Up Against Writer’s Block

And so for two months my mind went on vacation. There were the goings and comings at the office, the happenings in Brazil, some disturbance at home and general restlessness. I should mention it started with the breaking down of my computer of four years. The little netbook has been a part of me. Those familiar with my movements will recall the black bag I always carry with me. It is so much a part of me that I become light-footed when it is not strapped on my back. Therein hide all my work-related things plus my little computer and associated gadgetry.

The keyboard was as good as dead as the memory failed. I had acquired a small rubber keyboard to make the typing easier. This is the type that comes along with tablet computers. Very handy it was but not very hardy. It conked out within weeks not able to take the rough of my frequent field visits on not very smooth roads. I just got sick of the thing. No, I was not going to find a replacement. I would buy a new computer!

Into the blue emptiness

 Now, that is very ambitious if you are working on a budget of twenty thousand shillings. That is just over two hundred dollars. It is enough for a low end smartphone but not the computer I wanted. That sent me shopping for a used one. In these parts, the only reason you put up something pricey for sell is; you are in dire straits. Otherwise, you sell really old stuff that will probably fail tomorrow.

Of-course you can come across a brand new gadget going for a song. That is the stuff I cannot touch. A local woman once bought a phone that had been used by a terror suspect to call Pakistan. It took all of the convincing she could muster to get the FBI off her back. Of course by then she’d been shipped abroad and no amount of local protestations could convince the Americans. That is the extreme. Usually the computer from the streets is stolen from parked cars. With modern tracking technology only the greenhorn with a fatalistic mind will buy such. Someone might have gotten killed in the process of acquiring the $100 HP computer.

My nephew promised a good used machine from a friend of a friend. I am still waiting. Somehow I managed to raise the extra $100 dollars for the basic machine I am using. Somehow my fingers, mind and psyche would not adjust to it that easily. Coming at the height of the Brazil World Cup, there was probably too much beer and excitement in my veins to keep tapping on a strange keyboard. 

Not that the Brazil tournament brought me much joy. For one, crowded venues were a big no-no. This is the first World Cup in Kenya’s history that was mostly watched at home. Terror warnings by the major western powers dampened the spirit. The Kenya government came in later with a security advisory of its own. Interior Security Minister Joe ole Lenku urged Kenyans to watch the games at home. He went further to advice we had to keep the doors locked to keep terrorists at bay. I was not going to die watching the Brazilians lose 7-0 to the Germans.

There was some disquiet on the home-front. These things can be very disturbing. Carrying a bright face to work is easy but a heavy heart can stall your mind. Just as well it happened over the World Cup. That cut the emotional stress by a good many points. I could train my mind on the football to cut out the disturbance. Yet try as I did I just could not keep straying to the home-front when I sat in front of the computer to put down my own thoughts.

I could type report after report at work but not the eight hundred words expressing my thoughts on a subject close to heart. The words just dried up or I just could not spare the one hour to put thought to keyboard. Not until the matter was resolved, arguably to my disadvantage; have I been able to sit and type this. I have neglected my blog and my readers. I am deeply sorry friends. I broke up with my long term girlfriend. I am an Arsenal fan and they tend to be very loyal. I am still hurting even though I am glad it is over.