Phase Two - Crib @ Nyaniba...an update

I made a post some time back regarding the outhouse at Nyaniba. My recent visit to Ghana has taught me a lot. In previous years, I would stay with my good old friend Mr Felix Duku at his crib at South Labadi Estates, however this time I had some renovation done on the Outhouse at my late mothers place in Nyaniba; and had some beds placed in the bedrooms ready for my arrival. After the main reason for my trip to Ghana had been completed, I took it upon myself to examine the renovation that had been done the main house and the outhouse. I also took the liberty of taking some optics with my Nexus 5. With optics taken, I sat down to do some thinking. Check out the optics below. What I have decided to do will follow shortly.

Now that I have done a good visual examination of both properties, I have decided to renovate first the Outhouse and then move onto the main building. I have engaged the assistance of a building contractor - the same person who build my brothers house. From the pictures I got of my brothers crib, the guy did a good job, however I strongly feel that one has to be around whiles all these building renovations are going on - which I intend to make myself available. I have so far received costings regarding the renovation. I am waiting for the drawings, apply a few changes and God willingly get this project kicked off in March next year. it is going to be a major project and a lot of money involved, but the rewards will definitely be worth it. The current tenants agreement will end next year in August. There will be no plans of renewing this tenancy.

Giving - From Little Rock Arkansas, with Love.

Thanks John.

View fullsize

The Ultimate Nexuz 7 Cover - Portenzo

Portenzo have amazing covers for the iPad and the Nexuz 7 tablets. My only problem is that they do not have outlets in Europe. Which means if I order a Pertenzo cover from the USA, not only will I be paying for silly shipping cost, I will also have to pay some silly money at the Post Office, which is something I definitely do not want to do. So wen the opportunity struck, I went to the Portenzo website, customised one to m liking and had it delivered to my brother in laws crib in Denver. When the time was right....I did not have to wait too long...I got it delivered by hand to my at home...SWEET!

This case is absolutely great and well crafted. If you are thinking of getting one, check out the company from : https://shop.portenzo.com/

Twitter Link : https://twitter.com/Portenzo

My Nexus 7 - Absolutely Loving It.

So after several years of toying with the idea, an opportunity struck and I took the plunge and acquired a Nexus 7 for myself. Let us say it was a Christmas gift to myself. After all, one never gets what they wish for at Christmas, so I decided not to disappointment myself and get something I really wanted. As mentioned earlier, I said I had been toying with an idea. the original plan was to save up for an iPad. The more I looked into the possibilities of getting an iPad, the more I said to myself that if I do get one, several reasons would make that iPad experience for me a negative one. For starters, the price. My Apple Macbook Pro cost me an arm and a leg. I have no regrets at all, and I am loving every minute I work on it. However, how many Apple products can one keep on buying at their current prices in one year...or even two years? Also, there is this ever rapid "turn around" regarding the frequency Apple releases new products. At such high prices, my logic [key word here is 'my'] says that the products should take a good trip 'round the circuit' over several years before an update is released. Fancy spending all that money on an iPad, only to realise that it is going to be upgraded the next year; and the difference? ...well something that they could have probably incorporated in the original product anyway. Of course, it is all a ploy to rope the consumer into buying.

So, I finally settled for the Nexus 7. To be honest, I wasn't too sure on what I was going to expect. I had done the normal research on the internet via Youtube Videos, but you were obviously not getting that 'hands on' experience. I went into several Mobile phone shops asking if they had any Nexus 7 tablets in stock, and if they did whether I could have a demonstration. Unfortunately, non of the shops that I visited could satisfy my curiosity. Mind you, there was an abundant display of Apple iPads.

My Nexus 7 arrived in the morning via courier. I immediately settled myself in my study and started exploring my new device. First impressions.....I was completely blown away. By the way, the device I got was a 32GB one.

I have no Youtube video offering you my unboxing and usage experience. If you need one, there are several good ones you can easily get access to on Youtube. The official Google Nexus 7 Fact page can be found here.

I am going to review my Nexus 7 under the following headings 1. Form Factor 2. Applications/Games 3. Usability

Form factor: This device is a joy to work with. As you will probably know, it fits perfectly in the palm of your hand. And if you decide to use both hands, i.e watching a film, it works beautifully in both hands. It is light, manageable and fits into and decent size bag you might be using. You can also get an assortment of cases/cover cases for it. I believe there is no need to go extravagant on these accessories as it does not add experience to ones usage of the device.

Applications/Games: If you have an iPhone and are worried that the apps that you have on the phone are not available in the Google Apps Store, the you are wrong. Even if you cannot find the exact App, you will certainly find one that does a similar function. This applies to those of you who have wisely moved from the iPad to the Nexus 7 [I say this with a smile]. I have read on several websites that this tablet is a true gaming tablet because of the Tegra 3 chip. I do not play videos games that much however I have purchased some good ones off the Google Pay store and can confirm that the experience is very good. To assist you get your bearings on the Nexus 7 and advice on which apps you should install, have a look at Google+'s Nexus 7 Community - you will not be disappointed. Whatever questions you have regarding the Nexus 7, ask it and someone will certainly attempt to provide you with the right answer.

