Zimbabwe among the top 5 countries on Earth

Yes - actually. And not in any "bad" way either (like when we broke the world record for inflation...) but, at least as I see it, in a positive way.

According to Pingdom, a web monitoring company, who got their figures from StatCounter (as you may understand is a "hit counter system" for internet) Zimbabwe is the 4th largest linux desktop user country!? I will admit that I am more than a little surprised as the ongoing discussions in the "open source community" in Zimbabwe rather give the feeling that we are not getting through with our message of a legally free system for computers and computer systems.

You will find this information by clicking here.

The flipside of the coin is that Zimbabwe is also rated as one of the worst offenders in software piracy, according to some sites we are number 5... according to others not among the top ten but definitely "up there". I find the "number 5" difficult to accept as that would mean over 90% of software would be pirate copies. And that is not the reality I see on the ground.

Either way - nice to be among the good guys and interesting. I/we think increased linux usage here would mean huge cost cuts for eg schools, hospitals, government and so on. But to get the message through is another story and there is an attitude towards software of "it can not possibly cost that much let me find it cheaper or for free" - meaning piracy.

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The Hippo Slalom Canoe trip and our marriage

Over 10 years ago I did a 4 day, 3 nights canoe trip down Zambesi river that I still remember as awesome. Last month an old friend from Sweden, Peter, and his son Victor arrived and I had again booked for this experience.


They arrived Sunday 17 April and did not really have much time to settle in as next morning we were off to Makuti turnoff up in Kariba to meet up with Natureways.


I can not say that it started too well... for some reason I could not start the 4*4 so instead chose our trusty Corolla, picked up the guys and off we went. Some time later start noticing that the engine temperature is climbing... oh no! Stopped and added water to cooling system (it NEVER needs this and I had checked it 2 days earlier). That only helps a short while.


What to do? Called Mia and asked her to work on the 4*4, call Natureways and alert them we will be late and return home to change cars. Have no idea why Isuzu did not start in morning but now works fine. Leave Mia with all problems and off we go again!


That was however our last glitch, once we were on our way again all went well. Arrived in Makuti only to find we are the only going for this canoe trip, happy that noone had to wait for us. Off to Chirundu bridge (border Zimbabwe/Zambia), quick lunch, pack canoes and off we paddle.


As we were late we had to catch up some lost "distance" and due to this actually pitched our tents using torches this first day. The last hour or so felt a bit like going slalom between hippos who to varying degrees let us know they were not amused. They are quite territorial and pose by far the biggest risk and challenge on these trips.


After dinner we admired the starry sky, shared stories and relaxed. That is when the distinct sound of blaring music comes travelling from the Zambia side of the river.. what the?? Turns out that on their side there is a large banana plantation and what we heard was the bar serving the workers. "But it is Monday", I argued. To which the guide replied that in Zambia bars never close, they just change staff now and then. Oh oh... around 1 am they finally stopped and I could sleep peacefully.


Then followed some peaceful days with good weather, gameviewing, some very close encounters with hippos, elephants, waterbuck and so on. We arrived at Nyamepi Camp in Mana Pools on the morning of the 4th day, had a well deserved shower (you do not swim/bath in Zambesi due to crocodiles and hippos) and a relaxed breakfast. Then the nearly 80 km "tse-tse fly drive" out of the park. There are few insects more irritating and stubborn than tse-tse and they give you wonderfully itchy bites!


Apart from ending up behind a brick-carrying truck doing around 20 km/h the last kilometres on our return to Harare the return was otherwise uneventful.
Here some photos, more will come: http://tinyurl.com/42v3fle


Next day was Good Friday and I took the guys and our sons to Ngoma Kurira where I managed to twist a knee so bad I got stuck on the sofa at home.. and how much fun is that on a Friday when you have visiting friends? Hellen and sisters had to show Peter and Victor nightlife Harare.


The rest of Easter Saturday and Sunday I spent mostly preparing the last details for our marriage. After 8 years "living in sin" we decided it felt like a good thing to do the deed and get married. This took place on Easter Monday 25 April in our garden at home and I have put up some photos on the link below. Again, more might come.
http://tinyurl.com/6zk9xhk


After that it has been HIFA (www.hifa.co.zw) and we saw some good performances and had fun though this year did not really feel like any artist/show was a "must see". Our friends left on 1 May and are already planning the next visit!


