In The Cyber Cafe

Perhaps it was the rainbow or can it be the music? The evening was turning out fine, my colleague eEe! was doing DJ work and his combination was thrilling me. Its one of my dream to start a campus radio cause i know we have at least 2 good deejays around.

How things went from bad to worse within 30 minutes; I really can't tell. Yahoo messenger suddenly stopped working, then the browser started getting slower. As if that was enough all the normal diagnostic tests pointed to the fact that we should browsing very fast. In the ensuing confusion we had to shut down the cyber cafe to trace the fault. I was not prepared for this but its the work.  We lost a total of 6 hours not to talk of the abuses we received from aggrieved customers.

Last night was so cold, i did not sleep well. Its morning and the sun is smiling sweetly; my spirit is upbeat but my body needs a break. I have been running full steam in the last 10 days or so. Right now am feeling lazy and my nose is running but am already in the cyber cafe. I don't expect to spend more than 3 hours here today in all.

I went to pick my director from the airport and she was so glad to be back home. She said that the Local wing of the Abuja airport was busier than that of the Port Harcourt airport but that the latter was bigger and more organized than the former.

She attended a conference at The Women Center in the FCT and remarked at the regularity of darkness in the territory. One of the participants who came from Ghana said when she lived in Nigeria 15 years ago it was Never Expect Power Anytime and now with Please Hold Candle Near its even worse. Indeed we that live in the University of Port Harcourt and the adjourning villages of Aluu and Omuoko are really enjoying.

Yesterday our president said he had done a lot. This must be a wonderful statement.

The sun has been shouting since morning and In The Cyber Cafe, I have been in a very unpredictable condition. Just when I wanted to stick to my schedule, there is an electricity outage so going home is going to be boring.

Funnily enough a colleague of mine who is now at University of Jos stopped by for a visit. She said that the girls at UniJos were prettier (i think she was serious) and the cost of living there cheaper N40k for a self contained as against N70k here. As she was about leaving another set of friends came too and it appears my weekend is going to be swell; the only problem being the money aspects cause N1k2 had just walked away. Its okay, don't get to entertain 3 beauties all the time. Another has just walked in and I decide to go home before things get mixed up abi them blow whistle. I need to rest so as to have enough strength and purpose later in the day during choir rehearsals.

Saturday morning and the Sun is shinning brightly as usual. Did some laundry and went for a shave. There are very few skilled barbers in and around the university and the work was poorly done. The worse part was that there was no public electricity. It was rather hot and I did not intend to reach the cyber cafe today.

About 3.30pm the weather started changing and before you could say jack robinson - a mixture of wind and lightning started landing on the university. It struck the outdoor TV antenna in the house which caused some of the channels to be very clear and others to be horrible. I got a call from the cyber cafe saying that it appeared the equipment had been hit by the lightning too. My boss was around to check things so my presence was not needed. I was not feeling too well so I spent most of the time resting and watching the world cup.

Oh my God it's Monday but the cyber cafe is not open. My boss is running around to get the equipment replaced. The weather condition on Saturday caused a power surge which blew the indoor unit. I had to dress formally and go to the graduate school to see my supervisor. There is an accreditation team from the Nigerian Universities Commission (NUC) which is currently visiting the school to see if the minimum standards are being surpassed in the MBA. Did not achieve much as every one is up and doing to see that our "August" visitors are impressed. The weather is pretty ok, especially for strolling.

Had a class today and it was quite a tedious one. Very few students in Nigerian Universities will tell you they enjoy their various disciplines. It ended after like two and a half hours after which I went to see my supervisor. While I was in class, my boss called but I could not answer. (Thank God, it was on vibrate mode) I sent him an SMS that I was in class but GLO said not sent. 

Had to stop by at the cyber cafe on my way home. That lightning really did some havoc; about 3 ports on the hub were fried and the printer was misbehaving.  It took me some time to sort this out. It appears the SMS did get to my boss afterall. The Internet link is still misbehaving but on the overall it is at least "working"

I have been giving a new assignment at the cyber cafe and my desk moved into a less conspicous place which suits me quite fine. I don't have to worry now how staff treat clients or the other way round as I don't get to see both parties. It will also afford me time to work on my masters theses and gather more knowledge about some softwares. I love to reflect on each passing month and make new resolutions in the new month.

Won't be going to church this sunday because the whole town will be going to celebrate our anniversary and am almost certain the atmosphere will be electrifying but then after that what? Jesus commands us to win souls to his kingdom but it appears some are trying to create the kingdom here on earth.

