Things Nigeria Has Taught Me To Never Take For Granted

1. hitting a light switch will turn on a light

2. 1 GB download takes 5 minutes or less

3. left over food goes in the refrigerator not the dustbin

4. that SONY power pack i bought from that "reputable" store is an original

5. there is ALWAYS cold water

6. i can drive out @ 10 pm for a late night snack and find somewhere open

7. wearing mid-thigh shorts and a tank top on a freakishly hot day will not raise eyebrows

8. customer service oriented companies like banks, restaurants and MTN actually practice customer service

9. customer services reps know better than to say to a customer "now how would you feel if i came to your business and shouted at you like that"

10. the manager of the MTN Ibadan office will get up and come out to placate an irate customer instead of sitting in his office and expecting you to come to him (yes! i have serious beef with MTN!)

11. fact that you are an intelligent accomplished woman rather than a ring on your left second finger is sufficient to get you the respect you deserve

12. your senators and other holders of public office need your vote so they actually attempt to do things to benefit the community

13. getting caught doing wrong is a bad thing. in other pays, CRIME DOESN'T PAY

14. that i can get up and work overnight without coming out to turn on the gen (after calculating if i can afford the required fuel of course)

15. that it wouldn't take me 3 weeks to put up this ONE blog post :(

Gemstone 2025 Nigeria

I havent ranted in a while, but I have found something that is really getting my goat at the mo'....so here comes the rant!

so my friend Tosyn has been hyping up this Makeover Mushin event taking place on Saturday December 12. i was like damn, thats a great idea. for painful but somewhat obvious reasons i cant make it. but hey its a great idea so why not join the organisation that put it together yeh? so i go to the website and i click on "register". first, they ask for my full name and inform me that it will be prominently displayed on the website as will my location. ok i prefer anonymity but ok... next they ask me who am i? not a bad question so i write up a lil bio. then they ask where do i see myself in 2025? ummmm why?

next q: what is my life vision? uh...what?

then what would i want to be number 1 at in 2025? how in the hell is that your business?

what are your achievements so far (your track record)? so i have to have volunteered before? and if i'm just getting into it. what then?

what groups have u lead or played a pivotal role in? umm this is still about volunteering right?

what are your life values? ok you know what? FORGET IT! i'll just stick to Red Cross and the Rotary Club.

Gee whiz, its Christmas!

so the holidays approacheth and i am still stuck getting up before the Sun to drive to work. to make matters worse i live in an area i once thought to be correct....until i realised that everyone agrees with my sentiment, especially around Christmas so a 5 minute drive down my street to buy something turns to 20 because of the sheer number of people "enjoying" all my street has to offer.

i had been planing to spend Christmas with friends but no money so i decided to do the whole Christmas thing. you know, tree, decorations, lights, the whole shi-bang. then i realised that it just wasn't in me to put snowmen and Santa Clauses or whatever the hell else they pass off these days as Christmas decorations.

so now i face the daunting prospect of facing Christmas alone. not that i haven't done this in the past. in fact, in past years i have revelled in the solitude. unfortunately, this year is different. things will be occurring in the weeks to come that i do not wish to face alone. and since i don't drink, i CRAVE some other form of distraction. there is some1 willing to spend that time with me but honestly, if i had to be stuck with him, you'll be attending my funeral.......or court case come January.....but that's a story for another blog post. (hey i gotta keep you coming back!)

thankfully, last night, i read my freak's blog. I'd been feeling bad lately cuz I'm accumulating too many gadgets but his post has made me all better. I'd been putting off purchasing any more gadgets but hell imma splurge this Christmas. getting myself (FINALLY!) the itouch AND the Zune......or maybe the 360 elite and the wii......haven't really figured out yet what will cheer me up and keep me busy through the holidays...........

YouTube and Blogspot

What the hell??

I take my time and post a video for everyone's viewing pleasure (especially when I really have nothing to say but I want to post by force.....). And I come back a week later and "this video can no longer be viewed".......(or something to that effect). I mean COME ON!! I figure since Google now freaking OWNS youtube, I should be able to post whatever I want without copyright infringement right?

Its not like I'm claiming that I made the videos? Jeez!!

Open Access

Currently in the scientific world, authors have to pay ridiculous amounts to have their research published. The more prestigious the journal, the more you pay. Then, the readers who want to read your research and learn from it also have to pay through their noses to get it. Either you pay a ridiculous amount to subscribe (NATURE charges students $200, professionals much more)to the journal, or you pay a one time access fee ranging from $15-$80 for a one day access to the one article you want. Certain journals now offer the choice to authors to request that their submissions be freely accessible but there is a fee- almost $3,000.

This is ridiculous. I have always believed that science research was the one area where you could only be in it for the love of it because there was no monetary gain. However these guys want to prove me wrong. researchers get paid crap. I know people talk about how much you get from grants etc, but thing is its not all that. you have to buy equipment, pay research assistants, and pay so you can get publish. you HAVE heard of publish or perish yeh?

There are so many things I wish I could change, I dont know where to start.....

My Life So Far

So I'm in the final stages of my program. All I have to do is turn in a reading copy of my thesis. Unfortunately, I have writer's block. I had an epiphany this morning that I threw up a block because I am scared to death of failure (which I am). How do I get out of this rut? I need to do this really or my advisor will totally give up on me. right now, he's the only person who still thinks I maybe worth something (in my department anyway....)

Wish me luck? Writer's block sucks!

Nigeria 419 vs Yankee 419 (Part 2)

so my eyes no longer burn and while I can still see I'd like to continue:

Discover Card has this new advert on television telling you how they now offer a service to help you pay down your debt. Its a planner that helps you calculate how much you owe on your various cards, then offers options best suited to you to help reduce your overall debt. In the ad, the shiny yellow ball, in response to a question an awed 'spectator' poses: "Why would a credit card want to help me?" or something like that.......anyway, the ball goes "There's no catch! We just want to help"
HA!! I've just left the site and you have to apply and be approved for a credit card before you can use it. No catch my rectum! Anyway for those of you who still would like to use the calculator, there's a free no catch no requirements one available on this website i like to visit. It offers all the same things Discover's sans the strings.

On a related note, the Capital One Design Your Card sucks just as much. You CAN'T pick your own rate, anyone who remembers that you have to have perfect credit to ever get that EVER will realise that. And anyway, the site tells you to. You also cant truly pick your rewards. It comes with either higher rates or idiotically high annual fee or sometimes (wait for it)....both!

i know people think thats unfair, but the so called "Nigerian email scams" prey on your greed. A little common sense and awareness of countries and cultures other than your own is sufficient to keep you from being conned. Besides, that sort of solicitation is illegal. The ones mentioned above aren't, and more people fall prey to those every day than anything else!