JUST RAMBLING

I was invited for a second interview at spring bank. It went well considering the circumstances . NEPA ooops sorry PHCN struck all nite and all morning and my only one in town outfit (the one I greet obasanjo in ) needed ironing . So I had no choice but to go iron it at work . I waited a bit but in the end I just packed my load and went to dress up for the interview at work. Only for me to get to work and find that the building had been burgled overnite. I just made a few sympatethic noises and headed to my office to iron my stuff.

It was obviously an inside job. No locks were broken except the offices whose keys were never kept in the building. Moreover, there are supposed to be security guards on duty. So how could someone have gotten into the building without them noticing anything. Anyway I had to go for my interview so I took permission from my immediate boss and left. I was already running late and I didn’t want to waste time ohhhhhhhhing and ahhhhhhhing over something that was so obvious, it was idiotic.

The interview went well. I got there late but the interview had not started. The interview itself was brief and to the point . The people on the panel were direct and did not waste any time. In the end they promised to get back to us and I left the place. I went back to work expecting that some peeps would have been arrested or at least called in for questioning but no show. The police had been to the place but no arrests had been made and nobody had been questioned. Why? Beats me. Well sha na them saka o. Come August 17th I'm outta here.

The oceanic bank test …......... No show they’ve already called people for the interview and I wasn’t called. At first we thought it was ‘cos were hadn't finished service but some corpers were called for the interview ……. So I guess its not what you know but who you know. And the UBA test was just as bad ... no show. We later heard that some people who did not write the test had been called for the interview ..............mmmhhh now that's some serious man know man.

It’s my birthday next week tuesday . When I look back at where I've been and where I am now, I'm amazed. To think there was a time when I didn’t think I would ever make it. It's just simply amazing. If not for God's grace and mercy I don’t know where I would have been today. I'm just soo thankful to him for seeing me through it all. Plus I'm happy about something ........wink !!!!!....wink!!!! but I can't blog about it just yet.

WHAT I WANT TO BE

Question:What did the red mini say to the fire engine? Answer: When I grow up, I'm going to be just like you.

THE NEW JAMB

Sorry it’s been a while, I just didn’t have the words.

A lot has happened to me over the last few weeks. I’ve been writing bank tests and I also had an interview. Although they’re for positions that are in kaduna and I’m not too keen but we’ll see how it goes. In the last three weeks, I’ve written three bank tests; one UBA, one oceanic bank, another UBA test just last week Saturday, one Bank interview and I’ll be writing another one this Saturday but for FCMB this time. At the rate, I’m writing these tests one would think I really wanted a banking career up North but the truth is …. Shhhhhhh don’t tell anyone.. I actually don’t want a career in banking and even if I did I most definitely do not want it in the north. I really, really do not want to live here. Why? That story is for some other day.

Anyway, back to the bank tests. Some where okay and orderly, started on time and ended at a decent hour but some namely the oceanic bank test were an absolute nightmare. Test was supposed to start at three but didn’t start until about 5pm. The crowd was indescribable (according to grapevine, oceanic bank is the highest paying bank hence the large turn out), the hall was not large enough to contain us all and the officials of the bank did not want double seating , so we wrote the test in batches. I didn’t want to rush so I didn’t get into the hall until around 11.30 p.m. the test lasted for 50 minutes and my batch left the hall around 12. 40 a.m. and I didn’t get home until about 1.20 a.m. by the time I finally got to write the test, I was cold and tired I’d been waiting for more than six hours (I got there at 4.30p.m.) in my office clothes and my feet were screaming for mercy. There was no light so they had to put on a generator and there were flies everywhere in the hall. At that point, I was in no frame of mind to be writing an aptitude test but I just had to do it and hope for the best.

All the drama involved in these tests reminded me of the days of almighty JAMB and POLYJAMB exams. In fact, these bank tests could be considered the new JAMB only this time the exams are for graduates. While we loitered around the hall waiting for our turn to write the test, most people talked politics and football but my girl and I spent our time checking out some of the oceanic bank staff. There was his foine guy but he was a bit short. According to my girl, "if I come find work and I find husband, all good now. Make I sha no leave empty handed".

I'd like to give kudos to the staff of the bank. They stayed until the last batch of people had written the test . I know they were just doing their job but they could have easily told the rest of us to go home, but they didn't instead they waited till past 2.a.m so that everybody had the chance to at least write the test and i think that's really something.

EIGHT WEEKS MORE

(SUBTLE PRESSURES AND EMPLOYMENT ISSUES)

For the past week I’ve been kind of tense, especially since after the last clearance, when it dawned on me that this was the second to the last clearance i would do, before passing out from the NYSC . One more clearance and it would be all over. No more Clearance, no more CD meetings (Which i barely attended), no more General CD, no more having to deal with power crazy NYSC officials and My all time favourite no more queues. In less than eight weeks, it will be all over.