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African airlines experiences

I have a feeling that if I go over my various emails and notes from the last 10 years I will find that I have spent altogether between 1 and 2 unplanned and unwanted weeks at airports or hotels due to the sometimes glaring incompetence of various African airlines.

I mean like arriving at the airport to be told the plane has already left "we rescheduled but called everyone". No you obviously did not.

Or arriving at the airport to be told that the flight has been cancelled. I like a recent one that did not happen to me: "that flight was removed from the schedule months ago". So why in the name of any God have they then issued tickets less than 2 weeks ago to the flight? And to a number of passengers, not just 1 or 2?

And of course the most common one: the flight is delayed. And here is when the chaos normally really kicks in. For whatever reason noone present at the airport never seems to know why. SHOULD someone know why or for how long this is almost never announced over the sometimes working speaker system. Why this is so - I have never understood.

It feels like "don't give out information in case it is wrong better just pretend all is normal". The problem is that after a couple of hours or so it is obvious to everyone that it is NOT "business as expected" any longer.

A point in case is my own experience from a few weeks ago: Arrive at the airport for a flight that has already been rescheduled/delayed. Checked in and all seems "normal". Except there is no plane in sight. Or information. Or staff from the airline.

I finally find a "business lounge" where a terrified young lady has ran out of snacks and drinks to keep the crowd calm, some of which I found out had been trying to get home since the day before... she knew nothing (can not blame HER for that) and noone else did. After hours of waiting the plane finally arrived and we did actually get on our way.

I can understand and tolerate delays, I can understand problems. Believe me we were very patient with Air Zimbabwe during the "gonomics" hyperinflation era -but that was because we knew what was going on (meaning the challenges they were dealing with, not what was happening at the airport - they are masters in the "non-information game").

What I do not understand is the total lack of professionalism in dealing with the situation. If it regularly happens to your company - try and figure out and correct why. If you can not for "reasons beyond your control" then at least make sure that staff is on site that can inform the passengers and deal with problems like connecting flights etc.

A more comical attitude to the passengers is displayed by at least 2 national airlines: demand that the passengers are checking in well before you open for check-in. In other words ask them to be at the airport in the morning some 30 minutes or so before you arrive and open for check-in yourself.

I suspect the main causes for this sad state of affairs are a mixture of overregulated airspace and "national" government-controlled airlines. Not giving the buyer/passenger much of a choice is of course a safe way to be able to treat them as described above.

Finally let me mention 2 exceptions: South African Airways and Ethiopian Airways.

And last of all thank all the staff I met over the years who actually try to do their best - there are more of you than this description might make you think!

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New computer, fresh headaches

As you who read this reasonably often will know already I work with computers, computer systems and information systems.

From my point of view Linux is the best choice of operating system and laptop is what I must use. Laptop because I travel a lot, a "netbook" does not quite cut the mustard, ever so smart phones do not either as the infrastructure in the countries I work does not really offer enough connectivity and I want to use quite a few applications not (yet) available via phone systems.

The currently popular tablet computers with touchscreens leave me rather uninterested, I need more screenspace and more power than what an ever so slick tablet computer offers.

So after I once more found myself as consultant I decided to buy a new laptop. My "old" Dell is used at home by Mia, the even older Dell by the kids and the one I was using belonged to the former employer. I was allowed to keep using it but did not feel all comfortable with that arrangement.

As a friend/colleague/partner was arriving from Sweden I asked him to buy and bring a computer for me. Did some research and ended up with a HP Pavilion dm4.

In my experience Dell, HP and IBM/Lenovo are the best brands (ok maybe Sony Vaio but you pay through the nose then) in terms of reliability, service and so on. They also normally work well with Linux instead of Windows. I was a bit unhappy with some minor issues with the Dell I had at work last so decided to try this HP instead.

It is just to admit it: I did not do enough homework. Only after it arrived did I discover it has this new "switching" graphics with 2 systems, one for when you are on power and the other for when you are on battery.

"Only" problem is that this is poorly supported in Linux so far. So boy have I struggled to get that sorted. Some computers have a function where you can via setup (bios) switch off one or the other. Not this one, to be honest it is the most useless bios system I have ever seen. Not to mention that an upgrade of it (bios) actually made wireless internet stop working, both in Windows and Linux... NOT what I am used to from HP.