In this new month am going to make new friends, people that can use their thinking faculty and reason. O yes, some will be christians - but they will have to be "real".  I am equally going to give some people "rope" as am tired of their religion. There is an abject lack of brotherhood within the christian circle due to the prevalence of a "God will bless You gosel" I am equally going to rest my glomobile number as it has brought me nothing but pain. Those people really have the nerve to do as they like with my sms; which is mostly undelivered. Their coverage in Port Harcourt is still very funny and its due to a poor deployment of their masts

Its student week in University of Port Harcourt and the atmosphere is noisy. There have been many processions by students of various departments complete with live marching bands. There has been a lot of display by some ethnic nationality affiliations show casing the diversity of our different cultures, indeed the religious brethren are also not left out in this one week of licensed partying.

I came back from choir rehearsals to meet the campus in a party atmosphere even though the weather was wet and cold. It was the annual student bonfire night but it appears the  show was going to start only after the world cup match between Italy and Germany; in any case it was going to be all night.

The weather has not been very friendly and I was looking forward to my late dinner of hot rice and chicken stew plus a hot cup of milo. The sound from the party grounds filled the entire campus making sleep a little elusive; at about 4.30am my neighbours came back with so much noise as they were locked out.

I relocated to the parlour to watch a little CNN and then noticed that the music had given way to prayers. Indeed we are a very religious people; can you beat that? And the crowd moved out from there to the east - west road junction to hijack vehicles for free transportation to town for the rag - day.

There seems to be a remote relationship between sickness and confusion, to say I woke up in the morning might not be a very fair assessment because I don't remember falling asleep. My body was running a high temperature and was in no mood to go anywhere. I quickly placed a call to my doctor friend who gave me a temporal prescription pending when she will examine me on her way back from work. From the blues, my mind started playing tricks on me and then everything started falling apart. I needed urgent prayers so sent I many sms to those people I recognize as my friends and brethren; the response was quite overwhelming. I thank God for the ability to have friends in deed and even those in need too. It was quite late in the day when I received some injections which stabilized the situation; at least I slept for good 4 hours in the night.

After the festivities in the University of Port Harcourt last week, the faculties have just released their various time tables for semester examinations and already the students are running helter skelter whispering "blue murder".  The cyber cafe is not as full because the students are suddenly trying to cover their course outline overnight. Jamb results have been released online and i shiver at the scores am seeing - they are so high you start wondering what happened; quite a number where withheld. Although the weather is dull, strolling is very convenient and most pleasant. The public electricity is fairly constant and its funny how suddenly i feel very mature overnight. Let me go and see my lecturer.

Its amazing the number of resolutions I have broken this year. Oh yes, I have managed to keep one which is stop driving to church in order not to attract undue attention. The rest has not been easy, but I have to take hold and keep to budget. There has to be control over my time and money. Today, I took a friend for lunch and by the time we were through I could not find N600; infact it was when I returned to the cyber cafe from the restaurant that it occured to me. The cyber cafe is quite busy today and a colleague of mine who is on break actually came in to help out which was quite thoughtful. It is such people that I need to be spending time with.

It appears the rainy season started today in Port Harcourt. I woke up to see the rains and went to the cyber cafe in it. The client turnout was quite poor, actually 2 people at about midday. Went to CTL office at GRA and the traffic was very light, both on the road, in the office and even in the bank. Went to see a friend afterwards; and then back to the cyber cafe. Driving in the rain was fun and there was no police road block. Got back to the cyber cafe and the place was averagely full. Went home to catch some rest before my shift by 5pm. Just heard that there was some cult related violence at the faculty of law in the state university some 2km away. Fell asleep while trying to take a decision and then woke up to see that it was 4.30 in the evening. Took a brisk walk to the cyber cafe and it appears a bell was rung in the market; it was full. People are checking jamb results and some are filling their course forms online, still others are paying school fees. Its going to be a long day i suppose.

In Port Harcourt, we now have morning and evening, no afternoon. The rains ensure that the weather is always dark and gloomy with a wet environment. When u combine that with no electricity then you will now understand why a lot of people are born in March. Its takes the grace of God and a deep sense of purpose to move around even if you have a car. Some roads are now mighty rivers and the attendant traffic jams are quite complicated.

I was impressed with the type of service I received at GTB trans-amadi branch, they had their security men behave like ushers getting you out of your car and into the banking hall. Purchased 2 chicken pies and 2 doughnuts from King Fisher at the cost of N340, Mr. Biggs is really robbing us at the University.

Had to enter by the main Gate as there was a hold up from the UniPoRT junction up to the AP filling station by the mechanic garage. Its still raining only the intensity is not as heavy as before.