As the days pass, I’ve been feeling a little more tense. It's like there's something in the air. It 's subtle but its there. Employment issues, and therefore many questions. After Youth Service, what next? How do I go about getting a job (the big job in VI no less)? Now there lies the source of my tension.
Eight weeks more and we’ll be collecting our last allawi from Government and we’ll be going into the labour market. I must admit, after almost one year of collecting that allawi I’m kind of used to it and I know most of us will miss it when it's all over.
It's all we talk about now, my corper friends and I. Which company is hiring, which one is accepting resumes blah blah...
We applied to Nigerian breweries, and my tracking code was 46,270 yep that’s forty-six thousand two hundred and seventy. My friend's was 58,100 that’s fifty- eight thousand one hundred and we began to wonder if the tracking code was an indication of the number of people that were applying to Nigerian breweries at the time, then what were our chances.

Eight more weeks and it will be all over. I’m scared, happy, excited and curious all at the same time. I’m scared of what lies ahead but at the same time I’m excited and curious to know what the future will bring. I’m thankful to God for seeing me through this NYSC (I believe he already has). And for all that I’ve been privileged to learn and to discover, for the grace to find myself, for the opportunity to add value to myself as an individual and to my career, for the people I’ve had the opportunity to meet and for so many other things. For all these things and more, I’m happy
But I’m still scared and I wonder Will all my dreams come true?

REMEMBER ANY OF THESE?

I came across this site by accident and boy did it send me down memory lane the same way Onada's post did.

I loved them every single one of them. Did you?

I AM JEAN GREY

Although your fate is often unknown, you always seem to survive (even after death).Your mind is your greatest weapon, literally! Powers: telepathy and telekinesis, the ability to project thoughts into the mind of others, communication with animals

Which of the X-Men Are You?

I always knew my mind was my greatest weapon.

A-Z MEME

I got tagged Yay!!!!!!!!. When this tag started i wasn't sure i would be tagged. Memories of Maryland Convent came to me. We would be playing "mother may I " or "Ten Ten" and i would always be the last to be picked well almost always sha. Anyway just when i thought i wouldn't be tagged i got tagged by biodun and the lovely belle. Who i'm in love with right now by the way.

So Here are my answers.

Accent - NONE.
Booze - No booze. No alcohol either.
Chore I hate - Ironing and cooking even though I can do it and very well too .
Dogs/Cats - I don’t know. I haven’t had any. The closest I’ve been to any was my grandma’s cat (spoilt rotten) and my neighbors’ dogs (they don’t take care of them). I think having any pet and not taking care of them is criminal.
Essential electronics - My phone that’s all. I however have a wish list (Laptop I even have a fund it (The buy Adunni A Laptop fund), Digital camera ….. for now ).
Favourite Perfume - No Favourites. I once liked burberry (my sister’s) but I broke the bottle .
Gold/Silver - GOLD most definitely. I live in the north now.
Hometown - I was born and raised in Lagos so my hometown is Lagos.
Insomnia - Never even when I have BIG issues on my mind. Thinking about them wearies me and I promptly fall asleep.
Job Title - Library Database Administrator (Youth Corper) .
Kids - None at the moment but I’d love two.
Living arrangements - With my friend’s family.
Most admired trait - I didn’t know so I asked around my office and they said my smile. I'd like to think it's my face. It's very smooth (i've never had a pimple) .
Number of sexual partners - Has anybody answered this question?
Overnight hospital stays - None
Phobia - Small spaces (Claustrophobia).
Quote - “In the depth of winter I finally realized there was in me an invisible summer”. Albert Calmus ( I really didn’t have one so I “borrowed” one from unveiling.
Religion - Christian
Siblings - One brother, a fashionista younger sister and a baby sister
Time I usually awake - anything between 5.30a.m. and 6.00 a.m.
Unusual talent - The ability to explode over the minutest things.
Vegetable I refuse to eat - Garden eggs
Worst habit - Procrastination and Jumping to conclusions
X-rays - NONE
Yummy foods I make - Pancakes, fruit cakes, Amala , gbegiri and ewedu (My mum actually said so !!!!!! and she’s really really hard to please when it comes to food), Ilaalasepo and a mean efo riro with seven spirits.
Zodiac sign - Leo

Now i tag......... Dilichi, Tutsy , Adaure and everybody that hasn't already been tagged.

PLACES I WOULD LOVE TO VISIT

IN my last post, I wrote that I would love to travel and see all the places that I usually read of. Writing about it got me thinking so I decided to blog about it.Now I have never really traveled outside Nigeria before(does cotonu count?) , but I’ve always been fascinated by the idea of going places. As a child, I’d “read” picture books about places and wonder what they were like. What did they look, smell, and feel like? Do they really look as glamorous as they did in the magazines? Or were they just plain and ordinary ………. I’d stare at a picture until I could see it in my mind’s eye , then I would give “life” to the picture by imagining what it would be like if this moved or that moved or sometimes I’d picture myself there ………..As a result, even though I’ve never really been to those places, I’ve been there in my mind.Here's some places i would love to see.

50 things you probably didn't know about me

This post was inspired by taurean minx who was inspired by Low.

