Acquaintances

The days you cross my mind make me

wish we were the kind of friends who told each other anything and everything.

The kind that would laugh at shared inner jokes, 

Revel in shared silences as we savored the memories and experiences that bound us.

But we are nothing more than strangers with shared thoughts 

And  a minute to weave the bond of acquaintances.

Shanah

Pinspiration

I took a break from my heart series when the idea to explore something new was just a little seedling at the back of my mind.

With the idea, came Lady Luck filled with loads of inspiration. I must say; I hate it when inspiration strikes while I am doing that which pays the bills because it makes it hard to give it the concentration it deserves, and I am usually without pencil and paper.

It's been quite the lazy week at work so when inspiration struck, I took pen to notebook and doodled my thought. It has been years since I doodled. I even thought I didn't have it in me but it is still there. The last doodle I made never translated well into a drawing which I guess, put a stop to my doodling.

Doodling is a fun little way to see how the design will look on a small scale without having to whip out the A4 and sketchbooks. 

My first doodle in several years had quite the reception on Instagram and led me to believe it will transition well on paper complete with details.

The design however, is much more different from the doodle, if I am to be honest. It is so rough in my opinion and something that can easily turn into a work-in-progress for an entire year or two. I'm not writing it off yet just not anxious enough to see it complete at the moment.

When lady inspiration strikes, she is usually with me for a week. This is why I tend to have a succession of back to back designs. This time was no different. I was of the mind to take my art supplies with me to work then eschewed the thought. I thought it fanciful and over expectant of me. You cannot recreate magic twice in a row. Well, I stand corrected. When inspiration struck again, instead of making a little doodle, I gave the actual design a go and voilà. Magic. 

 

Doing an actual design complete with details at work would be grounds for dismissal. I'm glad I didn't get caught. This drawing inspired a different design that I am absolutely in love with. Working on it has brought me so much awe because of the evolution. The evolution of a design remains the most breathtaking experience of my life!

After completion of the outline, I spent the next day scouring Pinterest for pattern inspiration ideas. The talent on Pinterest is immense! The time I spent left me inspired and I now want to start maintaining an art journal. Kudos to the person that invented Pinterest and the people who share their ideas and designs. 

Much as it was overwhelming looking at the scores of ideas, my sojourn over there was successful. I found a pattern (though no less different from what I am usually drawn to) that would fit my vision and the results are amazing!

I am proud of my talent. Being an artist on my off days is the best thing that could happen. And when a design leaves me awestruck, I send a little prayer of thanks to the Almighty. Art is who I am. 

Letter to MTN Uganda

MTN,
For years, I have been hearing stories about your poor services and inefficient customer care personnel from friends and relatives. I would turn a deaf ear to these stories because I was never affected by it all. Not until I started subscribing to data services on your network.
On the eve of 06/07/2015, I purchased a 20,000/= airtime voucher with the sole purpose of subscribing to 500MBS of data valid for a month. I dialed *160#, followed the prompts and reached one where it said ‘insert other number’ instead of ‘your number’ or ‘own number’. That prompt gave me pause for thought and after a minute of indecision wondering what it implied, I decided to feed in someone else’s number thinking the data would be given to the person requesting it and the verification code sent to the number inserted.
To my disbelief and utter annoyance, the data was sent to the number of the person who did not ask for it! A mistake that cost me a lot to say the least! I immediately called your customer care personnel and spoke to two people but the one I remember is a Vincent who told me I could send the data back to myself at no cost! After several fruitless attempts with the number saying ‘insufficient data to send me2u’, the chap then came forth with information that the person sending the data had to have a minimum balance of 100MBS!
I decided to make the small sacrifice thinking it was finally sorted.  Your agents said I wouldn’t incur any costs yet I did by the reduction of 100MBS and the limitation to a week in subscription. Your agents just like your prompts gave misleading information once again! If I had known the subscription would be cut to a week, do you think I would have made the transfer? Is this how your business thrives? On deceit and misconceptions plus poorly informed agents?
With extreme annoyance and agitation, I sent you a couple of E-mails seeking rectification in the duration of the subscription. I minded very much about the duration of the subscription because much as I am a social media addict, I cannot spend 400MBS in a week neither do I go around making weekly subscriptions at the tune of 20,000/=! I do not partake in pornographic material which would necessitate the spending of a large amount of data nor do I download music and movies.
My series of E-mails garnered two responses and they certainly differ in information. A clear signal that your agents do not know what they are doing! Ronald, one of your CS Correspondence Admin. stated in the E-mail, ‘the validity is not different from the actual activated bundle i.e. Weekly shared data bundle should also be valid for a week to the other recipient number.’

And yet, a certain Edwin K, said in his E-mail, “Please be informed that the validity of any amount of shared data is seven days from the time of receipt.”

This begs the question, do these people know what they are doing? No! Why do you limit shared data to a week when all other networks let the duration of subscription remain the same for the activated and shared to number? You put constraints on your services which are not free by the way, to make your customers prisoners of your network!

I am so disgusted by your actions as a network and your personnel. Unfortunately, I cannot throw your Sim card to the dogs because it is my officially registered and business number. I do not expect you to offer any more help regarding this issue. It is known you prefer to rob your customers than settle their grievances with your network. No wonder few subscribe to your data services. They would rather wait for the measly 30MBS you freely give every month which also have restrictions now.

Thank you for your attention.
Shanah

PS: I noticed the removal of the prompt with the message ‘please insert other number’. It is no longer there yet it was last night. I am sure you got one of your people to remove it and make me look foolish. Another indication of your thieving ways!