Let me keep it simple

Saturday 30 December 2017

IT'S A WRAP

It's a Wrap

Somewhere along the coastline, I am mulling over what I thought I would accomplish during the year. Looking back, I feel like I did my best and left the rest to outpour or go to the dogs. Now I want to make New Year Resolutions. But first, a glimpse of flashback. Just a petty one.


First, I must be thankful to the Almighty for thus far he has brought me. ‘Nimeuona mimi Mkono wa Bwana, kweli’ (sic). He stood by me and now I can attest that his mercies endure forever. I was beginning to be agnostic, but I can affirm that I am truly religious. The potency of my faith though shriveling, I can only hope it will bloom in the new year as I steady up and begin the year in style.


Obviously, I will start with what never worked. The first ought to be a quest to find a job that is not only pensionable and full-time, but also a job that I am joining and feeling like I am enjoying what I do. The one that I can apply the skills I have learnt over time. Like the first job I had. It was just what I loved but it was not what I wanted to do. The good thing about my current job is flexibility. Though it does not put me in a financially secure position, but all in all, it comes to my aid in many ways.
I am still hoping that some day I will get a job in the investment industry and apply the little knowledge I have learnt. On the contrary, I hate internships. Especially if they go nowhere and I am told to be patient in the job until an opening arises.


Number two has to be getting a girlfriend, something that leads to an engagement and finally marriage. I recently had a chat with a lady friend and she was being told to move in with a dude who was interested in her even without dating and she never loved him. I told her that love grows overtime and it will be a thing of the past if she moves, learns to love and hope that things will work out. Her family was of the view that she moves in with her ‘probably fiancé’ even if she does not love the guy. I concurred with the family then realized that I would hate to move in with a lady just because I love her. At least, taking time to know who you are going to spend the rest of your life with is crucial before someone moves in with a man. You just don’t move in like that. It should be a process, not an event.


Consistency and discipline are issues that I am really struggling to deal with and they come in at number three. I have not been as consistent as I would love in being disciplined. I have been wobbly so much that I am currently not having a plan. My plan was to have completed 21 courses on Financial Modelling, 9 courses on data science and lastly finish reading the content of CFA level Two. You know what, there is no hurry. I am in Africa and a black nigger for that matter. Plans, circumstances, opportunities, strengths and weaknesses change but only God does not change.


Lastly, I have been postponing writing my posts in time for scheduled appearances on my blog. This has been a big battle and it makes me think that I am not a stickler to following routine. I had a time-table I thought I would stick to. I had so many options in my mind I did not know what to do. I have let them to come into fore when they want. After all, I am not a programmed machine to stick to routine. I am very flexible. That is why I have not thought of writing about a certain specific topic for some time now.


About that job thing, sometimes I sit down and wonder if I can get my grove back and get into gainful employment with regard to what I would like to do now. I have experimented a lot. And its high time I started getting serious with life. I have morphed in different ways. Especially when it comes to writing. One day, I will be like guaranteed-age whisky. Crisply matured and with a distinctive style of prose. The kind that is synonymous to yours truly.


On to accomplishments. I have been able to work consistently save for a week when I was revising for exams and the holiday I took in order to refreshen up. Yes, I took time off to go and ponder about life. Celebrate Xmas and travel to new locations. I did not go to the beach though, I just went to the countryside, and went to look for adventure.


I also love the fact that I have developed come craze in writing. I have what I call the morning pages which are random thoughts that have filled a book and I am now on the second one. The bad thing is that the content does not flow, the good thing is that I have written to the best of my ability without referring from anywhere in free flow which takes half an hour everyday. The morning pages have helped in me easily writing more than 2000 words in one sitting straight outta my mind. I had hoped to write in all the weeks this year, but I am not sure that will possible anymore. I erred on countless occassions when I was feeling lethargic. The far that I have reached deserves a full large pizza to celebrate the achievement. I will struggle to finish it wioth a two litre soda.


