#lifeside

[afugong]

🤳ZUK Z2 Plus

ISO - 100 Shutter Speed - 1/100 Aperture - f/2.2 Pixel - 13MP Resolution - 4160 x 3120

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[mattattridge-smith]

@11_degrees #lifeside (at Alkrington) https://www.instagram.com/p/B2POqPKlQW3/?igshid=1bg3b4q5f0ed3

[iruntheinternets]

[casus-foederis]

The 1st month of Marriage

Time & Again, I had asked myself these questions, How would marriage be? And what of life beyond? How would it change, how would it affect me? Now, a month after, I have only this to state...

There are only a few changes to the above:

1. I am not 28 (yet)

2. This is an invitation to the wedding. ( I did not dare send it.) <> 

P.S. I will show it to her though.

3. The one and the only feeling right now i feel :

 Get married to the person you love, its lovely.

[casus-foederis]

Inspired by Divya: My new years resolutions

Ahem. So here i go, promising myself somethings which i intend to carry through. Now every year I do this....and without fail...I miss by a mile.. I have been thinking though, about what might be the reason why I have been failing at these year on year. And finally...I think i have an answer.... I didnt have a guiding light or as the world knows it better...a nagging wife to get these done. So finally armed with this weapon..or gun to my head if you please, here are my resolutions:- 1. Lose some weight. 'Some' to be determined by the aforementioned weapon and her lethal strikes. 2. Learn Salsa: Again Akure does not have much to do and i am going to put my new "to be" music system to very good use.

3. Cook Italian: By the end of the year i want to know Italian food inside out...at least Pizza, Pasta, Ravioli & Lasagna...oh that makes me hungry. I already have cooked pasta so i am well on this one. 4. Learn a bit of French: There are some things which i will intend to hide from the Weapon to be...and so learning a new language will be a good thing. If however i think she's following my french...i will change the language to Navajo..or something like that. 5. And this is the most important one: Get Married....yup this one is one of the lower ones on the list...cause really little depends on me. I will be leashed, dragged and butchered at any sign of my deviation from this. So yeah...this one i think will be done..and soon. 6. Long drive: one drive of a thousand + kms on the pajero. Yup. Thats a resolution. There are lots of places to see in Nigeria...and i Intend to drive by to some of them.. 7. And Last but foremost: be happy in my job and my life...which means doing all those things which retain the sanity of the place, and the insanity of who i am. Its going to be a challenge, but this time I will not be alone...

[casus-foederis]

A day in Nigeria

This is the description of a typical day in Nigeria. Meant for those who are thinking what a life in trading is all about. Start: - 1. A early morning where you can see the fog right outside your window, with a beautiful view of the houses nearby and the rolling hills in the background...Nice way to wake up. 2. Move to office in your pajero, with your driver and look into any documents that need your signature.  Meanwhile you will start calling customers and guys you have given advance to about the money you have given and when are they loading your goods. You probably make a 100 calls a day min..follow ups are critical. 3. After around 30 mins in the office, you move to one of the areas under your control, which takes usually 1-1.5 hrs on very bad roads. Meanwhile, you are keeping track of the internaitonal market and its fluctuations, if not of your lappy, then by asking some other BC or your boss. 4. You talk to each of your guys when you reach the unit, what you do at this place is most critical, you look into the warehouse, you look into your staff operations, you talk about prices and competitor activity, you see about the crop whats happening, and you get an idea about what would be going on in the field in this week, and meanwhile you sort out any problems that you have to address. 5.  A major decision here is to tackle guys who ask you always for ever-increasing prices...how you manage them is critical...if you dont pay they will sell to someone else, if you pay...the next time they will ask even higher and so on. 6. Another major aspect is monitoring you own staff and their performance on a daily basis, the work they are doing and whether the work is what is required or not even.. 7. After spending quite some time in the unit and visitng the guys stores where you ascertain what the guy will be doing in this week (almost 4-5 hrs travel), you usually return back to office. 8. There are always a few mails/reports to cater to, which you do and then finally again talk to your guys in some other unit which you did not visit today, but probably will the next day. 9. Once this is all done, you might have some documents to take home to, for signing and thats about all.. 10. Then you reach home, around 6:30 where your maid has already prepared/or is ready to prepare food. (you might have to teach her how to cook indian dishes though)...and you then talk to home and get on the internet.. 11. Some people may also watch tv or lucky few (like me can play pool in their own home. i luckily have a pool table in my house..) or you can go off to meet the people nearby -all expats and enjoy till late night. 12. Come back and sleep..tomorrow is a new day. So, in basic thats what you do. But how you do it, is something that you will learn throughout your training and after as well... In short, what you learn is:- a) What to talk b) Who to talk to c) what to notice d) How to control things e) Product related info & handling f) Ways and means to outdo competiiton without them coming to know about it g) Handling pressure on a min-to-min basis. Thats what Olam has to offer in the first 3 months of your stay, further ahead I know, there is much much more. Hope this gives you an idea of the work, and the social life (which is usually a downside in majority of the locations.) But the work and the facilities is in one word - tremendous.