Usability: I cannot fault this tablet. So far I have been able to perform and interact with this tablet without any issues.

So, for the time being, this is my review of my Nexus 7. More reviews will follow in the coming weeks. I have recently purchased an adapter which will enable me to access a USB drive. I think the technical reference to them is USB On-The-Go

And finally, yes, you do need a case for your Nexus 7. It would be suicide not to get one. Start off with a reasonable cheap one, and then after carefully researching, select one which fits your 'pocket'. The problem I have found is that all the good manufacturers of the Nexus 7 cases are based in the USA. Hence ordering from theses sites into the UK attracts an extra fee when the item arrives in the UK. I quite fancy a case from this site - Treegloo

View fullsize

View fullsize

View fullsize

View fullsize

Thrive Africa

This is something I find myself passionate about. I quite remember after my O Levels, I volunteered to assist in a project in a small village near Winneba, Ghana. I also remember making friends with a German girl called Claudia. I must have spent a month there helping out with various things related to the Project.

Introduction

Volunteering with Thrive Africa you’ll have the opportunity to work on a diverse range of development projects in Ghana. Working with stakeholders 5 days a week you’ll gain an understanding of what the project is, why it exists and the outcomes it hopes to deliver.

With plenty of tourist opportunities in Ghana we want to make sure you get the chance to see everything you can. We help organise excursions and join you on them; time off is given on evenings and weekends.

Your with Thrive Africa staff 24/7 for the duration of your trip so your always in safe hands and they’re there to make sure you have the best possible experience.

Check out the website from >>here<<

Urine-powered generator produces six hours of electricity

We've all heard the expression "haste makes waste," but how about waste making energy? At the fourth annual Maker Faire Africa in Lagos, Nigeria, a quartet of teenage girls ages 14 through 15 have created a urine-powered generator. This eco-friendly energy source cranks out six hours of electricity for every liter of human bodily fluid by separating the excretion's hydrogen with an electrolytic cell. While this method of human waste disposal seems promising, the device has the potential to be a pee-powered biobomb and will need more than its limited safety measures before you're able to pick one up at your local hardware store. However, if this can help us save a few bucks on our energy bill, then we need to introduce these girls to these guys posthaste.

View fullsize

View fullsize

View fullsize

Source: Endgadget

Ghana department store collapses in Accra

A multi-storey department store has collapsed in Ghana's capital, Accra, with many people believed to be trapped inside.

Rescue efforts are under way, with police and fire personnel trying to pull people out of the rubble.

The BBC's Sammy Darko reports from the scene that he has seen one person rescued.

Other reports say three people died when the Melcom store collapsed before it was due to open.

Accra's mayor, Alfred Oko Vanderpuye, is reportedly at the scene with rescue workers who are trying to clear the rubble.

"I was very close to the mall because I was going to buy something only for me to see the building coming down," resident Ama Okyere told the AFP news agency.

"I had to run for my life. I was so terrified. I believe there are lots of people trapped under this because this is a heavily patronised shopping mall in the area."

Our reporter says it is feared that up to 200 staff could be trapped.

The building collapsed about 15 minutes before it was due to open for business, he adds.

In a tweet moments after the building collapsed, Ghana's President John Dramani Mahama said: "My prayers are with the workers, shoppers and others who are trapped in the rubble of the Achimota Melcom building."

Source: BBC
YouTube Video Link >>here<<

Update: 17/11/2012

I yanked the below uploaded Radio Show from Youtube. Watch it >>here<<

Fast forward to 13.48 [minutes ] into the talk..

This is the dialogue that took place. Coordinator: ...the Chinese ...they donated the mobile...the mobile...ow do you call that one Presenter:...escavator? coordinator:...no..no ermm ...ermm ermm ...the thing that lifts Presenter: crane? Coordinator: yes

wow! Now this is The Deputy National Coordinator for Disaster relief

Ghana's 2012 Presidential Debate

I got a whiff of this as having taken place on Facebook. I was envious of my fellow Ghanaians in Ghana because they were getting this debate as it was happening - so to say "in real time'. So I trotted off to Youtube, as my first and obvious port of call; hoping that a caring news media outlet in Ghana would have the "compassion" to post this for those of us, less fortunate, to get the opportunity of watching the debate - not in realtime.

My initial search - which lasted about 3 minutes proved futilehowever after some persistence, I was able to find a Youtube upload [ 5 hours ]. My excitement was indescribableAt last, I said to myself....something to watch and also find out why my friends on FB were poking fun at some of the debaters.