Another plus has to be developing a saving culture that I started a few years back. Yes, I am a saver, but I also need to be an investor. To invest and reap from the fruits of my labour. I wish I this blog was an investment. It would have been providing me with returns even if small. It is not even a cash cow, it is where I hide. Luckily, I am outdone with why I operate it. Next year will be the fourth consecutive year of updating it on a regular basis. I think past the fifth year, I will enroll it to square it out with other seasoned contestants in a bid to be a known blogger. Whether I get the award or not, that will not be the motivation behind listing it, the real motivation will be getting new readers. Well, there is that aspect of pride in winning but the real one comes from knowing that you have made an impact and made someone laugh, wish they could do something like me or just flipping through the net and they think they need to read something new.


Next year’s resolutions have to be very few. First I plan to move out and go stay on my own in a small room, A quiet place where there is no brouhaha. A sanctuary. Next to a gym with a palatial view of the horizon if lucky. Watching how Americans buy houses has made me believe that you certainly need to have a view when looking for a house. A view is an added aesthetic value that makes a difference when looking for a house.


Another resolution is to complete my financial modelling course. I started it with zeal and excitement. But that has wilted over time and I need to rejuvenate the skills because ‘I don’t know tomorrow’. Perhaps I may be called to an interview and told to model a company’s future cashflows and share price and being this lethargic bugger, I tell the interviewer that I need time when I should have done the thing in less than an hour. What I have to realize is that practice segregates the chaff from the wheat. Modelling requires constant practice and that is the reason why I will look for a way of keeping tabs with this skill. Just for fun even if I don’t get a job. Plus, it will help me forget that I am not employed in the investment industry if I combine it with reading CFA Notes, collecting and analyzing daily data from the NSE and applying for relevant jobs.


The final resolution has to be to be passing with flying colours my repeat exams. I know what went wrong and I will try as much as possible to work on it. Also, I want to be updating the blog on a weekly basis in time. I have earmarked Friday as my day. It will be at 1100 hours. That was the time we normally took our break from the daily hustle of learning.


In the meantime, let me hope that I will also build my own house in shags. Hope that I will get a girlfriend and probably a real child. Forget about Spock and McCoy.


As I imagine that I am at the coast savoring the cool breeze next to the sea, I am wishing that one day it will become a reality.


Hasta La vista baby.


[Picture Source: My own]
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Friday 8 December 2017

MELANIN

Melanin

There is something intrinsic when you see a lady whose skin is naturally espousing its deep-seated melanin pigment. Dark ladies are lovely and fair enough they have a sexy charm that is associated with dark berries. Black is beautiful. Walai! These ladies are real and angelic. They look dapper, supple, glamorous, and fairly young. And there is a certain glimmering glow in a lady who is naturally black. The one who does not hide in makeup. Even if she does, it is the kind of face foundation which seamlessly blends with the colour of her skin. She is not afraid to walk in the colours that make her who she is. And most of all, a dark lady full of melanin is just mwah! She stands out and will get noticed. And she is charming, has a bubbly personality, and what else, she is every man's fetish. Well, we have so many brown and light skins and that makes a dark-skinned lady exotic and quixotic. The wonderful ones we eschew because men like fairer-skinned ladies. Forget that notion of men subconsciously being attracted to ladies with a wheatish hue. Only a man who has tasted a darker berry knows the sweetness of the flavour.


A few days ago, I met a pretty chic and she was dark and lovely. We have aesthetic preferences as human beings. Hitherto, I thought I had a kibosh with light-skinned ladies until I met this new catch on Tinder. Yes, I am on Tinder. Like the average Joe, I went on Tinder to look for a relationship. Not an intimate one, just something of a meet-up and getting to know a new person. This certainly excludes the male folk. Over time, I have unmatched so many ‘prospects’ that Tinder considers my type because I just do feel them after the usual ‘Hi’. I guess Tinder is not for folks like me. I have unmatched more than thirty ladies for no apparent reason ever since I joined that platform.


How did I discover Tinder? Funny enough, I was reading about a beleaguered spouse who found out that her man was eyeing other fine babes because her single friend had bumped into his man on Tinder. I decided to also give it a try and see what’s cooking there and it was fine. Better than Badoo which I was also on but never got a date because the damn thing is full of adverts which are so boring. You even hate being on Badoo.


Now that Tinder is also on the shirt of Red Devil football fans, allow me to intimate about it.


I go to Tinder to look at how Kenyan chics look for men if that is the real purpose of this App. They have a lackluster profile, take random pictures that are not even edited, and lastly, they never say niceties about themselves. Is it not a turnoff for somebody to tell you what to do? Ati a lady tells you that if you like her, then swipe right. Shit men, that is something that comes naturally.


