Closing Shop

I would like to inform my esteemed readers that I am making a switch to blogging on Wordpress. This has been occassioned a number of issues in blogger which have been bugging me for a while not least being unable to comment on my own blog among other blogs suchs as Wambui's and Nakeel's, Sorry si kuwalenga its just the bloody program.

My new address is:

http://mountkirima.wordpress.com

So to all who are still interested in by 2 bob worth of opinions please update your links

Thank you

Vote for Me! So I Can Get Rich

One of the promises I made to myself when starting this blog was to avoid writing political posts since I often don't have the passion to argue with the various shades of opinion that may arise from my views. That said I have been rudely awakened by some of the events that are occuring in our country over the last 2 weeks. Undoubtedly everyone has heard of the salary award in disguise of a winding up allowance that the Minister of Finance was trying to sneak into parliament. Many people have had alot about to say on this matter and almost all the commentators are understandably sick about this 9th Parliaments sheer greediness.Unfortunately alot of the political debate in this country is centred around personalities and parties which tends to cloud the issues and principles that should be at the centre of the business of government. I have long held the view that parties in Kenya are basically meaningless camps which politicians can use and misuse at leisure and are neither based on common values or visions the only purpose they serve is as vehicles to political power. Therefore to me the whole lot are basically just the same.My worry is that Kenyans have abdicated the role of being masters of their own destiny and handed it over to our leaders. The powerful Presidency has always been (mostly rightly) seen as the biggest hinderance to Kenya acheiving true democracy and economic development thus there has been constant clamour to reduce these powers.There have been moves to enhance the independence of the judiciary so as to serve as a check, There has also been a clamour to enhance the power of Parliament so that it can serve as a safeguard againist executive excess which are all good measures. A strong and independent Parliament since they are supposed to be representing the voice of the electorate. To enable them to be more independent a Parliamentary Service Commission was created which was to look into the terms and conditions parliament including renumeration. Although all these measures were enacted in good faith and with the intention of improving governance the current 'peoples representatives' have taken it as a vehicle to improving their personal worth.Where does that place the common mwananchi? Who will speak for him if his representative is busy speaking for himself? My belief is that we cannot complain about poor representation if we are the same ones who vote them in time and time again. It is high time we stopped being just mwananchi wa kawaida and become the masters of our own destiny by making the right choices.I strongly hold the view that the problem in Kenya is that we have tended to look up at the leadership to take us to promised land forgetting that it is we who should be the drivers. We must start making the right choice if we choose the right leaders according to their demonstrated values we will end up with the right leaders. Instead we tend to look at what tribe, party, family the aspirant comes from. It has been said that the problem we have is the flawed constitution but I don't think so. We cannot forget that in 2002 we were able to change the government by just our collective will even with all the oppressive forces brought on by the executive and a flawed constitution. So anything is possible if we as Kenyans have the will. Of course all did not go well after that but it at least demonstrated what we are capable of acheiving and from what we have learned from the leaders we must avoid making the same mistakes.Making the right choice shouldn't be too hard all it requires is for you to examine your most sincere values and if you think the candidate has demonstrated those values and will be honest to those values then you should vote for him/her and hold them againist those promises.So as we rant (rightly) againist the outrage that the greedy bunch at parliament are trying to achieve we must remember that it is you and me who hold the keys to their return. Let us all watch carefully how each and every MP will be voting on this manner and use that to help us make the RIGHT CHOICE!

Dating Dilema

Last week I was out in one of the city's coffee houses with the company of some ladies and my pal and as we enjoyed the bottomless coffees (actually they refill your cup only once, I wonder then why they call it bottomless) the conversation inevitably switched to the boy/girl issues aka relationships. Well one of the mamas had beef with the issue of jamaas who can't or won't pay the bill when they take you out. I am sure every one has horror stories of dates that went wrong i.e. ending up in the wrong type of restaurant, peeling potatoes, trying to eat spaghetti elegantly, your date, your date ordering the most expensive item on the menu or the worst one for ladies getting to the restaurant and discovering that the table cloths are made of the the same material as your dress! LOL!!
Anyway the story was that there was this jamaa - a client, who had been pestering this mama for several months that he would like to meet her for coffee one day after work. So mainly out of the need to just get it over with the mama agrees to meet him for coffee, the jamaa asks her to meet him outside 2oth Century (first wrong move) the mama trys to convince him that it is better for them to meat at a restaurant somewhere rather than outside a cinema hall which si soo teenagerish but the jamaa inisted so outside twentieth it was.
Once she gets there she meets the jamaa waiting (ok) but once she asks where are we going he says "I don't know, where do you want to go?" (Second wrong move). The mama wonders to hereself where kwani he did not know where he wanted to go and starts thinking whats nearby Trattoria? Winebar? Java? but since she just wants to get it over with she says we just catch a cup of coffee at Lavazza's so off they go.
Once they settle in the coffeshop and order the guy in trying to make conversation asks her 6 times - yes six - "How is life?" (Third wrong move) and she seriously thinks this must be a trick question and asks him as much. Clearly this date is not headed in the right direction and the mama is wondering when it is ever going to end but the worst is not yet to come.
As the coffee arrives the jamaa tells her "By the way, Hii Kahawa ni wewe unalipa?".
"What" She asks, clearly thinking she didn't hear him right
"You are the one paying for this coffee" he repeats.
That was the end of the conversation and the date as far as she was concerned, First she had to be coerced into coming, second he didn't know where to take her, third he didn't have any vybe to tell her and now it turns out she was the one to pay for this disaster of a date. What if she had said we go to Trattoria and ordered a Pizza and cappuccino she wondered. Fortunately she had 5oo on her and she could cover the bill and tempted as she was to pay for her cup only and walk out she perservered. Thats not the end of it, as they were finishing up he asked her.
"By the way there is one more thing I want to ask your"
"What? Fare?" She retorted, quite pissed off by now
"No, Its just that I have been watching you and I think you would make a good mother for my children!" he quipped.
WTF!
I don't need to tell you that was the end of the date and the story. If it wasn't a true story I would have laughed it off as a episode of Redykulass or something like that.
Now the questions are

