In hospital a year on

That day last year

It was the fourth Tuesday of September 2009 when I went in for an appointment at the Internal Medicine Department of OLVG (Our Lady of Apostles Hospital), I was in excruciating pain quite unaware that I was so close to death if I had picked up an infection that touched my lungs.

The consultant had one look at my sole and another at me and told me there was a bed prepared for me upstairs, I was in no condition be left without round-the-clock monitoring.

There began my road to recovery which culminated in a diagnosis of skin cancer 9 days later, my first session of chemotherapy after 13 days and my return home on the 18^th day.

This day this year

Today, the third Tuesday of September 2010 and the eve of that day in September 2009, I returned for what was essentially an annual check-up after the November, February and May, what a journey it has been.

My consultant was pleased to see me, complimented my dressing once again and we settled down to the detail of the progress of my treatment and recovery.

My blood pressure was good, the level of Vitamin D had improved dramatically, other indicators with my liver functions and so on were fine too. I was not aware that I was anaemic in December, I suppose the doctor releases only so much information to avoid worry and concern that my impact on the recuperation process.

My weight has now gone from the lowest measurement of 64kg in October to 80kg which he felt was encouraging though I probably need to get some exercise to avoid the Michelin Man modelling of my body.

The pills remain

The matter of the immune system was still of concern, despite all other indicators looking good, there has been a slight dip but I have been told it takes time for it to strengthen appreciably.

So, I remain on the same medication I started on in May with the need to monitor the psychological effects of it and as far as my feet are concerned, they both look quite well healed.

I returned the excess medication I had from the discontinuance in May and I learnt it was better to give this to the hospital than the pharmacy, since the former would find good causes to donate the medicines to and the latter would destroy the stuff on the premise that they cannot prove the medicines were adequately stored.

Thanks to all

I am still most grateful and thankful for the wonders of medicine, the expertise of the consultants, the care of the nurses, the compassion of family, friends and neighbours, support of well-wishers and tender mercies of God that have seen me through some of the most trying times of my whole life – I cannot be thankful enough.

However, my Treatment Advisor still wants me to take things easy and not embark of any large-scale projects for at least another 6 months – here, the mind is urgent but the body needs times, I hope I strike the balance between them all.

Next check-up – December.

Nigeria: Rightfully pouring scorn on Nigeria @ 50

Not surprised at all

I was quite amused to read that foreign firms operating in Nigeria had not responded to requests [1] to sponsor the Nigeria @ 50 celebrations.

In what might well read as sour grapes the Director-General of the organising committee for the celebration of Nigeria’s Golden Jubilee celebration somewhat narrated his ordeal on the day that the so-called celebrations were to commence.

I for one would not blame the foreign firms in any way for refusing to put their face or money behind this jamboree for so many reasons that we have not honestly recognised about their reticence.

A failure of priorities and importance

A well organised setup would have had the preparations for such an auspicious occasion well underway, probably a year before regardless of the time of flux that accompanied the illness of President Umaru Yar’Adua; Nigeria was going to be 50 regardless.

If the ship of state had not been serving the intents and purposes of people who were out for their own gain rather than for the progress of the country, the plans the country had for these celebrations would probably have impressed the foreign firms enough to engage them to be interested and be willing to contribute to the events.

No change still

I wrote at the end of July [2] that there was a lack of preparedness for the celebrations and apart from the money that has been doled out by the government which might well end up in the pockets of rogues, everywhere else seems to be well into organising something apart from the government itself.

Just under 3 weeks to the celebrations, we still cannot find a web presence of the celebrations being organised by the government or its organs of publicity.

It is with utter shame that I recall that Ghana had their website up months before their celebrations in March 2007 and catalogued a complete year of events just to celebrate their coming of age.

Typically Nigerian

Nigeria however wallows in its penchant for bumbling and unpreparedness with some official crying foul when in fact they have nothing to show for their ability to manage, organised and persuade, expecting miracles to happen and fate to rain success on their parades.

I am glad the foreign firms have occupied themselves with other activities rather then read the beggarly missive they received in March, they should have gone further in pouring scorn on the whole project, if only to awaken a sense of urgency and responsibility.

It is a shame that the official does not seem to have realised that a clear message was being sent to his committee and the government that if they cannot see signs of organisation, professionalism, seriousness, determination and probity, not one cent would escape their grasp to that fiesta of the debauched.

Nothing to salvage but shame

One can only contemn the organisers who after realising their difficulty in raising funds did not raise this matter earlier and find ways to appeal to the better elements of our society to prevail on these firms but allowed for this to drag on until the very eve of the events at which time literally nothing can be salvaged of the generosity of the firms or the reputations of the organisers and the government.

Hopefully, Nigerians would see beyond the rueful cry and have in mind the very fundamental saying, “If you fail to prepare, you prepare to fail.”

