Week 1

I'm at Burger Dome cybercafe - Kimathi Street.
the connection is much faster thanks to my kid sister for recommending it.
It is encouraging to meet guys positive and doing their thing. Sometimes when you are far from home you only get access to all the negative things happening. But to some extent I am impressed.

Everyone is talking investments - but mostly it is short term (quick kill) - this is not for the faint hearted I know. I can see so many job adverts I wonder if they are real? And even worse can they be quick to respond (at least while I am still around!)

But I also appreciate the little things that I took for granted while I was in the UK (hey the lights maybe red but you still cannot jump on to the road here!)

Since I'm starving I guess it's time to disappear.

Home Sweet Home!

I had an EXCELLENT journey. Smooth and easy that's how I like it. Was also lucky enough to seat next to this two Kenyans who were equally good - sharing experiences of where they were coming from. Illuminating.

Only thing - when connecting from the US just remember that BA have rules that are not similar to other airlines especially from the States. One hand luggage is allowed on board plus the main luggage with a maximum weight of 23Kg. So this you lady (felt sorry for her) she had to re-arrange her luggage and pay for her excess luggage. For a student going back home for a break that is hardly the way to start your holidays. Many from the US have fallen foul on this condition I don't know how they get tickets and how it is explained to them, or even for that matter can they seek redress. Read the airlines websites I think more thorough before travelling.

Everything is cool - as expected warm (HOT actually) I think the in thing here is investments. I would be a rich man if everytime someone asked me about my investments I got 50p. Anyway courtesy of my mum I'm meeting someone from Old Mutual tomorrow. Let's see what he has to say.

The Great Hope for the World!

OK Sen. Obama is in the race - one of those worst kept secrets.
Am I happy? Certainly for him and what he is perceived to represent. But wait a minute I'm on a queue this afternoon in a supermarket when I see The Independent with the massive headline of the Great Black Hope. Sounds good but I thought he should be running to give America hope? Maybe I missed something.

The writer is on about the incident last week where Joe Bidden inadvertently said what was in his heart - big mistake in politics. But I fail to see the story other than the fact that Sen. Obama will be seen as hope for the blacks - forgetting that America is at dire straits.

Although it's too early I would love to see him succeed - he represents something fresh and different. The rest of the aspirants all seem to have a baggage to me they represent the political climate that has made me loathe politics. I don't have to look very far - just look at the ruling class in Kenya - just plain pathetic.

Go Obama - Save America, because the world needs a break!

Business Ethics

The debate continues - the reference point is always ENRON.

So many business schools (if not all by now) have taken this seriously judging from the number of stand alone business ethics courses. It is difficult to teach on ethics I suppose - we are talking about grown-ups who already have a sense of what is and is not ethical. If they missed the basics during their formative early years will the professors instill ethics in them?

In letter to the editor a lady was obviously unimpressed by the trend.

"You cannot learn ethics and moral issues in a business schools. Once you taste blood there is no going back. There will always be greed, that is the nature of the beast. Two things rule the world money and sex and trust me you never get them both by being ethical". What?!

I read some schools send their business students to visit white collar criminals at minimum security to discuss the consequences of violating business ethics.

Economic Growth

Good news I see here.
Kenya's economy grew by 6 per cent according to the Minister of Finance - Amos Kimunya. I don't know how much I can trust him but let's take his word for it - he runs the ministry and has access to better indicators of growth in the economy.
Anyway his next statement caught my eye. He expects the growth to continue even in this election year!

Is it just me or is that not stretching the facts - many things must have changed if it is true. I mean last time we had an election we know politics was the order of the day - economy became a nuisance to the politicians. Printing more money.

On the other hand he might be right - it is only after 2007 that the economy will slide down again - when the impact of an election will start to be felt. Economists break it down for us.

Long term view has never been our strength!

Michael Dell Is Back!

I know it's rather too late but the worst kept secret finally unveiled at the end of last week - Kevin Roliins would be handing over the reins of control at Dell Computers to its founder.


Not to deny Kevin Rollins his due - he has been with the company for I gather over 10 years - he must know the direct business model at Dell which he played part in. Too bad it wasn't happening for him. With performance sliding down - even worse having the founder always around you - the shoes were just too big? I think it is a tricky situation since everyone in the company knew Michael and kind of revered him. (Even worse I'm told they shared an office - they must be close)
Could Michael's presence been a hindering factor - Bill Gates left the management to Steve Ballmer - same principle. But we still know who is in charge - even worse is if every morning though Steve is in charge, they appear in the office together.