My excitement soon came to a jolting halt. The video that I had sourced on Youtube had no sound. Bloody hell, surely whoever uploaded this would have check to make sure that there was sound. After all, the upload was for the benefit of the Internet community. I was not to be defeated so easily. I then did a search on on the popular DuckDuckGoog search engine, noted that the same video was being hosted on several Ghanaian News sites and smiled. Now, surely these sites would have sound on this video upload. To my surprise they did not.

What a shame. Something as important as this and someone got it wrong. A power cut could not have been the cause, so I will put it down to sheer mismanagement.

Check out the Youtube link below. I am sure my inability to get any sound was not down to my Apple Mac. Mind you, I was not patient enough to sit through the whole video to check if the sound did come on after T minutes. Link >>here<<

Update: Blimey, there is sound after all. I had left the Youtube video running and a loo and behold, sound suddenly kicked in. Mind you, the quality is not that good, but least we have sound. You will probably need to skip the first 1 hour 30 minutes of the video.

Have You Found Your Place Yet?

To prepare God's people for works of service. Ephesians 4:12

The story's told of a pastor who went to the railroad station every night to watch the express train roar through town. His congregation wondered why. When suspicions arose a deacon followed him, watched him, and asked what he was doing. He replied, 'This train is the only thing that comes through this town that I don't have to push!' God hasn't called your pastor to do everything in church, He's called them 'to prepare [you] for works of service.' So, have you found your area of service yet? Are you functioning in it? Paul writes: 'Just as there are many parts to our bodies, so it is with Christ's body...God has given each of us the ability to do certain things well. So if God has given you the ability to prophesy, then prophesy whenever you can, as often as your faith is strong enough to receive a message from God. If your gift is that of serving others, serve them well. If you are a teacher, do a good job of teaching. If you are a preacher, see to it that your sermons are strong and helpful. If God has given you money, be generous in helping others with it. If God has given you administrative ability and put you in charge of the work of others, take the responsibility seriously. Those who offer comfort to the sorrowing should do so with Christian cheer' (Romans 12:4-8 TLB).

C. S. Lewis said, 'Joy bursts in on our lives when we go about doing the good at hand, and not trying to manipulate things and times to achieve joy.'

Have a great day everyone.

Stop Waiting For Perfect Conditions

'...He kept his eyes on the one who is invisible.' Hebrews 11:27 There is a strong relationship between our movement toward our dreams, and the resources we need becoming available to us. Too often we want to see the resources, or have them in hand before we start moving forward. When we do that, we have neither the resources nor the movement. We need to be like the snail that started climbing up the apple tree one cold day in February. As he inched his way upward, a worm stuck his head out from a crevice in the tree and said, 'You're wasting your energy. There isn't a single apple up there.' The snail kept on climbing, and replied, 'No, but there will be by the time I get up there!' Over and over in Scripture God sent people out with what seemed like little, or inadequate resources. But when they got to where God wanted them to be, the resources needed to get the job done were in place waiting for them. Vision doesn't follow resources, it happens the other way around. First we have a dream, then we have to move forward. Then-and only then-do people and resources follow. Then the plan God has given to us begins to fall into place. A wise man once said, 'Effort only releases its reward after a person refuses to quit.' People who succeed 'see' what others don't. It's what keeps them moving forward. 'It was by faith that Moses left the land of Egypt, not fearing the king's anger. He kept right on going because he kept his eyes on the one who is invisible.'

The above relates to me on many occasions. I have many a time grown frustrated by the current climate of events that I am in. It has been a dream for me to one day move back to Ghana for good. However I keep on saying to myself that the moment is not just right. I feel that there has to be this perfect moment/condition that will present itself to me as a sign for me to make that trip back home. But of course I am kidding myself because there IS never that right moment. One has to make that first step and then take each day as it comes. Most certainly, you will need a game plan, but do not have that game plan and then just sit on it; thinking that the right moment with present itself to you thereby enabling you to impliment the game plan. If that is you, then forget it.

Phase Two - Crib @ Nyaniba

Can I safely call this phase two? Well I suppose so.With Ms Florence out of my picture, the main building has been rented out to a client and I am in the process of renovating the outhouse. I have been informed that work has already started on this that need doing but have not been given a time scale as to when completion is due. I have been approached by the tenant in the main building. He wants me to rent out the outhouse to him. I am very reluctant in doing this because of several reasons. 1. The plan is to resettle in Ghana and seth a business of some sort within the next three years - God willingly. The outhouse will act as my base station and storage for items that I plan of shipping back to Ghana. 2. My previous trips to Ghana has found me logging with friends and family. They have never complained and have always welcomed me with open arms whenever I have asked if I could stay with them. However now that I have somewhere I can stay when I am in Ghana, why give that place up for rent? yes, I know it will be money coming into the old bank account, but the other side of me is telling me that it is not all about money! I suppose I can rent the place out for about a year, and then work things out from then on; which means that during that period, if I need to make that trip to Ghana, then I will have to seek the hospitality of friends and family - again. Update: I called Akosua and she informed me that letting the outhouse to the main tenant is not a good idea as it appears they are not the sort of people who a "clean". This piece of news seems worrying. Anyway, I am going to call her next week to work out a plan where by she can announce herself into the building and perform an inspection. I quite remember seeing something to this nature in the tenancy agreement.

