of seat filling and delicate lives...

okay, so first off, this is not my regular blog post of scathing criticism and unashamed whining. its what i like to call a seat filler. well, i know many of you have not watched a movie of the same name (it wasn't exactly box office material) featuring kelly rowland and mel b, but contrary to what you might expect of a movie boasting of two "formerly famous" music stars, it was nothing to write home about. here's the summary: some dude is broke and gets a job filling up empty chairs at award shows in place of invited guests that dont turn up, and then gets to seat next to a real singing superstar (you guessed it, super...ahem...kelly rowland) and as guys always do, tries to pretend to be who he's not to get her. long drab story short, he gets her, she finds out who he really is, he loses her, she can't forgive him and then she does and then thay live happily ever after.

you can wake up now.

so basically, this is a post to fill in the space until i read the news today and come breathing fire back on here.

so for the past few weeks, i have jettisoned the use of my car and put it up for sale. well, not for any reason actually, just cos i feel like (yeah right). that car needed to go. it had reached the point where we had to drive at like 5 kph on a super highway, without airconditioning and still the car was overheating and all. thats when you know its time to move on with life. so yeah, luckily for me i have two colleagues who live ten houses or so from mine. apart from the obviously dreaded morning walk from my house to theirs every single day (don't even tell me i need the exercise...i hear that enough from my mother), i actually find that going to work with colleagues is a lot of fun. there's the swapping war stories, learning about office history (whatever you do, don't call it gossip), leaving one hour later than my usual unholy hour departure time and the listening to jehovah witness tapes all the way to work whether or not i'm up for it, but all in all i can't complain.

but today i decided to try and get my mojo back and get into work real early and remember how it used to feel to have a few spare hours to write my blog etc before work starts and hence i took a taxi cab. now, here's a lesson for y'all. never tell a taxi cab driver in lagos nigeria, that you are in a hurry...or at least make sure you call your life insurance company first to remind them who your next of kin is.

and there was my blunder. considering i got into the cab at 6.22am and got to work at exactly 6.47am through more than significant traffic between lagos mainland and the island tells you how fast we were going. we were rushing and stepping on the brakes and weaving through cars so close to each other that there was barely space to squeeze in and twice we almost ran into stationary vehicles on the side of the road. and then just when we were about to come down from the bridge we tried to overtake a lorry with the inscription "Bin Tin Laye" that looked as if it was swerving into the lane to the right of us, only for it to change its mind after we had come side to side with it and wanted to come back to our lane! through all the horning and smoke that filled the cabin of the cab, all i could think was "fukken hell"...and then the lorry decided to spare us and move on back to the right lane. i had to text my friend immediately after that to tell her how much fun i was having with this lead role in an Angelina Jolie-like movie!

by the way, the phrase "Bin Tin Laye" is a yoruba phrase that means "Life is Fragile"...so i guess i'm grateful the lorry wasn't a warning. lol.

throughout the speed chase of a ride, i kept thinking i should tell the cab driver to slow down, but to be honest i was enjoying it a tad too much and knew that i would never drive my own car like that and oppurtunities like this come but once so what da heck.

so, there's my seat filling post. you'll be hearing from me as soon as i find out what absurd thing nigeria's leadership is up to today. by the way, i hear there was a stampede to get into the venue of a political party's national convention in which 12 people were seriously hurt...pray tell, if there was no money to be shared, whence the stampede to get in? the poverty levels in Nigeria are alarming obviously...

aight peeps, have a great day. and whatever you do today, don't tell a taxi cab driver you are in a hurry, ever. :)

P.S: i've got a blackberry now so buzz me directly with your comments on my blog, it would be nice to be friends with my...ahem, sane, ahem...readers. lol