Squeezed Inside!!

Please note that what you are about to read was straight from the heart just like my other posts, but this time around, it was done hurriedly and with a little anger and bitterness of heart… 

[do what you can, when you still have the energy and time, dont waste your time…]

These were the last words I heard before typing this out and going to sleep tonight. It came from a colleague in the office advising me when I tried expressing my concerns and anger ..

I was totally vexed today.. totally angry.. totally sad.. totally squeezed inside.. totally not appreciating 9ja (just for this moment)..

I spent about 15hours today on work and traffic.. and also spend this same 15hours on working days on my ‘9-5’ and traffic. 15 hours!! (24 – 15 = 9hrs.. unbelievable 9 – 6hours of sleep = 3 hours left..) what a waste of hours.. wasted time..

..only to get home and logon to facebook to see this video which had Nigeria’s former president lambasting the masses and victims of the last Ikeja bomb blast few years ago, using words like “shut up”, “You know I don’t have to be here”, “gbenu soun” and co…. watch video below 

..only to get home yesterday or day before and watch on TV, the current VP(Goodluck) making silly excuses to the FIFA inspection team on the forthcoming U-17(?) world championship to be hosted by Nigeria in April, after they complained about the low level of preparation and deplorable condition of infrastrux.. Imagine a whole VP saying by the time they come in April(in 2 months), it would look as if magic had taken place – magic? that’s unbelievable!!

Go take a look at the National Stadium surulere.. and see decayed feaces and concentrated urine on the walkways of the restrooms and main bowl entrances.. Go see the igbo smoking association.. Go see the deplorable state of infrastructure.. It’s sad!!

..only to get home and watch on tv some days ago that a suspected robber/burglar turned into a goat and the goat is currently being held by the Police and is/may be arraigned to court, and a reporter asking the goat “Hello, Mr goat, are you a human being?”.. what a shame!!

..only to get home and … there are so many things … but I’d stop here..

The whole morale of the story? Some very drastic actions and decisions will have to be made.. by me.. between the Me, the Country and the Wasteful 15hours..

Now that was my inner thoughts for free.. Whatever it means to you.. Whatever you interprete it to mean.. See what you want to see.. Understand how you want it understood!!

G’nite.. <i’m not just in the mood, it’d be gone by morning 😉 !!>

Video source: You Tube. Link is http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_EWhgb0T3Fo

Why E&J is Unique!!

I decided to feature E&J for many reasons.. I personally feel they are unique in the way they add value via technology.. I must say Ochuko’s Blog is happy to feature them in the YOU ARE UNIQUE series..

EJ laptop is a subsidiary of Emmanuel & LongJie Inc. , a company that specializes in computer, digital camera, and external storage devices. They sell, repair and assemble their own brand of laptops, digital camera & external storage devices..

The brains behind the company are Emmanuel and LongJie who met at Illinois Institute of Technology. Emmanuel has a background is computer science and information tech. mgt while LongJie is a computer Engineer.

One key value proposition that E&J are adding is the affordability (they come relatively inexpensive), flexibility – all the products (cameras, laptops, etc) can be customised to your taste and market reach..

You need to take a look at these branded laptops which come in different colours (pink and co..), I’m really impressed and motivated by E&J. They are really making a huge difference especially to underdeveloped and developing countries that cannot afford these technologies.

Think of E&J as the Dell, HP and Apple of the new generation.

More information visit:  http://www.ejlaptop.com

Welldone guys!!

[Dear reader, add value in your own way]

Coming soon..The You.R.Unique Series!!

In keeping to the promise of starting a series of interviews and features, I’m pleased to announce to you that starting from tomorrow, Ochuko’s Blog would begin to publish features on Unique Personalities and companies that are adding value to humanity in their own unique ways.

This may be in form of interviews, profiling, audio and video features, photography and so on… 

You don’t want to miss any of these..

You can receive latest posts and updates via email by clicking on the subscribe via email link on the right… or subscribe here

Cheers!!  🙂

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Have you aired your views and voted in “Would you show your child?”

The Masterplan!!

