Tag Archives: weekendcoffeeshare

Of Coffee and total crashes

If you were having coffee with me, we would be having mango juice, because if life gives you mangoes…..

Actually, if life gives you fruit, any fruit, you must be very careful of what is in the coffee or mango juice you have been drinking; because life is not in the habit of walking around giving people fruit; if its any consolation though, life has not been throwing rocks at you

So life give you mangoes…….

Fridge full of mangoes

  • Peel and slice
peel and slice mangoes
  • Blend
  • Serve chilled

If you were having mango juice with me, I would ask you how old you were when you discovered, for yourself, that a computer hard-drive is nothing more than a shiny, disc…..

.….A super spinny disc turning round and round and every now and then it makes a ticking noise as it turns a little bit slower, turning round and round as your files disappear every now and then until it falls apart, what can I say its total crash of the hard drive

When your hard drive starts making the ticking sound of death, back up your data stat,

The blue screen of death
The Blue Screen Of Death

If you were having coffee with me, I would tell you that, according to a cabinet minister revelation, the Reserve Bank has paid for enough fuel supplies to to cover the next two years so the public should not panic

But given the track record of the state media and government, when they officially say one thing, one starts preparing for the opposite, dont panic they say…….

Meanwhile the president made a clarion for dialogue inviting the 20+ presidential candidates from the 2018 elections to discuss a framework for the way forward for the nation, but the two main contenders snubbed the meeting one citing that a photo opportunity is not dialogue and the word on the street is its like dip tank attendant inviting farmers who own no livestock ….

If the image in the Sunday Mail local paper can be believed then the austerity measures though bitter, are making country better……

sunday mail cartoon, yes a bit better but will make you better soon

If you were having coffee with me I would say hey, its the month of and Valentine’s in a few days, plans? no plans? why cant everyday be valentine or valentines’s for what, isnt that in honour of a beheading? you tell me

St Valentines beheaded

Have an awesome one and happy heart week ♥♥♥♥

~B

Photocredit St valentine beheaded: TimesIllustrated

Of Coffee And The Domino Effect

If you were having coffee with me I would ask you if you knew that a shadow appears something is in the way of light, before you answered quickly yes you knew that; I would stop you and say you think you know but have you really thought about it, a flame casts no shadow……

A flame casts no shadow

If you were having coffee with me I would tell you that these are type of conversations we had in a fuel queue, to pass time during the over 3 hour wait in a fuel queue to get petrol.

Fuel queue in zimbabwe
Super chibuku in a fuel queue

I have heard people joke that Zimbabwe might be in the Guinness Book Of Records for having the longest fuel queue, well it might not be a true fact but we have had some pretty crazy fuel queues.

If you were having coffee with me I would tell you that we stuck it through with a very long fuel queue because word on the streets was that effective midnight (13 January) the fuel price would go up and true to the word the president was on national TV announcing that fuel was going to go up by over 100% from about $1.50;
Petrol now cost $3.31 per litre and diesel $3.11

Even though the president assured the nation that the prices for everything else would remain the same, you wont need to be an economic analyst to predict the domino effect; how the fuel price hike will probably trigger an increase in transport driven services and by extension an increase in the prices for services as everyone simply passes on the cost along their chain and pretty much everything else will go up too; even things that are not affected directly by the fuel price increase will rise courtesy of an entrepreneur trying to cushion themselves from the rising consumer bucket.

If you were having coffee with me I would tell you that the civil servants sector in the past week refused a proposed 10% pay increase by the government. With the least paid government employee earning about $400 then that would translate to a $40 pay increase which would barely cover anything especially now in light of the 100+% fuel price increase. Its interesting noting how different newspapers phrased the headlines for the civil servant pay increase.

