30-year-old trader has been arrested by the police in Ogun state for naming his pet dog ‘Buhari.’ The trader, Joe Fortemose Chinakwe, of No 10, Omikunle Street, Sango-Ota, Ogun State, was reportedly arrested last weekend, after one of his neighbours of Northern extraction complained bitterly that he named his dog after his father, Alhaji Buhari. Vanguard learned that the complainant reported the case at Sango Police Station, last Saturday, after which the trader was arrested and detained. However, it was gathered that efforts by the police to recover the dog, which they intended using as evidence failed following a clever move by the suspect. The trader, said to be trading in female wears at a popular market in Sango, allegedly directed his friends secretly to kill the dog and possibly eat the meat in order to avoid being implicated. It was gathered that consistent appeals by his friends and relations for the police to grant him bail failed as the complainant and his kinsmen reportedly threatened to kill the trader if he was released on bail. Trader denied bail The case, however, took a different dimension two days later when Chinakwe’s relatives went to Sango police station to further plead for his bail only to be informed that the case file and the suspect have been transferred to Ogun State Police Command headquarters at Eleweran. A relation to the suspect, who simply identified himself as Chiedozie, told Vanguard that his brother was being persecuted for no just cause and expressed fears that he may either be poisoned inside police cell or thrown into jail. Chiedozie said: “Chinakwe is a lover of dogs and he names them after things that tickle him. He bought this dog a year ago and named it Buhari.  Unfortunately, some Northerners, who dominate the vicinity where he resides misconstrued his intention and connived to take him up.





 The complainant then claimed it was derogatory because his father answers Buhari.” Police sources, however, told Vanguard that the actions of the suspect “were very provocative.” The source said: “he not only named the dog Buhari but boldly wrote it on the body of both sides of the dog and was seen parading the neighbourhood dominated by Northerners with it.” As at press time, relations to the suspect were still making frantic efforts to effect his bail while his accusers are insisting that he must be prosecuted. Police confirms arrest When contacted around 8pm yesterday, the acting Police spokesman in Ogun State, Abimbola Oyeyemi, ASP, said he was still trying to get the Divisional Police Officer in-charge of Sango for details. Oyeyemi later called, stating that: “I have made enquiries. The man bought a dog and inscribed Buhari on both sides of its body. One Mallam lodged a complaint and when our men got there, we found out that it was true. You know such thing can cause serious breach of the peace and ethnic or religious unrest. We are charging him to court for conduct likely to cause a breach of peace.” Continuing, he said: “He was arrested last Saturday and we are taking him to court later today (Tuesday) or tomorrow morning (today). You know an average Northerner will feel bad over such a thing. It can cause serious ethnic crisis or religious confrontation because when you are relegating such a name to a certain person, you are indirectly insulting him.” When asked about the whereabouts of the dog that will be used as evidence against the suspect, the police spokesman said: “The dog cannot follow anybody except the owner. We will use him as our evidence because he did not deny it.”

This is really awkward
A man from ghana finished a plate of EBA in just 2min
Can we say he is using juju (charm) or that is how long and big his trouts is?
At least he is not a Nigerian
YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN NOW

  Hello to you today dear Audience ,today am gonna show you how to hack any android game or apps of your choice.    Have you ever seen a game with unlimited coin, unit or money..... Obviously you have. Its a magic, a mystry,a secret i wanna Show you. So therefore get ready!
    Now ,there are alot of Android Apps out there that usually require you to pay via Google Play Store; there called in-app purchase.
    Others(Android Apps) just ask you to register to a pro version from the trial version your using.
     While some other Android  App just keep poping up annoying ads and some keep asking for License verification.

Many are quick to put the blame about security problems on the state of the Police and Policing in Nigeria. Attitude they say is everything. Our attitude to life and security as a people is nothing to write home about. Our actions and inactions show how much we value human life. When ten people die as a result of an accident or ailment, it makes headlines abroad but may not disturb many minds here. Some had attributed this to our value system as a people; we do attach little or nothing to human life.


