Ziese, GO HOME!!!!

Go Home!! Go Home!! Go Home!! Go Home!! Go Home!! Go Home!! Go Home!! Go Home!! Go Home!! Go Home!! Go Home!! Go Home!! Go Home!! Go Home!! Go Home!! Go Home!! Go Home!! Go Home!! Go Home!! Go Home!! Go Home!! Go Home!! Go Home!! Go Home!! Go Home!!

And the press, give him a black out. I thought this is the very same guy who said he would never talk to you again? Now he needs you! That should teach him next time to put his brain into gear before setting his mouth into motion!

Watitopetsa! Kulilira ndi choncho kodi? aaaaaaah!

Thank you Mrs Patel

Back in the days I uses to work for MalawiNet where I started off as an assistant engineer, had a brief stint in marketing before heading off to manage the Lilongwe branch office. After a bitter argument with my boss, whom I never even got to see face to face, I relieved myself of the post and some one else took over. For a good eight months I never knew what my post was but I was basically running around carrying out installations. In those eight months there were three supervisors who came in and left due to various reasons including one who died. Then after that they decided to put me back as the supervisor which I rejected. After much persuasion I accepted but knew I had to find an escape plan very quickly. Luckily enough I managed to leave a few weeks later!

Anyway, that history is besides the point. Before I was moved to Lilongwe, our board of directors got wind that staff were planning a sit in. They thought one way of defusing the action was to give us gifts. So, we learnt, board member Mrs Patel directed we all be given fans - yes, the ones that blow air around! We received the 'gifts' with 'both hands' (manja awiri). It only transpired to us a month later what the true intention of the gifts were. And to be honest, we had planned no sit in whatsoever. However this gift has helped ever since. It has seen rough days, working a good 22 hours of the day on most days in summer. It has been tossed around when moving from Zingwangwa to Area 18 in Lilongwe and back to Blantyre, to Chirimba and back again to Lilongwe. It has borne the abuse of my nephew and now my son. I can foresee it lasting another year which means it must brace itself for more abuse from my baby son if the character of his bigger brother is anything to go by.

Geee, thanks Mrs Patel. Those fans are providing so much reprieve during the hot, sweaty nights of October!!

Happenings

It's been a while since I posted anything. The usual excuse - I have been tied up. But a lot has happened.

Take for example the 'new' Likuni Road in Lilongwe. The men have been working on the road for the past so-many months, I cant even recall when they started. All i can say is they are doing a not-so-good job at snails pace. Then they have the tendency to get really busy during rush hour and are no where to be seen after hours or on weekends. Then they have no warnings signs that illuminate in the dark, just a couple of stones that you are sure to bump into. What's wrong with them? Mutandifunsirako!

Then the news I have been waiting for for the past two years - that Bingu is ready to work with Bakili!! It did not take me long to realise that government can't run effectively with daggers constantly drawn. I wonder why it took them two years to realise that. Lets hope this is a start of a new beginning.

Then Madonna who traveled miles to cook up a storm in sleepy Malawi. I have not given this issue much thought, it would give me a headache. But I have looked (not thought) at it from a couple of angles. People have argued that baby David Banda will miss out on his culture. Rubbish!! All I have to do is walk down the road, pull a teenager aside and ask him about culture and he will be clueless. And ask where he has spent all his life!! Then there is the argument about bending the law for Madonna. Are those not benefits of being a celebrity or politician?? Then the issue that David has a father. Why didn't she adopt a real orphan indeed? There are so many issues you really want to leave it to those people make their bread and butter by issuing press statements and who follow celebrity lifestyles. As for me, my real issues are drawing up strategies on how to kill as many mosquitoes tonight and how I can walk from my house to my car without the Lilongwe dust messing up my nicely polished shoes.

Have a wonderful week!!

What a pungent stench

Yesterday I was running a few errands in Old Town, Area 12 and Area 18. I had an empty crate of bottles in my boot and hoped to buy some drinks after over week being off beer - antibiotics and lots of work were the culprits.

I contemplated getting my drinks from Area 12 PTC but though otherwise. On my way to Area 18, I though of buying them from Area 18 BP service station but the place can get hairy with parking. I considered going all the way down to Shoprite or PTC Hyperstore but remembered there was a PTC along Kamuzu Procession Road, so I stopped there. Big mistake!

As I walked into the shop, this stench knocked me over, in the real sense. I tried to figure out what it was and concluded it must have been some dairy product must have gone bad and spilled on the floor and was most probably under one of the fridges. To add to that, the shop was hot! And to my surprise the staff were going about their job normally.

It is interesting that almost every PTC you walk into has a problem with ventilation and it turn always smell. Chemusa PTC in Blantyre has not air inlet apart from the small access door which is partially blocked by fridge. When that shop is not smelling, it is hot as hell. Then take Nando's PTC also in Blantyre. they used to or still stock fresh fish. I don't need to elaborate what that can produce at times. PTC Hyperstore in Old Town has it's days too even though it tends to be better ventilated than the others.

What surprises me is that other shops like Iponga, Peacock and Shoprite don't smell. What is so special about PTC?? Time for a reality check!!