If you were having coffee with me, I would tell you that now looks like a good time to start looking into ways of alternative transport or even alternative fuels for vehicles, we have a tremendous amount of sunshine this side of the world, yet I have never seen a solar powered vehicle, where are all these genius ideas and concepts…..Maybe I should have a chat with Elon Musk if you know how I can contact him please holla at me.

solar powered car green energy

If you were having coffee with me I would tell you I am grateful that once you learn how to ride a bicycle you can never forget because looks like a bicycle might just become my preferred economic mode of transportation

Riding a bicycle

“A bicycle is curious vehicle. Its passenger is its engine.”


John Howard

What’s going on in your neck of the woods? Here’s to an awesome week ahead

~B

PS would the price of internet access be affected by a rise in the fuel price, it shouldn’t right?…..

Of Coffee And Back to….

If you were having coffee with me, I would ask you if there is a standard number of days into the year, in which it would still be acceptable to wish someone a HAPPY NEW YEAR.

Here is a clip of my dreadful brothers and welcoming you to a 2019.

If you were having coffee with me I would tell you that on New Year’s Eve we did the thing we do every year and sang the sun up into the New Year.

dread singing the sun up

Because the New Year’s sun wont rise until we sing it up…..

We are seven days into the New Year and it doesn’t feel that new; feels pretty much like the last one but older and starting off like a video game cranked up to the hardest difficulty level.

video game difficulty level

If you were having coffee with me I would tell you that January is usually known as an austere month after having overspend during the holiday season resulting in the dreaded January Disease.

January disease

Compound this with a runaway economy were prices can go up by +300% from the last time you checked but strangely enough people’s salaries (for those fortunate enough to be employed) remain the same; corporates seem to be looking out for number one and the government seems to be only good at making promises, threats and compromises.

Earlier in the past week a local beverages firm, Delta Beverages released a communication about changing their pricing to accept only hard currency and not the surrogate bond currency or local electronic transfers as they needed to source forex to pay for imported supplies.

delta beverages

The long arm of the government was prompt to point out “the error” of their ways on how such a move ran counter productve to the multi-currency economy that the country runs and how if they were facing challenges, they should have honoured their social contract first and approached relevant stakeholders first instead of just making public announcements (that unsettle and confuse the citizens)

Delta corporation and RBZ agreement

If you were having coffee with me, I would tell you that the government seems to have “difficulties” coming to an understanding with the striking doctors but find it curious that it had to take over a month before any sort of progress had been made yet they resolved the Delta Corporation case within 24 hours one wonders about priorities…..

Politicians should use government hospitals

If you were having coffee with me I would tell you growing up one of the things I hated the most were those back to school adverts especially at the beginning of the year reminding you that the holidays are over and its time to learn…….

Image result for back to school chalkboard

Sending kids to school is also quite the hustle with the way the pricing of school uniforms an fees is set up and all the accessories that go with, and it doesn’t help that some schools only accept uniforms from the accredited suppliers (read that as the more expensive ones like its some sort of cartel)

If you are having coffee with me, I would tell you, it also looks like school teachers are also gearing up to start a strike of their own maybe schools wont even open on schedule….

But hey in a country with 10% formal employment everyone is a hustler and entrepreneurs will tell you that while you only see difficulties they are seeing opportunities and raking it in; sometimes I think the whole country  has misplaced priorities, look out for number one seems the order of the day..

Compliments of the New year;

feeling the warmth of the New Year’s sun

behind closed eyelids,

dreaming of brighter days……..

Ras beaton dreaming of brighter days

Have an awesome week and year and thanks for dropping by……… and get back to whatever it is you do during the year when not holidaying!!!

~B

PS RESOLUTIONS FOR WHAT ????????

Of Coffee With Bees

Of coffee with B

If you were having coffee with me I would thank you for the visit and ask you if preferred tea or coffee and it will have to be without sugar and milk because I don’t have any that besides a true coffee connoisseur drinks there’s black, hot and no sugar please. Maybe I can offer you some water have a seat and let me tell about my past week.

