MOVING ON.....................

WARNING: LONG POST ALERT :-D....

I can't believe I haven't blogged in a whole month. Nnaaa, na wa ooo. I was supposed to have updated last week, but I've just been so lazy :-). So how are you all doing? I'm cool, living and loving life. Work has been ermmmmm, interesting.

I remember when the first tsunami (laying off of staff) hit the banking sector in 2009. It was unexpected and deadly. We all got to the office on the 31st of Dec, 2009 and logged on to our various systems. As many people as couldn't log on (an error message saying this user has been disabled would pop on the monitor) had been laid off, just like that. At first, we thought it was a system error because we were not pre-informed. We communicated with colleagues from other branches who were experiencing the same problem and eventually heard from some of them in HR that the bank had laid off some staff.

That was a rude awakening both to those that had been laid off and to those that were still in the system. No one knew the criteria for the laying off. Some said it was based on performance especially in terms of deposit mobilization. I think people were just randomly picked because really how many people meet their targets. As an operation staff, I have my target too, but I don't even bother myself about it. I have enough to do rendering quality service to the customers when they come to do their transactions. A good friend of mine (also an operation staff) that we had attended her wedding on the 5th of Dec 2009 was laid off. What a way to usher in the new year. Those of us still left in the system were forced to think of plans B, C, and as many as possible in case of any eventualities. But you know how this things can be, after a while, you tend to just relax jare especially when you have a good monthly income coming in.

Following the reformation in the banking sector, some banks were merged and some were acquired. My former bank (drumroll) :-) : Finbank was acquired by Fcmb. The process had been going on for a while and we all just minded our business and continued our normal work. The final lap of the acquisition is to be in July, that is when all Finbank branches will be renamed Fcmb and all that. Some weeks back, a rumor started circulating that there was going to be another tsunami in April as part of the acquisition plan. It was somehow expected because there was no way Fcmb would absorb all the staff of Finbank. But we thought the tsunami would be sometime in June, how wrong we were.

The rumor became stronger that staff were going to be laid off on the 27th of April. There was no way to verify this, so we just prepared our minds for anything. On the said day, we got to the office and with bated breath, we all tried to login to our systems. We all heaved a sigh of relief in my branch when we gained access to do our jobs. Reports started coming in from colleagues in other branches saying that management had changed their tactics. Instead of outright disabling of staff user ID, they sent letters through Dhl and some branches had already received theirs.

At about 10am, a Dhl delivery guy brought a parcel for my branch. My BM received it and refused to open it. My guess was that he didn't want to destabilize the staff affected. He preferred us to go about our normal duties first. Oh boy, there was so much tension in the air. Chats and calls were made from different branches intimating us of friends that had been laid off. Most of us didn't even have the zeal to work that day, we just wanted to be told our fate.

Around noon, the BM called my Hop (Lekan) and spoke with him. Not long after he returned from the meeting, I suspected that I had been affected by the tsunami. As the FT officer, I work on salary schedules of customers. I had a list of Phcn staff schedule and was waiting for the NEFT transfer from First Bank before I could go ahead and credit their accounts. Earlier on, Lekan had told me to go ahead and part-credit these accounts. The idea been that as soon as we received the NEFT transfer, he would conclude the transaction. This would save me from undue stress from the Phcn staff ( I will gist you guys about those people later. Their wahala too much walahi). I had been busy with other transactions and so hadn't gotten round to the salary schedule. So when Lekan asked if I had worked on the schedule and I said no, he told me not to bother doing it again.

I smiled to myself cos I just knew that it was almost time for me to wrap up and waka. He also had this sorry look on his face :-), but didn't say anything to me. But he went ahead and told my colleagues. Later in the day, the C.S.O came to my desk and asked me to transfer my ringtone to her phone. I told her I would do so when I was less busy. She kept insisting that she wanted it and I shouldn't forget. I put two and two together and concluded that for her to be insisting on getting the ringtone that day, it meant I wasn't going to come to work on Monday.

To cut the long and boring story short jare :-), we closed to customers by 4pm as usual and my boss called me and informed me that I and a marketer in the branch were laid off. I told him I figured it out already. He handed over the parcel to me which contained my letter of resignation and another letter with the breakdown of my terminal benefits. I wrote my own letter of resignation, handed over my ID card, official cufflinks and lapel pin to my boss. I was more than glad to hand over my pending work (including the list of Phcn salary schedule) to the Grumbler. She was just crying ( I'm sure it was more because she would now have double work to do, than because she was going to miss me) :-D...

