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Sunday, February 26, 2012

Nuptials...

Yesterday, I was at the engagement ceremony of a friend of mine – actually two friends of mine. It was a simple but elegant ceremony. Their love started while they were in the university.
As I sat through the ceremony – as I often do, I was occasionally lost in thought. My own relationship flashed through my mind. I thought of my girlfriend and the love we share. The better boyfriend I have become due to her constant care, encouragement, advice and belief in me. There were times I disappointed her and frustrated her, but she’s been by my side through it all.
The issue of the influence of society also set in and I admired my friends the more for staying true to themselves and their ideals and feelings.
A number of my friends present at the ceremony – myself inclusive – were dating back in school. Most of these relationships have fallen on rocks. Some had dragged on for a long while before dissolving, mostly due to external influences from society: gratitude to a partner thought of what society would say; the fear of starting all over, et cetera.
Truth is, being true to oneself is key. Be yourself. Be honest. Play fair.

Thursday, February 2, 2012

Expresso CliQ modem -- my experience

Competition in the telecommunication industry in Ghana has been rife in the last couple of years, forcing telecom companies to strive to satisfy their customers. Customers now have a great deal of alternatives to choose from.
One area where competition has been keen is the provision of Internet/Web services. This is due to the fact that a great number of Ghanaians own mobile phones and PCs for personal use. This has seen the introduction of modems by these companies. A lot of grievances have been made by friends of mine who have used one or the other of these modems by the various telecom networks/companies.
Personally, I have used only two of such modems: the ones provided by the tigo and expresso networks; I must say I enjoy the expresso service better. A couple of reasons why:
- for the same data plan (eg. 1GB), expresso is cheaper (GH¢15 as compared to tigo's GH¢25).
- the connecivity of expresso is more stable and faster than that provided by tigo.
I am sure other users who have experienced the Internet/Web service provided by expresso may add reasons as to why or not they enjoy the service.
The last couple of days, however, have seen me undergo a negative experience with my CliQ modem.
I couldn't connect to the Internet albeit I had 300+MB of data usage left! I therefore recharged with an amount of GH¢5 and was able to connect. The same thing happened a while later -- I had 200+MB data usage left. I checked my credit balance and it was GH¢4.93. After another try, I was connected. Checking my balance after another disconnection showed I had 93MB left. I therefore decided to recharge with GH¢15 -- the required amount for the 1GB data plan. Surprisingly, my request for the data plan was not confirmed. . I was frustrated. I called the customer service and after a while I was connected.
I later conferred with a friend who apparently has had the same unfortunte experience. I believe this is one of the few cases expresso has to deal with. That notwithstanding, I think the Internet/Web service provided by expresso is among the best -- if not the best -- in Ghana.
I'm waiting for Globacom's Internet/Web service(s). Who knows, I may just be blown away.