Cool Things I can Do 'Cos I'm from the Third World

A night ago, I got home after work to a house swathed in cruel darkness (thank you PHCN/NEPA). I had to pick up a 50 litre jerrycan, stash it in my trunk and head right back out again in search of Diesel.

Luckily there's no shortage right now and we have a gas station really close by. The entire thing should have taken me 15 minutes tops except that my return route put me bang in the middle of the vicious traffic jam that is end of the day rush hour. So make that thirty minutes.

I was not a happy bunny by the time I got home. I was N3000 lighter (that got me 30L, and not a litre more from the miserly attendant) and had survived exactly two close brushes with okada related death on a route that was shorter than the distance from my house to the gates of our estate.

I got the house help to help me unload the jerrycan from my trunk then began the aromatic process of refilling the generator. By the time I was done my irritable mood had lightened. Power and perhaps an hour or so on my PS2 were imminent, after all.

As I switched on the generator and switched over our power source so we were connected to it I actually began to feel a sense of accomplishment. I mean, sure in its mundane actuality, it's more of a colossal pain than a difficult process but hey! I can buy diesel and refill a 15kva Generator! For those who don't encounter generators in their day to day lives, that's one of the big ones.

Add that to being able to change my own tires (it's all in knowing what to turn clockwise) and I don't think I'm doing too badly!

You go, me.

NEPA vs. my PS2: A Losing Battle?

I know it's called Power Holding Company now. Whatever. We all know that it is still possessed by that Mega Demon called NEPA.

I just need to ask Naija gamers one small thing. How far? How do you do it? How the hell do you handle NEPA? Is it Inverters? Transformers? UPS? And when they blow as they inevitably must, what then? Bribery? Jazz?

How many grim and hard earned battles have you lost between distant save points? How many of your consoles have given up the ghost? How do you deal? Is there a support group for those bereaved by NEPA?

I'm tired and battle worn but I don't want to give up. Not till my PS2 pops and I catch that familiar smell of burning rubber in my nostrils. At which point in time, I will be looking for revenge.