OK have that sort of under control now. But things like screen "dimming the lights" when power goes does not work (I have to do it manually) and I can not switch off the stupid fingerprintreader I don't see myself using. And and and.

And just like the last Dell it gets uncomfortably hot for having in/on your lap. The new processors seem to give off considerably more heat than the one I have in my "trusty old Vostro" that Mia is using. The difference is not small, from around 35 C to 55-60 C. NOT too nice with sweaty lap when sitting on the sofa (like now).

And I HATE the new touch/clickpad that does not have separate click buttons. Both in Windows and Linux it is a nuisance and I can only pray that better drivers will make it work better "next version".

Of course it is faster, better screen, more memory, larger disk, has webcam (that I never use..), is lighter and so on. But somewhere along the line of development certain things that I really like from the old Vostro are sadly missed.

Going back is not an alternative though (Mia keeps suggesting we swap if I am not happy) as all that I crammed on the disk now will simply not fit on the older computer...

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Noticias from Mozambique

Mozambique as country fascinates me. It is in many ways a very challenging place and the farther you get from the capital Maputo the more challenging.

OK I have not been to Pemba or Isla Mozambique, truth to be told, but otherwise that is my experience.

Mozambiquans can be very friendly, jovial and helpful when not in uniform or holding any official position. When in uniform or holding some sort of official position they are at best lazy and uninterested, at worst rude, troublesome and intent on making whatever you want as difficult as possible. Kafka could have been the inspiration of some of the stories I have heard from residents. My own experience at the Mandimba border post some time ago is a personal classic. It took 3 attempts to finally make it cross the border.

Some habits that seem to be countrywide has fascinated me since my first visit. The easygoing café- and barlife is nice, the habit of drinking straight whiskey or gin tonic for lunch is .. strange.

This morning I witnessed a man having double scotch while waiting for the plane. At 9 am. That is not unusual, and he looks ever the part of a smart businessman. Same guy, I think, had another one during transit wait in Nampula. Hope he did not have an afternoon meeting.

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A Barbershop in Lilongwe

In Lilongwe, a short walk from the Lilongwe Hotel (now Sunbird Lilongwe) along the road down towards Old Town lies a small barbershop with 3 chairs. Inside it you always find 3 men plying their trade, 2 indians and a black. They separate the clients accordingly, the indians take care of indian and white, the black of blacks. I assume this has to do with the very different texture of hair. Officially they are open from 8 am to 8 pm but I have often passed by later than that to find them still busy cutting, trimming or shaving and customers still waiting. I am yet to find the place closed on any day of the week.

A couple of years ago when I happened to be in Lilongwe I was not happy with my hair and decided to let them have a go at it. My reasoning was basically that no matter how bad it turned out it would grow again and my regular hairsaloon would sort it out then.

To my slight surprise I was not at all unhappy with the outcome and Mia deemed it "not bad". Given that it cost me around 4 USD I then made it a habit to visit them when in Lilongwe.

When I was later persuaded to grow a beard (or at least something resembling it) I on my next visit asked for a trim and a shave, having watched them doing this on other clients while waiting for my turn. That turned out to be an experience that has made my regular visits become something of a ritual.

Trimming is one thing, it is not complicated with the correct equipment. But the shave around the beard is something else completely.

There is something slightly exciting yet very relaxing in getting the full shaving "mafia style" treatment. You lean back on the headrest, you get thoroughly "creamed" twice with the oldfashioned brush and cream. Then that nastily sharp razor knife is brought out and you really get scraped clean. No matter how well shaven you might think you are you hear and feel how "the shade" disappears. Then creaming once more, shaving again but now in the opposite direction. Following that the part where the tricky-to-get-to parts are shaved (below the nostrils etc) and then wiping the face clean.

Finally you get lotioned with some sort of paste and, the grand finale, some sort of indian face massage. Aaahh.

All this at the total cost of around 8 USD. I have no idea towards what goal in life these young men quietly (they certainly don't say many words) work so hard but I admire them and do not miss out on my visit when I am in Lilongwe. Even when that means waiting in line for up to 1 hour while watching bad indian tv-shows. Let me tell you that "Strictly Come Dancing" indian style is very, very different from other versions I have had to endure.

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December thoughts

It is December and the rains have started in Zimbabwe. This means that the temperatures cool down a bit, most welcome, and that all plants, lawns etc is flourishing. Our garden suddenly looks fantastic!

