The hunt for healthy snacks

I love to snack. I have since learned that its snacks that do the most damage, especially when you use them to replace proper meals. Now that I am trying to loose weight and be healthy I have to watch what I snack on. While I am not walking around with a scale and measuring cup tied to my waist or a calculator strapped to my wrist I am conscious of my portions as well my caloric intake. Lets face it e get how far u go chop banana and apple! All the things I like to snack on are really high on calories, especially calories from fat, calories which go straight to my hips, butt, arms, etc and live there as fat. With each day, my pool of appropriate snacks shrinks so you can imagine that the day I actually get to add to the pool I would be celebrating. I recently discovered vegetable chips well not me, my work out partner did. It is sold at H.E.B and its actually green beans, carrots, zuccini, yams and something else I don't know what it is. All these vegetables are somehow fried/proccessed till they are crisp like potato crisps. It tastes really nice and if you like crisps like me you will love them. Unfortunately I have not been able to confirm the nutritional facts for this particular snack, so I haven't officially added it to my pool, I am going to make sure I confirm that asap.

Happy Thanksgiving

I am thankful and tired.

My first thanksgiving in the US was nice but as I had expected it to be tiring. We had guests so we did a lot of cooking. I managed to not blow my 'diet', although even if I wanted to eat 'orisirisi' as y'all know, food that I am involved with cooking 'smells' to me. I had often wondered at the origins of Thanksgiving, and I assumed it was like denim - a US creation. According to Wikipedia, 'Thanksgiving, or Thanksgiving Day, is an annual one-day holiday to give thanks (traditionally to a God), for the things one has at the close of the harvest season'. This sounds very much like the New Yam festival celebrated in the east, and the Harvest Festivals held in the churches in Nigeria. I think I prefer the American version though, here thanksgiving is more about the individual and less about the church building fund!

So what am I most thankful for this year? I think it would be getting the liver to move here after many years of procastinating. I am thankful for my friends who have opened up their hearts and homes to me. I am also thankful for family.

The Forbes Fictional 15

The richest fictional character according to Forbes is defense contractor Oliver 'Daddy' Warbucks with a net worth of $ 36.2 billion. Apparently he shot to the top of the list by virture of the fact that Santa's status has changed from fictional to real (yup you read that right) and also due to the war in Iraq and Afghanistan. Its good to know someone is profiting from those conflicts! Coming in second is Charles Montgomery Burns with $ 16.8. At number 9 in the rankings is Prince Abakaliki of Nigeria (of the 419 email fame) with a net worth of $2.8 billion.

The Forbes Fictional 15 forbes.com

On the march again

I am on the move again.

My contract in Houston has ended and once again I am on the move this time to sunny California. My contract was supposed to run till the end of November and I was really praying that my services would be retained. Alas. Not only did my project end way ahead of schedule, the company could not find further use for my services. I was a little miffed because I had made all my plans based on the premise that I would be employed till the end of November, where do I begin? At the beginning of course. Luckily I had never really relaxed with looking for work so I just got back in the swing of things. My job search this time was a lot more confident, afterall I now had some 'US' experience. Three weeks into my search, I got a call from some guy in California. He had actually sent me email about a week prior but I had not bothered to reply (I don't know why). I had apparently applied to his listing on Dice.com and he wanted to now if I go his email and if I was still looking. I lied about not having received the email (there really was no excuse for my tardiness) and yes I was still looking. We fixed a time for a phone interview for the following week and I promptly forgot about it, California is too far (from where?) and for a lot of reasons I would prefer to remain in Texas, preferrably Houston. Anyhow the day for the interview arrives, and courtesy of my trusty phone I was not taken by surprise. The interview went well and as we were rounding up, they asked if I had received an email from them. I promptly checked my email. Yes I had received the email, could I be so kind as to carry out the attached skill assessment test, I had an hour to complete it. I was suprised and a little flustered, I had made an appointment to meet with my trainer right after the interview which I had assumed would take an hour max, not 2. I had rescheduled the appointment with my trainer 3 times already and I really didn't want to have to call him yet again to reschedule. Plus I wasn't going to take no skills assessment test under 'duress'. I quickly voiced my concerns to the guy who was supposd to be conducting this test via phone. Okay why don't I go run my errands and let him have the test by 6 pm my time. Sounds good to me. I drop the phone and smile to myself, 3 months ago, I would not have been dictating terms with no recruiter, if he said jump I would have asked how high, how far I have come! I really wasn't feeling like doing no skill assessment test, I sha forced myself and managed to submit it and run all my errands (sweet) Imagine my surprise when the very next day I got an email requesting I come out to California for a second interview, all expenses paid. Why not, never been should be fun. They sent me my itinerary and I rushed off to the Internet to check out the lodgings, the quality of the lodgings would determine if I would be making a trip out or not.