[casus-foederis]

Indo-Pak Nuclear War - a scenario...

This is then the scenario….

The Pakistan army decides to launch a nuke-missile towards India .

They don’t need any permission from their government, and promptly order the countdowns.

Indian technology is highly advanced.

In less than 8 seconds, Indian army detects the Pak countdown and decides to launch a missile in retribution.

But they need permission from the Government of India.

They submit their request to the Indian President.

The President forwards it to the Cabinet.

The Prime Minister calls an emergency Lok Sabha session.

The LS meets, but due to several walkouts and severe protests by the opposition, it gets adjourned indefinitely.

The President asks for a quick decision.

In the mean time, the Pak missile failed to take off due to technical failure.

Their attempts for a re-launch are still on.

Just then the Indian ruling party is reduced to a minority because a party that was giving outside support withdraws it.

The President asks the PM to prove his majority within a week.

As the ruling party fails to win the confidence vote, a caretaker government is installed.

The caretaker PM decides to permit the armed forces to launch a nuclear missile.

But the Election Commission says that a caretaker government cannot take such a decision because elections are at hand.

The Election Commission files Public Interest Litigation in the Supreme Court alleging misuse of power.

The Supreme Court comes to the rescue of the PM, and says the acting PM is authorized to take this decision in view of the emergency facing the nation.

Just then one of the Pak missiles successfully took off, but it fell 367 miles away from the target, on its own government building in Islamabad at 11.00AM.

Fortunately there were no casualties as no employee had reached the office that early.

In any case, the nuclear core of the missile had detached somewhere in flight.

The Pakistan army is now trying to get better technologies from China and USA .

The Indian Government, taking no chances, decides to launch a nuclear missile of its own, after convening an all-party meeting.

This time all the parties agree.

Its three months since the army had sought permission.

But as preparations begin, “pro-humanity” , “anti-nuclear” activists come out against the Government’s decision.

Human chains are formed and ‘Rasta rokos’ organized.

In California and Washington endless e-mails are sent to Indians condemning the government and mentioning

“Please forward it to as many Indians as possible”.

On the Pakistan side, the missiles kept malfunctioning.

Some missiles deviate from target due to technical failures or high-speed wind blowing over Rajasthan.

Many of them land in the Indian Ocean killing some fishes.

A missile (smuggled from USA ) is pressed into service.

Since the Pakistan army is unable to understand its software, it hits it original destination: Russia.

Russians successfully intercepts the missile and in retaliation launches a nuclear missile towards Islamabad .

The missile hits the target and creates havoc.

Pakistan cries for help.

India expresses deep regrets for what has happened and sends in a million dollars worth of Parle-G biscuits.