1. I had my first kiss in my twenties.
2. I attended an all girls secondary school.
3. I'm the second of four I have an older brother (We fought all through childhood and we still do occasionally. It is not my fault he always starts it), a fashionista younger sister and a teenage sister (although we still insist she's a baby).
4. I look almost exactly like my mom.
5. My name reminds one of a mother.
6. I cherish friendships to a fault and I’d sometimes go out of my way for people.
7. I have a sweet tooth. It's legendary. Ask my friends they'll tell you.
8. My favourite meal is rice (regardless of the form or dish it comes in I LOVE RICE) .
9. I HATE BEANS.I won't eat it unless I’m starving.
10. I've never been drunk in my entire life. I’m not sure i've had anything alcoholic either. Does palm wine count?
11. I'm allergic to malt.
12. My favorite color is blue.
13. Reading is not a love for me, it's a passion.
14. I love the smell of a new book.
15. I was a romance novel junkie. I still read the occasional one.
16. I have a problem with badly spoken English.
17. I have a problem with badly written English.
18. I love music and sometimes I wish I could sing well but alas, I cannot hold a tune. So says my baby sister.
19. I’ve never fainted in my entire life. Though not for want of trying or wishing.
20. I acted in my first drama at the NYSC orientation camp. My friends call it my one scene movie.
21. My favorite song changes every few weeks.
22. Whenever I find a favorite song, I over listen to it, until I get sick of it.
23. I’m not attracted to light skinned or skinny guys
24. I can't really dance as well as I would love to.
25. I'd love to travel and see the places that I usually read about.
26. I've just found out that I love shoes beautiful shoes, the ones I only get to see in mags or on the net but cannot afford.
27. I hate the way females are portrayed in Home videos and musicals.
28. I love GOD and I’ve come to a place where I can confidently say that I have a walk with him and I understand where I am.
29. I'm not very fat but i'm big which means i have curves in all the right places. And i love it. No diets for me.
30. My ultimate occupational goal is to run a bookstore and a software outfit. I even have names for them. (i won't tell you so no one will copy them before i get enough money to start. )

And lest I forget I’m a bloody romantic .

to be continued

CAN MY HEART TAKE IT?

(The Name that Launched a Thousand Letters)

It’s been seven years. In the beginning, it was beautiful. When I look back I realize that it was almost magical. It felt good to have a friend like “you”. I was so proud of me. I was able to be platonic no strings attached friends with a guy. The whole school including my closest female friends thought we were dating. They must have seen something we didn’t see.
First year was such a mess for me everything that could possibly go wrong went wrong. My glasses broke every week, had malaria every other weekend, misplaced things, issues with my friends, endless incidents. When I look back at that year I wonder how I survived it. But you were there steady as a rock, always there. Most nights you’d walk me to my room you didn’t have much to say but you always listened to me go on and on and on about whatever was bothering me at the time and sometimes God knows what. And when i was ill you’d come sit with me all day just to keep me company.
Now seven years down the line a lot of water has passed under the bridge. A lot of things have happened. We've hurt each other in ways that we couldn't possibly have imagined we could.The funny part is that You remember my hurting you but you don't seem to remember hurting me.

So now again we're back to talking (at least that's what it seems like to me) and you send me text saying that you miss me. I breathe thanks 'cos it leaves me feeling warm. But deep down inside my stomach is all tied up in knots. I wonder if it's real this time or if it's all a game or worse pity.

Whatever it is though, i just wonder if my heart can take it.

Now i know you're probably wondering who the above post is about. Its about someone special to me. I'll call him the name that launched a thousand letters. They say of Helen of troy (formerly of Sparta) as the face that launched a thousand ships ‘cos her beauty really did launch a thousand ships. I call him the name that launched a thousand letters ‘cos I must have written a thousand letters to him and about him. Some he got and some he didn't.
My sms.ac id is actually a reflection of how I feel about him. When I opened an account, he left a comment on my page. Reading it made my heart smile and it also made me sad at the same time. Sad because in a sense I felt like I had blown something that had the potential of being wonderful. However, I didn’t know this at the time and I also had my issues, a lot of things I had to deal with. I’m a very independent person so it’s really hard for me to allow people help me deal with my issues I always believe that I can do it on my own until it’s almost too late for any one to help me out.
Although I wasn’t the perfect "girl", at the time, deep down I wasn't so bad. I just needed to find me, and grow up. Sometimes when I look back at the last four years (my storm lasted four years) I wish things were different and wish I had done things differently but then I realize that the wealth of experience that I have garnered, I wouldn’t trade it for the world. I just wish I could get one more chance with him, one final Dance with him. I'd play a song that would never ever end. How, I’d love love love to dance with "the name" again. Ohhhhhhh i'd really love that. But even if i didn't I’d still like to hug him, dance with him, kiss him in the rain,...............................

so at least I’ll have those memories to hold in my heart and to keep me in the cold days ahead

I just needed to blog about this stuff so that maybe i could get it off my chest.I hope I haven't bored you to tears.