If you were having coffee with me I would tell that I finally met in person Bruce one of the people I have been working with for the past two years to connect, collaborate and promote the showcasing of bloggers and have a place where the world meets Africa; Afrobloggers.  I also met a fellow blogging connection Sparkles. I have known her for close to 3 years but had never met and the three of us had a lovely lunch brainstorming the future of Afrobloggers.

lunch with the B's Bruce Beaton
Lunch with the B’s

Bees were hanging around our table like we were literally made of honey and it turns out that Sparkles’ perfume is infused with real honey extracts, I think it should come with a warning label that ATT: BEES WILL FOLLOW YOU

If you were having coffee with me I would tell you that our Afrobloggers Platform was selected to be in the pilot group of the Connect.Hubs program run by Hivos, British Council, Nesta, Enthuse Afrika, Electric South connecting together 44 creatives from Southern Africa; in Harare and Cape Town to come connect and go create

Beaton Mabaso representing Afrobloggers

Our group the Harare cohort was made up of 22 creatives from Zambia, Malawi and Zimbabwe.

connect.hubs
connect.hubs

If you were having coffee with me I would tell you that one of my favourite experiences was a session where after chatting and getting to know fellow creatives in a speed dating like setup you would assign them a label that showed what summed up your thoughts on them and this was a great way in figuring out how to best map future collaborations with each other

“Collaboration is the new innovation”

Thulani Mpofu

Over the past week we  did a crash course covering everything from communication, anatomy of a hub leader to coming up with a sustainable hub model. During one of these sessions I brainstormed a concept of how we could possibly deal with the high internet cost;

brain storming

If you were having coffee with me I would tell you that the Harare WordPress WordCamp on Friday, I missed most of it because I was at the Connect.Hubs; fortunately I was slotted in as the last speaker of the day so I was able to do a flying visit and drop a lightning presentation on how a blog means community.

A blog means commuity Beaton Mabaso
my blog a gentleman because it opens doors for me

At the end of my presentation there was a brief question and answer segment and someone from the audience asked me what we could do about the low reading culture problem and my suggestion was simple that we must “catch them young” instill a culture of reading writing and self-expression into the curious minds of the young and watch them write their own histories, and to that effect I am collaborating with other flip leaves heroes to write books for children

If you were having coffee with me I would tell you that the minister of finance presented the 2019 National Budget themed “Austerity for Prosperity” and included a quote a quote from the 19th Century Philosopher,

Zimbabwe 2019 budget speech

“I have learned to seek my happiness by limiting my desires, rather than in attempting to satisfy them”.


John Stuart Mill 

Then used a whole lot of fancy terms to basically say the governments needs more more and they are going to do it the only way the know how “widening the tax base” and squeezing the life and money out of  the public.

Austerity for posterity

That’s my past week how has yours been?

Cheers to a great week ahead

~B

blog comment thread

If this is your first time stumbling on my site do say hi so I can find you if you have a site I should check out please holla and if you see any sites listed in the comments do check them out because I roll with awesome company

Photo credit: Connect.Hubs

                       WordCamp Tariro Chagwiza

                                             FitnessbaeInt 

                 Minister of finance Budget 

Of Coffee With A State March Of Mind

Of Coffee And A State March Of Mind

If you were having coffee with me, I would be glad to have you visit and tell you that I think I am slowly becoming a coffee connoisseur; that is black coffee, no sugar,no cream. A cousin “with connections” managed to buy some sugar at wholesale price and let me buy a packet from them “for a reasonable price”  Long story short, I put sugar in my coffee for the first time in 21 days and it tasted so horrible I poured it away and quickly regretted it as I brewed another cuppa.

A moment of silence asI weep for the wasted sugar, coffee and the gas used in the brewing of that monstrosity of a hug in a mug. I live in a time when I literally cant afford to waste not a single thing. I used to wonder how long you could keep leftovers in the fridge before you felt guilty of the culture you were keeping, the answer is the guilt never stops, not even as you clean out moldy Tupperware.