Just woke up to a cool morning with a slight drizzle and decided to listen to Bach's Christmas Oratorium as we are getting into the festive season. Spent yesterday afternoon and evening in Sunningdale with old friends, here some photos from a similar day: Eldridge visit last month. Makes me realise that life does not have to be dramatic to feel good, hence these few lines.

Wish you all a very good festive season!

Updated website

As you all should know I have for many years operated a consultancy. Even if this is at the moment "on hold" due to my work I still intend to keep it operational. Part of that is to keep a website going. I have, after much experimenting with different solutions, totally revamped the Orion Consulting website:

www.orionweb.info

I am now using the Drupal open source Content Management System as "backend". More info on that you can find at Drupal

A more famous site using the same system: White House...

The towing experience

As I said in the earlier post - our car died some 30 km from Mana Pools camping site. We were towed in to camp by another friendly gamecounter.

Going back our friends André and Chris towed us to the entrance gate, some 50 km. As the towing band we used had snapped 4 times and the remaining 35 km to the main road is much worse than the part we had managed we had to leave it there.

Back in Harare we pondered various options. In kilometres the distance is not extremely far, about 430 km or so. But those 35 km on really bad dirt road is the problem. To bring a mechanic from Karoi (some 110 km or so from the car) was one option but what if he could not fix it on site? Felt like it was better to get it to Harare and THEN fix it.

We started asking around and Mia found some guys who offered to do the job. So we made arrangements.

Well, after nearly 3 weeks of constant coughing I had visited my doctor who put me on my second cure of antibiotics. The next morning I cough so bad something snaps in my right side, a rib or a muscle or whatever. Painful is the word.

Off to Emergency Rooms and x-ray. Early stages of pneumonia, injections of painkiller and antibiotics and prescription of more antibiotics plus antiinflammatory. So no way I can travel.

Friday morning Mia took off with 2 guys in a small truck with a towing bar. They hit the turnoff at around 4.30 pm. It took them 2 hours just to drive those 35 km to gate 2.... the small truck damn near danced off the road if they travelled at any decent speed due to weight imbalance.

It took them 3 hours to then get back to the main road... as the towing bar kept vibrating lose and fall off. So by 10 pm they were back on tar. Got to Karoi and our bull-bar fell off and split as they had used that to secure the tow-bar... They left Karoi around 1-2 am.

Then the Isuzu damn near pushed them off road downhill when the guy in our car lost control. They knifejacked and nearly went offroad down a cliff.

They were back in Harare around 8.30 am... roughly 24 hours. And Mia was so exhausted she damn near cried when I picked her up. The guys literally said "never call us again if you have problems". Did I mention they encountered hyenas on the dirt road in the dark when they had to stop to fix the towing bar and the guys were scared shit?

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Mana Pools 2010

Here a link to Mana Pools 2010 annual Game count

The count was brilliant with the "small" exception that our car died on the way in to the camp... and what happened in connection with that is worth it's own story but frankly I don't feel ready to write about it yet.

Advertising in Zimbabwe

Zimbabwe companies are sometimes very very good at advertising. Sadly the delivery far from always live up to the promises in the ads.

A favorite for a long time is mobile network provider Econet "Inspired by the best", "internet where you are" etc. This plastered just about everywhere from a provider that delivers such poor service, especially on the "3G" side, that an anti-Econet Facebook page actually exists. For years the most common phrase in any cellphone conversation in Zimbabwe sounds something like "Hello? Hello! Can you hear me, yes I can hear you. Hello!" - and so on.

For some weeks now a rather aggressiv campaign stated "wear something red Friday ?? September" (I have forgot the actual date). Full page ads in the daily newspapers etc and believe it or not - the police "got suspicious" and were "out in full force" on said Friday. All the campaign promised was that you could be given some sort of prize if you were spotted by them wearing something red that day.

This turned out to be a campaign for a new mobile internet 3G service that also should deliver cellphone services in, for now, Harare area. BUT the company, Africom, could show no products during the launch, their website is down and during the recent ICT Africa show all their stall had was - leaflets and a guy talking about how good the still invisible products were...

Reality check, someone?

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On leave at last

In some ways I am sadly unorganized. Events like Easter, Xmas and other annual holidays always seem to take me by surprise. Another side of that is that I sometimes completely fail to plan for work leave. This also has to do with working as a consultant for many years, you simply take leave when you can.