The kind of profiles on Tinder are so weak that you may confuse the intention of the seeker. Well, someone told me that kizuri chajuiza, na kibaya chajitembeza. That proverb can be misinterpreted because we have some of the best brands in the world advertising more than the bland establishments that are so mundane we just look at them and feel nothing. Rarely do you find ladies who have taken professional photos, wore sensuous and colorful clothes that liven their personality, pose in a way that even if she is not pretty, you swipe right. I think having a sense of style, dressing to flirt (showing some hint of skin), applying makeup properly and taking photos that are expertly done makes a lady stand out. We men are visual creatures who are driven wild by how ladies present themselves. A well-executed casual vibe in a bodycon dress, lets us ogle the curves. And you want the eyes staring at the sex appeal because of the sensual and flirty feel that comes with a body-fitting dress. You can easily swoon a man just by the fact that you look nice and sexy and the next thing is that he will be glancing hints of lust in his eyes and a band if captured. Enough said.


Because I am the kind who does not read a person’s bio, I tend to go to Tinder to Swipe right. Sometimes I look at other snaps of a probable bae, unfortunately I tend to like all the pictures of girls with more than one real photo. Given that I am not using a smart phone, I normally click the red heart shape and wait till Tinder says ‘You have a match’. Then when it does, I say ‘Hi’ then wait if the lady will respond. If she does not, ‘Haisulu’. There will always be another oner next time.   I am not addicted to this App as such because I am certainly not looking for love. I am a bit uneasy with girls sometimes. Those days when Tinder never matches me, I keep on swiping right till I am prompted to now subscribe if I want to continue swiping right. I am the type of can’t pay won’t pay mentality. That takes me about 5 to 10 minutes. Then I am off the app because there is nothing fascinating for a bachelor of my ilk there.



The first chic I was supposed to meet was interested in a relationship that could lead to marriage whereas I was not sure whether I wanted to have that then as now. As long as I am not financially stable, I will not lie that I will be going to have a girlfriend soon. That shall not happen. She gave me her number, we chatted for a while but again, I thought she was a slay queen who looked like a high maintenance chic that I could not sustain with my meagre income, as such, I did cut communication and voila, I was back to Tinder again. In search for something that could lead to a friendship that may ultimately lead to a relationship and lastly marriage.


Allow me to brag that men have the marriage card that they dangle like a carrot to would be bride. We are like employers who dilly dally around with jobs hoping to find the right candidate in the process. Most times, because of indecision, we end making the wrong choice. A while ago, I remember telling myself that I was going to stick to one lady come what may. Look at me now, this is probably the umpteenth time I am struggling to get into a relationship with a girl.


While swiping right, I saw this girl who kind of looked familiar. She was leggy, and the thighs looked fuller in those high highs she wore. She was bestowed with a lovely baby face, full of smile and a fine physique. She had a few professionally done photos that made her look gorgeous. In them, you could not tell that she is a dark skin. She looked like she is chocolate complexioned which I sometimes love especially if the lady is tall, slender but has everything in the right places. Later I realized she was a petite babe which was kind of a turnoff. Never mind that a certain dude once told me to try a lady who was shorter than me. Like really short but not a midget. That once I have gone to bed with such a lady, I will look for his number after engaging in the devil’s dance. Three years down the line, I am yet to sleep with a short lady as he described them.


Let me call this lady Claire, a name that is chocolatey and sweet like eclairs. I recently ate eclairs and I remembered that I need to keep my teeth good.


It took us almost two weeks before we met. Obviously, I am the type who talks about random stuff aside from the usual greeting. I normally ask the pedestrian questions, give dull suggestions and all that stuff that a guy who does not know how to vibe a lady will do. But first, a lady has to visually quench my visual acuity before I delve into matters intelligence and all that. Whether this will be friendship or something I take to the next level, I am a guy of first I love what I see.