Anyway these days I hardly ever get leftovers to throw away even the stray cat that had adopted me has stopped coming around to visit and scrounge for scraps, and the rats are  having a field day, the cat is away.

If you were having coffee with me I would tell you that it’s funny how exactly this time last year we had a world changing march which pretty changed everything and nothing and probably might have made things worse. (read my post Solidarity March)

Zimbabwe Solidarity Military

“The People” Marched to the State House in solidarity with the Army after the historic coup that was not a coup that resulted in president Robert Mugabe’s “resignation” from office after 37 in power.  I remember the day 18 November 2017 it was quite easy to get swept up with the euphoria of the day even the older generation folk who witnessed the Independence Day celebrations 18 April 1980 said even those were subdued compared to this.  

APC Harare

If you were having coffee with me I would tell you that, yes I marched to the State House, mostly because by some freak chance I was there when it happened and it was easy to get swept up with the mood of the day, if you were there you would have marched too; it was like a street party, it was the most historic gathering of Zimbabwe and I witnessed it. Most people probably realized that they were simply a pawn in power games to endorse a coup that was not coup, that the people had spoken,but hope does strange things, it’s a fire once lit it burns beyond rhyme and reason.

Fist pump military man in tank

Fast forward to a year later and the flames of hope seem to have been snuffed out, elections with contested results, post-election violence and runaway inflation.

Zimbabwe Military 1 August

The president swore in a seven member  Commission Of Inquiry chaired by Kgalema Motlanthe (former South African president) back in September to find out what transpired on 1 August 2018

Commission of Inquiry sworn in President Mnangagwa congratulates members of the Commission of Inquiry into the post-election violence (from left) chairperson and former South African President Kgalema Motlanthe, former Commonwealth secretary-general and Nigerian national Chief Emeka Anyaouku, and UK-based Queen’s Counsel Rodney Dixon (right) after their swearing in ceremony at State House in Harare yesterday. —(Picture by Tawanda Mudimu)

President Mnangagwa congratulates members of the Commission of Inquiry into the post-election violence (from left) chairperson and former South African President Kgalema Motlanthe, former Commonwealth secretary-general and Nigerian national Chief Emeka Anyaouku, and UK-based Queen’s Counsel Rodney Dixon 
Picture by Tawanda Mudimu

Two months later they are still at it; during an interview with the Commission, a Brigadier General Sanyatwe of the Zimbabwe National Army denied that the army shot members of the public. The brigadier is on record for saying in the video in question (of the soldier firing) “if you check properly you will see that rifle was being fired at an angle of 45 degrees in the air and not direct….”

Shooting at a 45 degree angle

If you were having coffee with me I would ask you what’s happening in your part of the world, I would also tell you that today is hair washday and if you know me by now you should know it rains when I wash my hair, sometimes I suspect I am a Rain God, if you live in my neck of the woods carry an umbrella I predict rain in the coming week.

Wash day beaton

Have an awesome one

~B

PS And yeah if you just wound up on my blog welcome and do drop a link to a post you want me to check out and I will, if also check out other people in my comments cause I roll with good people

where the world meets Africa

Of Coffee With The Professional

Coffee with the professional

If you were having coffee with me I would be happy to have you visit. I would lean over and whisper, “You probably think I am a coffee aficionado, guess what? I am faking it” I read somewhere that a real coffee lover takes theirs with no milk or sugar. I cant seem to find sugar at the shops so I am trying sugarless coffee *takes a sip* yep its definitely an acquired taste.

coffee

I might not be a true coffee connoisseur but I am definitely Becoming The Muse every step leading me to be who I should be, I am professional, and I got a friendly email remainder about how I should not keep it secret.