Anyhow, something happened that made me realise exactly how tired and worn down I was. With understanding from management I went on leave "immediately" and we (that is me and Mia) decided we should go for a beach holiday with the kids.

Whereto now? Would have loved to hit Dar es Salaam or Kenya Mombasa but time- and moneymatters made us decide for Mozambique. After scouting around we found a lodge near Beira, a day drive from Harare basically. Somewhat naively (more on that later) we thought we might commute to nightlife in Beira and decided to take Mia's sister Cynthia along to look after the boys in the evenings. Ha!

At the same time Mia was running to the passport office on a daily basis to get her "3-day" passport produced. It took well over a week... and we decided to have a checkup of the Isuzu before making such a long drive. Turned out to be a very good decision as the mechanic found a problem with a wheelbearing that could have meant a total breakdown somewhere along the road.

Only problem with that was that he could not fix it before the weekend and our plan was to drive on Monday, arriving in the late afternoon. Come Monday we could only plan, pack etc and then wait. By 12 Steve announces the car is ready. Now to decide whether to go or not? In the end we decide to have a go at it and by 2 pm we were on the road, crossing the border by around 5.30 pm.

Why in heaven's name we had not read the instructions from the travel agent before then is anyone's guess. "Please make sure you arrive for the ferry across the lagoon before 5 pm"....

OK now what? Already in Moz it is no point in going back so I thought we would either find a hotel in the nearest town or drive on to Beira and stay overnight there. Turns out Mia had a better idea: relatives in Mafambisi, some 40 km before Beira. Called to uncle Werner who runs a small guesthouse "can you put up 5 beds for the night". The rooms were full but they promised to find a way of hosting us. Around 10 pm (talk about optimistic) we arrived at auntie Elena's small bar/restaurant (called a "kiosk" in Mozambique for some reason). After a nice but very late dinner on fried chicken and chips we stumbled on to various bed quarters.

Following a late and slow breakfast next day we took off towards the lodge, Rio Savannah. Made a stop at Shoprite in Beira for stocking up and drove ca 40 km on a rather bad sand road. Bad as it had rained and parts were more mud than sand. Drive to Beira for nightlife, eh? Well, most importantly we made it!

Were taken by boat across the rivermouth to the basic but neat lodge, soon as we had installed ourselves it was off to the beach. Following that was 5 days of beach, swim, sunset drinks overlooking rivermouth, prawns for dinner and so on. The boys found friends in the other houses and ever so often we found they were gone or the whole crew of kids were in our house. Serious little Sean, 4 years and full of questions such as "why do you have tattoos, why does your daughter (Mia) look like she does" etc still makes me laugh. Wonderfully relaxing and I could have stayed another week though I think Mia would have had a serious case of cabin fever by then. No TV, no radio, no news, no internet.

On the home leg we again stopped over at Elena and Werner for a late, slow brunch. I don't think Mozambiquans quite understand the word "urgent". Then on home, arriving at around 8 pm.

Well, it was well needed and despite the planning glitches good fun. I appreciated meeting Mia's family and I am 100 they loved meeting us and the kids.

Next time it will not take 3 years between beach holidays... see some pictures, unorganised as they are, here.

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Maybe 14 wives is (at least) one too many

You may not be aware of it but polygamy is still widely practiced and legal in many countries in southern and eastern Africa. There is a lively debate going on both among women and men over the virtues and problems with this kind of marriage.

Most would however agree that 14 wives is overdoing it. And that is how many wives King Mswati III of Swaziland has. This has got to do partially with an old tradition of the king marrying a woman every year but at least my guess is that he must be enjoying it as well - traditions can after all change...

But now it seems that one of them have not been too happy with sharing one man with 13 others. One wife has been caught, literally, in bed with another man. And not just any man but a minister in the government and a childhood friend of the king!

I guess one should not laugh at matters like this, especially as the consequenses for the two might become very serious indeed, but I can't help myself!

Just look at the pictures in this online report:

caught in bed, literally..

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Businessmen?

For the past month or so many in Zimbabwe have followed with fascination the case of a certain Mr. Temba Mliswa.

He is one of those "businessmen" who rose to riches during the land reform / farm invasions in the early 2000 years. Currently he is in remand jail since about a month. He has been rearrested 3 times about 5 minutes after getting bail approved by the courts.

