Dates to Drinks

When I was younger I remember having such curiosity about the mysterious substance known as alcohol. I was simply overflowing with eagerness to sample this almost forbidden fruit. I could simply not wait to see what it was all about. In fact, I remember on one occasion we had some fresh juice that fermented and that evening mum making a joke about how it must be so ripe that one would get high off it. This is my chance I thought brilliantly, I had found a loophole. I immediately offered to get rid of the juice with my own plans in mind. Oh the joy I felt because of my said brilliance haha. I snuck off with the stash with big plans of discovery. I dispatched the juice with the necessary speed so as not to get caught and then waited. I stared into the back yard that evening waiting to see heavenly visions, lights, and mermaids even but alas, the only evidence that closely matched all I had heard about alcohol is that I spent quality time after that in the bathroom, sitting upright. I dare say my curiosity was dampened, for the moment.

I miss those days. Where did they go? I know change is inevitable but sometimes the harsh reality seems to surprise me unexpectedly. It almost has the same effect as rain clouds on Nairobians, causing mass panic and mayhem. I'm talking about the dating scene by the way, let me elaborate.

I once heard a story about a young man who awaited his female visitor at a bus stop with a rose flower in his mouth. I hope for his sake that he cut out the thorns. Sadly though, the young man had plans to uh express his physical interest in the girl but word has it that he was blue that evening and so were his balls. Such stories are rather common I hear and they range from cooked meals to expensive dates that end up with some parties suffering untold frustrations and empty beds.

I remember the times when girls were, uh, shall I say more modest. When an encounter with a pretty girl would start with the awkward mumbled hello and a milestone was a first kiss on date number x (where x could be two dates later or sometime in the future depending on the wooing ability of the suitor). I remember watching movies in which a night out meant a good movie, a play, dinner parties or even a night dancing at the disco (nothing like the sex with clothes on that happens today). Back then, it did not really matter how much money a man had, girls looked for real love. I often pondered on the tangibility of this love thing. It was the Holy Grail back then. If you had it, every girl you knew would be green with incurable envy. They would be forgiven for being mean to you.

Was it such a different society then? Have we necessarily gone astray? I think things just change. At some point, women realized they were getting the short end of the stick (pun intended) and decided to put matters in their own hands. Sure sometimes this translates into putting beer in their hands but to some extent these days the ends and the means meet at as the night fades.

I am old fashioned, or at least I understand the underlying principles. Those days, it was acknowledged that sex existed, it just was not used to sell everything from toothpaste to yoghurt. Billboard advertisements did not have cleavage that would cause accidents or shirtless men selling uh, who knows, those ones are not really my kind of thing. So basically, we are trying to find true love in a society that has been strong armed into accepting casual sex, single parenthood and a high divorce rate. It’s quite a task. It is probably comparable to the first creature/amphibian that attempted to walk on land. Who knows what will happen. It is quite a daunting task, I may as well attempt to fashion a pair of wings for myself by gluing together feathers left behind by chickens in a coop. Anyway, all I know is that I’m not going to find a lasting partnership, a life long adventure and someone to grow old with over shots at the bar.

As always, thanks for reading as I grow wiser yet remain good looking. Ha, didn't see that coming did ya?

Have a good one :-)

Business in Kenya

After successfully failing in a carelessly launched business endeavor, I now have accumulated enough wisdom I think to comment on a number of factors that I think propel most Kenyan businesses to their doom. These are just a few things I have noticed:

1. The number one thing that I learnt from experience will not help a business is cutting corners. Kenyan businesses I believe are in a league of their own when it comes to this. It is a plague that holds back many a great business idea. From the public transport sector to the service business, corners are cut shamelessly. It has almost become an acceptable custom to Kenyan businesses. Symptoms range from rickety public service vehicles that are badly in need of a proper service to eateries who hire waiters so in need of training that they forget or mix up your order a minute after you state it. When a business cuts corners like this, the end result is not being able to deliver the value that the customer pays for, hence nullifying the reason for the business in the first place. This is the reason most people in Kenya are skeptical when one announces themselves a business person.

