4. Go where you're celebrated not tolerated

One of the things about overstaying your welcome is that you don't know quite when you're doing it. The old Kiswahili saying goes 'akufukuzaye hakuambii enda' - The one who chases you away does not tell you go. The best place for one to be is where your contribution makes a difference and where you're solving a problem and making things better. However this does not mean you always hang around yes men as there are places where you'll not have a very welcome message but the hearers need to hear it. Generally if you're in a place where your contribution is not being appreciated it's time to move along.

3. Bad things happen to good people

We always wonder why there's so much suffering in the world, hoe God allows it to happen, why the bad guys look to win. Some of these things make no sense whatsoever and you wonder why the good guys end up having bad things happening. One of the mysteries of life doesn't make sense to me either. However even though bad things happen do the right thing anyway for the steps of a righteous man are ordered of the Lord Ps 37:23

2. Listen

We were given two ears and one mouth so that we listen twice as much as we talk. Another old saying full of wisdom. Listening is hard at times but before we go all out and express our opinions take some time to listen to what the other person is saying. That goes a long way as everybody appreciates being listened to, Ir's very easy to judge somebody but before you do take a minute to listen to where they're coming from

1. Honesty is the best policy

An old saying that still holds true. Lies may get you out of trouble initially but in the end you'll be in more trouble when the truth is found out. It is best to tell the truth at all times to save you from problems later.

Nipe Nyahunyo!

We are at it again folks! My pet peeve, the topic that's always sure to get me worked up and spewing vitriol... Our lovely Kenyan roads with their 'well diciplined' and 'courteous' drivers, quite a peachy lot they are -NOT! What comes to mind is the old Kiswahili saying "Akili Nyingi huondoa maarifa" loosely translated as if you try to be too clever you end up becoming foolish. Let me explain vis a vis this  'overlapping' disease that has reached epidemic proportions on our roads. first a couple of examples.


This past weekend I was on Thika road( should be called Thicker road) on both Saturday evening and Sunday afternoon. On Saturday night was around the old Castle brewery heading towards Nairobiand had the pleasure of spending almost an hour there. It got so bad that I turned off the engine stepped out and started calling people and one of them told me that people stay there till 11 on average. . Only one side of the road is open and they've put stones to separate Nairobi bound and Thika bound traffic. However there's no red ribbon or signage to help people. During the day there are workers but at night there's nobody with a clue. Now this clueless state is probably what led to the following events.


The two lanes on either side should have been been sufficient but some geniuses on either side decided to occupy all four lanes and a gridlock ensued with nobody moving. What made matters worse is others who perceived that they had even greater intellectual capacity i.e  overlappers came into play with no less than four lanes of traffic on the side of the road.I decided I was not laughing with people and did not yield an inch to them, was basically on the bumper of the car ahead of me. If  I hadn't done that would have spent way more time on that road.


Similar story on Sunday afternoon. The good students at Kenyatta University decided to unleash their fury on unsuspecting motorists and the road was blocked. Lucky for me I was given advance warning and used the bypass. However I was not the only one and near Thome estate there was a big build up thanks to people avoiding Thika road trying to get on the road. nobody was willing to give way and yet again both sides of the road were blocked. Same script different cast and MENSA Kenya chapter were on the sides of the road as usual. Wasted an extra 30 mins trying to get out of it.


While sitting there I was really thinking if somebody would give me a whip I'd go out there and administer some corporal punishment on people. There are these ads that they show on TV about 'Ushenzi' i.e foolishness and that's exactly what such behaviour is. Blocking traffic moving in the other direction or trying to come in from outside the road only makes things worse, you won't get where you're going any faster just be patient and stay in line and eventually things will move albeit slowly which is better than a complete standstill! So please if you're reading this and get tempted to so something silly out there don't. If you're overlapping as Francis Atwoli would say "wewe ni Mshenzi!" " yes!"


Now where's that whip...

Another one for the Great Scot

Now I revisit a subject that I've covered before here . The one and only Sir Alex Ferguson, manager of the greatest football club in the world Manchester United! This past weekend he celebrated the major milestone of 25 years in charge, no mean feat in these days of managerial jobs being like a revolving door.  
The only Manager who has survived at one club since the inception of the FA Premier League and of course the one who has won the most titles at 12 so far and this year finally broke the Liverpool record of league titles with their 19th. The next challenge I guess would be beating Liverpool's European titles.

Some may ask what's the big deal? First it's rare in this age of modern football with impatient boards and mega-rich owners for a manager to keep his job for long. Also he's an old school manager who has authority over his team even if they earn hundreds of thousands of pounds per week and he has shown he can let them go no matter how talented they are or think they are. However on thing that has stood out over his reign is how he keeps reinventing the team when new challenges come up. In the nineties he saw off Blackburn with their galaxy of stars and after that Arsenal with their french army assembled by Arsene Wenger. Even when Abramovich arrived with his billions at Chelsea their run didn't last too long and Fergie was back in 2007-2009 to grab a hat-trick of titles. Now what remains to be seen is if he can deal with the 'noisy neighbours' Manchester City who are running riot in the league this season. Granted now with other rich clubs their power in the transfer market has been diminished and they can't always afford the top players as in years gone by. We'll see what the new bunch of youngsters can do.

To illustrate his longevity on the job I remember as a child in the late 80s watching the 'Road to Wembley' coverage of the FA cup which used to  air on KBC (Kenya Broadcasting Corporation) - then VOK (Voice of Kenya). One night Manchester United were playing Sheffield United and I was rooting for United and when they lost I cried! Amazing that even then Ferguson was still the manager!

So here's to the Great Scot and long may he continue to deliver more great football and titles!