We all talked for a while and I eventually left. It was nice working in that branch, even though it was for a few months. I appreciate the people and the experience I got from my 4 years sojourn in Finbank. I thank God for the impact I believe I made in the lives of some of the people I came in contact with. I made some good friends that I intend to keep in touch with. However, it's time for me to move on to greater things.

So right now, I'm doing some serious soul searching cos aside from getting another job, I need to think of and explore some things I really love to do. Now more than ever, I need to set those other plans B,C, etc in motion.

So y'all, if you hear of any vacancies or have any connections in Shell, Chevron, Nnpc, Total, Mobil etc, just holla @ your girl. :-D

P.S: I'm off to Abuja tomorrow. I decided to go and visit my sister and her family. I saw them last in October when she put to bed. I need to do all my waka and grooving now, cos as soon as the job comes, there will be no vacation in a while.

P.S.S: I'm considering altering my blog name. Oh well, let's see how that goes. Hope to update soonest. *fingers crossed*

Lots of love and hugs *muahhhhh*

THE PEOPLE IN MY NEIGHBORHOOD

How many people remember this song: "This are the people in my neighborhood, in my neighborhood, in my neighborhood. This are the people in my neighborhood. They are the people that you meet each day". It's from a cartoon way back. I can't even remember the name of the cartoon sef :-). I decided to borrow the line from it as my title because I need to rant about some of my colleagues (as usual). ;-p. I don't know if the plan of some of them is to weigh me down each day with the songs that they play. I know that there is freedom of expression and all that, but biko nu ehnnnn, mind the kind of songs you play in the office. 

I did a post sometime ago on THE GRUMBLER. Well, let's just say that this is somehow related to it. I had been enduring this for a while now and just have to rant about it because I'm tired. Who knows, I might feel a bit better after this post. I don't have a problem with people playing the songs that they like in the office, but I do have a problem when the songs are on repeat and they just drain the energy out of me.The grumbler is the "SPIRO" person in the office, our boss is the "ROMANTIC LOVER" and the customer service lady is the "FUNKY CHRISTIAN".

If the songs are played quietly and at different times, it might not have bothered me so much. The list below is just a few of the songs I hear on repeat and on a daily basis. 

S/N	GRUMBLER	OUR BOSS	CUSTOMER SERVICE OFFICER
1	YOU ARE THE PILLAR THAT HOLDS MY LIFE	LADY IN RED	CECE WINANS
2	OYIGIYIGI OOOO	MAKE LOVE IN THE CLUB	KIRK FRANKLIN
3	ADONAI WE WORSHIP YOU	BREATH AGAIN	WOMEN OF FAITH
4	KPOYA OMENMA	LIFE FOR RENT	MARY MARY
5	BECAUSE HE LIVES, I CAN FACE TOMORROW	SONGS BY THE CORRS	CONTEMPORARY CHRISTIAN ARTISTES
6	OSHU BA RERE OOO	WESTLIFE
7	JESUS IS THE SWEETEST NAME I KNOW	DIDO
8	DO SOMETHING NEW IN MY LIFE	MORE SONGS BY LUTHER VANDROSS
9	I JUST WANT TO SAY BABA O ESEEE	SONGS BY CELINE DION
10	HALLELUJAH IS OUR HEAVENLY LANGUAGE	SONGS BY BOYS II MEN
11	TALODABIRE JESU	MORE LOVE SONGS
12	IDI EBUBE CHINEKE
13	ALL I HAVE IS YOU IN HEAVEN AND EARTH
14	YOU ARE BIGGER THAN WHAT PEOPLE SAY

Let me paint a scenario for you. The grumbler gets to work and immediately puts on her system and starts to play her songs with the volume quite high. She and some other colleagues are also singing along. 

Me: Madam, reduce the volume of your songs

She: But it's not high na. I need to saturate myself with this songs so I don't fall prey to all this fraudsters.

Me: Na you know, abeg this songs are giving me headache and weighing me down.

