Aha! Glo Works Now!

I don't know that for a fact, (I'm not on the network) but that's what media reports say.
On my way to work this morning, for obvious reasons, I passed in front of the Glo office in my neighbourhood (Gloworld, I think it's called). I usually don't use that route, but I did today (and obviously, I got to work late). Wow! I dint regret. The inside was packed to capacity and a canopy had been mounted outside with chairs arranged. There too was packed to capacity.

It's great the enthusiasm with which Ghanaians are receiving this new mobile phone company. I just hope we don't end up regretting it. It appears Glo already has more subscribers than Expresso (that's interested subscribers who have registered a phone number with Glo).

Note: Biometric Voter ID Cards Not Accepted!

Saturday, a friend calls me up. She's got another cellular phone (what's up with Ghanaians and multiple cellular phones?) and she needs a sim card for it. I ask her if she's got the sim card and she says yes but she can't use it cos she wasn't able to register it. Apparently, she'd tried registering it but was told by the phone company that the new biometric voter id cards were not accepted, and she doesn't have any other form of national identification.

Not long after speaking to her, I went to the bank to deposit some money into a friend's account. There was this young lady in front of me wanting to cash a cheque. She gets to the teller and as identification, shows her new biometric voter id card. The teller tells her it's not accepted and this young lady tries to argue but obviously, it was pointless. She then exits the bank. I guess that was the only identification she had on her.

I just want to know why the biometric voter id cards are not an accepted form of identification yet and why aren't these people telling us why they are not accepted (there has to be a reason, right?). Cos my friend wasn't given a reason and this young lady in the bank was obviously not given one. Seriously, it just makes people get into unnecessary arguments *rollingeyes*.

What A Shock!

I remember someone sent me an audio file a while ago. I honestly don't remember it too good. It was something about age of death in relation to obituary title. I really thought it was a joke (just Ghanaians at our creative best). So you can imagine my shock when I saw this at the back of a bus this morning.




49 is kinda young

Apparently, age at death determines the title of the obituary."What a Shock", "Gone Too Soon" etc. are used for people that died young while "Call to Glory", "Home Call" etc. are used for people that hit three score and ten before they kicked the bucket. There's actually an elaborate break down in the audio file but I must have not paid attention plus I deleted it :(

VGMA's - Who Are You Wearing?

I know a lot of people are talking about the just ended Vodafone Ghana Music Awards (VGMA) for a whole lot of reasons but I just have to talk about the red carpet.

Now, that part of the show was hosted by KOD and Confidence of Aphrodisiac (hope this is how she spells it) Night Club and Big Brother Africa fame. My favourite part of all that was when the hosts asked the celebrities who they were wearing (I guess which fashion designer made their outfit and accessories). Some mentioned some designers we are all familiar with (such as Dior), others used the opportunity to announce the fact that they are about to launch their own clothing line and are wearing a design from that clothing line, some others also mentioned local designs such as KOD's 1957 collection and then there were those who gave shout outs to their seamstresses and tailors, which I thought was interesting.

My seamstress sews real good but I don't even know her name. Actually, she's my mum's seamstress and she sews for me sometimes. I wouldn't exactly say what she sews for me are her creations cos I look on one of those calender-like charts with pictures of people in nice clothes and I pick a style I like. Sometimes I describe to her a style I saw someone wear, which I like or I even draw something I came up with (that would make it my design right? and she sews (I'm sure a lot of Gh seamstresses and tailors work like that). In that case, that wouldn't make them the designer, right?

My all time favourite was when one of the hosts asked a musician who she was wearing and she went like "my own design. I went to a shop and bought it". Another one was "I don't even know, I just put something together from my wardrobe".

So, next GMA's, celebrities that plan on doing the whole red carpet thing should start saving up right about now, so they can afford to get themselves some Versace, D&G or Dior or even something from one of the fabulous local designers. But seriously, enough with the shout outs to seamstresses and tailors (they aren't designers). But really, is the whole red carpet thing necessary especially the "who are you wearing" bit or are we just copying blindly?

Kwaku Doe - Rise to Fame :o)

Well, I did make him kinda popular by blogging about him (definitely rise to fame :D)

It's been a year since I started writing about Kwaku Doe. Yay! Happy Anniversary on this blog Kwabena Bonnah aka Kwaku Doe. I started out writing about him in the "Plight of a Hungry Man" series and then I moved on to the "Kwaku Doe" series. Do read up if you've missed any of them.

I saw him this morning and I can't believe it's been a year already. The guy has been begging consistently for a year (he's been at it for more but I just started writing about him a year ago). Begging must be quite lucrative for him then. I doubt if he's looking for a job.