They might just pull it off but it all could have been better done but in Nigeria of who little is expected, much less is desired – we would celebrate in spite of the government and their representatives.

Sources

[1] How foreign firms scorned Nigeria @ 50, by Kaigama « Vanguard (Nigeria)

[2] Akin: Nigeria: Utter unpreparedness for the golden jubilee

[3] Ghana@50 - Official Website For The 50th Independence Anniversary Celebration Of Ghana

Social Engineering: Appealing to my vanity

So much spam

The process of moving my blog to http://akinblog.nl has been slow and fraught but it is beginning to gain some traffic and recognition. Hopefully, with time it would become the primary reference point of searches that have usually gone to http://akin.blog-city.com

One thing I have noticed about hosting my new blog on Google’s Blogger facility is the amount of spam that comes round most of which seems to appeal to different aspects of one’s masculine vanity.

One good look in the folder of spam messages captured on my gmail email account shows about 75% of the emails recommending some augmentation to the male protuberance either for length or stamina to be able to as it were satisfy your partner.

Appealing to my physical vanity

Indeed erectile dysfunction can be an issue when pleasure is truncated by the premature incidence of orgasm just when you thought you could go on for longer, it probably dwells on many a mind and it could be frustrating.

For those who are otherwise blessed the receipt of such odious and unflattering emails is annoying but the spam filters seem to be putting in their hours.

On the blog front however, each comment logged each particular blog creates a notification which does not end up in the spam folder and incurs the additional work of management even though the blog commenting system might well recognise the comment as spam.

Appealing to my mental vanity

That is just one side of appealing to ones vanity, the other part came in a comment I received on my blog this morning.

As follows: Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Thought Picnic: Vulnerability offering opportunity...":

I usually do not leave a comment, but the ideas really rocks, also I have a few questions like to ask, what's your contact details?

-Johnson

Anonymous who has signed off as Johnson probably does not have a Google blog, nor does he (if a first name) or her (if a surname) have a website they are willing to publish as part of receiving feedback for the comments they have left.

Comments appealing to vanity

There is probably nothing to read from the comment but the basic compliment until one has a second or third reading and then it begins to matter a lot more than it seems. This is a generic comment can be left on any and every blog with one singular aim in mind.

Indeed, one of the signs of having a following comes from people commenting on your blogs and this supposed fan rarely leaves comments but now decides to do so in the quest for something other than the views expressed in the blog.

Given that the person does offer the passing opinion masquerading as praise that “the ideas really rocks”, I am really confused about the urban language with the apparent number confusion as to the idea and the context that the person is referring to.

Having appealed to my vanity with the notion of my rocking ideas, the person has a few questions to ask, fair enough and somehow expects me with the additional request to publish my contact details in response.

One can only wonder what questions that person has to ask that cannot be put in the comments or forwarded as an email, because those details are not that difficult to get if the person does try.

Generic comments as social engineering

Between you are me, this is another classic case of social engineering; having appealed to my vanity and flattered me in some way, just as the title of the blog goes, it has provided a window of vulnerability offering the opportunity to request my contact details which I am supposed to foolishly volunteer to some non-descript stranger to ask personal questions.

It was a good try but this will not work with me and it really should not work on anyone else too, if anyone wants to engage you on matters so personal the need for full-disclosure is paramount and it should be initiated by the enquirer and not by you.

Otherwise, this is just another case of Johnson probably leaving a similar generic comment on as many blogs as he/she can to harvest details for some nefarious activity beyond which the victim has little control.

Beware of the flattery that leaves you vulnerable to volunteering information you should best keep for your protection and safety.

Thought Picnic: Vulnerability offering opportunity

Finally answering the call

I relented this morning when the phone rang; it was the Patriarch who I’ve been avoiding for the past month.

Whilst there is pleasure in conversation it veers too frequently to matters that concern others more than the principal.

Every reticence on those matters seems to embolden the resolve to alter the course of one’s life and decisions to ends that might well satisfy the desires and requirements of the protagonists but those things are not in my purview at all.

Taking liberties

There was a time an understanding that whilst advice was welcome the decisions were chiefly mine, the use of English to narrow the Power-Distance Index allowing for very frank talk should have put paid to this but one might well have been playing soft ball in situations requiring a bit more assertiveness.

The annoying if not bordering on the despicable ploy has been to use the unfortunate times of vulnerability as the opportunity to push their agenda.

There is a case for companionship and care when ill but that should not result in a permanent relationship, worse still was to cite the survivors at bereavement as the warning to act.

My view of friends

There are some rights I can exercise without the need to consult anyone, as refusing to take calls I do not consider encouraging or helpful, the decision to terminate communication if subtle entreaties do not yield the desired adjustments.

One has been reliably informed that friends prevent me from the responsibility of marriage and family – I beg to differ – rather friends respect my views and do not interfere with decisions I have made because they think they know better – besides, I have the friends around me, the more concerned have not been seen in decades.

