Of water, the President and flags...

i haven't had time to visit here and write for some time now. work came in through the window and as usual i got immersed in it. i decided i needed to come up for a breather. i was at the beach last weekend. had a great time there. i sat watched the sea and the scenery in the company of a number of colleagues. apparently the fact that we were nigerians stood out as a sore thumb. i will not go into any details i'll just say that nigerian women dress conservatively period!

i got a shocker yesterday. got up early as usual (still feels like i slept too long when i wake up with the day so bright). took a bucket to clean the car (something i've had to do lately, until I get a handy man ). turned on the tap and nothing! i had noticed that my neighbors all had some extra tanks. i once saw a water truck filling a neighbors tank it didn't quite fit until now. luckily i had a contingency plan. i drove to a colleagues place washed the car , took my bath and came back home. on my way to work, i met the lawn guy ( finally he had finished the work, the barbecue parties can begin) and asked about it. he said ah, that it was the only problem they had around the estate, that water didn't run sometime for as long as two weeks. hmm...

well i guess i'll have to get the jerry cans as a temporary measure and get the contingency tank as a more permanent fixture. water not running for two weeks? funny over here there's always a known time line for inconvenience. if power is out, you know when it should come back. if water goes you know when it should come back. the water thing is minor though...been years since i had government water running through any pipes with reasonable consistency so its no problem at all. i'll just get a tank and that's it.

heard an interesting story on the radio yesterday. apparently the president's convoy had been involved in a car crash. a car actually ran into the presidents car (imagine that!). a traffic cop was giving testimony for the state in the matter. he stated that the driver of the other car had been given signs to stop and ignored it hence the crash. the driver's lawyer was refuting this, claiming that his client didn't get any stop sign , that the lights had changed that was why his client moved. also he argued that at the time the president's car was hit that the escort on bike where no where near there which meant there was no way of his client knowing the convoy was official. everyday i get a new level of respect for this country. i can't imagine the case finding its way to court at all in home country. police would probably just bundle the fella to the station and 'deal' with him.anyway there's no way of such an accident happening in home country. an hour before the president's convoy passes the road is blocked. then he flies over it in a 'copter.

i had my first haircut yesterday. here i get the impression that people are trained in whatever they do. the 'barberer' ( the saloons here usually have 'barbering' saloon instead of barbing - sounds scary huh?) wraps this white tape-like stuff round my neck before putting the usual cloth to stop the hair debris. it was in the careful way he did it, you got the impression of 'professionalism'. boy! did he take his time to do the haircut. i kinda miss the nigerian-three-flicks and your hair is done. i guess here you have to plan for a haircut, no dashing in and dashing out.

lest i forget last weekend i got my house cleaning done. with the help of a group of 'professional' the house was cleaned and now spic and span. i set up my first piece of furniture a dining set cum work table . then the second piece - the sound box - no further details. i plan to set up the gas cooker this weekend not that i plan to do any cooking. my microwave does just fine.

this morning i passed a nigerian . well i figured he was nigerian because he had two nigerian flags stuck on either side of his window frame. i guess its because of the nations cup. there's a fever here. i saw a guy who had painted his whole wind shield (screen) with the Ghana 2008 and its colors. i wonder how the guy saw the road and if the police allow that. i'm thinking of getting two flags too. one ghanaian , one nigerian.