We interrupt this narration to bring you an advert for the Shade Hotel

If ever you are in Manhattan Beach and need a nice boutique type hotel to relax try the Shade Hotel. The rooms are well appointed, the bathrooms luxurious, the staff are very nice the service is really personal and the food is good.

Narration continues below

Mind you this is my first face-to-face interview, AY (my half workout partner) had earlier told me that the best outfit to wear to an in-person interview is a navy blue skirt suit. Please do not ask me how she knows. I am a woman and I really don't need an excuse to shop. Kia off to the mall we go in search of the perfect suit which we found without incident. The plan was to arrive and interview on friday, spend the weekend and return sunday evening.

The interview went well, it started with lunch (Americans eat too much) then we went back to the office for the remainder of the interview. I really liked the people and the offices, I could see myself working with these people in these surroundings and enjoying it. Lets see if the price will be right. Finally at about 7 pm we wrap things up with a promise to get back to me with their decision either later that evening or first thing Monday. Finally I get to go check out my lodgings, the drive down was uneventful although I hated my rental car (a Ford Taurus) it felt like I was diving a fully loaded truck; non existent turning angle, 0-60 in like 300 mins, this car has done nothing to positively enhance my opinion of Amercian cars. The room lived up to and surpassed my expectations. I had just finished tipping the bellhop when my phone rang, yes they wanted to offer me the job, the compensation however was not very attractive. Thankfully I had the whole weekend to think about it. I put all money matters from my mind and proceeded to enjoy the weekend. Manhattan Beach is a lovely place and by Sunday as I drove to the airport, I could see myself living there driving a BMW/Lexus/Mercedes. Sunday came by too soon and although I enjoyed myself I found I missed my peeps in Houston. Monday rolls by and I politely decline their offer, they ask me to make a counter offer which I did after some polite haggling we agree on compensation and here I am, once again preparing to move.

Arsenal 3 - 1 Hamburg SV

Match Report soccernet.com

Match Report arsenal.com

Money for nothing

Found this video on YouTube, it brouht back fond memories of saturday mornings at home watching Top of the Pops with my aunt. I love this song because it features 2 of my favorite things; guitars and Sting!

A huge step towards healthy living

So I decided to stop moaning about my thickening thighs and do something about it, I closed my eyes and joined a gym. This is in line with my new philosophy, 'strive to do today what you can, tomorrow might never come'. My first week was horrible, every part of my body ached. I ached in places I didn't even know I had muscles in. My second week was just as bad and at one point I was about to just give up then I thought of all the money I had shelled out the unrecognisable me who stares at me everytime I look in the mirror. That was all the motivation I needed to get out of bed into my gym clothes and off to the gym.