As we enter the new week, know this: You are in God’s masterplan. I am in God’s masterplan.. You don’t need to worry about any thing.. Need I say more?.. To crown it up, please watch this video from my favorite artiste, the chocolate angel- India.Arie…Read lyrics below..

The Creator has a Masterplan

 

There was a time, when peace was on the earth,
And joy and happiness did reign and each man knew his worth.
In my heart how I yearn for that spirit’s return
And I cry, as time flies,
Om, Om.There is a place where love forever shines
And rainbows are the shadows of a presence so divine
And the glow of that love lights the heavens above
And it’s free, can’t you see, come with me,

The creator has a master plan, 
peace and happiness for every man
The creator has a working plan,
peace and happiness for every man
The creator makes but one demand,
happiness through all the land

(music and lyrics copyright 1968 by Pharoah Sanders and Leon Thomas)

I stole from God!

Yes I stole. And I’m sorry I stole. I had been a thief all this while. I was a thief.

One of my escapades: It was that time of the month when we all get some relief in the form of paycheques, wages, salaries, pocket moneys, investment liquidation, cash gifts and so on.. There was this young man who God’s blessed with a job. He collected his pay and put it in a bag.. He left his bag in a room…

…As I saw him step out without his bag, I went in, opened it and.. Yes, I did…

I stole. I stole just a little. I stole just a tenth. Just 10% of his total pay….

Yes! I stole from me. I stole from my own bag!!..

Sounds weird right? How do I mean? How can I steal from myself?

Here’s how: God provides us with blessings no matter how small. He provides us with income. Yet we rob God of His blessings. We try to steal the blessings He has freely given us……we steal from ourselves! How weird!

1/10th of our income is for God. Don’t steal it.  It’s just 0.1!! wouldn’t hurt!!

The month is almost coming to an end, those of us who earn salaries should be receiving some pay soon – Don’t steal from yourself. Don’t steal from God. Pay your tithe.

I will not steal from God this month. I will pay mine. Don’t know about you!!

Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me. But ye say, Wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and offerings – Malachi III v VIII

(A Hearty Congratulations to my dearest sister who convocated today with an MBA)

You can still air your views and participate in the poll of “Would you show your child?”

Here’s a good piece on personal finance from Blogoratti

I’m in huge debt!!

It’s funny that barely a week into starting this whole thing, I am boring you with my debt story.. ok, ok, before you stop reading.. here’s the whole truth!

Every day I wake up, I always owe people..Everyday!

The irony of it all is that I have the means to repay these debts, but I just don’t.. or I settle the debt in half measures..

I’m a miser.. and the amount of debt keeps increasing daily.. How do I go about this?

I know the question on your mind – Who am I owing, What am I owing? and how much am I owing?

Let me answer straight away:

I owe YOU. I owe EVERYONE. I owe LOVE…………….

We are all Debtors!! We owe eachother LOVE!! Don’t pile up debts.. Have a repayment plan now. Start settling your debt – everyday.

I will start right away. Would you?

(Also, Congrats to Obama and America)

44th Position… Whaaaat??

I’m not happy as I type this.. I left my “9-5” early today.. (incase you don’t know what my 9-5 is, check here)…

On getting home, my beautiful kid sister (she’s the last born) came in from school. “I brought my report card”, she said.. “Wow, what’s your position?”, I asked..

“I came 44th out of 50 students..”

“Whaaaaaaaaaat?”, I screamed.. “I’m dissapointed in you.. How could you..”, I barked annoyingly………

“But I’m in the special class and it’s not really a bad result….bla bla bla”, she tried explaining.

Ok, I left her.. I relaxed my brains.. I thought deeply..

Here I was shouting at her for “failing”, here I was disappointed in her for not “coming 1st”… here I was fuming…

Suddenly, something struck me – “Was the result not expected?”.. “Why was I dissapointed?”.. “What actions did I take to avoid the 44th postion?”

I was not a doer.. I was always late from work.. I never asked her about her academics.. I never revised her subjects with her.. I never visited her school for once to see how she was doing.. 

“So why was I shocked with the 44th position?”

Life teaches us lessons daily.  The 44th position is no exception.

How many times have we been dissapointed with happenings around us. What is that 44th position in your life that you are faced with? What is that 44th position career/business/relationship/dream/idea?