2. The second important lesson I learnt is that accounts form the backbone of the business. Every transaction should be recorded in the proper way else the business has no proof of its dealings, among other problems. Most Kenyan businesses avoid book keeping as if it is a disease that will result in them losing their sanity. They steer clear of book keeping also so they may plunder the cash register at will and have no records of their misdeeds after. I did not keep accounts myself at first because I thought they were tedious and were only important for companies that could afford accountants. I later learnt the importance of recognizing trends and the value of statistics acquired from proper book keeping.

3. Marketing - One of the plagues of most kenyan businesses is Ineffective Marketing. I know this because I applied ineffective marketing to my business too and yet I still expected mind-bending results. I did get results though, results that pointed directly at the flawed marketing strategy and execution. I used flyers and the internet to the best of my ability and concentrated on making the adverts as visually appealing as i could. I later discovered that the whole process of selling a business begins with a process called market research which many Kenyan businesses ignore. Understanding, the customer, the need and the market including all factors affecting it is the most important thing that a business can do. It is the first part that forms the key to a successful business. The marketing process facilitates the business's existence through research, it's selling points and also the future strategic adjustments for long term sustainability.

4. Most kenyan businesses do not identify a specific business need to address. Some businesses seem to exist because they can rather that to serve a purpose. Some businesses come up as a means to make some money because someone else was seen doing the same thing. There is a guarantee in this country that if you start a business and it seems to be thriving, numerous similar enterprises will be established and attempt to follow your formula for success. If the original business owner does not patent their business technology or have strategic plans that take the business venture to its potential success levels, then the business usually runs out of steam after some time.

5. Customer service - many businesses are quick to accept your money, they are eager in fact to receive it but they are way less enthusiastic when it comes to delivering the value a customer pays for. The effect that this has on customers is eliciting a response such that they hold on to their purses tighter and spend a lot less because they are used to receiving little value for their money. Also, some businesses in the service industry hire people who are outright rude. Some waiters and tellers leave the customer with a bitter taste in their mouths because of the lack of professionalism with which they have treated. In more ways than most consider, this contributes greatly to the way in which customers spend their money and their time at certain business premises.

Though many businesses fail for the reasons mentioned above, there are some though that thrive in this harsh business environment because of their adaptation and integrity. That is an article for another day though. 

Is love that hard?

I know, yes, I know and have been told that my ego needs to go on a life long diet but goodness, can you blame me. Ok ok, I really should stop because I want you to read this post because horror of horrors, you might actually discover a gem and learn something. As I refrain from being cocky about that, I begin my post.

Really? Is it? I wonder, I really do. I had a conversation with a long time friend of mine and he said he had never been in love. I was shocked beyond words. (picture the cartoon jaw drop) . At his age? How? What had he been doing all this time then, I wondered. Anyway, it got me thinking, maybe this love thing is hard. I empathized with all the people I know out there who fear emotions, for various reasons. Some fears real and others that exist only in their heads. Ranging from manipulative exes to obsessive and eerily possessive behavior. It made some level of sense, I guess, it is scary after all. 

It sounded familiar, plus I knew that there was a time when the whole experience was alien to me and sounded like an equivalent spy mission deep in enemy territory without back up and support ( yes, mission impossible 4 is still fresh on my mind so :-p). Then I realized that things have changed for me. I realized that I conquered several obstacles and eventually ended up loving myself more ( yeah, I'm hoping to get away with that one :-)). I realized that my first notions of the emotions came from what I saw in the movies and heard on radio. Little did I know, everyone else was as clueless as I was. I wonder though, in the far reaches of my mind that I don't visit often, whether my knowledge and confidence on the matter is because of my attitude (willingness to fail and learn from it, several times) and approach towards the whole experience or if I just got lucky. Shrugs, ah, over thinking. 