Yali

Young African Leaders Initiative

beaton mabaso networking

My updated bio now reads Community Builder ^_^ linker of circles

If you were having coffee with me I would tell you that in one of my blogging circles BLOG INDABA the meeting place, every Wednesday we will be crushing on a blogger and sharing why and what we like about them, here’s a list of the upcoming blogger crushes so maybe you can check them out also if you are interested in being part of this hit us up.

Blog indaba the meeting place

  1. Ethnetic me
  2. leo muzivoreva
  3. life with dimples
  4. Becoming The Muse

If you were having coffee with me, I would be pleased to announce that on Wednesday I had the honour of hosting a Tribe of Influencers #Zimfluential Masterclass on The Blogging Culture of the Global South.

The blogging culture of the global south

The blogging trend is rising but a lot of people are still not quite fully awake to its potential; that its more than simply a hobby or an online diary, its so much more; of course the prohibitive cost of data according to a report released by the Alliance for Affordable internet shows that in developing countries 1gigabyte of internet data on average costs about 2.5-5.5% of the average monthly income.

Would you rather starve or have internet? I say how about making sure the internet gets you connected with not just an audience but a market……

If you were having coffee with me I would tell you that at a press conference the president announced oil had been found in the Muzarabani area of Zimbabwe.

oil found in zimbabwe

Before you start celebrating or even figuring out how such a resource would best be utilized to benefit the country; one might want to take that with a pinch of salt the company they working with released a cautionary statement that says what they found are markers that indicate a working petroleum system but haven’t done any feasibility studies or explorative well…..

invictus energy

Actually correction what they used were reports compiled by the Mobil oil company in the 90s….  wait have we always known about this oil possibility?

Statement from president

The government just like its citizenry is so desperate for a break that it isn’t infallible to scams, once a traditional healer/spirit medium had government officials walking around barefoot convinced that she could conjure diesel out of a rock in Chinhoyi

dspjrpvwaaa65ie

…….and then on the other hand you have pastors and prophets promising years of breakthrough deliverance, miracle money and miracle cures to a flocking congregation….

If you were having coffee with me I would tell you that someone hired to be chief of a Communication taskforce by Minister of finance; turned whistleblower on Reserve Bank officials who were fueling and dealing the forex/cash black market and then dismissed from the job in three days is  reported in the press as having been paid $40 000 to spill the beans…….

drjhrrnx4aanwec.jpg

Oh wait and of course he in turn took to social media to deny being paid and apologise for being a pawn in the power games of the political sphere….

Public apology Acie Lumumba

Its so hard to know what to believe, in a world you have to fact check everything you see, read and hear but I can write about it from my perspective and that is why I blog.

If you must be anything be professional; have an awesome week

~B

Africa connected

PS yeah because if you randomly ended upon on this post please do say hello and lets connect; even drop a link to the post you think I should check out and if you see any interesting links in the comments do check them out cause we roll with awesome company

Of Coffee With Mental Poverty, Pettiness And Miracle Cures

If you were having coffee with me, I would be very happy that you are here to keep me company because the power utility company is carrying out critical maintenance works so there wont be electricity in most of the city for the next twelve hours, at least they warned us in advance even though I still could not manage to buy fuel for the generator but that’s a long queue of a story, anyway I am so glad you are here.

I hope you aren’t really expecting to have coffee because well there’s no electricity and also we just ran out of LP gas for the cooker and its become very hard to refill the gas canisters; like everything else you have to stand in a long winding queue, which you are not guaranteed wont run out before your turn or opt to buy from suppliers who charge at triple the price but then that just reduces the cost effectiveness of using a gas cooker and might as well as use an electric one because in comparison the electricity bill is less shocking….

dqh1ewswsaanzmd.jpg

If you are having coffee with me I can only offer you lukewarm water but I can guarantee you its safe, I measured out the water purification tablets myself. I haven’t heard any news on the cholera outbreak that broke out over a month ago so I presume it’s now effectively contained but still that doesn’t mean one must slack on hygienic vigil have you washed your hands? Even if its to just drink water with me.

