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Wednesday, June 22, 2005



10:35am



If I were working in an office, as opposed to crawling under false computer floors and running hundreds of cables that interconnect one of Nigeria’s premier mobile phone networks, then I’d be having a coffee break right now. Well I’ve decided to take one, regardless of the fact that there is no tea or coffee in my vicinity. Instead, I have a bottle of lukewarm water and a laptop with MS Word. Oh, and let’s not forget Tool playing in the background. I’m alone in this particular switch room today so I have the privilege of blasting out any fucking music I like.



He had a lot to say, he had a lot of nothing to say, we’ll miss him – sings Maynard.



We’ll miss him? Well… He should be so lucky. As for myself, I doubt many people are genuinely missing me. I don’t even think my son misses me. He barely gets to see me. Last time I asked to speak to him I heard him say in the background, “No, I don’t want to speak to him!” I strongly doubt K*** misses me, despite her many words of forced encouragement. She says she thinks of me, loves me and misses me, but never offers any real assurance as to the validity of those words. In the end, that’s all they are; just words. I haven’t heard from her for a few days, but I guess she’s probably recovering from a self-imposed guilt-trip due to possible activities during last weekend. The silent periods usually follow on after the weekend. But K*** being K***, she’s usually shrugged them off within a few days, as if nothing has happened and life is as normal as it ever was. But then, I’m a chump, so I go along with it.



On Monday I sent an email to all my family and friends, regarding the recent bomb scare at the US embassy in Lagos, adding a couple of hyper links to news stories on the topic. The only person who wrote back to me, and she did so almost immediately, was my sister P**. She is still the only person to show any concern. I didn’t think about it at the time, but now I realize that the mail itself was some sort of subconscious test. I am truly alone. I’ve reached perfection. I’m no longer me – I am “that guy who went to Nigeria”.



Back to work… “coffee” break is over.

*     *     *



13:10pm



Seems I spoke too soon… but that is to be expected from the situation I’m in. It only takes two or three days of silence from my friends and family and I begin to feel sorry for myself. Man, when I’m at home in Australia I can quite happily go for weeks without hearing a word from them. I guess being alone in a foreign, unstable and run-down country like this really makes you appreciate those you call your friends. I owe K*** an apology, as I did receive an email from her after my “coffee” break. And she voiced her concern over the bomb scare, asking me to leave this place and try to get work back home. Maybe she really does love me? I hope she’s not reading these diaries! :op Nah, not a huge chance of that… she’s not interested in my life enough to be wasting time browsing my internet writing portfolios.



*     *     *



15:47pm



Time to take my afternoon “coffee” break. Today I ran twelve HSL (High Speed Link) cables to the DDF (Digital Distribution Frame) from MSC6, terminated them and strapped them all the way along the under-floor cable trays, so I’m pretty content with the days achievements. Could have done the job in half the time if I’d had an extra hand, but now that P**** has gone back to Sweden for a month, all the installation work rests solely on my shoulders. I don’t mind really… I prefer to work alone. No need for idle chitchat, plus I get to play any style of music to appease my ever-changing and demanding taste. When P**** is here, the choices are very limited (even though he thinks he can tolerate most music – a lot of people tend to say this… until they hear my collection! :op).



Hmm… think I may just fuck off early and head off to V****** headquarters and seek out S****, the GPRS guy. He promised me yesterday that he’d set my mobile phone up with GPRS so that I can access the internet through my laptop, using Bluetooth(tm) to send the data. Man what a luxury! That which we take for granted in our privileged Western society can be a downright pain in the ass to obtain in the Third World. I’ve been in this place over nine months now and I still don’t have an internet connection from home. Well… let’s see how I go eh?



*     *     *



8:13pm



When it rains it pours… Not only did I get GPRS connection on my phone, but as I walked through the front gate at my apartment complex coming home from work, I bumped in to our IT guy, who asked if I’d like to get that internet cable installed that he’d promised me six weeks ago! So now I got two options… cable at home and GPRS when I’m on the move! Man, it feels like I’ve jumped from the Stone Age to the 21st Century, skipping every other Age in between, in just one afternoon! And I can finally use my webcam! I hope I get to see M** soon! Haven’t seen his face in almost six weeks. I sent K*** a text message informing her of the good news, and to hop online bright and early so I can get a glimpse before I go to bed.



10:03pm

Ok… this is getting boring… signing off… adios!