My trainer is South African and it seems he can't 'count'. 'Now you gonna give me 2 sets of 15 reps on this machine' I get onto the machine and I begin to do my reps counting to 15. With a sigh of relief after the first set I am about to disentangle myself from the yeye aparatus (who send me message) when he goes 'what are u doing? I only counted 8 reps' WTF!!! The first time he did it and I argued with him I ended up doing an extra set of reps so now I just grit my teeth and let him count. Thankfully I only meet with him once a week. Exercising for me has been painful (I cannot emphasise that fact enough) but fun. Fun in the sense that its been challenging, pushing myself and all that. I also find that having a partner helps. I actually have two partners, well one, okay one and a half. My main/whole partner is my friends mum and I must say she is in great hape, fashy the fact that she is the same age as Princess and no, she is not white or half-caste. My other partner (the half one) is my main partners daughter, my friend whom I stay with. We both registered at the gym on the same day three weeks ago and she has only been twice. Having a gym partner really pays off especially when you are doing cardio, you will be amazed how a 60 min gruelling workout on the treadmill will just go by when you have someone to gist with.

Alongside exercising, I am also learning to eat sensibly. Normally I would eat 1 max 2 meals a day. My trainer gave me an interesting bit of information; the only athletes who eat twice a day are Sumo wrestlers! That got my attention. The key to weight loss is increasing my metabolism. Right now, the way I eat, my metabolism spikes once, max twice in a 24 hr period. For self preservation, when I eat my body converts a small percentage of the food to 'fuel' for the body to use and stores the rest as fat since it knows it wont get more nourishment/sustenance for atleast another 8 to 20 hrs. Since I do not lead a physically active life, the probability that I will make use of the stored fuel is low. The next day I eat, my body stores food and soon I am like the squirrel storing up nuts for winter only that I have no problem locating my hoard, its right there on my thights, hips, butt, arms, etc inching me closer and closer to the next dress size. Also since my body is skimping on 'fuel' thinking it needs to save for a rainy day, I find that I am slow and sluggish during the day (Is that the reason? There I was thinking something was wrong with me!). How do I fix the problem, i.e. get my body to use up a lot more of what I eat as fuel and store a lot less? Eat more frequently, 4 - 6 times a day (according to my trainer) and build lean muscle. By eating frequently I increase my metabolism. Since my body knows it will always get food,the amount of fat stored in all the wrong places reduces. What do I eat frequently? Fresh fruits, vegetables, whole grains, meat, chicken, chocolate, ice cream, pretty much anything I want as long as I portion my food (a good rule of thumb is the size of your fist, no second helpings!) and don't overindulge in the 'bad' stuff, (sweets, chocolates, ice cream, chocolate cake, etc) I should be okay. I was also told that for every pound of lean muscle I possess, my body will burn 50Kcal every day during my rest period. The goal is to build 10 pounds of lean muscle so during my rest period I burn 500Kcal everyday. It will take 10 - 14 months to build lean mucle (this is where excercise comes in) I eye my instructors 32" biceps as he says this, 'Mr man I just want to lose weight and be fit, I am not planning to enter the Mr World competiton' he laughs. I am in no danger of developing 32" biceps by developing 10 pounds of lean muscle he assures me.

Okay now, how the heck am I going to be able to eat sensibly I wonder as I go home after my orientation class where I learned all about metabolism. I love all the bad stuff, how will I cope? Quite well apparently. I am eating right and exercising, enjoying increased mental alertness and slowly but surely dropping the weight. I am not starved for all the 'bad' stuff I like to eat, I have learned to enjoy a scoop of ice cream as much as a whole tub. I have managed to suprise myself at the level of discipline I have been able sustain. I must say it, I am proud of me! Wish me luck as I pace my self for the marathon called healthy living ahead of me.

How I would have killed my ex-wife?

However way I would have "dunnit", for sure I would not be hypothesising about it. I really can't believe the premise of O.J's new book!!! Please how insensitive is that? Is it not bad enough that his kids are growing up not entirely sure their father killed their mother, does he have to go and make light of the fact of her unfortunate demise? Pehaps this is all a publicity stunt to promote his new book. Again its the most insensitive and selfish thing he could have done. I read somewhere that Fox is airing a two-part interview with him, the theme of which is similar to that of the book. The whole thing is sickening. If I were him, I would remain in my hole in Florida, work on my golf handicap and prepare to meet my maker. I sure as hell would not be tempting fate in this fashion, she has been known to be fickle.