In my piece “The irony of befitting burials” I tried to paint the picture of how much value we attach to burial ceremonies but not to the wellbeing of people. The attitude of many is like that of Cain (AM I MY BROTHER’S KEEPER?). When armed robbers visited our apartment not long ago, some of our neighbours were hearing their loud voices but none had the courage to alert the Police. Some were too afraid to alert the Police, while others may have felt less concerned because theirs were not penetrable or accessible to the robbers.


On our roads you will always see this attitude on display. Truck drivers do not seem to want to see any other vehicle on their path. The bus drivers, cab drivers, and private car drivers see motorcycles riders and the tricycle drivers as aliens on the road. The pedestrians are at the mercy of all. Some drivers do not display expertise but drive like they manufactured those vehicles; many would tell you how many years they have been on the wheels before your birth. You will always see pedestrians and drivers, or drivers and riders shouting or hauling all manners of weapons at each other on our roads or at the bus stops.


Many had attributed these to impatience. Our impatience can also be attributed to our attitude to time and life. We do not seem to like early preparations, we prefer to rush and make haste at the very last minute. Our fire brigade attitude is seen in all aspects of our life. Even when Africa had not manufactured a wristwatch or clock we prefer using ‘African Time’. People do not move out early to catch appointments, but try to rush their way down few minutes before the time and become part of the menace on the road. People can afford to programme themselves where there are different and functional transport system, but not here where bad roads, traffic and human factors cannot allow such. We therefore need to be time conscious and leave home early enough.


Is it the sole responsibility of the Police to secure lives and property in our nation? I do not think so. Borrowing the lines of Mr. Ben Okezie “Police no be spirit”. Most things that happened did happen in the midst of people. But the people that were around the scene of those events would never bother to alert the Police. You might see robbers attacking somebody on the road but it is nobody’s business. Even when those people shout for help, help may not come because no one cares. Many robbery incidents would have been taken care of if the people around dared to alert the police or even raised alarm. Many would not even look in the direction of the incident for fear of being called to testify or give the police necessary information needed for proper investigation.


We may have to complain to God and to the gods about the Police and policing when we are not ready to do our part in the security of lives and property. Gone are the days when people knew their neighbours and kept eyes on their children and property. Nowadays, adults do not bother about children on the roads and their safety because they are not theirs. The spate of kidnapping in the land would not have been if we were our brother’s keeper. Most strange movements would have been noticed and tracked if we were security conscious and cared about the man next door. Even though I advocate community policing and Police living with the people, we can be eyes and ears to the Police.


If we must have GOOD POLICE SERVICE, we must also have GOOD PEOPLE’S CO-OPERATION. For us to have a people friendly Police, we may need to have a Police friendly people. Since attitude is everything we need a change of attitude to the security of lives and property. We must learn to watch our brother’s back and be more willing to give the Police alerts and necessary information to be able to arrest certain situations. May I also suggest that the authorities concerned consider changing from Nigeria Police Force to Nigeria Police Service. The Ministry in-charge of National Orientation should also look in the direction of enlightening the people about being police friendly, being their neighbour’s keeper, and releasing necessary information to the Police to help unravel criminal activities in the land. The Police authorities would also need training and re-training of security agents about their attitude to life, arms and avoidance of extrajudicial killings. People who volunteer to give information about criminal activities should not be made to look like they committed a crime by informing the Police. The Police authorities should make sure their Public Relations Officers do not insult the people’s intelligence by their defense of officers’ misdemeanor. Change?  Yes, we can! 

Some of my important emails end up in the Spam folder due to incorrect filtering. So, I occasionally check the Spam folder to see if an email that was not spam ended up there. Today, while checking the Spam folder, I came across an email that was a classic example of a phishing message. Hence, I decided to share it here to point out some common tactics used in such messages.

Here is the email:-


One look at the from address should be enough for anyone to judge that this message is not genuine. Messages from most companies are through a no-reply address. Also, most companies contact you from an  email address that is on their main domain, not some random free email provider. Moreover, almost all email providers use an interstitial page in the situation described in this message. None of them sends an email asking for verification.