Update: Akosua has done a brilliant job of : 1. Cleaning up the filth and mess Ms Florence Massoud left behind 2. Renovating the Outhouse. I will post pictures which Akosua took of the filth that was left behind by Ma Florence Massoud.

Just Perfect For Sharing - Friendship

Proverbs and friendshipWhat wisdom does the book of Proverbs give on the subject of friendship? Surprisingly, quite a lot. The book of Proverbs spends much time describing and defining friendship. One of the prime qualities of a friend is loyalty. Prov. 18:24 “A man of many companions may come to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother” There are friends who merely pretend. But there is friendship that goes deeper and shows more loyalty than that of a brother. Prov. 17:17 “A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity” A friend in need is a friend indeed. According to Proverbs there will always be fair-weather friends. But a true friend will be there through thick and thin. In case we think only of the friendship we hope to receive, we are told to give this kind of loyalty, even to our parent’s friends, in Proverbs 27:10 which urges, “Do not forsake your friend and the friend of your father and do not go to your brother’s house when disaster strikes you — better a neighbour nearby than a brother far away.” You know that old family friend of your parents? Make sure you keep being loyal to them too. Another quality of friendship in Proverbs is Honest Counsel A true friend must be lovingly honest and should help shape their friend’s character. Prov. 27:6 “Wounds from a friend can be trusted, but an enemy multiplies kisses.” Like a surgeon, friends cut you in order to heal you. If a friend says hard words to you out of love, this is better than kisses from an enemy. True friends will rebuke you when necessary; point out where you are going wrong. This is never easy to do, and unless you are a real friend, you probably won’t say anything negative. So if a friend of yours is sinning in some way that comes to your attention, the loving thing to do is lovingly, gently confront them. Prov. 28:23 “Whoever rebukes a man will afterwards find more favour than he who flatters with his tongue” Likewise if a friend pulls you up on something they think you are sinning in, don’t go defensive or counter attack, accept their words as words of love. For true friends counsel and encourage each other Prov.27:9 “Oil and perfume make the heart glad, and the sweetness of a friend comes from his earnest counsel” Prov. 27:17 “Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another” Friends become wiser together through a healthy difference in points of view. Counsel and healthy disagreement in a friendship can make life sweeter and you sharper. A true friendship will have both elements. So be honest, frank and open with your friends. That’s the character of true friendship. How do you stack up? Are you an honest and loyal friend? Can you say the hard words to your friends? When you friend goes through a hard time are you the first one there with a hug and phone call or prayer? Or are you nowhere to be found? Real friends always let you in, and they never let you down. credits: www.fervr.net

Charity:Water

I have just been watching a Foundation series [hosted by Kevin Rose] featuring Scott Harrison. This is yet another awesome Foundation video hosted by Kevin. What really moved and took my interest with this one was how Scott relates his life to Christianity.

In one section of the video, Scott talks about how he hired a designer [who later became his wife]. When she got hired, she took a drop in salary and also had to forego her health insurance. Any she asked to go out to Liberia so that she took get a first hand intel on what Charity Water was doing. With no money to assist her with a plane ticket, this designer runs up her credit cards for this trip. Now here is where it gets interesting. On her return back to the US, the designer fall ill with malaria and has to be hospitalised. Her medical costs comes up to a tune of $40,000. WOW - for someone who has just given up her healthcare! But, Scott and team have a lot of faith and pray about it.

Please click on the optic above of link below to listen to this amazing story. Charity Water - Kevin Rose sits with Scott Harrison, founder of the non-profit charity:water, which brings clean and safe drinking water to people in developing nations.

What A Pleasant Surprise Today

Today I was a made absolutely speechless with a kind gesture from a couple of ladies in Denmark.This is how it happened. I got a call from one of the IT Support guys based in the main Rockwell building in Milton Keynes. He told me that he had a package for me. I was intrigued because as far as I knew, I was not expecting a package. Anyway, he went on to inform me that the afternoon delivery van would have it in Bletchley late afternoon. Around 3PM, the delivery guy brought the package up to me in my office. I grabbed my pair of scissors and proceeded to open the box. In it was a thank you card and a lovely box of chocolates.

Once again….thanks Dorte and Jette, you ladies rock!