OJ Simpson reveals how he would have killed his wife guardian.co.uk

And the new Dancing with the Stars champion is ... Emmitt Smith!

I yelled till I was hoarse! Of course Mario Lopez is a great dancer, and his free style to 'It takes two' was awesome and brought back sweet memories. Carrie Ann Inaba summed it up nicely when she said about Emmitt; "What's so great about you is you are the everyday man who became a dancer in our eyes in the past 10 weeks". For such a big man with no showbiz experience he really did a good job on the show. He along with his nuturing partner (Cheryl Burke) deserved to win.

Emmitt Smith Wins ABC's 'Dancing' Title msn.com

Car Pooling

As is the case with adjusting to new surroundings, I am having a lot of 'Eureka' moments. The other day I discovered that my office has a shuttle service between its numerous locations in the Houston area. Goodie! Taking the shuttle drastically reduces my waiting and walking times and now that the cold is settling in that is a real blessing. I took the shuttle for the first time last week thursday. The only downside I see is that I now get on the bus at a rather crowded stop. I got in line and proceeded to wait for the bus like me felow commuters. It never ceases to amaze me, the way people over here organise themselves. Whether you are driving or waiting on the bus or waiting to be served at the store/restaurant/hospital, forming a queue is like second nature, and it is never a bother to wait your turn to be served. Even getting off the bus. The other day I had dozed off on my ride home and i woke up to find the bus had stopped moving. I turned to the lady seated next to me and asked if we had arrived at the park and ride. Yes we have she replied. I was about to ask why aren't people getting off when I realised this was a bus in Houston not the BA flight to Nigeria where people would have already begun to unload their stuff from the overhead cabins while the pilot is still trying to land the plane!

So I am waiting in line at the bus-stop, enjoying the crisp air and marveling at the ant like orderliness of my surroundings when a black Porsche Cayenne pulls up. 'I wonder how this car drives' I muse, I make a mental note to check it out on the Internet. The passenger window comes down and the guy driving leans in and shouts out a bus number, actually the number of the bus I am waiting on. Ewo! So dis na how dem dey do sole in America? Correct last chance be dis o! Dem go dey see people catch well well o, me sef if no be say I don see sample for nija I for don jump enter moto. tey tey! JJC, (this is my serious side talking from days of experince watching law & order, csi, etc) no be inside town like this in broad daylight where witness boku na im dem dey do sole (you know say oyinbo sabi gbeborun), na for heavily wooded area where half naked women choose to jog! Seriously, what I just witnessed was carpooling in action. Houston has a BRT system using a designated lane called the HOV. (I hope say I no yarn dust) The Metro buses as well as people car pooling with 2 or more occupants get to ride on it. What this guy was doing was trying to make up the number of passengers riding with him so he can wizz down I-10 instead of queuing forever in traffic. While on that subject, I had heard a lot about the famous 'Houston traffic'. I guess what I have seen so far is rough for US standards, but coming from Lagos Nigeria, this traffic na childs play. Traffic wey dey move? Na real bonus be dat. If this was what I had to face in Nigeria, Lord knows I for dey sleep my house till day break, watch cartoons instead of running out at 5:30 am. Which reminds me, how far with our attempts to start up a BRT system in Lagos? I had never ridden on one, and I along with many others couldn't really see how it would work. Until recently I wondered at the reasoning behind designating the innermost lane the BRT service lane instead of the outermost lane. I felt the outermost lane made the most sense, for ease of dropping off passengers, etc. Now I see that the whole purpose is to move people between two points as quickly as possible in the case of Lagos move them between the island and mainland. Say I am going to work in VI and I live in Magodo. I get on the bus at the 7-Up Transit Centre and get off at the Bar Beach Transit Centre from where I will take a taxi or a white bus (local transport within VI) to my final destination. There is also the issue of transit centres. I didn't see any going up while I was in Lagos, anyone know if there are visible plans that they are gonig up? I remember when the roads had just been marked and the whole BRT issue was hot on everyones lips. A lot of people (myself included) where all open to its introduction provided that it would actually function even though we couldn't really understand how it would. Now that I have actauly used one omo its a really good idea. I do regret that I am unable to totally enjoy the benefits of being ferried to work. I get motion sick, so the one and a half to two hours I spend riding everyday is wasted, I can't catch up on my reading! :-(

Snip Snip

I cut my locks on Saturday.

