Whose hair is it anyway?

A few weeks ago I was at the salon doing my hair when a very strange conversation happened. Rachael has been doing my hair since I first permed it in standard 8. We’ve gone through the good, the bad and the ugly. The long and the not so long hair.
So someone had asked where nani had disappeared to and before I knew it everyone was looking at me expectantly waiting to hear the explanation. Well she got married and had a baby, that’s where she disappeared to. Then the hateration begun.
So apparently Rachael was not at all happy about losing such a well paying client and proceeded to declare that now someone else was reaping the benefits of her hard work. She explained that she had in fact laid the foundation, nurtured the hair to health, only for it to be taken away by this ungrateful client.
Before I knew it I had been sucked into a vortex I had not anticipated. Rachael proceeded to ask me why I don’t go to her to retouch my hair anymore. I explained that I had changed from a regular perm to a texturizer which at the time I made the change; she was both unwilling and unable to do. This she vehemently denied saying that now she was NOW both willing and able to it so can I bring back the service to which I said, no thanks. Why? Because I’m good where I am. Geoffrey is doing good things to my hair so unless and until something changes in our arrangement. I’m staying put.
But Rachael was not taking no for an answer. It was come back or else...! Or else what? She’ll cut and/or damage my hair? Jaribu! Go right ahead!
So after I realised she was not going to take no for an answer I told her I’d think about it and then we’ll see. Needless to say that ain't happening. Especially because my scalp has become so sensitive these days and Rachael and her pals never listen to any instructions you give them then when things go wrong, they proceed to put the blame squarely on you.
Besides the little nuts have increased their prices sooooo much that now it’s just a chore to go do my hair there. I get it done for half or less the price only 2 bus rides away and since I now only do my hair on Sundays, it costs me just Ksh. 40 for that bus ride that costs Ksh. 60 any other day and I still mage to save. The reason, they claimed, was because of the increased electricity costs so I asked what does the razor/tweezers they use to do my eye brows have to do with electricity?...silence...!
So instead of spending Ksh. 300 on a dry set, I take my two buses/mats and spend Ksh. 150 the cost of which totals Ksh. 190. I end up saving Ksh. 110 every week.
My monthly pedicure that used to cost me Ksh. 600 now costs Ksh. 400.
It makes you wonder where kina Wanja, who now does my sets, get their electricity coz it doesn’t seem like they are getting it from the same KPLC/ KenGen, which they are.

So Rachael is just going to have make do with those suckers who’re not onto their thuggish tendencies. My hard earned money is going to the salon that is good to my pocket and that has the good sense to SHARE the increased cost of doing business with me, the customer, rather than just passing it on to me directly. After all if we argue that you should stick with the hair dresser you started off with then Wanja wins that one. She started doing my hair when I was all of 6-7 years old.

Pruductivity=NIL

You know things are thick when guys in the office congregate around one desk and start chapaing storos. Its hot and circulation in our office is an amazing 2.3%. So by 11:00AM the system slowly starts to shut down.

Was it not for the goody-two-shoes I swear we'd have left work at 3:00PM like the boss did! Sucks to be us.

Now to perfect the act of looking busy while you're bored out of your brain!

Not so hot Hot Properties!

There is a new show on KBC called “Hot Properties”. Unfortunately, I am not entirely sure what the aim of this show is exactly despite its obvious name.

The show’s host Barbara M’Mbaka shows a “client” around two or three furnished houses and apartments in an attempt to rent them out to his company’s senior management. However in the twenty or so minutes that I watched this show, at no time did Miss M’Mbaka tell us, the audience, anything about what went into creating those houses and since I assume that Hot Properties is supposed to be our own kind of House and Home I am sad to say that it fell very, VERY short of its objective.

The show is sponsored by a local paint company yet at no time did she tell us which paints went into the painting the rooms or even the rationale behind the colour scheme.

Since these were furnished houses you would think that she would have the wisdom to tell us where we can get the exact same or similar furniture be it the local supermarket (now super store) or furniture store, etc.

As we are quite stuck in this tile-obsessed phase, I would have expected her to tell us which tiles were used and where we could find them.

There were carpets and rugs in the rooms that were not once mentioned or even referred to, the same went for the numerous paintings and mirrors that adorned the walls.

The only information that was forthcoming was that “the house is NICE”, “the colours are NICE”, the furniture is NICE”, and “the bathroom is NICE and spacious” etc.

So short of knowing that the house had so many bedrooms and bathrooms, the only thing we discovered was that they were all NICE!

You don’t have to be an interior designer or OD on House and Home, etc to know that the point of a show, ANY show is to give people as much information as possible about not just how they can acquire what you are selling but also how they can get it done themselves.

The hostess herself was sight to behold and I don’t mean that NICEly. She was dressed in a print skirt suite made from local material that was lovely save for the fact that she looked like she was about ready to burst out of it. It was soooo tight and inappropriate especially since she was swinging herself like a cat that had found the milk. She was ill informed and unprofessional to say the least. Then to crown it all off her weave had taken on a life of its own and was rearranging itself as it pleased throughout the show.

I believe that with just a bit of help Hot Properties can become a really good show. If only it was done professionally, all it takes is a little hard work. Do some research, be creative, and sell the product. Sell the show like you would sell anything else. Approach more than just one paint company and create some healthy competition. Bring in furniture stores, carpet emporiums, tile shops, fixture specialists, interior design companies, the works and you’ll be amazed at how big this show can get.

This is a niche show that has not been done by anyone else so substandard in not an option. As soon as another station picks it up, KBC can say good bye to that one for sure.

With all that potential, it’s dumbfounding how anyone can go so wrong!