Mid-week thoughts

Dude, I have been having a good week. Lemme see, I am going to land a nice sweet order for a LOT of IT kit for that mining company. I WILL be finally starting that maintenance contract with the other big-ass mining company. So whaddya know? I'll be dealing with the mining industry.

I have just come from sorting out salaries for February so that's a good feeling. It's good to be boss, man. It's good to be able to take care of your team, being able to pay salaries.

Still collecting payments, though. It's so hard to get the money out from some jerk clients. I hope none of them reads my blog. Oh well, the good thing is that some cool clients pay me on time so it sort of balances out. And in my new life, I need very little to take care of myself. I mean, I've got some clients who actually take ME out to dinner, get me great gifts. People are always paying for me, bringing me things , I go hang out with all the Mama's (Susu, Benu, Rebecca, what have you) who just take care of me.

What else happened? Well, I ran into someone I have been meeting off and on at Mamba Point hotel the other day. It was really funny. This is someone who consulted with my organisation when I used to work with at the UN in 3 different missions. We haven't seen each other since 2 years or more but he recognised me and called my name. I couldn't even remember this fellow's name. It was pretty funny.

Oh, I got blanked by a friend the other day. It's weird, eh? After all that happened to me, some people have behaved really wonderful with me and some have behaved weirdly. I guess crises really show you who your real family and friends are.

My team is doing well and I have THREE trainees on board now. I love the vibe amongst them. They really click with each other and I can't tell you what a cool working atmosphere we have (except when I am grumpy). The trainees work as hard as the staff and are really really eager to learn, contribute and be part of a company. We just pay them transportation and they come in every day. You should see how the senior staff 'teaches' them. Afterall, I don't know IT so it's the seniors' jobs to give the trainees training. Kennedy clearly loves to teach and he delivers great note-taking lectures. I watch with fasincation as it all happens. I even watch in amusement as they started teasing one of the new trainees and, had to remind myself I must stop it at one point lest the poor kid thinks I am condoning it. I swear, it's like being a school teacher sometimes. What I am saying essentially is that I like the atmosphere I have. I am still very managerial/dragon lady but I balance it with some occasional jokes, self-depreciating jokes, the morning meetings, and not controlling the show too much.

Of course, I still lose it. LEC is doing my head in. It's making me see RED all the time. Their power outtakes are driving me up the wall. I was first handling it well by shifting my ass to Mama Susu or to Haresh's store but it's just getting on my nerves. The internet is always slow elsewhere and I just can't work. It took me ALL day today to write one invoice and send it over. Oh my freaking GOD, I HATE THE LEC.

Not only is LEC-related stress driving me up the wall, it is making me go NUTS. I had to do some research on a plastic card printer and I thought I'd ask one contact which one they're using. So I call them up and they tell me they're using an Evoli product. By the time I went on the Internet to look for this company, I couldn't remember what it was. I ended up looking up 'Mollusk' and 'Obelisk' for half hour. Don't ask.

I have decided that I want to get into being an ISP at some point. Why? Well, the greedy GSM companies are providing crap service. There are some other ISPs which are decent but they are expensive as hell. So Farzana and her amazing IT company come in as a new ISP. We come in with really competitive, I mean are-you-kidding-me?-competitive pricing and just take over the market. I mean, we blow everyone out of the water. We just grab the market. That happens in year 1. And in year 2, we get all of our money back and more. Sweet, huh? Just watch this space.

So yes, it's been a good week so far. I have a good contract coming through. A good goods order. There's continuing work coming in from our current clients. We are busy. I am now becoming famous on the Liberia expats group although they thought I was a guy which I had to correct them on. I had a great lunch at Mamba Point the other day. I had a good Wednesday night dinner with some kids at Mama Susu's. I guess I am really taking to this new life where I am saving myself (enough with saving the world). I love this sense of I'm doing something for myself and working for myself.

Here's to a good month of March.