I am a christian too and love to worship God, but biko, i don't appreciate hearing such songs over and over again in the office. As if that is not enough, in the middle of the day, when our boss gets into his elements, he puts his own romantic songs and on an even higher volume than the grumbler's own. Whenever he does this, the grumbler would mutter to herself saying stuff like why would he play his music so loud. If he leaves his seat, she would go and reduce his own volume. *smh @ both of them. One day, I had to jokingly say to my boss: Na wa ooo oga, right now, I'm not sure if I'm in a night club or at work. He laughed and reduced the volume of his system a little bit. At about 3:30pm, when we are getting ready to close to customers, the C.S.O slots her own contemporary christian songs and also starts to cruise. I think for her, it's almost like: Oh yeah... I finally get some rest from the customers. :-D.

So you can just imagine hearing this "spiro" songs and "romantic songs" playing side by side throughout the day and competing for attention in your ears. It's really annoying. If they vex me too much, I will just complete the variety of songs clashing in the office with my collection of Flavour N'Abania, WhizKid and other naija musicians. Hmmmm, sounds like a good idea. :-D

MY NEPHEWS AND I

I had to duck and swipe at the cobwebs to be able to get to my blog page. Phewww it feels so good to be back here. I have missed you all no be small. I didn't know I would be gone for so long, but somehow, time just dey fly dey go and babe no see road to blog. Much love to Toin, Gee, Luciano, Dosh, Okeoghene, Priscy, Ema Leecious, Eddie Steeze and Jemima for checking up on me. So how have you all been? What's the latest on blogsville? I know I have a lot of blog rounds to do. Will get to that very soon. A very warm welcome to all my new followers. You guys just gladden my heart.

I'm sure you are all wondering what has kept me away for almost one month. It's nothing major jare. I have been  playing Mummy to my two nephews and somehow, blogging was far away from my mind. Initially, my internet at home was misbehaving and so I couldn't blog. I eventually got that all fixed up and then my sister needed me to help supervise her nanny and take care of her kids cos she had to travel for a two weeks training abroad. I didn't mind cos I love kids and hadn't seen my nephews in a while. My nephews are Bunna (almost 3yrs) and Ikem (10 months old).

I got to her house in Lekki a day before she was to leave. The plan was that I would stay from thursday to Monday. And on Monday, my aunty would come to take over so I could go back to Surulere on Tuesday. Before she left, she told me some things that I was also to pass on to my aunty. One of them was that the only Tv stations Bunna watches are 306: Cbeebies and 309: Disney Jnr (both on Dstv). She specifically said that if he is awake, we should just try and indulge him and watch those stations cos she didn't want him watching other things, but once he is asleep, we can watch whatever we want to. I didn't have any problem with that. She handed over some other things to me and went on her trip.

It was fun staying with my nephews and somehow I just stayed on for the rest of the week even when my aunt came to take over from me. The only problem I thought I would have was getting to my office which is close to Surulere. My sister's driver took care of that, so i wasn't stressed. Thanks to Bunna, I got used to and even started enjoying the cartoons from Cbeebies. :-D. Cartoons like Teletubbies, Penelope K by the Way, Mister Maker and Boogie Beebies started to make sense especially since my nephew would imitate almost every single thing they did. The songs were catchy too and I even caught myself singing them while at work. :-).

I stayed for a week and on Friday, I handed over to aunt, packed my bag and headed back to Surulere. On Sunday, I called to know how they were and was told that they were in the hospital. Ikem had a high temperature, so they had to get it checked out. I packed my bag again and headed for Lekki. The driver took me straight to the hospital and it was more serious than i thought. The baby had some boil like infection on his face and hand in addition to the high temperature and had to be admitted. It wasn't a very nice experience I tell you cos he had to be pricked several times until they found a vein to use for his drip. He was in so much pain and kept on wailing. He eventually quietened down and we got to sleep and it seemed as if I just closed my eyes and my alarm went off for me to prepare for work.

My shuttle from Lekki to Surulere commenced again. He was discharged the next day and we thought all was well again. We were so wrong. By Tuesday, he wasn't keeping in food, was running a high temperature again and was generally ill. The test result from the hospital said it was malaria and infection but the drugs they gave him were not helping him at all. So his dad decided that we try another hospital. He was readmitted a second time in the new hospital and a fresh series of tests were conducted on him. Thank God for my aunt that was around to stay with him in the hospital during the day until i could join them after work. The nanny was busy with the first son at home, preparing him for school and all that.

