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 :(

The Wedding Blues Aftermath

So I went for said wedding. Got there thursday night, picked up my rental car. Guys that car was UGLY!!! OMG it was ugly. This stupid red thing that well.......it just so was not aesthetically pleasing. Was tempted to upgrade to a car with xm radio and sweet interiors but then i remembered my list, and remembered i still had spending to do and i resisted (BOY it was hard!!). so i put my stuff in the car, attach my gps, type in the address of the hotel and drive off. i'm almost out out of the airport, in fact i'm practically ON the highway.......and my gps is still "acquiring satellite". now, i arrived at after midnight, i'm in a strange STATE (not even town o!) and my stupid gps has no idea what to do. so i'm driving along, waiting, and of course promptly take the wrong exit and end up in the very deserted, very weird looking area and i'm driving at like 10 mph. i check that my doors are locked, make sure my phone has service then cruise. while i drive, i try to remember the black to white population ratio and anything i'd ever heard about cops and DWBs in this state. finally, >ping< then "turn right" o thank you God my gps has found its bearing! i finally arrive at the hotel. the guy on night duty looked like he was a Level 10 warlock in World of Warcraft complete with the glasses, funny teeth, and freckle-pimples. but thats ok, i like WoW so its all good. i pick up the keys to the room and lament that i'm hungry. the sweetheart offers me fresh doughnuts (there's this AWESOME bakery adjacent to the hotel). i smile sweetly then head up 2 my room. sleep

friday morning: wake up refreshed. go downstairs for breakfast. return to my room and lounge. aaah that morning was the highlight! the rest of the day was spent as an airport shuttle service. think i went like 4 times to the airport to pick people up. oh well. not complaining. finally got me time at around 11 pm by sneaking into my car with a book. stayed there and read until 1 am.......

saturday: engagement, then wedding. those were fun. met a guy i used to wink at in school but never hooked up with. flirted some. fell madly and irrevocably in love with this chick :) it was a good wedding. our boy looked really and truly happy and his wife is gorgeous and very much in love with him. dont get no better than that!

got up the next morning at an ungodly hour to drop some friends off at the airport. then hung out at the mall with my new love until i dropped HER off at the airport. then i went back to the hotel for some much needed alone time.

got up monday at yet another ungodly hour and drove to the airport. returned the car. got on the tram. picked up my boarding pass. got in line at security.......then discovered i had lost my wallet.............
i lost it. cried and cried (i had had maybe 8 hours of sleep total the whole weekend) then went to report it. then cried and cried some more. luckily, my wallet was found. everything intact. but i'd missed my flight. was put on standby, but couldn't get on that one. was put on the next standby, that one got canceled. basically spent the entire day at an airport. think i figured out all the nooks and crannies. finally made it home just before dark. needless to say i will not be repeating this experience anytime soon.....

and caramelD? babe, if you ever figure out how to get a guy off your mind please let me know. i'm in the same damn predicament. GRRRRRRR

BEST BUY!!! GIVE ME A JOB!!

Yeah yeah those who know me and know Best Buy think....... well KNOW I'm overqualified to work there. But nonya! Cuz you forget I'm an "alien" in this country and so less than a nobody cuz "i'm not of this planet" (see dictionary definition of "alien") so I have to find work where I can. And really guys, if you really do know me you know I think BEST BUY ROCKS!! It is my favourite store in the world and I would be ecstatic to work there. So if anyone out there knows any1 in the HR dept there, put in a good word for me........

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!