Another important thing to notice in this message is the Sent to: field. Notice how it mentions undisclosed recipients. This is common in such messages. They are sent to a lot of email ids in one go. Hence, hiding the recipients allows hackers to prevent their targets from knowing that this same message has been sent to a lot of users.




The next thing to notice is that this message does not address me by name. This is uncommon for an email company that already has your name. Most companies add the user's name to add a personalized feeling to their messages. This is something that is quite difficult to manage if you are sending the same message to thousands of users.

One of the most common feature of phishing emails is their use of incorrect grammar. This message is no different. The inappropriate capitalization and spelling mistakes like writing the word 'loosing' in place of 'losing' leaves no doubt about its authenticity.

One more important thing to notice is that at the end of this message, there is no mention of the email provider's website. This is very uncommon considering that most email providers leave no stone unturned to brand their messages.


Lastly, the email address to reply to is different from the one with which this message was sent. A proof that the sender of this message tried to spoof the sender id.

The techniques used in this email were typical and hence it should not be difficult for anyone to detect that it is a phishing message. However, cyber criminals are evolving and most of them don't make such common mistakes anymore. You should always use common sense in such situations and never click on suspicious links.

A philosophy professor stood before his class with some items on the table in front of him. When the class began, wordlessly he picked up a very large and empty mayonnaise jar and proceeded to fill it with rocks, about 2 inches in diameter.
He then asked the students if the jar was full. They agreed that it was.
So the professor then picked up a box of pebbles and poured them into the jar. He shook the jar lightly. The pebbles, of course, rolled into the open areas between the rocks.
He then asked the students again if the jar was full. They agreed it was.
The professor picked up a box of sand and poured it into the jar. Of course, the sand filled up the remaining open areas of the jar.
He then asked once more if the jar was full. The students responded with a unanimous “Yes.”
“Now,” said the professor, “I want you to recognize that this jar represents your life. The rocks are the important things – your family, your partner, your health, your children – things that if everything else was lost and only they remained, your life would still be full. The pebbles are the other things that matter – like your job, your house, your car. The sand is everything else, the small stuff.”
“If you put the sand into the jar first,” he continued, “there is no room for the pebbles or the rocks. The same goes for your life. If you spend all your time and energy on the small stuff, you will never have room for the things that are important to you. Pay attention to the things that are critical to your happiness. Play with your children. Take your partner out dancing. There will always be time to go to work, clean the house, give a dinner party, or fix the disposal.”
“Take care of the rocks first – the things that really matter. Set your priorities. The rest is just sand.”

Most of us find ourselves in situations where a website we wish to visit is blocked by a software or by our ISP (Internet Service Provider). So the question arises, how can we access blocked websites? The answer to this is simple: Proxy websites. Before going into details, let us know a bit about these proxy websites. 

Proxy Websites

A proxy website acts as an intermediate source between the user and server the site being contacted is hosted on. Users send requests to proxy websites which conveys them to the site's server. The reply received by the proxy website is then forwarded to the user's computer. This gives an impression to ISP's and blocking software that the user is visiting the proxy website but in reality, s/he is visiting the site which was blocked. Thus, proxy servers also provide extra security to users by hiding their online activities from their ISP's.

Commonly Blocked Web Sites

The sites which are most commonly blocked at workplaces, schools and offices include websites like Facebook, Orkut, Blogger (blogspot), Google News, Typepad, eBay, MySpace, YouTube, MSN, Yahoo! Messenger, Bebo, Google Talk, Gmail, Photobucket, AOL AIM, Flickr, Twitter etc. In some countries, social bookmarking sites like Digg and Reddit are also blocked. Countries like Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, China have even blocked access to mainstream media websites like The New York times. A proxy website can be used to easily access these blocked websites. As proxy websites hide a user's location, they can also be used to access popular websites which are restricted to particular countries and block users from other countries from visiting them.