View fullsize

View fullsize

Bangalore - Settling In After Day 1

The next day found Ola and I in the offices of Enterprise Logic on Residency Cross Road. Fortunately for us their offices are just a 15 minute walk from Maya Hotel where we are staying. We were met by Meenu our "buddy" for the period of tuition at Enterprise Logic. After introducing ourselves, we paid our course fees of 30,000.00 Indian Rupees each and arranged a date when we could start classes.

We spent the rest of the afternoon sightseeing and checking out the local scenery. There was so much to take in. We spent next couple of days enjoying ourselves, as we concluded that once the course started, we wouldn’t have the time enjoy the rich culture of this amazing city.

SAP HR classes kicked off on the 13th of February. Monday the 12th was a strike day, something to do with the water situation in the city. Our SAP tutor, Suman was our tutor for the period of our course.

View fullsize

View fullsize

View fullsize

There was so much to learn in SAP HR. One thing I can say for sure is that our tutor is a clever chap. No notes, books or anything of that sort to refer to. He would come into class and then it was all from memory to the white board. I liked the setup they had at Enterprise Logic. There are about 11 small classrooms for teaching, and there is one huge lab with computers for training.

Bangalore is a “funny” place. “Funny” in terms of the fact that shops are open at around 10am in the mornings, and are shut by 12 midnight. Absolutely everything shuts down at 12 midnight. Even the clubs; they knock off at 11.30pm latest, amazing but true. Further inquires as to why this is so revealed that the police were cracking down on western culture.

One thing we didn’t miss out on was the opportunity to have suits sewn for us. I was in a Forex shop getting some pound sterling changed to Indian Rupees when I glanced up to see Ola in another shop checking out suit materials. What on earth is this geezer doing there I asked myself. Anyway after my business at the Forex shop, I quickly went to meet Ola and asked what was up. He said he had inquired about having a couple suits sewn and had be given a price that was too good to be true. I instantly selected 3 different suit materials, and had myself measured up for them.

View fullsize

View fullsize

View fullsize

View fullsize

View fullsize

There is so much to see in Bangalore. The best way of moving about in this city depends on the time of the day. I personally think that the best time to explore the city is in the morning, between the hours of 8 am and 11 am. Almost all the shops do not open until 10am or 10.30am in the morning. From 10am onwards, the city turns into a “war zone”. The amount of traffic that suddenly builds up within that short space of time is unbelievable. You suddenly find people everywhere, cars honking their horns and bicycles telling you to get out the way with their bicycle bells.

After about 3 weeks, Ola and I asked Meenu if she could arrange an elephant ride for us. She confirmed that it wouldn’t be a problem and we fixed a date for our trip. So early Saturday morning, Meenu, Meetul, Ola and I, drove to Bangalore National Park. The drive was about an hour, and took us through that part of the city where a lot of multinational IT firms had their offices. The architecture of these offices is amazing. Accenture has a Helipad on the top of the building. Oracle, Microsoft and IBM have impressive offices too.

On our way to the National Park, we got a running commentary from Meetul which helped a lot. The architecture of the buildings in Bangalore is very impressive. One reason I got for the presence of all these multinational IT companies in Bangalore was due to the massive tax breaks the Indian government have given to these companies. Well we got to the national park around 11 am and bought our tickets for our "safari" ride. I didn't know what to expect. Were these animals going to be caged up or would they be wondering around in the forest reserve. Patience, I said to myself, patience. It didn't take long for our bus to arrive. We all climbed in at it soon took of on our journey. After about 30 minutes of driving, we suddenly came upon some antelopes grazing. It was difficult to get any good pictures of them from where I was sitting. Also with the presence of safety netting around the bus, it was easy to take a picture without have the wire mesh in your view. I suppose there wasn't much that could be done about it, and we had to put up with it. As we navigated our way further into the national park, we came across bears, white tigers, tigers, some more antelopes and lions. The white tigers were absolutely beautiful.

One thing we didn't miss out on was the opportunity to have suits sewn for us. I was in a Forex Bureau getting some pound sterling changed to Indian Rupees when I glanced up to see Ola in another shop checking out suit materials. What on earth is this geezer doing there I asked myself. Anyway after my business at the Forex shop, I quickly went to meet Ola and asked what was up. He said he had inquired about having a couple suits sewn and had be given a price that was too good to be true. I instantly selected 3 different suit materials, and had myself measured up for them.