A pipe was inserted into his hand to drain the puss from the infection. Ikem got so tired of bin jabbed as pa injections and drips that after a while, once he saw a particular set of doctors and nurses, he would start to cry. He could identify those ones as his "enemies" cos they always came with the needle. We were constantly in communication with his Mom while all these was going on and she was really worried, but couldn't cut her trip short cos it was work related. We kept on assuring her that he was going to be fine.

We were discharged after some days and I stayed on in Lekki until my sister returned. Right now my nephew is back to his bubbly self. We can't thank God enough. A big thank you too to my friends and family that kept on praying for him and calling to know how we were. It was an experience playing Mommy to the boys. I miss singing with Bunna to psyche him to take his night bath and also going "hmmmm yummy yummy delicious" to psyche him to eat. :-D. I miss going "ssshhhhhh" with him when we have to tiptoe around the sitting room cos his baby brother is asleep there, or going "tick tock, tick tock" when we mimic the clock while Mister Maker creates something in one minute. :-D. I had fun jare even with the whole hospital drama thing.

Will be back soon with more gist.

Huggssss and Kissesssss.

THE BIG CHOP

Hi people, hope your weekend has been great. I had been nursing the idea of cutting my hair for a while now. This was prompted by an incidence that happened at the salon two months ago. I had gone to the salon to remove my weave-on and wash my hair. I didn't meet the usual girl that does my hair at the salon and the owner of the salon was also not around. I was left at the mercy of the lady that i met there who I didn't realize was a novice on the job. I'm this kind of person that likes to stick to a particular salon and a particular person or people attending to my hair. So when I got to the salon and met *Lucy, even though I didn't know how good she was in handling hair, I felt that since it was just to lose my weave and wash my hair, that nothing could go wrong. If only i knew. ........

I realized all was not well when she was taking longer than usual to comb my hair after washing it. You know the usual drill of wash the hair with shampoo, condition it, comb it out with the conditioner still in the hair to soften it and wash finally. After the final washing off of the conditioner, oya, babe comb my hair na. She kept combing the back hair and it just wasn't straightening. I put my hand there and i felt massive tangling of my hair. I froze. I felt it again to know if i could detangle it, but it was really bad. I told her to put more conditioner on that part and leave it for a while to see if it would soften it and aid the detangling. While we were still looking for a solution, her boss *Linda came in.

Once Linda saw what had happened, she quickly took over and tried to salvage the situation. But the damage had already been done. My hair was badly tangled at the back. Linda took her time in detangling it, but by the time she was through, i almost had no hair there again. :-(.. *Lucy was by the corner crying and apologizing to me for the mess done to my hair. In as much as I was angry that my hair had just been damaged, I felt sorry for her and didn't even have the strength to scold her. Besides, her Madam had done enough scolding for the both of us. There and then, I decided that sooner than later, I would have to chop everything off. Linda was so angry at her and they kept on apologizing to me.

I had been postponing the day of the big chop because I hadn't gathered enough courage to go for it. I finally decided to have it done today. I went to a salon in Surulere where I know the guys are good with the scissors. I was scared because I didn't know how I would look after the whole thing. I almost felt like crying when *Akin was chopping my hair off. At the end of the day, he gave me a good Anita Baker hair cut and I simply love my new look. :-).. It makes me look much younger and I kindda feel liberated not having to worry about fixing weaves and braiding my hair for a while. I wish I could put up some pixs of my new look, but i still love my anonymous status. :-D.. I can just imagine the surprised look on the faces of my colleagues come Tuesday, LOL.

Oh well, enjoy the one day holiday. Do i love this surprise public hols or what? :-p

Huggsss and Kisses

RANDOM FUNNY ISHHHH

I love to laugh and whenever I see funny pictures that can be saved, I do so, so I can always go back to them and have a good laugh. So below are some funny pictures I saw and saved. Laughter makes you look younger and reduces the wrinkle lines on your face (so says therapist Che :-D ). Enjoy:

I remember when there was BB craze in naija. If you met an insecure babe, somehow in the course of your gist, she would mention that she uses a BB phone and not just that, she would even specify the kind of BB phone it is. All in a bid to prove that she is a gbo gbo bigz gal. *smh*. Phone na phone jare, weda na Nokia or BB candle ^_^.

