Scope Creep and the Nobel Prize for the Washing Machine

i haven’t been here in a while to do some writing. it was due to scope creep. yeah the project scope of work had a constant requirements change and hence ate into the time slot for blogging. that is being remedied. now the project is back on course lets get on with business.

first, the inventor of the washing machine needs a nobel prize. if he didn’t get one, he should get it posthumously, of course the inventor of the microwave should have one too. i have recently considered going into the laundry business. machine wash – sun dried services. as soon as i find an ‘industrial ironing system’ where i can just hang the clothes and it comes out ironed i’m getting into business. sorry yes i got a washing machine the experience is liberating!

i am finally getting the ghanaian number plates for my car. soon all physical traces that i am a nigerian will be erased. i just have to learn twi or ga and i’ll be fully blended in. maybe get a darker shade for my skin and change my name to frempong.

the rain is supposed to cleanse the land but sometimes the flood brings in dirt. enough parables, i witnessed what one could consider the closet i have yet come to ‘area’ boys in ghana. it rained heavily during the day and on the way home from work a couple of days back , on getting to a place a friend nicknamed ‘need for speed underground’ i met with them. the need-for-speed-underground is a tunnel just wide enough for one car that passes under the tema motorway. only one car can pass at a time so often it requires a patient wait for a window of opportunity when few cars are coming from the other side then you dash like mad for the tunnel. once you are in the tunnel you automatically guarantee passage for all those behind you until there’s another lull in traffic.

well on this rainy day, on getting to the tunnel saw this ‘exited’ youngman who picked up a huge stone and stood menacingly in front of the tunnel. i later figured that his excitement was due to the fact that my number plates read nigerian. well he didn’t really have any harmful intents, he just wanted to beg for a little cash. he and a group of his friends were ‘helping’ motorists who’s cars got stuck in the tunnel because is was partially flooded. apparently my car didn’t look like it would get stuck. we chastised the guy for his theatrics and he apologized, just wanted a few pesewas for food (or beer?).

on the 22nd of this month i would have lived 3 months in this country. i’m yet to really find serious issues with them. i lived in lagos for 5 years and i kept wishing i could be somewhere else. i’ve been here three months and i don’t have any nostalgic feelings about lagos. in defense of lagos , i think the major problem is that it’s got too many nigerians living there. if there’s a way one could reduce the number of nigerians living in lagos , it would be a much better city.

people tell me (nigerians of course) that accra is organized because it’s the capital. lagos wasn’t organized even as the capital. abuja is organized ‘relatively’ but for how long? anyway, what do i care about anywhere else, i mean people live in lagos all their lives without going anywhere else in nigeria so if i never visit kumasi i am happy to live in my blissful ignorance.

i paid my first water bill yesterday. i had 2.04 ghana cedis for the month. that’s like 248 naira and the water is relatively constant. i can operate a washing machine with it! it’s been on the news that there is a water crisis. the considered reviewing the contract of the firm who has a management contract to run the water service. there are complaints that they have done a poor job. now i have water running every day safe a few days in a month and they have done a poor job? well the complaint is mainly that they haven’t handled the distribution well so there are many areas with water issues. at least there is water.