After about 3 weeks into our stay in Bangalore, Ola and I asked Meenu if she could arrange an elephant ride for us. She confirmed that it wouldn't be a problem and we fixed a date for our trip. So early Saturday morning, Meenu, Meetul, Ola and I, drove to Bangalore National Park. The drive was about an hour, and took us through that part of the city where a lot of multinational IT firms had their offices. The architecture of these offices is amazing. Accenture has a Helipad on the top of the building. Oracle, Microsoft and IBM have impressive offices too.
On our way to the National Park, we got a running commentary from Meetul which helped a lot. The architecture of the buildings in Bangalore is very impressive. One reason I was given for the presence of all these multinational IT companies in Bangalore was due to the massive tax breaks the Indian government have given to these companies. We got to the national park around 11 am and bought our tickets for our "safari" ride. I didn't know what to expect. Were these animals going to be caged up or would they be wondering around in the forest reserve. Patience, I said to myself, patience. It didn't take long for our bus to arrive. We all climbed in and very soon it took off on our journey. After about 30 minutes of driving, we suddenly came upon some antelopes grazing. It was difficult to get any good pictures of them from where I was sitting. Also with the presence of safety netting around the bus, it was not easy to take a picture without having the wire mesh in your view. I suppose there wasn't much that could be done about it, and we had to put up with it. As we navigated our way further into the national park, we came across bears, white tigers, tigers, some more antelopes and lions. The white tigers were absolutely beautiful.

View fullsize

View fullsize

View fullsize

View fullsize

View fullsize

There is so much to see in Bangalore. The best way of moving about in this city depends on the time of the day. I personally think that the best time to explore the city is in the morning, between the hours of 8 am and 11 am. Almost all the shops do not open until 10am or 10.30am in the morning. From 10am onwards, the city turns into a "war zone". The amount of traffic that suddenly builds up within that short space of time is unbelievable. You suddenly find people everywhere, cars honking their horns and bicycles telling you to get out the way with their bicycle bells. I remember my first first time trying to cross a busy road. I stood at a zebra crossing hoping that the cars would stop and let me cross. After standing there for several minutes, someone tapped me on the shoulder and told me that if I was planning on crossing the road I should not expect the cars to stop. Wow, welcome to India.

As you gents and ladies know, where ever one goes, there is always something funny at the location where you are. For me, it was these bizarre signs that I came across. Personally I think you have to be in Bangalore to appreciate the funny side of things; especially the road signs. Here are a couple of street signs I took pictures of.

View fullsize

View fullsize

View fullsize

And who said you had to be in Paris to enjoy your clothes shopping. The shops are absolutely amazing. You can get anything from your "made in India" stuff to all the locally made goods. I suppose there was nothing that couldn't be found in the shops of Bangalore. Ola couldn't resist the urge to buy as many linen shirts as he could. Being an expert in linen shirts, he persuaded me to get a couple myself. "you cannot beat these prices in the UK he said. Why wait". And he was right to. I got two linen shirts straight away.

The Indians has a very acute eye for fashion, but obviously its not everyone who can afford these nice clothes that are displayed in the shops. For the tourist or foreign employee from another country, there is no reason why you should not invest some money in these quality clothing.

One cannot go to Bangalore and come back without making mention of the food. What didn't we have? We sampled as much Indian food as we could. Personally I couldn't keep track of their names. I would say that between Ola and I we would spend about £8 on an evening meal. This included a maximum of 2 bottles of beer each [yes Kingfisher brand too] and tips.

View fullsize

View fullsize

View fullsize

View fullsize

We mostly skipped breakfast and would have a light snack in the middle of the day. Our main meals were in the evenings, and they were mostly Indian meals [why not?]. Well below I have some pictures of typical meal we would have in the evening. The restaurant we mostly ate in was called Sea Shells. The food there is absolutely fantastic. To be honest, there were some crappy places that we went to eat in. but on the whole the majority of them were very good.

There was no end to the number of friends we were making each week. The chap in the above picture is called Richard and he currently lives in Malaysia. I think he lives out there permanently. Well I hope so, because I am planning of going out there for a visit one of these days.

Breakfast at the Maya Hotel is nothing to get all excited about. However they do try to give you a good morning's breakfast. Of course, you have the option of having your breakfast in your room, but I personally made it habit of going up the hotel restaurant to have my breakfast. During our stay there, we had breakfast only on a few occasions.

An experience worth noting was when I asked Ramud to take me to the local barber for a simple hair cut. My initial attempts to illustrate to the barber how I wanted my cut proved futile. So out of desperation, I opted for the shaved look. I will never forget this. After shaving my hair, the barber proceeded to oil my scalp with ointment which I assumed was a local thing done at a barbers shop after having ones head shaven. The feeling felt very good, and I said to myself, at least I will be getting my money's worth. Then all of a sudden he started beating my scalp with the tips of his fingers. It wasn't painful, but his sudden action threw me completely by surprise. For some reason, I did not have enough time to respond by asking him to stop. The all of a sudden, it felt really good and I started enjoying it. After that came the back massage. I had to lift my T Shirt up and bend over forwards. Some more ointment was applied to my back, and he then started giving a one good back massage. This cannot be bad at all. I came for a haircut, and I was getting the full treatment. I felt like a completely new person after he had finished. All this, for about £2.