If you were having coffee with me I would tell you that I have been thinking a lot on an unpopular opinion a journalist tweeted:

My first reaction was to find it insensitive and highly offensive given the challenges we constantly face in an economy that runs practically on fumes and speculation and a government that doesn’t quite seem to be in control yet tells us that the country is fine, that social media and fake news mongers are responsible for the shortages, resulting in people panic buying and the crippling inflation caused by unscrupulous business operators out to make a quick buck,……

I felt like what she was saying boils down to all the struggles I face are all in my mind, that I am poor because I think like a poor person and it did not help matters when she also made the following tweet about those who left the country to find economic asylum in foreign lands at the risk of being second class citizens…

If you were having coffee with me I would tell you I looked up the phrase Poverty Mentality on the internet and it’s a term used by motivational coaches to describe the state of mind where one is focused on the things they lack, that no matter how hard they work, they will always lack and end up blaming the system for never giving them a break.

Zig Ziglar characterized poverty mentality as

  • Constant fixation on money or the lack of it
  • An anti rich people attitude
  • Fear-based decision making

The only way to break out of it is break out of it and really succeed you have to make a conscious choice to do so, be proactive, use what you have— believe in yourself, have a plan, and go get it.

If you were having coffee with me I would tell you that this great advice on entrepreneurship but you cant have a nation where everyone is forced to be one out of necessity or risk starving someone, what I think we need is an ecosystem where people can focus on what they are good at and love to do than just where is the money and what solution can I do to come up with it.

If you were having coffee with me I would tell you that in the world of hip hop; rapper 50cent and Ja Rule have a long standing feud thats old enough to vote (maybe its one of those manufactured publicity stunts to get hype going like most beefs usually are case in point I did not know Ja Rule was having a concert)

50cent posted on instagram that he bought 200 seats in the front so they can be empty

50Cent.png

50cent

photoshopped impression of what it would like

Well, I wanted to crown him as the King of Pettiness but I don’t want to seem like I am hating because I wish I could afford to be that rich but hey if I was Ja Rule I would be laughing all the way to the bank thats $3000 *sips lukewarm water*

Maybe we should be enterprising entrepreneurs like prophet Magaya who today who made an announcement that after a revelation from God  he has found a 100% organic and”scientifically proven” cure for HIV and AIDS the aguma plant and working with Indian pharmaceutical experts to form Aretha medical

magaya

Here’s to an awesome week

~B

Africa connected

PS yeah because if you randomly ended upon on this post please do say hello and lets connect; even drop a link to the post you think I should check out and if you see any interesting links in the comments do check them out cause we  roll with awesome company

PhotoCredit 50Cent 

 

 

Of Coffee With Petrichor

If you were having coffee I would ask you what your favorite smell is? Some people like the smell of freshly mown lawn whilst for other that just reminds them of allergies, I know people fascinated by the smell motor oil too…..

My favourite smell, is the smell of the wet earth, when it starts raining, especially after a very long time. Sometimes, if you are lucky, you can catch a whiff of it just before the actual rain reaches you, the breeze, carries with it, the promise of rain.

petrichor

If you were having coffee with me I would tell you that it has a name, it’s called PETRICHOR the scent of the rain. The word is a combination of the greek words Petra– which refers to rock/stone and ichor which means the fluid that flows in the veins of the gods.

Petrichor is the blood of stones, you can reproduce the scent by distilling rocks exposed to warm, dry conditions, and you get a yellow oil with this smell, this is whats flushed out when it rains, mingling with wind and rain combined with other things, to give you that after rain perfume. According to science we are predisposed to like this smell from the time in history when our ancestors were highly reliant upon rain for their survival.