[casus-foederis]

The Tale of 2 Brothers: A Prelude to the book

This tale goes back a long time. It was during my long drives with my driver that I heard it from him and i have had it retold a few times from different other people. The exact location of the events that occurred cannot be verified, but a majority of the people I have talked to describe the place to be one on the border on Niger & Nigeria, a place which in the days before days, was called tali-niangara - a place of kings. In those days, before it would be a thousand years that any white man would ever be seen in Africa, there still existed fair people. People who were called the pupa, meaning people of lighter skin. They were the rulers of Old Africa, and they were, by birth, Africans themselves. It is said that they were descendants of the one true God of Earth, and that they had powers and knowledge which they had been blessed with. It was a fair rule, and a just one, the royals mingled lovingly with their subjects and there was gaiety all around. It was a land of bounty, and one blessed with splendour. But this land held a terrible secret. Many many miles away from the capital of tali-niangara, there was a place which was forbidden even to talk of. This was yekkangal It was rumoured that the devil lived there, that the earth ended at that place, that horrid beasts who ate men abounded, and as with any such location speculation remained rife. Old timers talked of its horrors, new-comers smirked and yet no one dared ever to fathom out the secret of the location. Perhaps it was the fear or perhaps it was the distance that stopped men from venturing out and certainly it was the uneasiness they all felt when they even looked at the way yekkangal  lay. However, in this communication from the royals, they were all deceived; for beneath their homes, there existed an old passage, dug deep in the bowels of the earth that took whoever cared to follow it, to the very depths of yekkangal. That the passage existed, itself was forgotten, no note was ever made of it, hidden by various forms of device, the path was guarded from expected or unexpected forms of discovery. And that is how it had remained.... But some things, aren't meant to be forgotten. They don't like staying that way, and greed and curiosity always hanker the man towards his own doom. With rumours of death, rumours also arose of gold, of riches far beyond the dreams of man, and people wondered about the power of the royals. And though no one ever said it, deep within their hearts they cherished an idea that yekkangal was the place that was the birthplace of kings. It was in these times that in tali-niangara, there ruled a king named Omwupo with his queen Imphala. The royals had been on the throne for the past 40 years, and with growing age, it was well known that soon the throne would be handed over to a new king, the crown prince of Omwupo & Imphala, the strong & the brave Owudojo. It was a time of anticipation for the nation, long had they seen their prince - training to be strong, learning to be wise, growing up under their own care and devotion. It was in fact such a time when not one person in the entire land had a thing to complain about the coming king, not one unfair word was spoken, and there existed a burning love for the price among one and all. It was not that the prince didn't deserve it, with every expectation set on him, he had surpassed it, with every obstacle in his way, he had crushed it, with every riddle, he had found a solution...to the extent that even before his crowning, people looked at him and wished him to be king soon. This of course pleased the father, he was a wise man and not given to feeling hurt over the love for his son; and he cherished in knowledge that it was his son that had won the hearts of his people. He had already talked to the priests, and he knew that the day was upon him soon, to announce to his land, the coming of the king. "it is just 2 moons from today.", he thought. "2 moons when the fate of this land is passed on to his capable son, and I am able to take my rest with my queen." Long had he heard of the river which spurted far beyond the borders of his kingdom, and no man had ever reached its banks. The king desired to go there, it was a burning ambition in his heart to have once seen the long talked about river. And it was in this spirit that he drove his stare towards the way where he had heard the river lay.....and he saw! Something move. Far, far beyond the sight of his eyes, there seemed to be a something shifting in the wind, almost like a sandstorm, except this was quiet, and there was no perceptible wind. Slightly alarmed, he called his aide to his side, and told him to keep a look out on it, told him to awaken him if the storm developed any further. And with this small instruction he left. How was he to know that the doom of his time was being written in the wind? That far far away in the direction of his gaze, events were taking place that would far outstrip the consequences that could ever be imagined out of them.