Merry Cheer

Here is to wishing you a very merry Christmas and blessed 2010.

The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched. They must be felt with the heart. Wishing you happiness.
-- Helen Keller

Trick Treat Wow

Every year, this day happens. When I first experienced it, I thought everyone was nuts. I couldn't figure out what all the hoopla was about. Why would a little kid want to dress like some fire-breathing monster? Well over the years, the tradition catches me nostalgia. What is it you ask? It's Halloween! I understand this year the most popular characters are MJ and Maddoff! Go figure!

I wonder how it would be if we introduced this event/tradition/party to Kenya! Hmm! Oh! well, I'll make sure we have enough treats or tricks. But it would also be cool to be like Spenser on this icarly episode who without any candy gave away eggs, jumper cables, ice cubes...

Traffic Chaos & Boda Boda Madness

Now that I have "settled" back to routine, I have taken some time to reflect on my travel to both NBO (Nairobi) and EBB (Entebbe). It's only fair that I echo Ssem's post on traffic madness in Nairobi. I didn't think it was happening until I realized that I was right in the middle of it. How could I be stuck in traffic for 3 hrs between Ngong Rd and Kahawa Sukari? How could a (2) lane in Thika Rd turn into a (6) lane California highway? Distaste and loathing is just an understatement.

First I became really upset and lost my cool, then I accepted the situation of being helpless and finally, three hours later, I flowed with the traffic. I have been stuck in traffic many, many times before on Route 80, 46 etc etc... But this Thika Rd jam is entirely different. It's outright scary. I guess it's an accepted norm that matatus and buses have the right of way, every time. They'll cut you off, stick their hands out (directional signals) and yell at you. At one point, several matatus overlapped to on coming traffic and 'created' another lane. If this is not insane, I don't know what it is. Yet matatu passengers cheer this behavior because they can get to work or home 'on time'.

I wondered whether any Kenyan politicians used any of these roads - Thika, Mombasa, Uhuru Highway etc etc. Doesn't it bug anyone at the Nairobi Metropolitan Dev Ministry on the future of Nairobi and it's environs? How many times can they be told about upgrading infrastructure, transport and utilities? I guess, asking these questions is moot.

How about the traffic police? you ask. All matatus give tithe. On the Bahati-Nakuru road PSVs tithe Ksh.50.00 per trip between 8a and 2p. On the Kiambu - Nairobi road it's Ksh. 100.00. You can name any other route in the country and the claim is the same. The consequences of not tithing is business suicide. And after all that headache, matatu drivers on average get paid Ksh. 500.00 a day, yet police officers collect thousands to share with their superiors. Its common knowledge that the traffic police is extremely corrupt, but who cares?

How about EMS? Road accidents in Kenya claim thousands of deaths a year. In fact there is a statistic that all worldwide airline deaths combined in a year account for less than road deaths in Kenya. Many are the tales of non existent emergency medical services. On my way to Nakuru on August 24th we found an accident involving a Kampala bus coach and a pick-up. A mob was controlling traffic and shoving the injured onto someone else's pick up who was forced to bring them to the hospital. Such a mob usually turns rowdy and can do anything they want. Health care services is another story.

How about boda boda in Kampala? I would have wanted to say that they are only handful: but they are thousands. I don't know how this city ended up with these many motorcycles. I was only there for two days and I got a headache. What was inspiring is seeing some mzungus riding on these boda bodas ( I guess it's a much better way of travelling around the town). Perhaps PKW has a better version of this mode of transport.

I really don't want to sound as if I am whining and portray this picture of hopelessness. There are many good people and many good things happening in these countries. I sensed a lot of frustration with government institutions and lack of efficient systems.

Connect 4

We plunged into the pool this weekend. One of the cleanest, well run community pools around here is in Hackettstown. Every summer they can count on us as guests. We plunged in and had a wave - the beginning of many more to come.

Now that summer is here, kids can sleep late, open the fridge 1000 times and do a whole lot of nothing. Am determined this year not to answer the question "Daddy I have nothing to do." I can't imagine asking my papa that question when we were growing up. There was just too much to do ( I mean forced labor). I can remember with chagrin those days that I plucked pyrethrum. Oh! how tiring and back breaking it was. But we had to do it .....because of school fees.

I will not answer that question because I have ways around it. I have noted, from experience, that if I ask the gals to make a day schedule, everyone will be happy. The day schedule should include academics (otherwise, all they have learned will evaporate), a sport (another word for physical exercise) and fun (Xbox included). For those days that I am home no one will be bored. By the way Tuesday afternoon is already booked for movies at Clearview Cinemas. We get free tickets for being Cablevision Triple play customers. Observe the Ratings please!

Now, just in case you are wondering how to keep kids busy during summer, there are 94 ways to do so. Enjoy it for it will be over before you say cheese!!

Ants are creatures of little strength, yet they store up their food in the summer. Prov 30:25

Training

I remember talking about this two years ago. I didn't think I would go back to explaining it again, but I have to. When you are called to make a presentation to someone or to a group of people, it would serve you well if you had a beginning, a middle and an end. If the average attention span of an adult is 20 minutes then your talk should include any material that you want your audience to remember in those 20 minutes. After 25 minutes many people will be doing other things such as doodling, looking at cell phones, reading (other stuff), dozing....