• Would you ask someone out on a date expecting the other pary to date?
• In this day and age should the guy always pay?

The first one for me is a no brainer I mean if you are interested in someone you should jipanga and you should be able to first gauge there expectations. I can't make excuses for this jamaa on ths front especially since he had been pestering her earlier.

As for the second one I think it is still expected that the man pays for the first dates but as they become a couple the mama can be expected to chip into the bill and once in a while actually take the guy out. Some of my most memorable dates is when I have been asked out by - Her treat. It is always amusing when the waiter brings the bill over to you and you tell him hapana Madam ndiye analipa.

So what do you think and have any of you been on such dates?

By the way can you guess who ended up paying for those bottomless coffee's we were having?

Disclaimer: I am absolutely NOT the jamaa in question here!

Now onto other matters, There has been misunderstanding created by a comment that was left in my previous post about an alleged wedding. Due to some weird behaviour by Blogger I am unable to leave a comment on my own blog. Aaaargh. So now I want to state without fear of contradiction that : I AM STILL AVAILABLE now that said hiyo story iishe.

Tagged one too many times!

It looks like no matter how much I try and hide the tags won't go away, It seems that I was tagged by 3 Types of Crazy and Half and Half to post some 8 random things about myself. Despite the fact that I had already given seven before plus a videocast of myself. HnH was right I don't like tags but I hate not being a sport even more so I just have to do something.


I wont post the rules cos' I'm gonna break them all - kwani what will happen if I don't will I be doomed to a streak of bad luck or will I be smitten by a bolt of lightning? I don't think so.

1. I love eating out; the more exotic the better, of course finances and living out of town is a major impediment but when I can I like to try out new restaurants even if all I can afford is a cup of coffee and a snack. When I was younger I harboured the secret ambition of being a restaurant critic like that lucky jamaa in the Sunday Nation.
2. I hate confrontation; Whenever there is an argument or disagreement I often choose the walking away option, argueing and fighting is not for me. Even arguments between other peeps I will shun therefore being UN Secretary General is definately not one of my ambitions.
3. I am a Lazy Shopper; Shopping doesn't do anything for me and will only buy something if it has run out or is absolutely necessary.
4. I constantly need new information: Not news by the way but I soak up information like a sponge that is why google and wikikpedia are my constant companions as well as the blogs in KBW. If I was to get DSTV it would be because of Discovery, Animal Planet and National Geographic not Supersport, I can always watch soccer in a pub anyway.
5. I like being straigthforward; I am easily bored by relationship games and rules, the playing hard to get and other dating tire me out I like some one who comes straight out and anakupenda au hakupendi all that beating about the bush will just tire me out.
6. I have no patience; Especially with lateness, I will always ask when do you want us to meet and trust me I will do everything to be there on time but if the other party keeps me waiting I end up seething with frustration. This is especially worse when someone requests you to pick them up at a certain time and when you arrive there are not ready yet.
7. I can't sing; Enough said.
8. I used to stutter; I used to have slight stammer when I was in school which made me very self concious especially when called upon to speak in front of people. Happily now I have been able to conquer that especially that now I am occassionally required to address all the employees at work (over 600 of them imagine).
9. I had a Yellow Car; This is a bonus, My first car was a bright yellow Toyota Starlet. It certainly was unusal and always managed to attract alot of attention unfortunately it was also difficult to hide your self anywhere especially in a small town like Embu and as soon as you parked it somewhere you would start getting all sorts of messages by folks asking when are you leaving or can we come over. On the good side and in an odd kind of way it was also a babe magnet. I surely miss that car as they always say you never forget the first

That meets my end of the bargain as for the rules I don't think I can tag anyone since I can see almost all the bloggers out there I know have already been tagged.