Types of Proxies

There are two types of proxies. First, there are web proxies which have an interactive interface; and second, the proxy servers which work on the basis of IP Addresses and port numbers. Proxies can also be segregated on the basis of anonymity into Anonymous, Transparent and High Anonymous depending upon the amount of privacy they provide.

How to Find Proxy Websites and Proxy Servers

A simple Google search containing the word "proxy websites" is likely to return a lot of useful results. However, most of them are likely to be lists containing proxy servers which you can setup using their IP Address and Port Number. So, in order to find interactive proxy websites, you will have to search for something like "Facebook Proxy Server" or "Twitter Proxy Server". A search like this is most likely to return interactive proxy websites with which you can access your blocked website by simply entering the URL in URL field. If you want additional security and anonymity, you can opt for a paid proxy server.

If you do not want to search, here are few popular free proxy websites you can use:-

1. http://www.spysurfing.com/
2. http://proxify.us/p/
3. http://kproxy.com/

How to Setup Proxy Servers using their IP Address

If you wish to visit your blocked website using a web proxy, you do not need any setup. However, if you wish to use a proxy server that can only be accessed by using its IP address and port number, you must configure your browser to use it. Follow the instructions given below to setup this type of proxy in your browser:-

Google Chrome and Internet Explorer Users

Google Chrome uses the same network settings as Internet Explorer. So, in order to configure Google Chrome to use a proxy server, you have to configure Internet Explorer. You can configure a proxy server in Internet Explorer by following the instructions given below:-

1. Start Internet Explorer.
2. Click on Tools, Internet Options.
3. Click on Connections Tab, select your Network Connection and click on Settings.
4. Check on Use a Proxy Server for this Connection.
5. In the Address field, add the IP Address of your Proxy server. In the Port field, enter the Port Number.
6. Click on OK and OK again.

Mozilla Firefox Users

Mozilla Firefox users can configure their browser to use a proxy by following the instructions given below:-

1. Start Mozilla Firefox.
2. Click on Tools, Options.
3. Click on Advanced Tab.
4. Click on Network tab.
5. Click on Settings.
6. Encircle Manual Proxy Configuration.
7. Enter the IP Address and Port Number at the appropriate place. In most cases, it will be a HTTP server.  

After you have successfully configured your browser to use the proxy server, you will be able to access blocked websites whenever you browse the internet with your browser

Guy: Babe what phone is this ?
Girl: Well is the new Bold20
Guy: Bold20 Dey ?
Girl: Yes
Guy: How much ?
Girl: Bought it for N300 thousand Guy: WTF! What can it do ?
Girl: It doesn’t go off, it has no battery, it
doesn’t
need a sim card to browse, it charges
through
solar WBU, what phone do you use ? Guy: well am using
Samsung Galaxy AIT
STV Nokia
Apple Windows iPhone 30
Girl: What! Which kind of phone is that ?
How
much ? Guy: Just N500 thousand
Girl: Babe are you serious ? What can it
do? Guy:
Hmmmmmm it can do a lot of things oh,
the phone
browses on it’s own, it has fridge, bedroom and
parlor inside, no need for charging, the
one i love
most is that it helps me do all the house
chores
and if am in the parlor watching a movie and the
phone is in my bedroom and it starts to
ring, the
phone will walk from the room to the
parlor
shouting my name saying i dey ring oh pick me pick me
Girl: Chai guy you can lie o
Guy: No be u start am. WHICH PHONE
AR U USING
…….No lie ooo

Blogging has become a major source of income to many, thanks to the evolution of social media and the successful bloggers from whom many have become enticed.

Before, you’ll hear people say you should do it for the passion, but in  recent times, while a few still say it, many have given up on that idea. Most bloggers are now into it for the money. lol :)


While a lot do it for the money, many are towing the wrong path, expecting to get the right results, which is an aberration.

Even if you have Adsense account and your blog is relatively new, there is a high possibility that your ads account would be frustrating, due to the fact that your traffic is low, you don’t have loyal readers yet etc. but after reading this post, I believe your eyes would be open to why you are not earning yet.



Without further ado, lets get into why you are where you are as a blogger.