If you were having coffee with me I would also tell that the smell of rain also signals the start of power outages, when the rain season starts; its like an excuse for the power utility company to schedule load shedding which I suspect is disguised as fault maintenance. Just a little bit of rain and suddenly you find yourself living in the dark ages all over again and writing Blackout Diaries

We acquired a tiny generator so could have a few hours of electricity in the evenings and it seemed like a good idea until we tried to get fuel for the generator. There is a current fuel shortage even though the government says there isn’t and they blame people who hoard fuel for being the cause behind the shortages and to that effect proposed to ban people who buy fuel from service stations in jerry cans and other containers.

Govt to ban use of jerry cans

If you were having coffee with me, I would tell you that we had to actually carry the generator in a cousin’s car to get it to the fuel station because of that crazy imposition.

Fuel Queue

Fuel Queue

Sometimes the policies the government comes up with aren’t quite thought out although I like to think they have some good intentions but of course hats what its paved with, the road to that place before you start looking at us like that guess what they have changed their position and “lifted” the ban, but they still encourage responsible buying of not just fuel but basic commodities.

Gumbo lifts ban

If you were having coffee with I would tell you the rain did bring some good vibes too which is that the mulberry tree is bursting with ripeness and offer you a snack for coming to visit, mulberries remind me of being a child again and the purple stains on my fingers and the soles of my feet.

Mulberries

Have an awesome weekend

And yeah remember I am now a community builder so do drop a link  to your post that you think I should checkout and if you see any links in the comments do give them a look see and of course let em know where you found their site so we know its real we got awesome community

Africa connected

~B

PS After five days of no electricity the power supply seems to have been restored but it looks like its about to rain again………..

Photocredit the smell of rain The Chemical Compound

Of Coffee With A Chance Of Networking

If you were having coffee with me, I would be very happy that you could make it back, (assuming you have been  here before that is). You know how you go to someone’s house and see the things being done that cannot make for things to be done and make you think “I am never coming back to your house again!!”

I am doing things that need to be done! So you see I am very happy that you dropped by, put your feet up and have a coffee and if coffee is not your poison you could try the water, water would definitely be your poison with the cholera outbreak you cant trust the water in your tap and now it seems you cant even trust the bottled water sold in the shops or even the borehole in your backyard unless you have it tested.

zimbabwe bottled water bombshell

Where were we? Oh yes, I recommend a hot beverage since boiling the water definitely kills gems, so does alcohol, I might have whiskey somewhere…. Suddenly I am thinking Irish Coffee. Yes? No? Maybe sprinkle everything with holy water and I read that you ought to be careful of germs from those bowls with holy water where everyone dips hands before getting into church, do people still do that? I haven’t been to church in ages but I still pray……..

If you were having coffee with me I would say surviving in this country of mine is an extreme sport, it should actually be a skill added to a CV. Living here makes you jack of all trades, if any of my posts are a barometer my CV would read

  1. Political analyst
  2. Financial expert
  3. Legal Expert
  4. Gender Equality Champion
  5. Chef and Handyman
  6. Travel trip advisor
  7. Digital Media Expert
  8. Geography, History and African Legends custodian
  9. Childcare specialist
  10. Fitness Trainer

And dont take my word for it;  lets see, whats a CV without refs:

  • Ntomby moyo says I am fave tweeps  (tweeps=twitter + peeps)
  • The Britchy says I deserve an award

If you were having coffee with me I would tell that I still surprised people put so much faith in people’s CV when searching for potential employees my CV might as well read as Graduate from the school of imaginary technology with honours in creative manipulation of reality.

If a whole minister of health has shall we say “made up” qualifications on his CV who am I to not strive for excellence on mine, I mean as long as I can deliver right? The First Rule in the hustler’s diary is dont get caught, and also always have an explanation and an exit plan….

If you were having coffee with me I would tell you that, our free falling economy is quite the crazy roller coaster; the runaway rate of the United States Dollar versus our surrogate bond currency hit a crazy peak during the week then come crushing back again and who knows how it will be tomorrow, *sips tea*

Zimbollar Rate

I did say I am a financial expert right? Well the rate started going up after the minister of finance and the Reserve bank governor implemented some harsh economic reforms  which the President says are necessary bumps along the road to rebuilding the nation.

