Today was exciting from the word go.
Latecomer
The Plot
I went for breakfast & had a rather peaceful one,
reciting in my mind my self talk “… any desire that I persistently hold in my
mind will eventually seek expression through some practical means of attaining
the object. I will never stop trying…” It always calms me down and keeps me
focused. I was also excited partly because I was high on scheming how I would
escape in the heavily guarded compound in the middle of the day to attend the
flag off and the spectator stage of the 60th Edition of the KCB
Safari Rally. To be frank I never attended the rally before. That is out of my
own, whatever, it just happened to be where I was on those particular dates.
For example the one that was in Meru, another at Makuyu. Makuyu’s went down on
April 2010 the month that I proposed to my girlfriend. This I cannot forget, an
Easter weekend it was 2nd, 3rd & 4th April 2010. Strategically
placed. That weekend was one sent from heaven. Any way, that’s not the main
issue here. I love cars but opportunity & resources never met to make this
a reality to me. Even the fact that Patrick Njiru is a neighbour to some
relative of mine I used to visit often made no difference. So whenever people
around me went to the rally, they usually left me behind. I would yap about it
all week long on social media n blah but inside I usually felt the pinch of
missing out.
Crazy Morning at the Office.
So, this one I started planning for it last week while I was upcountry. I saw the first advert on Tuesday evening while we were talking with my grandpa. I saw him form a genuine smile while I reached for my diary & quickly scribbled something on those dates. Focus & determination. So for the rest of the week & this week I kept singing rally rally & I am sure I pissed the crap off my friends. The determination to attend was further fuelled by the fact that I had placed it top of my short term goals! I know you are asking what planning is there. The nature of what I do by day doesn’t give you as much freedom as you need. Not even that, as any ordinary person is supposed to have. Inside these walls, is Egypt in the days of building the pyramids. Slavery, Modern slavery. Anyway. I settled on my desk & one of our supervisors called me & 3 others who had also shown a trend of what they referred to as sloppiness. I was the worst of them all he said.
I don’t
know if you’ve ever been summoned to the office when you have done something
regarded as against the rules, and the big guy in the see saw chair takes his
glorious time trying to make you tense outside the office… It did not work, for
me at least. The other guys were shaken to the bone & the more we stayed on
that corridor the less serious I took it. After like 2 hours we were called in
individually in a series of rituals that almost served them a nice plate of
laughter from me. Threats as usual were issued & we were dismissed.
I was trying to figure out what would happen really, if they
found out what I was planning? The supervisors made it a routine to keep
checking if I was around & luckily I was still hovering around until they
got bored & decided to cool their balls. That’s when I planned my exit.
Tactical Exit.
“Strength lies in differences, not in similarities” –
Stephen Covey. In this establishment, everybody is allocated some place they
can call their own. They usually put people with things in common together.
Depends on whether you are married, single, a pilot, and engineer, a doctor, a
clerk, etc. The paths I have taken in life have not allowed me to allow this
kind of mental locking. So early in our settlement I found a spot opposite
& far from everybody else. So while I was leaving, the supervisors expected
me to go in the direction that everybody under them goes. Which did not happen.
I went in the opposite direction. The direction of my clothes, yeah we wear
uniforms here. I carried them in a paper bag & walked head high towards the
same direction I had come from, past the offices & straight to the guard
post by the main gate. There I took my time to change, into my civilian
clothing & get ready for an exit. That’s when the sentries outside started
bragging of how they had punished some foreigner who was pretending a camera
were a GPS & blah. So he was using the disguise to take photographs of the
premises etc. I started sweating since they did not see me enter & right
there in my left pocket was the obvious bulge of a camera. Fully charged memory
empty ready to take in the action of what I had risked all this for. I swear if
I would have been caught! This would have been a different story altogether. I
wrapped my polythene and pushed it under some idea of a bed there. I took a
cautious peep & I walked outside. Nobody saw me.
