Wednesday, September 17, 2008

Violent Tempers . . . another serious issue

I have often heard that men from the Northern part of Nigeria could be really crazy when angry (my apologies to the Northern bloggers, please). I’ve heard about the violent tempers of these guys who could behead anyone who got an inch close to their wives or their cattle! I have also heard that if medals were to be given for having violent tempers, then my Northern brothers would be natural gold medalists. I came so close to observing a flagrant display of violent temper at its best sometime last week on my way to Surulere, Lagos to see a client. I was seated in a commercial bus and I watched in horror as a car ahead collided with a motorcycle. For an instant, I thought the man on the bike was dead or something. He had no helmet on for chrisakes! But he wasn’t. In fact, he turned out to be a policeman wearing a uniform that had MOPOL clearly printed on it. Alas, he was a mobile policeman! Along with the other occupants of the bus, I prepared for the drama that was about to unfold before us. The MOPOL guy seemed not to have felt any pains at all judging by the manner in which he got off his fallen bike and raced to his assailant’s car which had now parked a few metres ahead. By the time the driver got out of his car to assess the damage he had done, the policeman had reached him and the next thing I saw was the man on the ground and the policeman pummeling him with blows meant to remove all of his teeth if possible. The crowd that had now gathered screamed and begged for this new assailant to have mercy on his victim. The pleas seemed to make matters worse as the MOPOL pulled out a dagger from his belt and . . . No, he didn’t stab the driver, but I bet he would have if only there hadn’t been so many witnesses. Man, I was scared. As my bus slowly moved away from the scene, I managed to catch the policeman’s face and noticed his tribal marks. His angry voice and accent further proved that he was a Northerner. I sighed and silently thanked the good God that had restrained him from using that dagger.

'Temper' simply refers to 'a tendency to get angry easily and suddenly.' It’s no doubt a vice we all have to live with one way or the other. No one existing on this planet could ever lay claim to never having had a reason to get angry at one time or the other. Even babies do get angry. At least my daughter does. Jesus Christ himself got angry sometimes in the Bible, so we certainly do have a right to get angry but what really determines maturity is the manner in which we control ourselves whenever we get angry. Unbridled tempers have broken so many homes, caused so many wars and so many untimely deaths. I don’t think I have seen any good effect violent tempers have ever had so what’s the point of accommodating it anyway. I’ve come to believe ‘controlling temper’ remains one of the greatest personal wars we all have to fight. Even if the war can’t be totally won, it could be controlled to a reasonable tone.

Let’s quit the preaching and teaching and come to the real world now. I made a purchase over the weekend and somehow it still makes me laugh. Guess what? I bought a dog – a puppy actually. (No, that's not the picture of my dog. I've not had the chance to get a good photo shot yet.) A friend’s friend was desperate and needed cash real bad. Now he has a bitch (that’s a feminine dog’s name, right?) that just put to bed like two months ago and the she-dog’s got six puppies. I had a little cash to spare and so I took the deal, so I’m a proud owner of a puppy and she’s a she. That means in a coupl’a months and with the best cross-breeding with either a male dobberman, an Alsatian or a German shepherd, I could be rearing bad-ass dogs like DMX and shit. Sometimes, it’s good to act on impulse . . .sometimes. My pup’s got no name yet. I’m still thinking of a perfect name. Suggestions are highly welcome. See you around.

Wednesday, September 3, 2008

The Embers are here!

Now at first sight and at first thought, one would wonder if the Embers are a group of people; probably a family. They could probably be a bunch'a gay guys or some broke ass dummies trying to make some cool cash. Better still, the Embers could be distant cousins I've been expecting for a while and who've gotten me excited on their arrival. Well fellows, as some smart folks might have now figured out, the Embers are no humans. They are not my cousins and they sure ain't gay! The Embers are what I (and so many other people) call the last quarter of every year. Talk about SeptEMBER, OctoBER, NovEMBER and DecEMBER. Yeah I know October's sort of different but shall we just ignore that for now . . . Thank You! Truth is I'm quite glad that we're in the fourth and final quarter of this year and it feels pretty cool to know that 2008's gradually moving into the archives of the past. Soon, we'll say 'I did so and so in 2008 etc.' Let's hope the good Lord keeps us all alive. Sad to think that not all who are alive at this time would still be around in the near future . . . you know how it is. Death comes when you least expect and did I tell you that he (Death's personified as one bad guy. No doubt he's a he) is no respecter of persons. Now I don't wanna be the one to get picked and I hope you're not!

Now what's up with the grim shit. No one's gonna die, at least not for a long while, say sixty seven years from now or so (for me). Don't ask me how I know. Like Idi Amin, it was all revealed to me in a dream, so you can rest assured, aight.

Been a while I guess. The last time I was in this parts, I remember talking about my new job, the Olympics etc. Funny to note that all that's long gone now. Yeah I've settled into my new job and . . . hey, no I didn't get fired like I thought I would. Remember how i missed my first day due to the jinxed triple (08-08-08)? Ma'er of fact, I kinda misunderstood a lot of stuff about my new job at HEVI ENERGY RESOURCES LTD. I must confess it feels pretty good working especially cos of the ease with which I work. I don't get to go to the office and sit eight hours doing God-knows-what. I'm a Sales executive, remember, and that means all I get to do is meet prospective clients and woo them to make my company their choice. So far, have I been successful? Hmm. sorta. The big bucks are yet to come though. On the six month no-salary thing, it wasn't as bad as I put it. Sorry for the confusion. Guess I was kinda shocked myself and so started spitting fire and brimstone. Yes, I'm still not on full salary for the mean time but I get bonuses and pecks that make me smile if I must say. Plus, I get to work at my own pace and convenience - at least for another five months, right? Maybe by then we'll see what the management would pull off. I'm to resume lectures in another three weeks and I'm still yet to decide how I'm gonna let them know but I don't think it's gonna be much of a problem. I work with a couple of 'softies.' Don't tell them I said so, okay.

So much has happened in the past few weeks. Olympics are over. Nigeria made me laugh. What a shame! Not even one gold medal! All the same, I was impressed with the Dream team. They did a good job. Forget that Argentina beat them in the final. Did you ever think they were going to beat Argentina? Come on! We're talking about Lionel Messi, Riquelme, Javier Mascherano and a coupl'a hitmen here. Anyways, let's give them a hand. Dem try, abeg! The English Premiership has also started and it's Week 4 now. I'm still with Arsenal and still wondering if Arsene Wenger's not gambling with my heart yet again. Let's wait and see.

TY's doing great and I miss her so much. Saw her last about four weeks ago and I tell you her development's rapid. She's getting more mature and older by the day and I can't help wondering why I almost killed myself when I'd just discovered my girlfriend was pregnant. Somehow, the whole story's played out well. I hope I have the time to share the full story someday soon. Take care now. See y'all later.