Have you ever studied for an examination and when it was time to "pour it all out" in the exam hall, you forgot almost if not everything you read. That happened to me i think while in my first year in the university. I had crammed as much as possible while reading almost all through the night. Ohhhh, boi, it wasn't funny at all when I got to the exam hall, saw the questions looking like greek and went blank. I was able to write a few things but didn't do so well in that paper. It taught me a lesson though, never to cram, but read and understand. After that too, I tried to start preparing for my exams early in the semester, but that didn't really work for me. Somehow, I still had to do T.D.B (reading till day break). :-)

Imagine if you were taught English by this woman. LMAO. I can even picture her answering the headmaster very confidently. LOL.

Check out this babe's pose. :-)..Now it seems as if this babe has got her life all figured out. I chose to believe that girls don't think like this. That would be hilarious to me oo.

Did you ever have to be dragged to go to church as a kid. Nowadays, we don't even need to be dragged off our systems to go to church. You can take your mobile devices to church. It pisses me off when I see people answering calls or pinging in church. I just don't get it. I always wonder if such people can't sacrifice an hour or two of their time to be in church without fiddling with their phones. You might say the call is very important and so had to be answered, I hear you. If you go for a job interview, i bet your phone would be on silent mode because you respect the interviewers and you don't want to be distracted. That important call can be made later after church. That's just my opinion.

Will put up the remaining pictures in my next post.

Y'all have an awesome time in church tomorrow.
Huggssss and Kisses.

IN LOVING MEMORY OF MY MUM

Today is my mum's birthday. Yaaaaayyyyyyyyyyy. *dancing around* but I suddenly become sober . You would have been 60 years today mama, but you had to take a trip to heaven because you needed to rest. We miss you sooooo much, but we are learning to live without you. Daddy is waxing strong and we are taking very good care of him. You have three absolutely lovely grandsons now mum. You would be super proud of them and they would have enjoyed your company. You would especially love *Bunna. He is such a dramatic kid especially when compared to his brother *Ikem who is such a peaceful and plump darling. And they are both dark like you. :-). *Osato is a really playful baby and is fair just like his Aunty Che. ^_^.

My Sweet Mum *loads of love and hugss*

We are all doing well in our various professions and cannot thank God enough for His faithfulness in our lives. I remember the different things you used to say and I sometimes say them to my younger ones. Things like *Nchita alu (a lazy person who would notice things that need to be done, but would wait to be told before doing them), *Aka efe n'azu (literally meaning hands always at your back. But it's used when a person passes through a door without shutting the door). Whenever I'm about to wear my shoes with really high heels, I remember as you would say *Eji ntu aga ije (walking on nails) and mimic the way I walk on them. I do your funny dance often with *Somto and it just cracks me up cos I can picture you doing them. You would always say "come and learn how to cook, not when you get married, your husband and in-laws will say *Azurugi azu (you were not brought up properly)  :-D.. I could go on and on, but I chose to pause here. 

You were a very warm person. Oh boi, you were accommodating to a fault, so much so that we nicknamed you Madam Goodington. :-D. Loads of people can testify to your generosity and largeness of heart. You were also a super hardworking woman. You toiled to ensure that we never lacked anything. I remember talking with *Nneka years ago and saying that when we started working and earning fat salaries, we would buy you a limousine to cruise around with and we would also send you to yankee for vacations. LOL. 

I remember when you were diagnosed with Cervical Cancer three years ago. We were all so devastated and prayed earnestly for a miracle. We took you to one of the best hospitals and you started your treatment. You were responding positively, but at the end, you had to go and rest. 

I know you are in a much better place now. I'm grateful that you are free from all the pain, though i wish that you had stayed longer with us. I can just picture you chatting with God and His angels, sharing jokes and laughing heartily. We will always remember all you taught us and will keep making you proud. Keep jollificating in heaven Mum. We will meet with you much later after we have fulfilled our life"s purpose here. 

Forever in our hearts,

With lots of love,

Your (onye ocha) daughter, :-D

Che

P.S: There is a lot of awareness especially now as regards cancer in Nigeria. I would encourage everyone most especially the ladies to go for a pap smear and other tests. 

