Hidden hazards of working in Lagos
Today of all days we needed a stable working environment as we absolutely had to get an important document delivered by 4pm. As it turned out, all manner of obstacles were put in our path.

First, when I had all my spreadsheets, etc. open the computer crashed; but that could happen anywhere. My colleague Olav's PDA had also just got a virus.

Then Olav, who had just moved to the office next to mine, suddenly got water pouring in through his ceiling because of the heavy rain. He went out report it, when he heard a crash. The noise turned out to be the ceiling in his old office, lights and all, collapsing on top of the desk! It could have been nasty! After that, we had Maintenance all over the building, checking that no more ceilings were going to collapse on us! To cap it all, we found out that all the contract staff had gone on strike and blockaded the entrance to the company we wanted to reach!

There was no time to break for lunch, but the MD had asked one of the stewards to bring us lunch in the meeting room where we had campled out. We were served fried sole with a ruccola and tomato salad. It was delicious!

Timing was tight, but the MD had all the logistics worked out. Fortunately, the company was still able to receive letters during the strike. The boatman had been mobilised to carry the document across the creek and avoid the traffic. A driver had set off 2 hours earlier to wait for the boat and another driver was outside the office with the engine running, waiting to take the document to the boat. They got it delivered and stamped with the date and time with 5 mins to spare!

That evening, Olav and I celebrated by going weight training with Halvor, followed by a pitcher of marguerita. We then went back and got changed and went to Bonzai for a sushi with beer and saki. It was a great evening, only slightly spoiled when I woke up in the night with food poisoning...

Jeremy