Despite this, I am

They all mean well, parents are what they are, parents; siblings are who they are, siblings but none have good enough excuses to meddle in my affairs beyond where I have given latitude for them to roam.

So, I answered the call and as usual an antagonistic accusation came forth to which I have adopted the golden rule of silence; this could first appear to be an broken connection but it also helps to move the conversation on – if I had to say what I had in mind, my heart would have been out at the repair shop.

We are back to the fundamentals again – accept my choices or lose your voices in my affairs.

Jam!

The sound of no keys

What an ordeal I had. Hand to the handle, a pull and a jam.

The jolt to bring you to the realisation that your keys are on the wrong side of the lock.

Immediately, I rang my neighbour’s door bell; they were out but I noted enough clues to assure me they’ll be back sometime in the day.

So, without labouring myself, I returned the shopping trolley to the supermarket on the ground floor and made for the African shop to get some other goods.

The proximity of the supermarket makes for some uncomfortable realities and this is the second time the casual act of returning the shopping trolley has resulted in an inadvertent lock-out.

Communication breakdown

Usually when going out I have my mobile phone on me, but for the simple reason that one just has to pop downstairs the preparedness for an outing is slightly lackadaisical and the consequences can be dire.

On getting to the African shop, it was closed for holidays so I decided to walk back home rather than take the tram and hope that by the time I got home I would have thought up something fantastic to determine when my neighbours will return by paying an unannounced visit to a friend.

Finding me and seeing them

When I got back, I was let in by another resident of my apartment block; my neighbours had not returned and I considered how to while away the time.

In the lobby, I leafed through the new telephone directory to find myself, no success with any of my neighbours and even my friend who had passed on a good 7 months ago.

As I stepped out to do something useful the garage door had just closed and wheeling their bikes up to their parking space were my neighbours – I am back home again.

What an ordeal it could have been.

Lethargy is hardly fun

Whatever happened to the fun?
 
I can only wonder what has become of my blogging enthusiasm. There has been so much to write about in August but I could not be inspired to do much.

In the end, my blogs hardly touched double figures, I am not happy about that.

In some ways, there was lethargy, a great distraction from other goals brought on my blog hosting company’s decision to close shop in January 2012.

It might seem a long way away but when I see the footprint I have with my old http://akin.blog-city.com blog, it would take a while for the traffic that went there to move elsewhere.

The wheelbarrow needs oiling

Meanwhile, I am almost exhausted with moving each brick of my Great Wall of China blog, there are just over a thousand blogs to move, surely, there must be an easier way of getting my RSS version 2.0 blogs to Blogger’s Atom 1.0 XML format imports.
 
It is amazing that Google has created such a closed system that is it unwieldy to backup their blogs, because there are no selections, it backs up the whole thing and the imports primarily handle Google stuff.

It probably has not occurred to them that there might just be someone who wants to migrate to Blogger too.

It’s here now

However, one must begin to establish the presence of http://akinblog.nl (NL because I live in the Netherlands) I might take up a .com name but that I think would be for something else.

Let’s hope September gets my fingers tapping as those funny thoughts come racing to my fingertips long before I’ve had time to wonder, did I write that?

Brick by heavy brick

Each heavy dusty brown brick of a blog entry

“Brick by brick”, she said, “stone by stone” she continued, “we build a house to call our home” – the strains of music written by Anna Wilson for Habitat for Humanity International, I wonder if that song is now for me.

I have been cast as an eccentric Howard Hughes with enough money and the madness to buy up the Great Wall of China and rebuild it at any other location that satisfies my whimsical fantasies.

The metaphors are apt, after almost 7 years of blogs numbering about 1,500 and 2,750,000 hits; I have to move this blog elsewhere because my blog hosts are bored with this venture and will close on the 1^st of January 2012.

Compatible to none

I have agonised about where to re-host my blog considering all the formats the host offers are not at present compatible with import formats for Blogger or Wordpress.

Painstakingly, blog by blog, jot by jot and tittle by tittle I have been taking each blog from the 8^th of December 2003 and moving it to this location at Akinblog.nl there is still a lot to be done.

References from Wikipedia, journals, researchers and bloggers might be lost, the comments my readers have offered, the footprint that akin.blog-city.com had and so on – yes, I feel like I am trying to move the Great Wall and its history to another place and time.

At least, I hope Google does not get bored of hosting blogs, the small Scottish company move-proofed its asset of bloggers with proprietary formats and now I have a good headache about migration, I have been assured a tool would eventually help our move but I wonder when that would be available.

Thanks for the wheelbarrows of support

I have already moved all that I have written in 2003 & 2004, 2005 is almost done and everything in 2010 is already here.

I want to thank you all for following me here and hope you will continue to be interested in my views, opinions, rants and controversies at Akinblog.nl.

Brick by heavy brick, we would move, completely – however for the time that Blog-City continues to exist, I will simultaneously publish at both locations.