1. You are in the wrong Niche

If you are not in a niche where you are having fun, there is a high possibility you would fail (sorry to say).

If you came into blogging because of one famous entertainment blogger, consequently you named your blog “naijathis and naijathat”, with time, you’ll realize you are not enjoying yourself if you've got no passion for entertainment blogging.

Blogging is lucrative when you enjoy doing it, this way, you’ll be creative to generate ideas that would yield profit.

All you need to do, is to find something you love doing. No niche is bad. Some might look more profitable than others but if you are enjoying it,you’ll get people to like you and in no time, you’ll have made yourself an authority and a trail blazer.

Your niche should be one you can easily perform even when you are half asleep. When you find that area, never let it go.

2. You lack resources

I hear some people say they don’t have a laptop to blog with, they don’t have a modem with which to connect, they lack finance to subscribe etc…

With these excuses, how do you want to outshine one who is always online?

I wanted to give a guy a job to work for my client, since I won’t be available. To my surprise, he asked me to tell my client to pay him upfront so as to enable him buy data.  I found that ridiculous but I still cared and wanted to help. So, I obliged but my client refused and we ultimately gave it to somebody else.

How do you handle running out of data and abandon your blog for another 3 weeks because you do not have data. If you need a laptop, smart phone or any tool to help you blog right, do get it.

HOW?

Get a job.

It's more effective blogging if you have a job that funds your blog before you start making the profits’.

3. Zero, Poor or Wrong Publicity Method 

If you blog and don’t publicize, then I wonder who would read your posts.

Entertainment bloggers tend to spam Facebook groups, but that’s not easy or adviceable for niche bloggers because the traffic won’t be targeted.

So publicity is very pertinent, but the method of publicity is very crucial too because you need to take your contents to a market were it’s needed. Imagine publicizing an agric blog to a mobile phone and tech community. You’d lose cash, waste precious time and be frustrated ultimately.

SOLUTION: Identify the particular market where your content is needed; don’t just start an ad because your friends are doing it, understand the need of your readers and meet it.


4. You’re following the crowd

If you came into blogging because of someone who made a lot of money, you are likely to do this because you will follow his rules and his rules alone.

However, the very first rule of blogging is that “Blogging has no rule”. Stop following peoples template and find what works for you. Your style should be your style.

I’m not saying you shouldn’t adopt people’s style, but you should make sure they are working for you, once they don’t, forget them, there is no rule to blogging.

Develop your style and don’t religiously follow their style because again there is no law.


5. You are not rendering services

I have said this time and again; I’ve made more money rendering blog services than I have from ads.

I get paid from what firms would call consultation (I don’t call it that yet) people contact me and ask me to tell them how I do things, I get paid designing blogs, adding some codes to templates, domain registering and setting up, and many other services and these requests come in so frequently that they give me tough time updating my own blog.

If you are not rendering services then you are losing a lot. Create a page on your blog telling your readers services you render and, post on twitter and on your Facebook wall services you can render and you will start getting requests in no time.

It can be anything, you can offer to update blogs for people ( 15 posts at $50 for 5 blogs would give you $250) and that is cool money for a start, and the interesting part is that you can use the same content(if it is an entertainment blog) for your own blog with only little  or no changes.

You can do a lot of things, just be creative and see the cash start trickling in. To Your Success.

Over to you,

What are the little things you do that bring income?

What are the things you used to do that you later found out you shouldn’t or should have started earlier.

