A Mzungu who loves Kenya

• Spanner in the Works

  Posted: June 1, 2008, 4:01 pm by Dad Mzungu

  I have finally managed to contact my man in Kisii. He contacted me through Skype, as usual, from the usual cyber café, which should be, by now, mine!

  But it wasn't. At the last minute, the seller doubled the price of the business, and the landlord increased the monthly rent by 2,000/- a month.

  My man in Kisii refused to pay the extras after having had an agreement from the seller's agent for the original prices.

  He went on the offensive and found new premises with an asking rent actually less than the original price. He bought six PCs with a higher specification, and is in the process of acquiring the necessary furniture.

  All we need now to open a fully functioning cyber café is:

  • a hub
  • a modem
  • CAT5 cabling

  and once open, to be able to offer the full range of services:

  • a scanner
  • a printer
  • a land line and fax machine

  Unfortunately, we have run out of money!

  So, from last week's fully functioning ready-to-run business, I now have an almost ready, non-functional business, and, until/unless my sales on eBay come to fruition, no way of opening!

  As I once saw on another blog, "Shut Happens"

• No communication

  Posted: June 1, 2008, 3:49 pm by Dad Mzungu

  I had a [well-earned?] day off yesterday and took my grandson and his friend swimming. My grandson, (nearly 12 years) has recently started to swim well and as such, is not too much of a worry for me.

  His friend (9 years), on the other hand can just about keep his head above water and needs constant supervision.

  Until I had the bright idea to see if he could swim on his back. After a little coaxing, he tried it, and promptly swam four lengths of the pool. Of course, I had to swim next to him just in case he got into difficulties, but he surprised both of us and didn't.

  This pass-time took my mind off the business in Kisii. I haven't had any contact with my man in Kisii for a few days. That is not to say that he hasn't tried to contact me (we converse through Skype), but I have been out a lot this week and we kept missing each other.

  But today, without theh distraction of a couple of kids, I need to know what is happening.

  Now, my man in Kisii always contacts me on Sundays - until today. But then, today is the first day that the business is officially mine. It is, of course, open 7 days a week, so is he doing his cyber café manager bit, and therefore not having the time to contact me?

  Has the power failed in Kisii - not uncommon? Or the Internet connection - also not uncommon? Has there been a last-minute hitch? I need to know!

Blah blah blah

Fish cakes

Alas a fish cake.

Yet more fish cakes

Guess what ... yeah ... fish cakes.

The end of the fish cakes