I had begun to tire of them, and I also itched to run a comb trough my hair. I wondered at the timing of my actions this morning as I waited for what seemed like an eternity for the train to arrive. Shouldn't I have kept them to keep my head warm during the winter? I asked my self as my teeth chattered away. 'Thats what caps are for silly' replied my sensible side. Now I have a mini afro which I have tucked away under a wig. I plan to get may hair braided though, but first I will rock my wig into the ground!

Reading 0 - 4 Arsenal

Did you see my boys school Reading? Awesome! (my oga don infect me) The Henry goal quick but e still no quick reach Babangida's opener (40 secs) against South Africa at the Africa Nations Cup in 2000 now that was sweet!

Match Report soccernet.com

Match Report arsenal.com

My office building isn't exactly in the heart of downtown so when it comes to lunch there aren't too many options. I usually just get a sandwich from the cafeteria, and I mut say I never knew two slices of bread could be so filling, usually thats all I need to get me through the day. Day before yesterday I decided to try something new, I brought lunch from home. Lunch comprised of jollof rice and fried catfish which we bought from a nija store the day before. The food was actually supposed to my lunch/dinner but as usual I was stuffed from one sandwich lunch; a chicken salad sandwich and the only logical thing to do was to have it for lunch the next day. I must admit prior to this time I had never eaten fried catfish. To me catfish is something to be eaten boiled for no more than 15 mins, either in pepper soup or in a very hot (peppery) thin stew eaten with freshly boiled rice. I really enjoyed my lunch, and totting an extra bag to and from work wasn't as much as an ordeal as I had earlier imagined. Infact the whole experience was such a hit for me, I considered doing it again the very next day. Alas some confusion as to how I was going to get to work distracted me and I forgot. At about 10:30 I got an email from my boss; an invitation for lunch. I said a silent prayer of thanks fo forgeting my lunch as I replied that I would be available. At 11:15 we all gathered in the lobby (9 of us in total) then we carpooled to pappadeaux, a cajun restaurant like 2 miles from my office. We then proceeded on a 3 hr lunch (wetin concern me, i dey bill dem dey go). I have learned that the nicer looking an oyinbo dish is, the more likely it is to be totally tasteless so I approched the whole ordering business with a lot of seriousness. At the end of the day, I deided to have rice and shrimp stew (shrimp etoufee) and it was really good, so good I finished my serving. My last mouthful threatened to spoil my whole experience though, I don't quite know how to describe it in english, in yoruba I would say 'Ede yen npa okuta' (translation suggestions welcome). I think the shrimp wasn't properly cleaned cos it was sandy to the crunch. On a good day I would have promptly spat it out, but I am out with my project manager and there is the issue of exending my contract so I said a small prayer and swallowed. Well I am happy to report that I am very okay as I write this thankully. As I wiped my mouth (daintily) and laid my napkin aside, I heard someone mention dessert. Dessert ke! I was stuffed. When the dessert tray arrived however I couldn't resist the vanilla cheesecake (ole) I did try my best, but I couldn't do more than half. Back at my desk I wondered how I was going to manage to keep awake till 4:30 when I will be able to legally escape. Apparently no be only me dey suffer from the effects of lunch, and hour after we returned my supervisor was like he was off for the day and I was free to leave if I wanted to. There is a God kia I carried my bag I didn't even take the shuttle downtown, I walked to the train stop I was that full I needed the excercise.