Well a trip to Bangalore wouldn't be a trip if one didn't make mention of the traffic there. OMG…its absolutely mayhem. Yes, there are traffic lights but even that is completely different to what I am used to. The lights don't change from red to amber then finally to green. When the lights are red, a timer starts counting down from 100 to 0. When it hits 0 then it switches to green and all hell breaks loose. As for using the zebra crossing, forget it. You really have to watch out when crossing the road on a zebra crossing. A car will not slow down or even stop for you the pedestrian on a zebra crossing. And oh there are the street signs, absolutely hilarious. Here are a few.

View fullsize

View fullsize

View fullsize

View fullsize

View fullsize

View fullsize

Well that's it for now. There are loads to tell about my trip to Bangalore. I even have news for you about our weekend trip to Cochin. I promise to blog that too soon.

Kuku Storms Bangalore, the Silicon Valley of India – Day 1

Ola Ajayi is a very good friend of mine. We met up as field engineers working for EDF. The contract involved upgrading PC's nationwide in all the Jobcenters in the UK. It was quite an extensive contract and involved a lot of travelling. For us, we would meet on many occasions at the various Jobcenter locations we were sent to. So that is how we became friends. The contract lasted for quite a while. At the end of it, we decided to take a stab a SAP HR. At that time, SAP was the up and coming "thing" to get involved in. From the investigations and research we had done we knew that providing we got the training, there was a lot of money in it for us in terms of wages. The problem we had was finding a SAP training company in the UK that charged a reasonable price to train you up. We decided that SAP HR would be the easiest to learn, however, the training cost, on average, was around £5,000.00. This was way over what we could afford. Another mutual friend suggested we fly over to India, Hydrabad, to do our training. This mutual friend, Ade, had actually booked his flight and was leaving in a weeks time to India. He went on to tell us that his fees for the 4 week course, hotel and flight came up to just over £1000.00. From the information that he gave us, it made perfect sense to invest £1000.00 in training in SAP HR in India. We did not choose Hydrabad, but rather opted for Bangalore. 

Using the power of Google, I was able to locate a place that offered training - Enterprise Logic

I met up with my friend Ola in Bedford, UK and from there we hired a cab to London Heathrow Airport. Our flight finally took off from Heathrow airport at around 10.20pm. The flight was with Sri Lanka Airlines took us on a 9 hour flight to Male for a brief stop and then to Colombo in Sri Lanka. We stopped in Sri Lanka for 2 hours before continuing our journey to Bangalore International Airport. We got to Bangalore around 8.30pm. By the time we picked up our suitcases and gone through customs, it was around 9.10pm.

I was totally taken back by what i saw. There were motor bikes and cars ALL over the place. Making our way to find the taxi rank was like making your way through a mine field... very dangerous. We finally got called to one side by a cab driver who after much difficulty in telling him where we wanted to go; he took us to a hotel to spend the night. However, before we managed to get a room in the Hotel, we had to bargain really hard with the agent who was organising the hotel room for us. For a period of 4 weeks, he wanted to charge us £1000. Little did he know that we also knew how to play his game? Finally we came to an agreement of £400 for a room with air conditioning, room service, and breakfast.

The hotel, Maya Hotel is situated right in the city centre, and only 15 minutes walk away from Enterprise Logic.

A Day At Newark Everyday Champions Church

The trip to Newark started off at 8 AM. I got picked up from Reachout Community Church by Yuri and his lovely wife. I actually thought I had got the day wrong because they did not arrive till ten minutes after eight. Anyway a quite calculated pray and we were on our way to Newark. I am fairly good at pin pointing [roughly] where towns are generally located in my neck of the woods, however this time I got it totally wrong. I thought we would be going in the direction of Cambridge on the A14. I soon got to learn that Newark was up north on the A1. The trip was uneventful and took up just under one and a half hours to get there. After a nice cup of coffee served from the Coffee shop in the church and some socialising, we were all ready to sit down and listen to the vision for the church and some testimonies.I would just like to make mention of Steve's presentation. He talked about how God speaks to all of us... ALL the time. He illustrated this by telling us that we are all equiped with an inbuilt radio, and that all we need to do is tune this radio from Radio 2 to the Holy Channel. He then went on to give testimonies of word he has had from God and how he has prayed to the people involved in the word he has had. Conclusions? It was a fantastic day out visiting another church, getting together with other members from the Nottingham and Newark church, making friends and sharing.I managed to get some optics. Please do not scrutinise them. I used my Blackberry phone to take the picture.

View fullsize

View fullsize

View fullsize

View fullsize

View fullsize

Uncertainty - Weathering the Storms with God's Promises

The Oxford Dictionary [online[ defines uncertainty as:

noun (plural uncertainties)[mass noun] the state of being uncertain:times of uncertainty and danger  [count noun] (usually uncertainties) something that is uncertain or that causes one to feel uncertain:financial uncertainties.