You wouldn't like it if I took these notes at the end of your presentation:

1. We're working on it...
2. Bear with us...
3. That's a good question...
4. We'll bring that up...
5. We're getting everything in place...
6. We wil take that issue back with us...
7. We have to work it out...
8. It's a nuts and bolts thing...
9. We're not sure yet...
10. I understand what you're saying...
11. We need a mechanism in place...
12. We have brought this question up...
13. We're not sure...
14. We'll have to address that...
15. We'll bring it to another level...
16. It's not working yet (the system)...
17. It's supposed to be happening...
18. Just send me an email and we'll get back to you...

I may not be a trained speaker, but I do have knowledge. We have made this perfectly clear to you in every way. 2 Cor 11:6

Father, Baba - Asante

Fatherhood is an art. Happy Fathers day to all responsible fathers. Mzee Njoroge and Karanja, thank you for holding our hands and the rod. You've taught us! We'll now teach.

He will bring you to the land that belonged to your fathers, and you will take possession of it. He will make you more prosperous and numerous than your fathers - Deut 30:5

Wanna Be Human Billboard

Why would you want to use human props as billboards? You don't know what Am talking about, do you? Well, Drug Fair is going out of business. This is not unusual, after all hundreds of other big companies have gone out of business in the past year alone. What is unusual is their manner of advertising that they are going out of business and that they have goods worth 70% or more off at discount prices. Apart from a huge banner lapel on the buildings, I noticed people holding billboard props along Route 10 and 46 advertising the discounted prices. I should also mention that this is a technique also used by furniture stores closing shop and many others. It made me wonder, how effective is it to have people stand behind props all day? how much are they paid anyway? Does this work?

I did a little digging on Wikipidea and found quite interesting info. Here you go.. Sign-holders are known as human directionals in the advertising industry, or colloquially as sign walkers or sign twirlers. Frequently, they will spin or dance with the promotional sign in order to attract attention. Human billboards have been used for centuries. In 19th century London, the practice began when advertising posters became subject to a tax and competition for wall space became fierce. Human directionals are still widely used, especially in areas that have a lot of pedestrian traffic, but even in places that have a great deal of automobile traffic. However, the use of such attention-grabbing tricks has been criticized by city officials as being distracting to drivers and as a result, a number of cities have banned sign twirling. Demand for human directionals has significantly increased over the last few years. In temperate and warm locations, sign holders can be employed year-round and their effectiveness has been amply demonstrated.

OK enough of Wikipedia! Aish! Turning yourself into a human billboard can make you money (sort of). What I didn't get is how much these guys are paid. Simply hired only indicated that they get between $15.00 to $100.00 and lunch.

By the way, my favorite human billboard is that of Tim Tebow, the first sophomore to win the Heisman Trophy, who has sought to spread his message of faith as far as possible.

The bottom line is this: When we pay attention to something, it seems to become brighter, more distinct, more memorable. Our decision to pay attention, in other words, changes how our brains work.

Spring - turn here!

Aaaaa.... How nice it is to welcome spring, unless pollen is your enemy. I must make mention that blogging has also taken recession. Most blogs have far between entries. With the job market in sharp declines, food crises, bailouts (add your own here), writing could also become painful. I mean will you remiss on random thoughts or how the next bill will be paid? Nevertheless it is a relief, a breath of fresh air, a welcome addition, to have flowers bloom and the grass turn green.

You can't see Canada across lake Erie, but you know it's there. It's the same with spring. You have to have faith, especially in Cleveland. ~ Paul Fleischman

Let there be light!

I have always been fascinated by space and the universe. Any documentaries on space by NatGeo or NASA always catches my attention. When I visited Florida last summer, my second stop apart from Disney was Kennedy Space Center....And so did Apollo 13. When I read this article in Yahoo, I had to highlight it on this blog. Here is a summary:

(a) In a new image from NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory, high-energy X-rays emanating from the nebula around PSR B1509-58 have been colored blue to reveal a structure resembling a hand reaching for some eternal red cosmic light.
(b) The red light actually a neighboring gas cloud, RCW 89, energized into glowing by the fingers of the PSR B1509-58 nebula, astronomers believe.
(d) The scene, which spans 150 light-years, is about 17,000 light years away, so what we see now is how it actually looked 17,000 years ago, and that light is just arriving here.
(d) A light-year is the distance light travels in a year, about 6 trillion miles (10 trillion kilometers).

So ... given this, look at bullet (d). Have you been to church lately??

Gen 1:3 And God said, "Let there be light," and there was light.

Happy B-Day JaBi

Jabi,
May your birthday be filled with excitement, joy, and laughter.

On this special day, we just want to say Happy Birthday.

Don't count your years for we all know you're one year older than last year.

Although we can't wish you a happy birthday in person; We will spend the whole day with happy thoughts of you.

All of NJ

One Week!

What a difference one week makes!

You may recall that one of my goals last year was to add some meat on bones - so I kept going to PF. Earlier last week I went to PF and couldn't find parking for at least 10 minutes. When I signed in at the customer service counter, there was a queue just like those of annoying-hungry-gadget-buyers on black Friday. The gym looked like a zoo! Everyone it seemed, had resolved to exercise this new year. Some walked in, signed up, paid up and even exercised in their clothes! Amazing how January 1 affects people minds.

Well, just like clock-work I followed my routine and went to PF today. It was almost as if a bad dream had happened. No more queuing. No more treadmill rumbling. It was as quiet as a mouse. So I got thinking, and went back to Ssem's blog. I couldn't agree more. For those that want to be as solid as rock, let it be a new year; same resolutions. It doesn't make sense to make new New Year resolutions without ever accomplishing any of them. Would you say that am as right as rain?

May this new year bring good tidings to our blog readers.