Breast Cancer Awareness

As the week ended I despaired, I was yet to find a place to move to. I had begun to reconcile myself to another week at the hotel (chei all my money throway) when I got a call from my friends, 'we are coming to pick you and we won't take no for an answer, you are coming with us!' So thats how I moved once again, to the suburbs. My new commute is 55min by bus and train as opposed to the initial 10-15 mins by leg. I do miss living so close to work, my new commute however does involve some walking so I still get the excercise in. Riding the bus has been a lot of fun, on Monday I saw a very interesting photo op, and I really wished I owned a camera. As my train pulled up to the stop I looked out of the window and saw this ... appariation! After about 30 secs I was able to tell that it was not a giant jellyfish but a human and female all dressed in pink. From the top of her head to the soles of her feet, pink and monogrammed with the pink ribbon. I am assuming she is dressed like this since October is cancer awareness month. I must confess I cannot recall the last time I did a self breast exam and after hearing the stats for women of color and breast cancer I really should pay more attention. The lady in pink seems to be looking for something, I guess thats why I initially mistook her for a jelly fish, with each foray into the pockets of her numerous bags she sent various items of pink flying in the air; scarf, hat, sunglasses, iPod, etc. What can she be searching for so frantically? I wondered as I inched closer to the window. I feel the train shudder, 'find it find it' I pleaded as I stared hard at her, mortified at my voyeurism. Suddenly she stops and from the depths of pink pulls out ... a pack of cigarettes!!! I watched in disbelief as she lit up and took a really long drag, you know the type, the 'gosh I can't believe I haven't had a smoke in 15 mins' type. Imagine! She made for a really interesting diversion on my commute that morning sha, I am not sure if a picture would have adequately captured the scene sha, more like a short movie. Anyways I have scheduled a breast exam in my monthly routine.

Arsenal 3 - 0 Watford

Match Report soccernet.com

Match Report arsenal.com

The Healthy I

How I wish my curent living arrangements could last forever! Going to work is such a joy, my office is 10-15 mins away depending on if I am strolling or doing a brisk walk. I feel so healthy already! Plus today I found a shortcut; cutting the distance I walk to work in half! I think Mapquest should add a pedestrian route panner to their application, would have discovered this route a lot earlier (24hrs!) Work is great, the project I will be working on is really cool, however its taking a while to get all my work tools, I hope I will be able to fully start work in another day or so. I am currently looking for a place to stay thats more appropriate, i.e. cheaper. I am actually looking for a furnished 1 bed apartment. I have been to see a couple of places but the suitable ones are not furnished and the furnished ones have undesirable attachments i.e. roomates!

The Hungry I

So last night after taking care of the esentials, i.e. calling everyone, getting setup on the Internet (o so crucial) I am realise I was starving and there wasn't a crumb of food to eat in the whole room! Yepa! I am seriously thinking that the meal I urned down when my friend picked me up at the airport was a really bad idea. I need to get something to eat and do some grocery shopping. I call the front desk, yes there are several gocery stores in the neigbourhood, could they call me a cab? How much would it cost I ask, about $7-8 each way she replies. $16 for a cab? Thanks fo the info, no to the cab. Lets see if I can't order the groceries online. Alas I can't, what to do, I call the Atlanta branch of my support group (OIA). 'Madam, $16 for cab fare is not bad considering your circumstance, make a list and call a cab!' So I call one. It arrives, I get in say hello and the accent was all too familiar. 'Are you Nigerian?' Yes I am he replies 'Same here, I am Yoruba'. 'Bawo ni' he replies and off we go, gisting all the way. I keep an eye on the road incase he decides to make any unecessary detours (thank goodness for Mapquest) in 3 mins we arrive at the store. 'Here is my number, call me when you are done, how long will you be?' 'About an hour' I reply while asking myself what can I possibly be buying for an hour?