Our sermon today at church [Reachout Community Church] was about UNCERTAINTY. Before I go any furthur, I just want to mention that my writing speed is not up to scratch, so I have just managed to jot down as much as I could based on this.

There is undoubtedly so much uncertainty that surrounds all of us. For some people, it is the uncertainty of their jobs, for others it is the uncertainty of even getting a job. There is nothing we scan actually say [of our lives on this earth] that we can certain of. In light of this, Gareth Morgan highlighted the below three points.

• How should we respond in an uncertain world
• How should we deal with uncertainty in our lives.
• When uncertainty gets into you, it starts to shrivel you up from the inside.

The reading was taken from Hebrews Chapter 11 verses 13 to 16:

The Heavenly Hope - 13 These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off were assured of them, embraced them and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.

14 For those who say such things declare plainly that they seek a homeland.

15 And truly if they had called to mind that country from which they had come out, they would have had the opportunity to return.

16 But now they desire a better, that is, heavenly country. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared a city for them.

Knowing for certain - reminding yourself what you are certain of. Uncertainty - ungrounded you. It stops you from moving on.

There are 4 decisions/choices you need to make to give you the lift. Recognise what faith does. Faith - sustains you. Uncertainty - makes you go all over the place. In relation to the verses quoted above, Gareth related uncertainty to all 4 of these verses, unfortunately I managed to capture three of them.

Verse 14 - We all hit packets of lows, moments of dark days and uncertainty, phases whereby we think that that is the end. We should remind ourselves that this is just a phase and that we are just passing through. We need remind ourselves that this is not it. Verse 15 - You cannot go back. You need to be pushing forward. Say to God that you are not going back but pushing forward. Verse 16 - Make a declaration. Make the choice of arriving at that point/destination.

Ghana Rent Control Offices - A Bloody Joke Or What?

There seems to be something seriously wrong with the way things are being run at Ghana's Rent Control Offices in Accra. Talk about Piss-taking! I have been trying to get rid of a tenant from my property for the best part of five months now [ tis excludes the three months grace period given to her on paper]. I have blogged the events leading to her eviction on this blog, so if you are interested, you are welcome to read and acquaint yourself with the details. So this officer at the Rent Control Offices has been asking my representative in Accra [ and the tenant] to turn up at his office and on each occasion, he has had a story to tell as to why he hasn't come to a conclusion on what action needs to be taken. As of this Monday, the 17th, my representative has been to his office 4 times, and on each occasion, he has given her another date to return to his office. On her last trip, when she got there, he told her that he had not finished writing out the judgement. What the hell. Is this guy for real?

So I did a quick search on the internet and below is what I came up with regarding the Rent Control Offices in Accra, Ghana

Department Flooded with Complaints, Unable to Address Renter’s Needs

In Ghana, the Rent Control Department is mandated to settle disputes between landlords, tenants, and other interested parties. Long delays and inconsistent practices have marred the department’s reputation in recent years.

Madam Comfort, a tenant at Buashie in Accra who lodged a complaint against her landlord for unlawfully trying to evict her.  But after multiple visits where no progress was made, Comfort says she eventually stopped going back. “I went there several times and waited several hours. I stopped going there because I was wasting money and time at the place,” she says.

A visit to the Rent Control Department in Accra revealed a flood of unhappy landlords and angry tenants with a variety of complaints. Fred Tawiah of the Accra office of Rent Control Department says he hears complaints of “nuisance” and “unpaid rents” everyday. With a pile of documented rent cases on his desk, Tawiah admits that the office is understaffed and unable to adequately hear all of the cases. With a long sigh Tawiah says there is a strong need to build more houses in Accra and says he encourages government leaders to invest in housing construction.

The above was sourced from www.globalpressinstitute.org. There are several key points to this snipet

1. The Rent Control Department is mandated to settle disputes between Landlords and Tenants - this is obviously not the case. Interestedly enough, the person who has been tossing my representative up and down is the same person named in this article: Fred Tawiah. With a cut and dry case like this, why has he resorted to changing dates so many times? ]

2. Madam Comfort has been to the offices several times, only to be disappointed on each visit because nothing could be done to assist her. Just imagine the amount of money this poor lady had to spend on each trip. With the people placed in charge to resolve issues dragging their feet, how are things supposed to progress in a positive manner there?

3. Of course Mr Tawiah will have a "truck load" of cases pending on his desk, because he is dragging his feet on the ones he can easily resolve. Is this what the tax payers money is being used for?

Another link I found on the web is on MC Modern Ghana webpage. Check it out. This article was written in June this year!!

I am simply pissed off with this guy and intend to do something about this.

Tom Basson - The Cult Of Multi-Tasking

On my regular trawls through the internet, I came across Tom Basson's WordPress site, which I would like to recommend to you.