Going forward: Relax your brains, think deeply.. What actions did you take to avoid the 44th position.. What actions will you take from today to avoid future 44th positions?

It’s all on YOU.. It’s all on ME.. It’s my fault.. It’s your fault.. The 44th position.. You are to blame.. I am to blame..

I apologised to her. I’ll now begin taking steps to make sure she’s in the top 3 of her class this term.

Dear reader, Avoid the 44th position.

You can start right away by airing your views and voting on “Would you show your child?”

Take charge!!

PHI – Φ

2009 is moving fast, we’re already in the 3rd week.. We are grateful for life..

As we enter this new week, why not ponder on the PHI concept and make it work for you.. In very simple terms, PHI is the golden ratio – represented by 1.618033988749895.. this number is packed with possibilities and mysteries.. I would not go into a lot of details about this number, you can read that up here.

It is used in architecture, art, engineering, in the creation of you and me…and the list goes on….

Morale of the PHI secret: “YOU ARE WONDERFULLY, BEAUTIFULLY AND FEARFULLY MADE”..

Believe in yourself. You are perfect. You are beautiful. You are made in the Creator’s image.

I am beautiful. I am lovely. I am intelligent. I am a success.

(coincidentally, my initials when joined together in the same axis give the greek letter – PHI)

In the coming days, this blog will be hosting a couple of interviews with unique personalities.. It promises to be exciting. You don’t want to miss it. Stay tuned.

Also kindly participate in the “Would you show your child” post on sexual education..

Do have a great week.

Cheers

1st Saturday…

Today’s special! The first saturday of this blog. It’s a milestone 🙂

Congrats to blogoratti – today marks his fist month blogging. Blogoratti made a very good write up on the eve of his 1month anniversary – “30 day habit” please read it and be inspired.

Thanks for all who have visited and commented, I want you to know that you ain’t seen nothing yet.. Ochuko’s blog(OB) is warming up.. it’d get really hot soon…and would rank among the top blogs in the world.

Yeah, I’ve been taking some steps needed to get the 2 most needed things I need at the moment… One of which is that I signed up with the p.a.n.a.m.a.i taekwondo group in Lagos.

Today’s session was very interesting, i must confess.. I would not go into too many details, but it was ‘sweet‘, I felt great, the exercises we took made me realise how unfit I had been all this while..my muscles, heart, brain, mind and all where alive during and after the session.

I joined this for a couple of reasons: the fact that I need discipline, self control, humility, respect, strength, fitness, networking and so on…..

I have received lots of calls from people asking me for information on this martial arts group. I have sought the permission of the organisers to include their information on this blog.

For more information on Taekwondo Lessons in Africa (especially Lagos), please contact:

Master Ferguson -+2348057710949 or +2348034093004

Thursdaline – +2348029962267

Ibrahim – +2348064742657

Sessions hold at the National Stadium Lagos. Call on any of the numbers above for more info..

develop.yourself

Ciao

I need you….badly!!

I’ve been seriously seeking to have and improve on several things in my life…but there are two(2) things I need badly from now on (because I don’t have them)… before I tell you about them, I must say here that I’m very surprised that I am opening up so easily (something I hardly did).. well, as humans we change – i’m no exception. It is very easy to learn new things; but the hard part is unlearning what should be unlearned….

Back to the things I need.. ok you may think I need a car, or a house, or a new job, or an MBA at Chicago Booth, or an Arnold Schwarzenegger body, or a beautiful girlfriend, or a Michelle Obama kinda wife, or a site generating $5000000 daily, or free ticket to go to heaven…

All the above are good things of life that I would have and more… but I’m talking about 2 things.. Ok, look inside of you and think of 2 things you need to improve or add to your life (I’d like to see it in your comments)..

Discipline and Self Control!!!!!

Yes. They are my current 2 most wanted jewelleries.

I need discipline! I need self control! or better put I need to improve and grow on both.. (NB: My parents trained me well, and they instilled discipline and taught me self control..that was just FYI..)