“I opened my eyes to the tap of my mum’s hand. I felt a bit hot and feverish, having to swallow hard before uttering a word.
“Mama”
“Amara, your husband has sent someone to pick you up” she said.
My heart beat escalated and she touched my hand, coming instantly to touch my neck. “My God, your temperature is so high, are you sick my dear?” she asked, jumping up at once.
“I am fine mama” I murmured.
“You are not. You are as hot as a boiling kettle. You can’t go anywhere today. Let me get you some drugs, I will tell the guy to come for you tomorrow” she said hurriedly.
I shook my head, “No mama, I would leave this place today” I said.
She frowned. “You are not well Amara, let me take care of you, I know that that useless husband of yours would not do anything” she said with obvious anger.
Her anger was starting to irritate me. “Whether you like it or not, I am leaving this place now. I have signed the contract of this marriage, it is high time I stopped postponing the inevitable and start living the life I signed up for” I tried to get up, hiding my slight discomfort. My tummy hadn’t started protruding because I was just two months gone but as I sat up, I could not escape the sudden wave of dizziness that gripped me. I shut my eyes tight for several seconds until I felt safe to open them.
“Please be reasonable Amarachi” Mum pleaded as I pushed off the bed and slipped on my slippers.
“I am the only one being reasonable here mama” I stopped. “Wait, what am I saying? I am the most unreasonable and senseless person on earth, but I knew mama, I knew marriage to Corper Bello was a terrible idea.” I turned hurt eyes at her. “Mama, I made a mistake, even God knows that I made the worst mistake of my life, but don’t I deserve forgiveness? Do I have to spend my whole life paying for this one mistake that I made?” I cried. “When I discovered that Corper was a wicked man, I was ready to take care of my child alone, I wanted to, I only needed the support of my parents, even if it was only you” I swallowed and shook my head. “But you did not support me mama, you could not stand up to your husband; you never could, even if it was for your only child” I exhaled. “Now, I have done what papa wants me to do; please don’t try to stop me because I would not listen to you”
I opened the door and walked out, leaving my mum white-faced, with tears streaming down her cheeks. I knew I was transferring the aggression I was feeling but I really could not help myself. I had blamed myself too much for my misfortunes and I felt it might ease my burden and guilt if I blamed someone else. As I walked, I discovered that it did not work, if anything, what I just did was making me feel guiltier for making my mum sad.
My dad stood up and approached me immediately I entered the sitting room and I wished I could have escaped him somehow. Anger took over me again as I wondered what the hell he was about to say to me. No doubt, he would insult the living daylight out of me again, and I obviously deserve it.
Immediately he got to me, his face lit up in a broad smile. I was momentarily stunned. Ever since this drama started, I don’t think my dad has ever smiled. He placed his hands on my shoulders and I was forced to look up into his eyes.
“My sweet daughter, you have no idea how much I am proud of you” he breathed out. What? I blinked. This is definitely something you don’t see every day! If not for the fact that I could not perceive the smell of beer, I could have sworn that my dad was drunk. “Oh my dear, I know that I have been hard on you since this started, but it is for a good cause”.
He continued, completely rubbing me of my power of speech. “You know, I am so lucky that I have a daughter who uses her head properly. Now, stop beating yourself over this pregnancy issue, it is a gift from the most high. It is definitely the key to our breakthrough. Look my girl, you are rich” he declared. “Very rich! You always wanted to lift the poverty in our family, now; God has just answered your prayers. Unknowingly, you have taken our family out of the gutter and you have placed us right inside the palace.”
“What are you saying papa?” I croaked out.
He put his arms around my shoulders as he propelled me towards the exit. “Amara, you are a wise girl, I am sure you understand me perfectly. Now, what you have to do next is to make full use of this opportunity that landed on your laps on a platter of gold. You think Alex is so mean and wicked? He might be. But it is just a matter of time. It just takes a beautiful woman with enough sense like you to bend him. We men, we pretend to be strong and invincible, but trust me, all women came through Eve, and inherited her cunning talents.
Make use of it my daughter and you would be able to totally change the fortune of our family. All the dreams you have of being a doctor, can still be achieved. Think about it my girl.” He gave me a bright smile. I just could not believe all I was hearing. Vaguely, I saw the car that was waiting for me. “Now go my daughter, your husband is waiting in your new house. Be a good girl. He kissed my pale cheeks and led me to the waiting car. I walked like a remote control robot, still not believing that everything I just heard came from my own father. My mum met us, dabbing at her eyes. I didn’t know what to feel. Was she also aware of dad’s tactics? It was too much to take in.
I slid onto the soft leather in the car and closed the door. The person who seemed to be a driver, started the car. I stared at my parents in disbelief as the car sped off. They vanished from my sight and I was left with the words of my father. I felt as though I did not know my parents again but measuring everything, this seemed like the smallest of my problems as I looked forward to the next phase of my life.