By this time I was way off schedule since, the flag off was
to begin at 1pm & I had 30 minutes missing from my schedule already, a
traffic filled Outering Road would never deliver in its current state si I
decided to be patient. I got on my way to the city, adrenaline rushing like
crazy. The heat was pretty much & at my age & in this season, such
insolation comes about when it’s about to rain. The though of rain on my rally
initiation date was not such a good one.
I got to KICC when the last batch of rally cars was being
flagged off. Nothing much was going down here. The number of people in official
clad led me to thinking of the kind of words employees & bosses were
exchanging, just to come to KICC.
“Please sir may I go watch just 3 cars being flagged off…”
“No!”
“Sir, I need the day off, my daughter is unwell & alone
at home”
“Fine, take the day off tomorrow as well” – That one knows
Kajiado is all systems go!
“I need to get airtime outside…”
& in some very sad cases like ours where the snail slow
& coward buttered chain of command exists,
Supervisor “I’ve been sent by Chris who wanted the day off
to go do some banking,” 7.30am
Level 1 “I hear Chris was asking for the day off to go to
town” 8.30am
Level 2 “Did you hear Chris came late this morning as well?”
9.45am
Level 3 “Gerald by the way; Kory, supervising the Avionics
Department told me some guy wanted to go rest, have you confirmed?” Over tea 10.30am.
Level 4 “Sir, Chris wanted a day off.” 11.30am
Boss “The one who reported late today?
Level 4 “Yes sir, also on Tue & again absent on
Monday. He is also the one who paid somebody to do the field assignment last month while he
was attending to personal issues… That guy should be dealt with, He is very slippery...”
Boss “Tell Him I said No!!!”
Then it snails its way back down & will probably reach him
around 3pm… Now Chris is not the kind to follow such. Instead he acts &
then explains, or doesn't at all. That’s why he always ends up on the wrong side of the authorities.
So it was while I was headed to the spectator stage that I
was wondering who had been left working in offices within the CBD. Very many
turned out for that event.
The Action.
Now I don’t know how to put this. But I was excited. It was
like Lamu kids when they see their first car! Daaaamn!!! Or as my buddy put it, A kid who has Actually people on my
timeline thought I was high on something. The action was so thrilling & all the other words ever developed to over exaggerated crazy!!! I forgot all
my stresses, laid out all my worries for kina Ian Duncan,Anwar, Baba Chiru, Ndio
Huyoo, Haraka Ladies & the rest to step on them with their Av Gas driven beasts. I was so
inspired that I instantly moved owning my first dream car a - Subaru Impreza, from the
bottom of my Mid term Goals to the top of the rest of the Mid term Goals. I was almost
driven to tears when some drivers missed tricky corners and ended up damaging
their suspensions, in other cases out of excitement I screamed myself dumb! the way I
scream in a club when you know nobody can hear you release your issues with all the noise, I didn’t
care about the shy me who always freaks out to the sight of beautiful women (Like
those next to me eh…),I didn't care about the bosses who were probably boiling over since I switched to offline mode at exactly 1.55 Pm It was fun, so much fun, I cannot even describe it
enough. I was high yeah. But I loved it. Then I started worrying about missing
out on the real action at Kajiado… Then the rain came down! I ran for shelter & found myself at the best view point, but still the rain got me. I no longer cared, since the last time i got rained on in the city, I did not even notice myself dry. The there was the issue of lunch. Oh, I hadn't had any. I noticed that around 5 as it headed towards 6 another thing I am yet to understand. The afternoon was worth all the risks that were taken.
Anyway, since I achieved my goal, I now feel relaxed, ready
for life again. My day ticked as a success. The favorite part is the crazy
engine & exhaust sounds still ringing in my ears that I experienced today.
Here are a few of the shots I took. Tomorrow is another day that I am expected
to report early to work…
Hi. Same Old Drama, Different Day. This blog is about me and others, nature, life, blah blah and why everything I like is great even the hurting - still great. If you disagree with anything you find on this page, Well. . . You are probably right..
you are invited to follow my blog
ReplyDeleteSure I will.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the Invite
I write and maintain a blog which I have entitled “Accordingtothebook” and I’d like to invite you to follow it.
ReplyDelete