I walk through the doors and immediately feel very overwhelmed. Kia I call OIA. 'Hep me o!' She is such a darling she kept me company while I shopped. While picking up tomato sauce to make pasta, I realise a very vital fact - I do not have Knorr/Maggi! What a huge error! I should have taken some withe me when I left Dallas!!! Horrors, will this meal be eatable? Relax says OIA, look for beef or chicken bullion from Knorr, that should do it. After much fumbling about, I swallow my pride and ask for help. I don't know whats there to be ashamed/self consious about o! Thats how I spent 20 mins looking for bread which was right under my nose. Anyway I finally get all I need, and I spent almost 2 hours in the store! I will attribute that to 1. not askng for help, and 2. forgetting my shopping list at home! As I pushed my groaning cart to the register I fear for the bill. It was a lot less than I had thought it would be, many thanks to OIA who passed on valuable tips (buy store brand items). I ring up my cab and load up my purchases. I noticed on the ride back that the meter was off. The cab driver is admonishing me to make sure I marry a Yoruba Nigeria male (I thought I left Princess in Nigeria?), and also to look before I leap. Its easier for a man to recover from a bad marriage than it is for a woman he says. We get to my stop and I bring out my wallet. 'Aburo ma se wahala' (my dear don't worry) I thank him for the ride and he tells me to call him anytime I need a ride. For sure I will. Sometime towards the end of my shopping trip(precisely after locating the beef bullion), OIA's phone started making signs that it could not survive this 2hr conversation. We agree it would be bes to let the phone charge for a bit. It took 3 trips to get my purchases up to my room (why on earth did I take an upstairs room in a walk-up) after putting everything away and getting settld in for the night, I realise I still haven't eaten and I am not up to cooking anything tonight. Of course I call OIA. Order out for something then, pizza? Pizza it is (so much for not eating rubbish). The phone starts beeping again. I realise I really should let the poor girl go, her husband will soon be home, it would not be fair on him to return home to a fagged out wife. My pizza arrives and I devour it with relish. So whats on TV, imagine, no HBO! (Ore has gotten me hooked on 'The Wire') a well, I will survive.

I moved, again

Well its a temporary move which I pray becomes permanent. I got a job, a real one! I start tomorrow, it all happened so fast. (I can't believe I just said that!)

Monday the 25th I got a call from a recruiter; 'I saw your resume on dice, you look like a perfect fit for a position I have here in the Houston area' without taking break from the season premier of CSI that I was watching online, I go through the standard drill, 'are you willing to relocate?', 'how much will you expect the position to pay?', 'will you be available for a phone interview?' etc etc. I am really engrossed in what I am watching. All of a sudden I realise I am taking down a name and number to call at 2pm CST for a phone interview the next day. I quickly hit the pause button and try to get back into the phone call I was having which was with hindsight a lot more important than what happened to Catherine (she woke up in a hotel room alone and naked with apparently no memory of the precceding event!). Alas it was a bit too late, my party had dropped the phone and I was a bit confused; was I to expect a call from a guy at 2 pm or was I to call him? Luckily the recruiter sends me an email so I was able to call him and clarify things. Yes the gentleman would be expecting my call at 2pm on tuesday the 26th. That sounded a bit strange to me, me initiating the phone call and all. I however went ahead and marked my calender accordingly.

Tuesday arrives and I had forgotten about the interview, thank goodness I had set an alarm on my phone! I call the guy and the interview went well in my opinion the technical part that is. It seemed to me that the fact that all my experience was in Nigeria was causing a stumbling block for him. 'Another one bits the dust' I think as I we end the interview. I call the recruiter and leave a message for him as per the interview, of course I tell him it went well. The recruiter calls me on wednesday morning and asks how it went (apparently he hasn't spoken with the client)again I tell him it went well. He says he will speak with the client and let me know. 30 min later he calls back, 'you're in' he says. I can hardly believe it, thats it, 3 months of waiting and waiting and just like that I have a job, and a decent one at that? I am amazed that I managed to remain coherent for the rest of the call. I immediately call Princess. She was over the moon. After our conversation, I began to think about the last 2 days, you mean thats it? Just like that I will finally begin to get the US experience the lack of which seemed to be the reason why I had remained in the unmeployed market for so long? A friend pointed out that 3 months was not a long time to be unemployed, considering the fact that I had just moved to the US and all of that. While I might agree with him career/education-wise I have always had it smooth and the past 3 months for me was very enlightening. For sure it has taught me to better appreciate what I had taken for granted for the past 5 yrs; the fact that I had employment.

