copies of their passports and better yet knew where they were holed up at that particular moment. The said individuals (read tallish, biggish, white dudes with strange Eastern European accents) meanwhile were busy making headlines with ridiculous action after the other and throwing monster parties every other day; they were pretty much the talk of the day every other day...
Qn1: Who in their right mind would fork out copies of their passports to the individual they have been sent to assassinate so that they may be made public?
Qn2: If you were an assassin?why would you be in the news every other day thus becoming the second most famous face in the country after the president?
SceneII:
The other day the same guys were in the news for the umpteenth time...apparently after being deported, tehy are back in teh country to chill out in the state lodges and enjoy the security accorded to state guests; and guess what, the same dude, raised the alarm, which leads me to yet another set of queries.
Qn 3: How the hell does this dude know about these dudes (read bad arse dudes) every other day? has he no better task to accomplish all day?
Summary: I ain't trying to start nothing, so don't be saying I'm trying to bring up something.
Thursday, February 15, 2007
The state of confused weather months
If you are Kenyan, then you know January is meant to be like the hottest month on the calendar that we have and February becomes a bit more sublime as we head towards our rainy season. Well folks, I welcome you to the state of confused weather months. We're officially now in January according to the weather. The other January was screwed up by the rains that spilled over from December and therfore it was relegated to a December like month i.e. December B and so now were in January people, so invest in them light shirts and strapped tops because were in for a hot one. And you said global warming was a thing of the statisticians and scientists...
Wednesday, February 14, 2007
Sometimes its great to just disappear for a while; I think. I work at an airline now and we fix planes all day long. its actually quite interesting really and you never quite figure how large an aircraft is until the day you are seated in the aircrafts belly and you dont cover much space then it hits you that its a bloody big invention. But hey thats just me; thats what happens when a bit of grease starts to leak into your head...too much thinking
Monday, October 16, 2006
Sevens and sports
So it's been an awfully long time; must be an indication of just how hectic life can become but hey who's asking right? I'll live though. Im dead tired,trying to recover form a rugby sevens tournament I was playing in over the weekend; people, what you see on tv is not as simple as it looks, believe me, its like a gazillion time harder and that's on a good day. Every collison you see is at high pace and with such impact theres definately room for injury if my behind is anything to go by; but as I said, who really wants to know right?
Sport inKenya is definately picking up people, save for the politiking in the football fields, all else is fine and dandy and who knows, pretty soon we'll be exporting various internationals in their fields(save for football) but thats just my take. Thats my two cents for the day. later people.
Sport inKenya is definately picking up people, save for the politiking in the football fields, all else is fine and dandy and who knows, pretty soon we'll be exporting various internationals in their fields(save for football) but thats just my take. Thats my two cents for the day. later people.
Wednesday, July 19, 2006
Days from hell.
Ever heard of the saying,'you can tell a good day from the morning'?or something like that?well I havent but i know for a fact that you can always know a crappy day when it starts. As for the day, well I suggest you just join me as we journey thro what has gotta be the worstest day this morning.
First of all, I wake up and my foot is swollen coz i picked up an injury last night at training so i have to rub it down with somke ointment setting me about ten minutes behind schedule;fast forward to the shower and its all chaos as the bloody water wont flow thro the damn shower!aaaah!so its time to leave and im late so i have to sprint to the stage and grab a matatu and i cant get one but one comes eventuially.so am so late to get the bus to work in the morning.
Get off the matatu and sprint off across town to look for the bus and eventually i get there and then the devill posses the curb and i end up tripped up and headlong into the hard asphalt. a great pair of jeans is ruined, i have two grazes the size of something else and my dusty self still has to make it to the bus. Bllody hell people.Why me?
First of all, I wake up and my foot is swollen coz i picked up an injury last night at training so i have to rub it down with somke ointment setting me about ten minutes behind schedule;fast forward to the shower and its all chaos as the bloody water wont flow thro the damn shower!aaaah!so its time to leave and im late so i have to sprint to the stage and grab a matatu and i cant get one but one comes eventuially.so am so late to get the bus to work in the morning.
Get off the matatu and sprint off across town to look for the bus and eventually i get there and then the devill posses the curb and i end up tripped up and headlong into the hard asphalt. a great pair of jeans is ruined, i have two grazes the size of something else and my dusty self still has to make it to the bus. Bllody hell people.Why me?
Thursday, July 13, 2006
Hawkers Dilemma - My take
If you've been in Nairobi of late, the I guess you've heard of the recent series of riots/chaos/fracas caused by the hawkers who claim that they have a right to peddle their wares in the CBD. Now I tend to be a fair man so I think we should analyse the situation critically.
About three years back, they were moved from the streets amid calls for the then minister for local government to resign and alloted spaces within the back and sidestreets of downtown Nairobi. all went well for a while but the hawkers slowly began to trickle back into town and pretty soon they were back in the cbd causing all sorts of chaos. So the government alloted them an entire market place at a place called Ngara and tehy were all asked to register with the Ministry of Local Government then get allocated stalls at the new market. This happened and for about a week there was calm on the streets and anybody could walk around the streets freely.
Then they began to trickle back into the streets again and ever since it has been a battle royale with the city council and policce officer that has led to the deaths of about five pople so far. I believe the hawkers are selling themselves short for as long as they remain on the streets nothing can be done for them. They need to move to the market and stay there and the customers will find their way to the market, simply put it is a problem that they keep fuelling themselves and it will never end, not until they move to the market and stay there.
About three years back, they were moved from the streets amid calls for the then minister for local government to resign and alloted spaces within the back and sidestreets of downtown Nairobi. all went well for a while but the hawkers slowly began to trickle back into town and pretty soon they were back in the cbd causing all sorts of chaos. So the government alloted them an entire market place at a place called Ngara and tehy were all asked to register with the Ministry of Local Government then get allocated stalls at the new market. This happened and for about a week there was calm on the streets and anybody could walk around the streets freely.
Then they began to trickle back into the streets again and ever since it has been a battle royale with the city council and policce officer that has led to the deaths of about five pople so far. I believe the hawkers are selling themselves short for as long as they remain on the streets nothing can be done for them. They need to move to the market and stay there and the customers will find their way to the market, simply put it is a problem that they keep fuelling themselves and it will never end, not until they move to the market and stay there.
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