Are you always late for work? Do you miss  or go late to your regular religious activities? Are you lazy about reading the “Living book”? Do you never pray? Do you always talk of making money or having alternative sources of income or taking a particular course of action without doing so?  Do you never read books? Are you addicted to something negative like drugs, sex, habits, envy, hating, lust,lying? Do you start something and never complete it? Are you not a doer? Are you always thinking of money,money,money? Are you a procastinator? Are you a drunkard/smoker? I can go on and on………(idea is need)

Truth is I look up at the list above and am very guilty of a some… and I’m confessing and saying that I need Discipline and Self Control..

I’ve started getting help and also helping myself on achieving these 2 must-haves…  Have you??

😉 

pls, participate in this poll and drop your comments too. Thanks!!

🙂

Would You show your Child?

Hi all, today’s a bright day.. still in the early stages of romance with blogging 🙂 Please take time to respond to this poll.. as it would go a long way in helping in the fight against sexual mis-information and sex education..

Warning: Genitalia

Talking about sex education and prevention of HIV/AIDS: I came across some very educating images on avert.org, view images here

[Please NOTE that having an STD does not make one a horrible, disgusting person.]

Would you show your child(ren) these images? Would you talk to them about these ? Do you think showing them these things early in life would help reduce the “spread”? Thanks for voting.

Vote Now

Project 365 – A picture a day

Everyone should get into the mood..
This is about taking a picture a day. I’m in. Me’ll start Jan14.. see the myproject365 page for updates…
Let’s do it..
inspired by Project 365

zzzzzzzzz

9-5 Grumblings..

1932pm.Today’s my last day on vac(the 9-5 job), and for the first time in since I started the leave, I’m having this “pre-monday illness”.. I’m feeling reluctant to resume. I don’t know why. Could it be because I don’t totally love my job? or could it be laziness? or could it be this australian job offer of the century? … wait a sec, talking about this job, I think it’s every human’s dream- what do you feel?…

..Imagine lazing around a cute island for 6months with $105,000..wow what can be more.. anyways before I start envying this job offer or think of quitting my current 9-5, I’d try console myself by applying for this offer (ok, i can’t swim, which is one of the required qualifications)… Anyways, this is a great idea for promoting tourism (Nigerian governors please learn ooo.. I hope Gov. Fashola is reading this blog…)

Ok enough of the fantasies, back to the issue at hand.. I don’t know why I don’t feel like going back to the office.. Maybe i’m tired of working, or maybe i’m not just loving it again..

I know I’d resume tomorrow 8.30AM, i have a choice not to go, but i would go tomorrow.. after tomorrow, let’s see what happens.. 🙂

Today was a beautiful day.. Applied for the recovery of some money I have in one education agency like that when i was planning to jet-out some 2yrs ago.. would get it soon.. long story..

CHELSEA-MANU: what happened to chelsea? i’m so ashamed for them..3-0 is just too much.. You can’t beat a Liverpool team like that 😉 Well, we’ll never walk alone!!! Warning to ManU.

Wow, alot to talk about, but can’t pour it all now.. gotta rest and prepare for tomorrow..

See ya!!

Enlarge the place of thy tent, and let them stretch forth the curtains of thine habitations: spare not, lengthens thy cords, and strengthen thy stakes; for thou shalt break forth on the right hand and on the left; and thy seed shall inherit the gentiles, and make the desolate cities to be inhabited (Isaiah 54: 2-3).

It’s finally here

truth is i’ve always procastinated having a blog.. but today i overcame!

Took 10days off work and it’s been a very fruitful experience.. got closer to the internet and learnt a lot of things, met a lot of people and also read a few minds via their blogs.. one of them is SethGodin‘s blog.. One article that caught my attention was “What to do when the new thing doesn’t work”..

the catch: “When the new stuff doesn’t work, do the new stuff more and better” (one of the inspirations to the opening of this blog)

Ok, it’s 11.37pm and i’m tired, been chatting with an old friend, very good lady-B.. had a terrible crush/’love'(?..lol) on her in pri. school…

I’m also feeling Ramit Sethi, the guys got some great blog too.. stanford product.. and hey i applied for his scholarship on entrepreneural stuffs..

Ok, alot happened today that i can’t put down.. got to sleep now.. cos tomorrow’s my last day out of work..

Luving the internet the more…

Am out.. zzzzzzz