Just knowing when to walk away is hard enough.

By the way the business model at Dell is admirable in this time and age - you order online and they assemble a computer for you. At their manufacturing plant they maintain minimal stock - inventory of components are refreshed after 12 hours!
But to the consumer (maybe just me!) I have NEVER bought (or even dreamt of..) an electrical gadget online - well I'm the sort of guy who has to see what I am buying. I think that is just an internal control within me - anything above a certain price range I have to see it and preferably touch it before parting with cash. I do all those online banking - especially paying credit card bills - but never buying expensive stuff. That has to do partly I think with my lack of expertise when it comes to electrical technical items.


PS: I lied I did by a laptop electrical cable from HP online and it was delivered - wait a minute that was after making countless trips to local shops here and finding nothing. And surprise when it was delivered from abroad (mainland Europe) it was the damn wrong thing!

Still the boldness of some entrepreneurs has to be acknowledged.

Someone once told me - If you really love someone and she wants to go, let her go if she comes back then it was meant to be - no bearing to what I'm writing but it just sounds good.

It's a set up!

I confess, this rarely happens, I really hate shopping!
I wish I would not be subjected to the torture of looking for anything in a most of this large stores. (Is it by coincidence that all this shops are so large once you go in it's like a prison? I mean you don't get the chance to do shopping while looking out of the shop - it's a set up!)

Before someone accuses me of being stingy - relax - it is not so much about the cost but the hustle I go through to get a good bargain (Oh sorry - it is about money!). Neither (I think) is it just a male thing to just sound different from the ladies. Come to think of it I've NEVER met a lady who doesn't know how to shop. They are just better than me - which is admire able given the agony I go through. I notice especially when it comes to technical/electrical items.

I have been up and down for the past two days looking for a Sony memory pro duo card for my camera - (I know that should be very straight forward you walk straight into the shop pick it up and pay! I thought so too) Yesterday a friend at work advised me to go to a shop in a not so safe neighbourhood - where it is cheap. Big mistake it was the wrong timing - when there is a staff change-over, you could tell the lady behind the counter was counting the remaining few minutes on her shift. I don't blame her we all feel like that at the end of a long day. So information at that time is scarce - if I was like the other customers I would have screamed my head off. But being the smart guy that I am I just kept my cool needless to say the item I was after was out of stock (But I checked on your website for stock availability before I came here - can I talk to the manager!?)

All these things go through my head as I walk around in a busy supermarket mostly 'Hey what kind of business do you run here? Do I have to sleep with anyone to get some service here?' I know I need help.

So next time you ask me how much something I bought cost be warned I can only give an estimate - it's hard to give the actual cost.

Shopping is not for me I guess.

Hunter and the Hunted

Every now and then I like to read Kenyan Blogs - information and curiosity over what's happening at home I guess or even what other Kenyans are going through around the world. And this week the main issue has been the alleged issues Nation media group is going through.

I remember quickly going through the local dailies to get any confirmation over the events - of course what was I thinking. I guess press freedom has it's limits and here I was complaining about the double standards at CNBC over its star reporter's involvement with a business figure.

The hunter becomes the hunted - let's wait and see the plot. Depending on the authencity of the issues we are in for a long ride - let's see how tough it's going to be.

The week that was

Top on my mind and agenda this week has been my coming trip to Kenya for 2 weeks. It is exciting but also I'm kind of anxious thinking of what to get for everyone at home - it's not easy.
I started by buying a digital camera for my upcoming trip (phew!) (I assume I will be taking so many pictures how will I store them?) Maybe I'll need to carry my laptop and download the pics after the memory card is full. Or even better have two memory card (1GB and 512MB) - Not even sure how many pics a 1GB memory holds.

And that is just to do with taking pictures can life be that complicated?
It cost me £79.98 with an in built memory of 25MB - and an insurance of £19 for the next 3 years (I never trust this insurance business - let's see how it works from here)

Anyway let me continue playing with my new toy.... it needs a memory card - there I go again on a spending spree.