Sometime during the week announcements were made that another “Facility” might be backed by the Afreximbank (same bank which backed our surrogate bond currency)

and who knows what other arrangements those guys made (speculator) considering a quick look on their website shows our reserve bank governor is a Class B Director of said bank (Investigative Researcher and verifier of facts)

If you were having coffee with me I would tell you that we launched a weekend blog comment thread, where Africa can meet the world I should update my CV to read Digital Community Builder ^_^

Afrobloggers Comment thread

Africa connected

It looks like I just made my blog a network zone, so after your visit please do drop a link to a post on your blog in the comments you think people must check out and I will come round to visit and also if you spot any interesting posts in my comments do check them out and also give them my regards so they know where you found their blog from because I have friends with good taste ^_^

~B

PS……. Also I remove unwanted people from pictures (Adds Creative Graphic designer to CV)

 

 

Of Coffee And Running On Empty

If you were having coffee with me I would ask you if you read today’s paper? I haven’t read it but I can guess what it says and its nothing good. I long decided that if the universe wants me to know something it will eventually get to me…..

headlines

So whats been happening in my neck of the woods?…. Lets see, our free falling economy is in a downward spiral which sounds like a fun ride at the amusement except this isn’t the amusement park and its not fun…

If you were having coffee with me I would tell you that the governor of the reserve bank and the new minister of finance released a couple of policy reforms which have started a fire they are busy trying to put out.

One of those being that banks should keep separate accounts for their clients one to reflect Foreign Currency balance and the other for our pseudo-currency, effectively making it “official” that the bond currency is no longer equal in value to the United States Dollar. Also this means that somewhere along the lines money’s value got eroded or stolen or something. For a catch-up on the bond currency you can read this post from last year here: OF BOND AGE

The other reform was to increase tax on all electronic transactions from 5 cents a transaction to 2 cents on every dollar transacted, which translates to a 2% tax (not including bank charges). Because of the cash crisis, Zimbabwe has become a cashless society not by choice but out of necessity and the government saw the volumes  of money transacted and decided to  expand its tax base, because its running on empty I presume. How do governments make money anyway?

If you were having coffee with me I would tell you that the prices of things are going up and basic goods disappearing from shops, even medication is going up while there seems to be a fuel crisis but of course the government blames Social Media for causing the panic buying that’s resulting in the shortages and that there’s no fuel crisis.

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Oh and a few days later they tried to “clarify’ the 2% tax, and include exemptions

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looks to me like they are just winging it but what do I know? All I see is prices are going up, goods are being limited in some shops, medication getting hard to find in pharmacies and some no longer accepting medical aid and the fuel queues I witnessed during the weekend show we are running on fumes but of course don’t panic, well that’s what the government is saying I don’t know when we really should panic or at least down right admit we are somewhere at the bottom tier of a meltdown….

Empty

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Fuel Queue

Fuel Queue

If you were having coffee with me, I would tell you that people should start paying more attention to social media, it might have started as an online fad but it has become a powerful tool that can make or break a country, an economy or even a person. Its not just social media………

Jacaranda

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If you were having coffee with me  would tell you that its summer and the Jacaranda lined streets are ablaze in their purple glory, walking on a carpet of their purple mess beneath my feet and the purple canopy above my head its almost easy to forget all my problems. They remind me of a time way back when I was still in school that when you saw the Jacaranda trees blooming you would know that its exam season!!!!!! I always thought that Jacaranda trees were indigenous to us or rather its something I never thought about not until I read this post by Miss Chiseche.

The true meaning of life is to plant trees under whose shade you will never expect to sit your lifetime

jacaranda

~B

 

PhotoCredit: Jacaranda Bloom @LeeGraphyMedia

Bread rationing Wiliam du Plooy