All I know is, you honestly have to love yourself just as you are ( in my case, as a nut case but it is what it is) in order to be able to love and be loved by another and undertake the challenge of enjoying a healthy relationship. The beauty of the whole thing is finding a balance and living with it from having moments of giddy, tingling and dizzying emotions yet living in the same world in which logic applies.

And since I can't help myself, ha. Made you read. You know you love me xox... What am I doing, haha
Have a good one :-)

The downside of civilization

I'm frustrated. So frustrated am I that I sometimes growl unexpectedly as I ride home using public transport thus soliciting curious looks but I know I'm just expressing what we all know. I watch television and sometimes I see the life I think I want. That life simultaneously seems so far away that sometimes I wonder if it is still worth pursuing it as a dream. 

 well, maybe not that much.

Thus I live in this ever changing world of ours in which anything is increasingly more possible ranging from acts of stupidity making people famous online overnight and careers that baffle the previous generation (mixologist - bartender in the old days). But somehow, my parent and family believe I should get a good job with steady pay and benefits regardless of whether I enjoy it or not and somewhere in there comes a speech about getting more papers (I don't like school much, yes it's personal)... yada yada yada. What about my needs? *sniffs* am I not allowed to be carefree and rebellious? Can't I go live on some deserted unclaimed island and live off the fish? Basking in the sun and sleeping under a gorgeous moon? Can't I kidnap an attractive (hmmm I wonder where Megan fox is) willing victim with chloroform and explain to her when she wakes that we are desolate survivors of a horrible shipwreck doomed to start our own native tribe of fierce but good-looking modern warriors? Sigh.

I want to do something outrageously fun for a living like a bungee jump course rate expert, sex toy consultant or a video game player assistant and get ridiculous endorsements from companies that supply me with merchandise ranging from a life-long pizza supply to fancy cars just because I look good in them. I keep hoping to stumble upon a wishing well soo deep that my descendants sneeze pixie dust or that I come across a lamp with an uber hot female genie willing to fulfill my uh... Wishes. Yeah. (minds outta the gutter, I don't like my house overpopulated).

Totally my career path, pure adrenalin.

To console myself I often blame 'the man' for not being born with a silver spade in my mouth or into royalty cause I clearly have the looks for it. So I think 'the man' can stick it somewhere where  the sun’s rays should not ideally shine. ( I'm not even sure who this man is but I'm pretty carried away at this point). As I write all this I realize I basically just want to be paid for being me then I realize, I already am. I am payed in time. What I choose to do with it is up to me. I'm having fun being me. I suggest you do the same.

Have a great weekend.

pictures from google

The Perfect world

I tried to think of how to write this,
I realized it's a futile as trying to catch fleas,
So I simply offer my expression,
And let if flow free of congestion.

I recently stopped thinking for a moment,
And the result was a thought so potent,
For the silence brought to my attention,
An idea not of my predilection,
I thought of how some people suffer,
And how for some life only gets rougher,
I spared a thought for the other side of the coin,
And how some wealth is built on others ruin,
I thought briefly about forced prostitution,
And how it is so ignored by our constitution,
I thought it odd too how easily these words rhyme,
And how about such issues most politicians turn mime,
I reflected a moment about abandoned street children,
And how we take for granted some of the chances given,
I was chilled by the brief thought of human trafficking,
And how this somehow boils down to poor governing,
It's ridiculous how some countries biggest problems are obesity,
And on the same planet wars break out from lacking necessities,
It's amazing how diverse life on this planet gets,
Least surprising the animals people keep as pets,
To whom more love affection and kindness is shown,
In comparison to other people almost something to mourn.

Surprisingly, I have no problem with the way the world is,
Because all I ever control is how I live,
Though What makes me most sad in middle of this stress,
Is some people don't ever get to know they can live beyond this mess,
Because I'm just the same as everyone else,
I chose not where to be born as an address,
I'm just glad that here good or bad, anything is possible,
Dreams are achievable, and everyone is capable.