Our date was to be in town at a neutral place. I chose KFC because I normally work on a side hustle and most of the projects I do are sometimes associated with this eatery. Given that she was a student, I could tell that she would love the place because students rarely visit such places because of monetary issues. Plus, she was a chic, and an aura that is classy like KFC not forgetting the trusted and iconic food which naturally excites the nerves because there is the probability of eating those semi-emulsified, extra-crunchy, amazingly moist and crispy skin chicken that trigger primal urges even though the chicken has secret ingredients that they never want to let us know.


That settled, I had to think of where to get money because I was broke having paid my dues and operating on just a few hundreds. I had thought we would meet on a Friday, but it turned out that she was working that day. She gave me a suggestion and I being the overzealous zealot accepted the offer. Luckily my soft loan platforms came in handy.


“I am in a blue dress.” She told me. She suggested we meet in Kencom. I had noticed her well before she told me she was in a blue dress. She was dark complexioned, and I remember cursing and saying, “Why did I have to bring myself to this?” Every story is usually a climax or an anticlimax.


A quick search on Facebook and Twitter did not reveal any details about her. Later on, when she had given we her phone number is when I realized that she had a YouTube account. On that platform, she looked different. Really different. I regretted the idea of why I had even contemplated and organized a date. But I consoled myself that her pictures on Tinder were what I was going to rely on. The older pics were not as elegant as the most recent ones. They were what I can term as unplanned pictures taken arbitrarily. Then she had not realized that she can be a fine girl that men would love. She was in short a plain Jane back then. But looking at her now, she had toned, was going to the gym and maintained her body shape. She asked if I had turned my back to look at her when she went to the ladies but I never. I had asked if she works out and returned it with that question of taking a glimpse at her ass.


Whereas she was a black beauty, the fact that she had taken care of her body very well made her a good date. She had fuller hips, a nice ass and lastly an athletic body. You could tell that she did not have a tummy. Aint that charming.


Ideally I had speculated that she was not going to turn up. And being the guy who had long lost hope in women, I thought she was not going to keep her end of the bargain. Which is typical of most ladies. So, the day of the meeting, I spent a lot of time on Excel trying to muster some concepts that I intend to use later on.


You see, my Tinder was indicating that I was more than 2600 miles away from where I was. And given that I was joking about the meeting, I was sitting content that this chic who was probably in a Middle East country working for some Arab was also probably smiling and thinking of how she had duped a Kenyan dude. If you open a platform and realize that someone is thus far, what can you do given that I had not even asked for her number. Obviously, I had format deleted the prospects of the date immediately after asking if we could go for a date. I concluded that this was as good as the crush you will never meet. So, I disengaged the excitement notion of a date and engaged the status quo of expecting nothing. I slept forgetting that I was supposed to go for a date the next day at noon.


Apparently, she never forgot that were going for a date at KFC. If it was a mature lady, say working class, I think I would have suggested an eatery that is less frequented by the hubris of Nairobian middleclass. A place where you can talk and even be intimate.


On the planned meeting day, I was doing some solo projects and when it was the normal working break for lunch, I decided to log into Bluestacks to check if the lady had communicated. I use it to house my Android because I think I love analogue phones more. She had also left her number telling me to call and act like the gentleman I had reputed myself to be. That day, I was tackling the Indirect function in excel. The fact that this lady provided her number meant that she was serious. She really meant business.


At 1240, she had left a note that I had stood her up. That was not even true because she later told me that she was in town a few minutes past one. Having gone to other dates with other ladies, I know that if you are to meet a random chic, she will come some hours late. There was a chic who kept me waiting more than two hours and when she called that she had arrived, I told her that I was already in the digs. At least, we ended up sharing the hurt because when we were to meet, she had decided to go somewhere else and I am not the patient type. Ati nikae nikikula pole pole kwa café, not my thing. The next time, that chic was the first to arrive because she decided to reschedule the date. But I was late by about 5 minutes and the way she was threatening me, I even had to apologize.


Having learnt that chics are always late for a date, I never even bothered to prepare to show up in time. Since I work from home, I only decided to take a quick shower after I had confirmed that she was waiting in town and would not be gone in an hours’ time which was duration it would take me to get to town if you factor in traffic. Owing to the fact that I had assumed this chic was in the middle east, I still was not cock sure until I saw her. At least she was honest about this blind date.