So first I was estatic, then thoughtful, then I began to panic, where will I live, how will I get to and from work??? At this point I will like to thank the members of my support team (you guys know who you are). I have made many a phone call to them in the past 4 days asking advice, venting, etc etc and they have been really there for me. Finally I was able to work out temporary living arrangements, an extended stay hotel close to my new office. Next step get a cheap ticket at such short notice and get a pickup from the airport. The Houston chapter of my support team really came through for me, picking me up and taking me to my accomodation picks ranked by cost. High on my list was a place I found on craiglists.com which was cheap but turned out to be in a not to safe part of town. Athough I have survived the Lagos area boy, I am not about to put his Houston cousin to the test. Even if I had wanted to stay, my friend was giving me the 'I hope you are not planning to stay here' look. Kia we load ourselves back in the car and we go to the second place on my list. Aha, much better. Its in a safer neigbourhood and in good proximity to my office (0.7 mi) and there is no fear of me gaining any more weight from eating rubbish, I have a kitchenette so I can cook. My friend drops me off, and I call my people to let them know I got in okay. Its a nice feeling to be making progress again. The plan is to stay here for a week while I continue to scour local property listings in the area looking for something more appropriate, i.e. cheaper, preferably a one bedroom furnished apartment I can rent on a monthly basis. Later today I plan to take a test walk to my new office, I was glad to note that there is a Metro stop very close by for a ride into and out of downtown. I don't think 3/4 of a mile is too much to walk on a daily basis anyhow I will keep you posted on that.

Charlton Athletic 1 - 2 Arsenal

All the usual suspects agree that the 2nd Van Persie goal is a good contender for the goal of the season. Wenger described it as the goal of a lifetime. I really can't wait to see it, the Arsenal website hasn't put it up yet. Anyways this is our fifth win in a row across board, we are really looking good in the tables; we are leading our group in the champions league, and just a win away from getting in the top five in the premiership. On a related note, we seem to have a game in hand, anyone know who we will be playing? I pray we continue with our form. I must say that the upcoming international week break gives me some concern, messing up with our rythmn and all of that, but I pray we will be able to sustain form through it and after it.

Match Report soccernet.com

Match Report arsenal.com

Grady 'Bad Boy' Brewer - Contender Champion 2006

I would not ordinarily consider myself a boxing fan; all that saliva, sweat and blood! However I must admit I have enjoyed watching the second season of the Contender on ESPN. From the beginning I had favoured Cornelius 'K9' Bundrage and had tipped him for the finals alas he seemed to give up in the ring fighting Steve '2 Pounds' Forbes in the semi's and had to slug it out against Norberto 'El Gallito' Bravo for the 3rd place medal. I was at work (I have a part-time gig at Kohls) so I didn't get to watch the third place match but I am told K9 showed Bravo, the fight had to be stopped in the 7th round. For reasons not related to boxing skill or prowess I just didn't like Forbes and throughout the competition I was always in the corner of his oponent. Tonight was no different, I was rooting for Grady 'Bad Boy' Brewer all night and what a fight. I will admit I never saw Brewer coming. Infact I was shocked to see him fight Bravo in their semi-final fight. 'Who is this guy, and where did he come from'? I wondered as he made mince meat of Bravo. Brewer used his hight and reach to his advantage, pulling Forbes in and messing up his rythm. At the end of the 10th round, Brewer had landed twice as many punches as Forbes and thrown atleast a hundred more. A lot of the rounds for me were quite close to call, but I felt that Brewer had a good chance of taking home the 500k, Toyota truck plus the Contender title. Apparently the judges felt the same, in a split decision Grady Brewer was crowned the Contender.

On a seemingly unrelated note, I am of the opinion that as well as the guys auditioning their skills for the show, they also had to audition their wives/significant others, either that or the show hired wives/significant others for them. All the ladies were really good looking!

A storybook ending for Contender 2 MSNBC.com