What has changed about Kwaku Doe since I started writing about him? He's usually clean shaven these days with a neat hair cut. He's developed a love for wrist watches. He's got them in different colours (red, pink, blue and a silvery looking one). Plus he seems quite taken in with skinny jeans. I totally love his pink skinny jeans. I must say he does rock 'em real good :D

I don't get to interact much with him these days but trust me, more stories on the adventures of Kwaku Doe (sounds like a movie or title of a book or something) will be coming up.

Feel Free To Die If You're Not A Driver

I really don't get this and maybe someone can explain it to me. For some reason, Gh cops are so interested in drivers putting on their seatbelts when driving, so much so that they'd arrest drivers that don't have theirs on (I'd know. Yeah, I've been caught a couple of times for that offence). They don't bother when a passenger doesn't have it on. There've been instances where I've been stopped and asked to put on my seatbelt when I've had someone in my front seat who clearly didn't have one on. And trust me, a driver putting on a seatbelt does not in any way motivate passengers to put theirs on (at least not my passengers) and I know lots of cars don't have all their seatbelts intact especially commercial vehicles, but is that an excuse? How do these vehicles get passed as being road worthy?

So, I guess a driver with a seatbelt on can prevent an accident? Or passengers are not in any danger when a car crashes? Or passengers can just go ahead and die? Or passengers can just get out and walk away from a car that's not theirs while drivers would most likely grease the palm of a cop in order to keep their car?

I know there are countries where drivers are fined when they or any one of their passengers don't have a seatbelt on. What's happening in Gh? I wonder if Gh cops know they can also arrest or get more money from a driver whose passengers don't have their seatbelts on (imagine the prospects. unless that's not an offence in Gh). Seriously,  these cops got me so jealous of passengers. I don't particularly like wearing a seatbelt but I got to if I don't want to part with my hard earned cash (motivation if you ask me. now where's the motivation for passengers to put theirs on?).

My Big Day!

Last two weeks I'd say was my happiest day thus far (waiting on my wedding day and the birth of my first child to outshine this one though :D). So, what happened two weeks ago? By the grace of God, I graduated from the University of Ghana with an MPhil in Communication Studies *whew!* (felt like I'd been waiting forever for that day to come). It wasn't an easy journey at all (total understatement). It was quite a tortuous journey but guess what? I wouldn't trade it in, not for all the tea in China (I always wanted to use an idiomatic expression :D).

Ok, so I believe a brief history leading up to last two weeks would be in order (like I said, brief). My undergraduate degree was in Home Science and in school, I did a couple of internships with diet therapy departments in hospitals and a nutrition unit of a research facility. My national service was even with the diet therapy department of a hospital in Ghana. Obviously, the next logical step would be to train as a dietitian. I should say that I hadn't seriously thought of doing grad school after my 1st degree, matter of fact, I was just too excited to be done with school. The thought of opening a book again just sent shivers up and down my spine. Seriously, reading a textbook wasn't exactly on my list of things to do any time soon *bowing my head in shame*

ummmmmm... so where was I? Yep, it made sense that I'd probably study dietetics in grad school (that's if I decided to go) but during my national service, I had one of those light bulb moments and I honestly couldn't see myself doing what I was doing and loving it for the rest of my life. I did some soul searching and that was when I realised, I love reading (seriously? *raised eyebrow*), writing (ummmm but totally lazy about it) and talking plenty (oh yeah, very true). I should probably add that I sometimes am people sometimes think I'm a smartass and that I thrive on sarcasm (I wonder where they'd get that idea from *incredulous look*). Ok, this brief history is getting kinda long and winding, so let's get to the end.

I thought of stuff I could do that'd involve me doing stuff I loved, and then I had another light bulb moment. Yep, I decided I should definitely do grad school and I should definitely study something communication related so, I got into the School of Communication Studies of UG (long process. I'd say my charming smile and even charming personality got me in) where I specialised in Public Relations and Advertising.

Now that the anything but brief history is over, let's get to the morale of the brief history (yeah, there's actually something to learn from all this).

• No matter what, never settle.
• Don't be afraid to step out of your comfort zone, cos you just might find something more interesting and worthwhile.
• Don't be afraid to take risks especially when you got people discouraging you (you have no idea the number of times I heard "what has Home Science got to do with Communication").
• Do think outside the box (I always wondered what box people were referring to when they used this phrase. now I got you to wonder too :D)
• Finally, even if it takes forever, the rainbow does come after the rain.

Now, that said, I'd like to say a huge huge thank you to the Almighty God for bringing me this far, and to everyone that had my back during this journey. My wonderful family for believing in me and seeing what others refused to see, and my lovely friends for understanding when I dint have time to hang out cos of that thesis that took forever to write. And to all those that dint believe in me and tried to discourage me, IN YOUR FACE! (I love you too though. your unbelief egged me on :D)

Yay! I made it *huge smile*