Seeing that she had dropped her number, I called before heading to town and she confirmed where she was. She was the fourth chick leaving me her number on Tinder. Yenyewe madem waKenya love big guys. Even a certain light skinned slay queen who had taken various photos in clubs like Kiza, a joint like Mercury lounge, with solialites like Huddah and in expensive cars and hotels wanted to see me when I swiped right on her profile on Tinder. I later unmatched her because she had a tummy and I am not going to tolerate such a lady unless she has my kids with me. This lady I was meeting also told me she was expecting a big guy with muscles and big arms. Photoshop nayo. Kwani nilijifunza Photoshop ya nini. It rectifies those blemishes and inadequacies that I have as a person. Si even celebrities photoshop themselves.


Claire told me that she rarely gets matched with dudes. I am thinking of creating a female profile on Tinder, downloading an app that can change my voice so that a person on the other end thinks that I am a lady when talking and then setting a date with a dude. Perv. I don’t think that will ever happen though because I love laughing a lot. I remember after finishing high school, I used to do that to a number of guys using my cousin’s Chinese phone.  There was one we chatted with for so long that he promised he was going to buy me fish and chips. That was not to be because there was a day I forgot to put the voice in female mode and he busted me as a result.


I had never known how Tinder works for ladies. Claire schooled me that she rarely gets matched. Which is how it should be by the way. A girl should wait for a dude to make the first move. If he does not, then you might not get a good response if you take it upon yourself to do the onus. My folly is that I don’t believe I can find a girl worth her salt on a platform like Tinder. When it comes to Claire, she does not look like a person who should be on that platform. She is gorgeous and pretty and her beauty is on another level. Maybe, I might be wrong, but she really is more than meets the eye. In this case, she is a better version of what you see in the pictures.


Me meeting her was a gamble. I had lost all hope in seeing a lovely and pretty chic whose body accentuates femininity. Her figure was nice, her face lean and feline. And she looked fine and spruced up for the occasion.


Certainly, I had wanted her to find me at an eatery. However, when she said she did not know some parts of the city, I decided to meet her near Kencom. I wanted to pull the Hilton thingy, but you know I am not good in magnifying situations.


When I spotted her, she was with a lady and a male colleague who she worked with. Being a little bit nervous, I went to her, but she told me to wait for a few minutes to finish with her buddies. Turns out that my blind dates have been with black beauties. Never mind that I don’t let the date progress after the first meeting. The first was about a decade ago, when I had just finished high school and wanted to connect with a female.


She finished with the dude and I had to accompany the two ladies to a copier to duplicate some of the documents they use for work. We went to a certain optical shop that also offered photocopy services. When they finished, we parted ways with her colleague and decided to walk to KFC. On our way, she told me she worked as a brand ambassador, a better name for a salesperson and that is how we clicked. She was working in sales and I had been a salesman before.


It happened that Claire is a a sanguine in temperament. Or perhaps she was buoyed and expressive that day. I could feel her touchy hands on my arms, her energy which was playful in a kind of way. I felt like she was feeling safe with me. Her tone was friendly, and it’s like I had known her for a very long time. I loved her sense of humour and the delectable giggles.


I was mistaken about KFC thinking that it would offer a serene environment that is luxurious and quieter. Turns out that the first thing I noticed was the level of noise. I can only imagine the chaos that would characterize the scene had it been a movie. Looks like I hate noise. I had to attest to it being an impediment to a good meal because sometimes some guys like us love it when the environment is calm before partaking of a meal. The fact that the eatery was so packed and the walls in the eatery not made with acoustic panels to absorb the sound was quite a pesky experience.


I intimated this later while filling the survey that promised to give me a bucket of 21 pieces of chicken even though I know that that is a white lie. My statistical knowledge on random numbers has made me never to love things to do with chance. That is the reason why I have not been betting or engaging in gambling. Like Buffet my mantra is never to lose money. The corollary is also true. Turns out that I never ate any of the meal offered that day at the eatery, I only drunk soda. I had eaten some mlima (meat heavy on bones laced with chili pepper to form the soup) and a litre of Ugali (I measured one litre of water that day) and finished the ugali. Compounded by the fact that I also drank a glassful of mango smoothie, I could not stomach those pieces of chicken. I never even took super that day. Claire kept asking me why I was not eating. But I was too full to add more into my system. It happens that she also hated the sauce preferring the more common Peptang sauce that is thick and tasty. I think she can never be friends with my sister who is addicted to Heinz.