I quote from online reports:"Mliswa, who was granted bail last Friday by Harare magistrate Don Ndirowei on charges of stealing generators and defrauding the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe of US$3,5 million, was re-arrested for the third time after getting bail at the courts. Mliswa was dramatically re-arrested at Chikurubi Maximum remand prison on Friday in an operation that left even prison guards shell shocked. At least 15 heavily armed police officers in four top of the range vehicles - a BMW, a Range Rover, a Mazda B2500 and an Isuzu raided Chikurubi and snatched Mliswa soon after he was released. The vehicles sped in the direction of the city centre and family members pursuing the police convoy were threatened by plain clothes police officers from one of the vehicles."

In Zimbabwe the above is a treatment normally reserved for those perceived to be enemies of the state, such as human rights campaigners and opposition politicians, not members of Zanu PF and successful "businessmen". So what happened?

As I understand the backround Mliswa was a fitness instructor when the farm invasions and land reform started. Somehow he was awarded a farm and got rich. All has been well (for him) since then until very recently. What went wrong?

Well, calling the Police Commissioner "the most corrupt individual in the country" seems to have been a bad idea. Not long after that he was arrested on charges of trying to fraudelently take over a company. Since then a long string of crimes (about 40...) has come to light: persuading white farmers that he could protect their property he bought several huge generators. He just never paid for them... and then sold them on, one of them he claims to a certain Police Commissioner.

Among other crimes he is accused of is defrauding the Reserve Bank of millions of USD by getting grants to buy tobacco and never pay back.

The latest is attempted murder.

In a way what I find really interesting about this whole saga is not the fate of this person or the rather obvious harassment but what it tells about the background of not only his but very likely a number of other "successful businessmen". I have no idea as to why the media still refers to him as businessman actually, conman or fraudster sounds more like it. It may be that not all of the cases against him are actual but everything points to that quite a number of them are. Then the real question is of course "why is he only being arrested now"? And the answer to that I leave up to the reader to figure out.

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Musings on Malawi

Spent a week in Malawi recently, in the capital Lilongwe to be more precise.

Found some interesting political developments. For starters they have built a new Parliament building. Nothing necessarily wrong with that, they used to convene in the President's residence for historical reasons.

But the building itself... think USA Capitol Hill, only larger. No, I am not joking, according to reports it IS larger than Capitol Hill. Pair that with a parkinglot sized for Olympic Games and you have a general impression. Now someting tells me that a small, poor country like Malawi could/should have had problems funding that, wonder where the money was found?

Also the president has decided (more or less on his own it seems) that it is time to change the national flag. Today it features a rising sun at dawn, halfway up. He wants a full, in zenith, sun. The argument: after 46 years of independence it can no longer be dawn for the nation.

Sort of makes sense, but again the cost...

Also I found to my huge surprise that a certain Jim Jumani Johansson from Sweden, a lawyer in his forties, are claiming to be the illegitimate son of Hastings Kamuzu Banda, the country's first president!

As he died without children (officially) this is big news and political dynamite in Malawi and all newspapers are full of theories, reports, stories etc about Jumani.

His mother claims it is all nonsense and he got confused while spending a year in jail (for beating his ex-wife apparently) but he demands DNA-testing. That the Banda family is refusing. No matter how it ends, it is dramatic for Malawians and I will keep an eye on it.

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One upgrade too many

My life naturally consists of lots of upgrading and testing software on computers. Not least my own where I often want to test something out.

Well, you can go too far... a couple of weeks ago I decided to test a "release candidate" of the linux desktop environment KDE, version 4.5 RC2 to be more specfic.

One thing that I suspect caused headaches later was that the upgrade was disrupted at least 2 times due to our sometimes ver slow internet.

When all was supposedly done I rebooted and stared at a black screen. No graphics, only terminal commandline login. Oooops. Big time.

I can not even remember how I finally managed to get back to a working graphical interface but I found x number of half or nonworking applications. Had to give up and reinstall an older version. A working one! Luckily I have since looong made sure that all user data is on its own partition and will normally not be messed up by experiments like this.

This once more proves the old truth: do not mess with your working/production computer. Test new stuff on another one - but how many have an extra computer lying around? Not me, at least not one that is not being used.

Lesson learnt: do wait until final release...