The car entered a large compound that left me momentarily stunned. It was not as big as the senator’s house but the design was exquisite. I would not have imagined, despite the fact that I had seen many houses on my neighbor’s television, that such an exquisite building existed. And to think that someone as young as Corper Bello lived here was so unbelievable. I instantly felt out of place.
When the car was finally parked, I stepped out of it, looking a little frozen. Am I expected to live here? In this massive house? How would I cope with this? I had slept in the BQ in the senator’s compound and even that had been too much luxury for me, even though I barely stepped out of my room. But here, if what I saw outside was any indication, the house itself would be mind-numbing. Getting used to this place would be a great deal of work, no doubt. The only problem was that I would not be able to find joy here, the thought was so painful. Even my shabby village was filled with joy and a hope of a better tomorrow, there seemed to be none of that here. The man I thought I loved, cherished and respected was gone, replaced by this terrifying monster that would do anything to make my life miserable.
The driver took my sack of clothes, holding it with two fingers like it was trash, as he led me into the massive building. I was right. The house was spectacular, so breathtaking that it had me gawking like a fool. A young pretty girl of about my age approached me with an apron tied to her body. The driver gave her the sack and left her as she stared at me vaguely.
“Hello” she said softly as if she were talking to a child. I looked at her silently. “Mr. Alex told me that you were coming and that I should show you to your room” she explained. I smiled briefly and followed her lead.
She took me through a narrow passage in silence, and as we walked, it occurred to me that the girl would be a staff. Still in the narrow passage, we passed by two doors which faced each other and took three steps further before the girl stopped in front of a door which she opened. There was also a door facing the door she opened but I disregarded it and followed her inside.
A mattress was on the floor, enough to fit one person comfortably. There was a small table beside it, and a big box lay at the far end of the room, by the wall.
The girl smiled, and then frowned. “Oh, forgive my manners, I am Tina” she said. “I am the cook, even though I look small, my food is always very sweet, you could eat your tongue” she boasted with a grin. “My room is opposite yours. You would meet another girl, Tola, she is the cleaner. She went out to get some things. I am sure you are Amara” she ranted.
I was feeling awkward because something seemed very wrong and out of place. I nodded stiffly. “Yes. Amara” I responded. “Where is corper… I mean, Mr erm.. Alex. Where is his room? Does he stay in one of the rooms we passed?”
The girl laughed. “Of course not. His room is upstairs” she leaned forward to whisper. “It is a very massive room. This place is not as big as his toilet” she grinned. “This is where the staff stays”.
What? What the hell is going on? Before I could voice my panic and question, we heard a car horn and the girl startled. “The boss is here, I have to go and serve his food. He asked me not to talk to you, please don’t tell him I said anything, if he asks.” With that, she vanished.
I stood, still reeling from the implications of what I had just heard. Am I to stay with the staff in my own husband’s house? It can’t be real. The drama just never seemed to end. I don’t know how long I stayed there, at the middle of the room, but suddenly, the door opened and I spun round to see corper Bello crowding the entrance. He entered and closed the door behind him.
“I see you are fully settled” he said with clear indifference. “Well, since you have obviously pushed your way into my life, let me lay down the rules and regulations. You are in this house as maid and not a wife. Don’t ever mention it to anyone that we signed a marriage contract, or worse, that you are carrying something of mine in your tummy” he said with obvious disgust. “Everyone here has been informed that you are the new staff employee, and that is what you would be in this place. You would join Tola in doing the cleaning and other house chores. Never interfere with my food because I won’t want to contact cholera or food poisoning. You would be given the staff uniform, so you don’t have to go around in your pathetic clothes. Do you understand me?”
I stared dumbfounded. He seriously did not mean all he just said, did he? “You expect me to work as a maid in my husband’s house?”
His eyes flashed with fury. “First of all, you are not my wife. Even though we signed a bunch of miserable papers, you can never be my wife. Secondly, you should be glad that I dignified you with a maid’s position. You either do this or leave. You chose to marry me, whatever you see is of your making, not mine” he growled out.
I swallowed. “What did I ever do to you? What is my crime Corper?” I breathed.
“You got pregnant. That is your crime” he turned to leave then stopped. “And while you are here, you should never call me Corper, you call me boss” he opened the door and left.