What I love about her is that she is the kind of lady who rarely delves on the unknown. That is why she refused to take Krushers preferring soda instead.


I must compliment Claire for being such a lively and bubbly chic. We talked about so much. To ensure I remain focused to the conversation between she and I, I sat in a submissive position with my back facing other people. She was in a dominant position with her back facing the wall. I loved the confidence she had feeling at ease with her all that time we were together.


Guess she saw me as a potential groom but that is water under the bridge. I still want to remain tight lipped and preserve the best for the last. But I will go for another date with her once she comes form holiday.


Did I have a perfect time with her? Yes. She was not the kind who keeps on telling me that she needs to harry somewhere that day. I hate dates that are characterized by haste. That is why I never go for dates anymore.


I think fine chics should not be on Tinder. But what can betray us sometimes is our level of exposure. I noticed that Claire was not as highly exposed as some of the slay queens in Nairobi. I saw it in her face and nails that were untended because they were plain. But something amazing is that there was this waiter who could never get enough of her. He kept drooling at her and even came to our table to ask if she had requested for something. He came almost twice. Guess this Claire chic is a magnet. Like I said she had a charm in her and a potential she has failed to exploit.


Unfortunately, she is conservative and hates trying out new things. There are meals she saw and said that she would rather stick to chicken even though she prefers Fish to chicken. We all have our inhibitions at the end of the day. After more than three hours together, I walked her to the bus stage and she gave me a nice hug even though I was conjuring how I was going to give it to her in the event she refused to give me one.


Need I say that I slept a happy man.


Hasta La Vista BABY.


[Picture Source: Google Images]
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Friday 1 December 2017

LIFE OF DEBT

Life Of Debt

They normally descend on you very early in the morning. They are brutish henchmen who are heavily built, brawny and barrel-chested. Their craggy countenance tells that they mean business and they are tough. They are men for hire, and they don’t cost as much as the misery they put you through. Their aim is to inflict pain, torment, wreak havoc and instill fear. They do as instructed by their masters while high on pot with the gaze of a bloodthirsty assassin. Their ‘jicho nyanya’ eyes have a sharp gleam like that of a tiger staking its prey. A paycheck is nigh. You would think they are an elite intelligentsia that has been hired to work for the secret service. That means they have to trace and track your movement and as such they know where you live, work and hangout. Even the food you east and the colour of your underwear. Who told them you have all that they came for while you were in the dark on their swoop?


Life of debt. I hate it, but I still have to deal with it. We all have guys we owe or who owe us, even the richest country is indebted. If you don’t have a debt, then you are good. Probably a lover of maintaining the status quo, however an enemy of development. But as a person, you need debt, not necessarily monetary. But monetary debt is the best kind of debt. I wrote about debt a few months ago here. Now, I can boast that I have cleared my monetary debts, but I still have huge debts pending. Like, I have not finished doing my financial modelling course to become an amateur in that field. I have a backlog of other debts too. Consequently, I need to increase my practice rate and eschew complacency, otherwise I may end up being a dodo in that sphere of knowledge.


There is that sense of freedom that you experience when you have no debts. The hardest part is normally being able to pay back if you are doing it on your own. 'Kapesa kadogo huletaga problems'. Tiny debts are not good for a person’s wellbeing. They don't portend well to your credit score. It means you are reckless in your spending, living beyond your means. Which is bad enough.


There was a story I read eons ago where a guy who was living on the fast lane had to take his own life when push came to shove. He had been living a lie, his life was centred around loans, taking one loan to service another in order to appear cool. Hitherto, I was almost going that guy's way, only that I would neither consider a Russian roulette nor mercury in my case. I am yet to make money that gives me stress. Na juu ya hiyo story, deni lazima.


We all want to be viewed as successful, but we never love to deal with the consequences of success. Especially those that come with peer pressure and shoulder unwanted burden on our financial health. Deep down, you know you are disturbed by the thought of having someone’s money. But like happiness, it’s a thought that strikes you intermittently. You only think about it at ‘those times’. Me, I rarely borrow guys money. I think it is because of the fact that I hate the idea of being seen as broke. It loosely translates into you being that guy who loves madeni. A guy will change your contact name to 'Freddie wa madeni'. Immediately he sees your call or SMS, he connects the dots subconsciously. A plausible reason why I rarely borrow from friends is because I have sources that have no feelings when I borrow money from them. The only catch is they have a relentless reminder that I need to pay my loan, which I can do so in partial payments until I have paid the whole amount. And that paying faster means I qualify for an even bigger loan. 