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Decisively wrong...

Football, soccer, call it what you want. Unless you live on another planet you can not have missed that the World Cup is taking place "nextdoors" to Zimbabwe.

I have in several comments stated that this is the cup of SouthAmerica, that Brasil or Argenting was going to win. Well, boy was I wrong.... Holland did what I did not believe them capable of and won against a Brazil that used tactics I never thought I would see a team from that country use. Honestly, did coach Dunga give them wrestling lessons in advance? Elbows were used as much as the feet.

Then Germany simply walked all over Argentina and finally Spain defeated Paraguay (that I think deserved to win but that is another story). Ghana should have won over Uruguay and then I would have looked really stupid. But that is football, all predictions can go belly up.

Others that have been wrong are the refs and Fifa. How on Earth in 2010 can you refuse to use technology to avoid human error?? We have seen handgoals, clear goals disallowed, unnecessary penalties and unjustified sendoffs. I understand how difficult it must be but why the heck not allow the refs the same technology the audience has access to?

Well, Sepp Blatter will eventually go even if he seems as unwilling as a certain president in a certain southern African country.

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In the right place at the wrong time

Seems I am constantly in the right place but at the wrong time lately. First I manage to be in Lusaka, Zambia when Brazil soccerteam comes to Zimbabwe to play a friendly warmup for the World Cup. The first time since 1980 a non-African team plays in Zimbabwe and only the 5th time Brazil plays an African team in the last 30 years. Now how much fun is that to miss being there?

Back home for one day. Wash, iron and pack the bag again basically. Off to Bulawayo for a conference. Nice enough as it is with the Zimbabwe SCC Team and we rarely meet all of us at the same time.

BUT - tomorrow the soccer World Cup starts in Southafrica and I will either be stuck here or on the road home. Now, I guess it would be OK to be somewhere here in Bulawayo and watch it but honestly I am homesick. In the last 4 weeks I have spent 2 Saturdays at home and that is NOT enough.

So I guess I will be in a car on the road somewhere between Bulawayo and Harare tomorrow during opening ceremony and the first game. Should be home in time for the second game though!

Keeping fingers crossed that SA makes a good performance in the opening game!

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Reflections from Mozambique

Am sitting at Lichinga Airport waiting for the plane to arrive. As this is Linhea Area Mozambique, LAM, noone has been able to say when I should check in but all agree on one thing: do not use the time written on the ticket. So I was number 2 to check in, almost 3 hours in advance. Just to be sure. That leaves time to do some "reflective thinking".

Mozambique to me is (at least) 2 countries: Maputo and "the rest". And the farther away from Maputo you get the more difference. Look at a map and you will see that Maputo is right at the southern end of the country. It is a place full of hustle and bustle, a "real city" with wide avenues and a bristling business life night and day. Cafés. restaurants, shops etc are everywhere and there is always something going on. People are friendly, it is not difficult to strike a conversation as a stranger in a cafe or bar. I shared beers with mine-removers, football-fans and a number of others last week. On leaving Maputo I found myself standing next to a man ordering double whiskey (very popular drink in Moz, even for lunch sometimes) with Red Bull. Note this is at 7 in the morning... He told me he had not slept for 48 hours and was now on his way to Nampula. His rather upset wife was phoning all the time, small wonder if he had been partying for 48 hours. I ask what he was going to do in Nampula - "I am a financial controller for a World Bank funded organisation"... aha. He then calls another guy who turns out to be Sales Manager for MCel, one of the larger mobile phone companies. He then suddenly remembers he is in Business Class and can drink for free in the business lounge, leaves his nearly untouched drink and disappears. Characters like him seem to be everywhere in Maputo.

I arrive in Lichinga after a most painful flight, this due to a collapsing stomach - probably brought on by a meal of shrimps the day before. My "pick-up" Andreas takes me to the guesthouse where I am to stay, I go straight to bed. Later I recover enough to join him and his wife for an evening meal (a veeeery careful meal) in what is basically the one reliable restaurant in Lichinga.

On waking up the next day it is good I do not have much of an appetite for breakfast. Because it turns out to be fresh bread, coffee and margarin. Finish. There is cornflakes but no milk, it was suggested to me to mix my own using milkpowder. No thanks. There is no cheese, polony, jam etc etc.