My wife, Tere, and I purchased a new car in December. Even though we had tickets to fly from California to Houston to visit her family for Christmas, we decided to drive to Texas to break in the new car. We packed the car and took off for a wonderful week with Grandma.
We had a wonderful time and stay to the last possible minute visiting with Grandma. On the return trip we needed to get home in a hurry, so we drove straight through — one person driving while the other one slept. After driving in a hard rain for several hours, we arrived home late at night. We were tired and ready for a hot shower and a soft bed. I had the feeling that no matter how tired we were, we should unpack the car that night, but all Tere wanted was the hot shower and soft bed, so we decided to wait and unload the car in the morning.
At seven o’clock in the morning, we got up refreshed and ready to unpack the car. When we opened the front door, there was no car in the driveway! Tere and I looked at each other, looked back at the driveway, and looked at each other again. Then Tere asked this wonderful question, “Well, where did you park the car?”
Laughing, I answered, “Right in the driveway.” Now we knew where we had parked the car, but we still walked outside, hoping that maybe the car had miraculously backed out of the driveway and parked itself by the curb, but it hadn’t.
Stunned, we called the police and filed a report that activated our high-tech tracking system. To be on safe side, I also called the tracking system company. They assured me they had a 98 percent recovery rate within two hours. In two hours, I called again and asked, “Where’s my car?”
“We haven’t found it yet, Mr. Harris, but we have a 94 percent rate recovery within four hours.”
Two more hours passed. I called again and asked, “Where’s my car?”
Again they answered, “We haven’t found it yet, but we have a 90 percent recovery rate of finding it within eight hours.”
At that point, I told them. “Your percentage rate means nothing to me when I’m in the small percentage, so call me when you find it.”
Later that day, a commercial aired on telephone with the automaker asking, “Wouldn’t you like to have this car in your driveway?”
I responded, “Sure I would! I had one yesterday.”
As the day unfolded, Tere became increasingly upset as she remembered more and more of what had been in the car — our wedding album, irreplaceable family photos from past generations, clothes, all of our camera equipment, my wallet and our checkbooks, just to name a few. These were items of little importance to our survival, yet they seemed of major importance at that moment.
Anxious and frustrated, Tere asked me, “How can you joke about this when all of these things and our brand new car are missing?”
I looked at her and said, “Honey, we can have a stolen car and be all upset, or we can have a stolen car and be happy. Either way, we have a stolen car. I truly believe our attitudes and moods are choices and right now I choose to be happy.”
Five days later our car was returned without a trace of any of our belongings, and with over $3,000 worth of damage to the car. I took it to the dealer for repair and was happy to hear they would have it back to us within a week.
At the end of that week, I dropped off the rental and picked up our car. I was excited and relieved to have our own car back. Unfortunately, these feelings were short-lived. On the way home, I rear-ended another car right at out freeway exit ramp. It didn’t hurt that car I ran into, but it sure hurt ours—another $3,000 worth of damage and another insurance claim. I managed to drive the car into our driveway, but when I got out to survey the damage, the left front tire went flat.
As I was standing in the driveway looking at the car, kicking myself in tail for hitting the other car, Tere arrived home. She walked up to me, looked at the car, and then at me. Seeing I was beating myself up, she put her arm around me and said, “Honey, we can have a wrecked car and be all upset, or we can have a wrecked car and be happy. Either way, we have a wrecked car, so let’s choose to be happy.”
I surrendered with a hearty laugh and we went on to have a wonderful evening together.