I can only imagine if it was a guy I am paying back the money he has lent me in dosage. Yenyewe, paying a person in small amounts is not good. Because there is never any interest, you end up destroying your trust of being able to qualify for more. Say you asked for a modest 5,000. Then you want to give 200, sometimes 2,000, other times 100 until it reaches 5,000. I am sure you know what’s up when you do that to a person. But when it comes to an institution, they love it when you pay like that. In fact, they gain more. They gain in terms of the transaction fees and the fact that you are keeping them in operation because they have a predictable future source of income. You can imagine if 10 guys took a loan of 5,000 at an interest rate of 10% a month. Say 2 default, they end up being listed with the credit reference bureau. Then 3 pay the amount due upfront and the others pay pole pole.


Institution wise, the five who pay slowly are more highly regarded than those who pay at once. Those who pay at once will qualify for a bigger amount sooner, but they don’t wow lenders as much as those who pay slowly. That’s my thought as far as lending is concerned. Having worked in a bank, if you pay the loan you had taken earlier than usual, you deny the bank some income stream into the future and most hate that aspect. At least, you need to pay it for some time to enable the bank to reap from that income in its perspective. A possible reason is that you are reducing the certainty of future income they had budgeted for in the event you don’t default. That future income goes into paying for expenses and also forming a part of the revenue. But when you pay early, it forces the bank to look for another debtor and given the stringent policies involved in qualifying a customer for a product, the bank looks at you as both a blessing and a curse. A curse because you are giving them another job of finding clients to lend and breaching the terms of agreement that inflates their current books of account but thins it in the future which may make investors think it is doing well in the short-term while in reality it is only getting its future income now. It is a blessing in that they now have their money back and some profit from interest income and no worry of default which results in loan impairment. They can lend that money and the circle of lending continues.


A few years ago, banks had to levy a prepayment interest penalty to discourage people with loans from paying early. But that was a sick joke that served not in the interest of the bank because it also made customers angry that they were being charged for doing the right thing. If only banks were under obligation to pay a given amount of interest from loans to savers and investors, then that would make sense because it would have breached the rules of engagement put in place. But being custodians of assets, banks can easily invest in worthy income generating projects because they have a strong ability to check the credit-worthiness of a lendee. 


That said, I am now debt free and I seem to think that nothing has changed. After all, the more things change the more they remain the same. That is why some people never see the need to pay their debts. Crazy guys will even divert their income if on a standing order basis into ‘safer banks’ where they cannot be burdened with being required to pay that which they owe.


If only I had that trait, I would not have been able to eligible for credit that I currently qualify for. I normally take loans in various institutions and I had one big problem. I am the kind of guy who has taken heed of KCB bank’s soft loans social media policy. Ati, I take a loan from them to pay another loan. Bad for me because I pay more interest and that means I end up having less money on my sleeves. Normally, it is usually for a good course. You see, sometimes you are not having money to pay a loan which is due. In order not to default, you take a loan from somewhere else and voila, you are good to go. That is the whole essence of taking loans and the circle of being a slave to loans continues. There is never a time when you will not be having no loan if you don't plan well. Hence, when I finally finished paying my petty loans form five different sources, I heaved a sigh of relief, but I am broke again. The best part is that there is no soul that is feeling like it had to go through a lot when they saw me shaking legs or living a fantabulous life. Perhaps, creating an impression I was having a good life while not making any efforts to repay my debts. That's why they have those moments trying to reconcile the fact that they are having these miseries that money could solve yet you don’t want to pay back the cash you owed them.