From Google: A Pap smear can detect certain viral infections (such as human papillomavirus[HPV]) and other cancer-causing conditions. Early treatment of these conditions can stop cervical cancer before it fully develops. A woman may have cervical cancer and not know it because she may not have any symptoms. 

Love you guys much. 

Muahhhhhhh 

THE GRUMBLER

So far, I have spent four days in my new branch and it has been interesting. I say interesting because I have a new set of colleagues and I have had fun studying them and my environment. There's a particular lady that I just wonder at. *Sharon is the Cash Officer and she is quite a character. When I resumed, there was no system for me, so I had to share hers for a couple of days. I don't appreciate when people tell me things about other people. I just don't want to know and besides I feel like that person would also say things behind my back. While working on Sharon's system the first day I resumed, she started what I have termed her usual way of muttering. She was sitting beside me and was just muttering to herself. At first I thought she was praying beneath her breath, but after about ten minutes of muttering and no word from me, she asked me if I didn't hear what she was saying. With a surprised look, I turned and told her that I didn't know she was talking to me.

Apparently she had been grumbling about a lot of things and wanted my input in the matter. She complained about the music our Hop *Lekan was playing. *Sharon said the music was too loud and it wasn't even Christian songs, so what makes him think everyone would want to hear it (she was playing her Christian songs too). I blinked in shock that someone would make such a silly and petty comment. I told her while smiling that it was none of her business what kind of songs he was playing cos it's a free world. Next she complained that *Lekan always favors his people (Yoruba) and would always side them. *Sharon is from Delta state. I didn't say anything to her, but continued working.

She would complain that *Lekan does not do his job but leaves everything for her to do. She would give instances of the tickets that were posted by the tellers and are supposed to be verified by the two of them, but *Lekan would leave everything for her to do and instead be reading his mails. All this while, i had been quiet as she muttered, but I was tired of hearing her talk. I told her that she can't just talk like that and he might have important issues to sort out via mail. *Sharon grumbled about how *Lekan wastes time with customers when he has to personally address their issues. Once, she pointed out to me a customer that had come to see *Lekan and was talking with him. In less than five minutes, they were through and the customer got up and left. *Sharon then said that that was an exception because usually the customer would seat there for a long time with *Lekan.  On and on she went grumbling about one thing or the other that *Lekan and some other people do. I never witnessed any of this things that she accuses them of.

I heard an earful of how *Funmi (the C.S.O) is a very lazy girl and because she is Yoruba, *Lekan would always side her. On my third day in the office, *Lekan called that he was stuck in traffic and would be a little bit late to work. *Sharon started her muttering and was saying that ehnnnnnn, he always comes late to work and has one excuse or the other and it would become worse now cos there's a new staff that can cover for him. It's always to my hearing only, so when she mutters like this , I tell her off if I'm in the mood, but most times, I just ignore her.

Yesterday, I and *Sharon entered the vault to bring out some cash for the tellers and almost as soon as we got in, she said that we should hurry up and leave because she doesn't like wasting time in the vault. She said that the vault was hot and had a musky smell. I shook my head, looked at her well and just started laughing and I told her to calm down. I was laughing because it's not as if she is an ajebutter or anything of that sort. ( I don't mean to be mean cos I'm not an ajebutter either :-D ). I asked her if she has ever seen a fan, air condition or windows for ventilation in a vault before. Of course she didn't respond, but picked the cash and we left the vault.

I don't know if she has had issues with *Lekan or the other people before. I'm not interested in all that. After she has grumbled beneath her breath, she would always turn to them, be all smiley and still work as if she doesn't spite them. I don't want to conclude that she is a frustrated, bitter and spiteful person cos I have known her for just four days, but that is the way she comes across to me. So far, she is the kind of person that I wouldn't want to be friends with. I have decided that I would just relate with her as a colleague. If she can tell me (a colleague that is just 4days old in the branch) such things about other people, then I don't need such a person as a friend.

So far, *Lekan seems to me like a correct guy. He is fun to be around and does his job. My other colleagues all make sense too. I also noticed that the relationship they have with *Sharon is kind of official. They don't really gist with her. Oh well, I might be wrong though.

My system was fixed and configured by an IT guy yesterday, so I now stay on my own and don't have to constantly hear her mutterings. Thank goodness.