In the evening I go for a lonely dinner at 2+1, same resto as the evening before. There is at least one more resto operating but there you never know when you will get your food and if it will be cooked or half raw or burnt. Then to bed to read. At around 8.30 power goes for half of the town and it gets pitch dark. Early bed for sure. Next morning there is understandably no hot water but otherwise breakfast has picked up a bit. There is juice, peanutbutter, jam and even some fruit to go with the bread. Milk too, but no cornflakes this time. To cut the rest short, cheese never showed up but next day cornflakes did and coffee was available. That is OK by Lichinga standards.

It is sort of the opposite of Maputo. Professionalism and hospitality are very very hard to find. If you do not know someone when you enter a restaurant, café or bar you will likely eat and drink alone. Last evening I was picked up by a friend who works for a Swedish forestry company and we had a pleasant evening updating each other on events since last time we met, over a year ago. In the dark as their generator had a problem and there is no "city power" where they live. I guess working with forestry makes you a "long-term person" as he is busy planning exactly how he wants to build his house, not far from where he is staying now. He will have a magnificient view and plans to build a log-house with a sauna etc etc. Well why not if you plan to stay in the area for years on? Will very likely be a house like no other in Lichinga as he also knows how to build - and that kind of knowledge is rare if it even exists in Lichinga.

If you think I am negative you should hear those from Maputo who come here to do whatever short term work. They refuse blank to believe anyone wants to stay here and can not wait for the return to Maputo. I sort of understand them, the attitude towards almost everything is so different. There are many stories as to why this is so, one is that this was the Siberia of Mozambique during the communist days, people were sent here for "re-education". Another talks of the forgotten part of Mozambique and I can sort of agree: if the main road to the province capital is mainly a dirt road and not even tarred then you ask if central government is serious about "development everywhere".

Whatever it is, the place is slowly improving. Compared to when I first started coming here it is way better in terms of infrastructure etc. What would be most welcome would be some sort of "change of mind" in the people. I also strongely believe some sort of Technical College or University for such trades as builders, plumbers, electricians etc would be a great improvement.

Only the future will tell. For now I join the crowd who takes every opportunity to go to Maputo ;-)

Hur dum kan man bli egentligen?

För en gångs skull är det dags att skriva på svenska på bloggen. Helt enkelt för att jag inte orkar ens i hjärnan att översätta allt jag vill ha sagt.

Ämnet har inte med mig att göra, tro det eller ej. Detta trots att kvällen igår blev ett undantag från dom där många trista hotellrumskvällarna. Jag gick och åt en mycket sen lunch och landade senare på Mundos (Globen ungefär i översättning) där jag kom i samspråk med en minröjare. Efter att ha återvänt till hotellet så gick jag till baren här och hamnade i samspråk med 3 vackra damer som av okänd anledning hade köpt en flaska Chivas Regal. Nånstans där las grunden till hur jag mår idag. Åter på Mundos fastnade jag i fotbollsnack med 2 män som lovade att ta med mig till Matola, sådär 2 mil från Maputo, för att se kvällens Champions League final. Om nu inte om vore så vore jag där.

Istället vaknade jag mest för att somna om igen hela dagen. När jag sen släpar mig ner till Mundos för finalen inser jag nåt jag egentligen vet sen VM-finalen 2002: ägarna är rugbyfanatiker. Vilket innebar att då fick vi närmast övertala dom att visa VM-finalen istället för nån jämra super14-match. Ikväll var det samma saga, ett antal vilsna fotbollsfans tvångsmatades med brottning, förlåt rugby. Det är kanske värt att komma ihåg att rugby uppstod när en mindre begåvad fotbollspelare plockade upp bollen med händerna och sprang....

I vilket fall, efter en pizza tröttnade jag och gick till en mer lokal lokal. Som visade musikvideos istället (ursäkta, RAP inte musik). Så därför sitter jag nu på hotellrummet i all ensamhet och ser matchen.

Det blev väl inte direkt nån spännande match men ett grymt snyggt avslutande mål. Den "speciellt sure" hade bättre ordning på det mesta än tyskarna, så var det bara. Vaknade sen upp med magsjuka och hur roligt är det när man måste upp 5.30 för att ta sig ut till flygplatsen och sitta på inrikesflyg hela dagen. Det var en jobbig dag som avslutades med en jobbig natt. Puh, det är som sagt inte bara glatt och glamman att vara på resande fot.