I can reminisce a time in campus when I did lend a friend some money but when he got it, he refused to repay and by then I was broke as hell, I would sleep hungry then hope that things would change. In the morning when pangs would be on the ceiling, I would go to a friend room, then ask what he had prepared and whatever little there was, we could share. I normally used tact so as not to appear like I was in desperation. That is how you survive in campus. Probably the guy who owes you money asked for it in a club to buy beer swearing he will return it. Then you start seeing him rolling, going to clubs with fine girls as you wallow looking forlorn. It's like we only remember a debt when we are broke. Men, it's never funny when a guy has your money and is not willing to give it back. 'Ile machungu mtu huskia'. You have to pester like a guy asking an obstinate lady for a one-night stand but when you get it, you realize that you end up doing something worthless with the money.


The ease with which I am able to get loans is the reason why I also don’t like asking guys for money. You ask then a guy tells you, ‘Buda, leo niko wire, si ungojee hadi kesho kutwa.’ If you are like me, you will probably look for another guy to give you that cash. You don’t need the money after that long. Or another reason can be 'Kuna vile nimeshikana but next time ntakusort.' Others will tell you to borrow another friend promising to pay when they get it which is not even logical per se. Money you borrow now serves to solve something urgent that cannot be postponed in my school of thought.


I remember a certain parent who knew me way back in primary school telling me that you don’t say that ‘the trip has been pushed forward, you say it has been postponed.’ And I was in class three and this vocabulary Nazi was here telling me why I should have used a better word instead of 'pushed forward'.


I also love the speed it takes my account to be credited, it is normally very fast. You ask for it, the system approves and in less than ten minutes, you have your mullahs. On the contrary, if you ask a friend or relative for some ‘okoa jahazi’, you will have to wait as you may have interfered with that person’s financial plans. Obviously, we rarely set aside money that we put at an arm’s length for contingency. Even if we have the contingency, it is never for lending because we also have ad hoc. It is for a rainy day. And if the rainy-day never comes, it forms part of future investments. Now that I keep a close circle of buddies who are sometimes broke, I have to contend with lending or being the debtor.


There was a friend though, who really improved my credit profile. He would ask me to take loan on his behalf and he would repay it back with interest from the app that I was borrowing money from. I really did understand him. He was dealing with so much and given that he was meeting his end of the bargain, I never saw anything wrong with lending him that cash. Now I am able to take money from that platform as a result of the fact that he helped me get a good rating on the app with prompt payments. If it were not for him, I would have not been able to know and improve my rating on that platform.


Perhaps a better reason why I normally take a soft loan is because of the fact that I am of the notion that there is no friend of mine that can trust me with his 5k, more or less. Most appear like they live from hand to mouth. Just a few days into the month and they can only manage to pay recurrent bills that include fare, food, airtime and other basics. That’s my friends for you. I am hoping that with time, they will easily get the money and I will also be comfortable financially so that I can qualify for big mullah and not be subjecting my peanuts to paying interest.


Like I intimated, I am having this ease from the incessant messages from the various lenders reminding me that I need to pay back my loan. Albeit the alerts are sent with good faith and serving to remind us of what we need to do, they irritate and make you feel like a slave. You are never in peace. And for a person like yours truly, I fear being credit listed because it has various repercussions. For example, you may not be able to work in certain organizations and travel to some countries among other painful predicaments given the scenarios a listed person has to contend with.


The worst part is that you may have an urgent issue that only cash pap can solve. But because you have spoilt your credit history, you end up not being able to get that petty money. That is why I pay my debts and when a time will come when I urgently need the money, I will be smiling all the way to a money lender without risking the oppression that comes from a shylock.


A shylock is a debtor's worst nightmare when it comes to reclaiming what he lent. I have heard of stories where they descend on unsuspecting debtors in the wee hours of the morning. They usually use the marauding bouncers they have hired for a song to possess whatever valuables you have to cover the cost of the cash they lent and the services of the debt collectors. Arguably, the master of time value for money has to be a Shylock. Their folly is that they take more than deserved from hapless victims. After all, you are the only person who knows where you took the money lent. And a shylock never fears to take his pound of flesh.


P/S: Saving money in a locked account has negligible returns that when I compare the equities counters that I follow with the amount I got after six months, I am tempted to have a CDSC account for gaining on holding period return now that I am doing financial modelling. Money you save is worthless because it returns withdrawal fee, yet when you take a loan, you pay the principal and interest. This idea that interest is compounded on a daily basis is a fallacy. Ask anyone who has saved. You only get back what you saved.


Hasta La Vista Baby.


[Image Source: My own]
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