Of Cold, Paper Bags and Tremors

The buzzwords around Nairobi nowadays seem to revolve on 3 issues that are threatening to cloud the ever present politics in popular coversation. Hardly a minute passes before someone mentions how cold it is to be frank I have also been complaining every minute I can despite the fact that I have the luxury of cuddling up in bed all day but today there is a blackout and the house is so boring that I had to step out. The monthly forecast from our friends at the meteo are not encouraging either so we just have to pack those sweaters a little bit longer.
The other issue and this one I have beef with is the ban on plastic bags, whearas I wholeheartedly support the ban on thing plastics I beg to disagree with the way the City Kanju is carrying it out. There is no way the Kanju askaris have the capacity to gauge the thickness of plastic bags to determine whether they are 2o microns or less what they are engaging in is wholesale harasment of city residents as they go about there business. what they should target is the actual littering which is the real environmental hazard and proper garbage disposal which is their job ( and which they are carrying out with much less zeal!). It is really interesting the way the Kanju has woken up and discovered all these old bylaws againist, hawking, spitting, peeing, jaywalking etc but my concern is that the Askaris have turned it into an avenue for collecting bribes I mean how many of those caught in the act can actually produce a legit city council receipt for the fine paid?, Archer and M have met their wrath may be they can answer that.
The other big topic is the quakes or tremors hitting the city. I know it is quite unnerving and scary to feel the ground moving beneath your feet but the widespread panic experienced in town yesterday was absolutely out of proportion to the actual experience. I was woken up at 6.00am by a call claiming that a major earthquake was about to hit Nairobi in 15 minutes peeps must have thought I was crazy when I laughed it off and jumped right back to bed. My geology must be rusty but I know for sure that there is no way to predict when and where an earthquake is about to strike, although Nairobi is situated near a major faultline at the rift valley it is not a high risk area like California, Iran or Japan where major Tectonic plates meet.
Every one is complaining how long this week is you can imagine how long it is for me who is not at work but anyway looking forward to the weekend when I hightail it to Nakuru (someone please tell me if it is cold there as well) for a wedding where the groom only casually informed me last week that I would be his Best Man! Talk about surprises!

Resurrection

Contrary to a certain popular serial story I am very much still alive and blogging. I have now enjoyed one week of my vacation and I am begining to feel refreshed enough to blog. Of course the biggest hurdle is how to get internet connection I have been trying to do it from the house using GPRS but as you can imagine this is not kind to my cellphone credit but at least it allows me to read posts and with some patience put up a few comments.
The major predominant factor that has been influencing my activity is the cold and man has it been cold this has not been helped that there was some activity on the homefront that required me to spend many hours at night outdoors but fortunately that is now over. This cold has been inhibiting my movement and activities since I am now aclimitized to a warmer environ.
There is quite alot to catch up on the blogosphere it seems that our GuestBlogger has been extending his Collabos all over with the latest being at Milo's, For his shennanigance (sp) over at Unyc's it will be my mission to ensure that his name changes from 'Guest blogger' to 'Ghost Blogger'. JM is yet to update us with what happens when I bring the BT down to a grinding halt alot of the boys and some girls are awaiting this episode with alot of anticipation but since I have been consigned to the netherworld words won't hurt me so bring them on. By the way I was touched by Three Types of Crazy who is organizing a harambee for my departed soul (LOL) just make sure that baby mama gets the chums alright. Thanx alot girls!

Meetup
There was the issue of the meetup. Mocha has been requesting, nay demanding that someone posts something on the meetup. My contribution was just too brief to make up a substancial review all the same I enjoyed the brief minutes I spent there. I checked in at around 10:30 wich was quite an effort since at 8:00 PM I was still in Embu I was able to drive quite safetly trees nonewithstanding. It was my first time at Alehouse but locating it was not too difficult, the only worry I had was how to recognize the group since I didn't know anyone except Inexes who I had met in Embu the week before. Fortunately the first face I bumbed into was Inexes on the dance floor with a bevy of damsels. After some quick introductions I was able to meet some of my Blog Hero's and Heroines including one of the pair responsible for my untimely demise. My revenge was not forthcoming yet. But all said and done I had quite a nice time despite the personal circumstances that were prevailing on that day. I hope someone who was there longer can be able to do justice and tell us more of what happened earlier and later that night. So for those who finally got to meet the reclusive mountain I thank you for your warm welcome. BTW I was in the company of two other bloggers from my family (this one and this one)who were also happy to make your acquintances. It is such a pity I missed the famous dancing I was so looking forward to seeing this, therefore there has to be a next time, ama?
I am yet to get the hang of blogging from a cyber hence the rush to finish and the lack of links but as the weeks run along I am sure I will get the hang of it.

STEPPING OUT
Now I have crossed the last t and dotted the last i. My leave has officially started like 20 minutes ago.
Baridi here I come.
Don't you worry I'll keep on blogging.