Blizzard in Connecticut

John Videler's photo of snowstorm.

John Videler’s photo of snowstorm.

Massive Snowstorm

Are you in the path of the blizzard that is underway? I hear the reporter on public radio calling it a massive snowstorm.

The photographer across the street took this picture. I found it in Dan Woog’s blog. I put ‘frosting’ on it.

We’re in part of coastal Connecticut where the blizzard watch is in effect until early morning on Sunday.

I’ve been communicating with the other planners of the event for Yale Women Connecticut that is scheduled for tomorrow, Sunday, at 2 pm at our home.

Looks like we should cancel, or actually postpone. We had set a snow date of two weeks from now, so we have the date set. We can fit six cars in our driveway, but that will be difficult with the plowed snow on each side.

Our neighbors let guests park in their driveway. But our visitors still have to walk across the road and down the hill thirty or forty feet, no fun on the snow.

UPDATE: Yale Women Author Event postponed until Feb. 7!

Is Nigeria Trapped?

How will Nigeria cope with the low – and falling – price of oil? Can the country develop a robust industrial sector?

Zainab speaking at FES Conference; their photo

Zainab speaking at FES Conference; their photo.

Zainab Usman spoke recently at a conference “organised to discuss attempts by African countries, especially resource producers and exporters, to cope with the ongoing collapse in global commodity prices.” She wrote about the conference and her research on her blog, Zainab’s Musings.

She says, “This is within the global context of a renewed interest in industrialisation with the launch of the Sustainable Development Goals (see my post on it here), the role of governments in enabling private sector activity and in directing public investments towards stimulating industry.”

You can read her complete conference presentation.

Do you know how many UN Sustainable Development Goals there are? (37?) Do you know which ones deal with industrial activity? I’m guessing at the first, and don’t know the answer to the second, but I should! These goals are relevant to UN Women’s interests.

Zainab’s research is a “political economy analysis of Nigeria’s efforts, since the transition to democracy in 1999, to diversify its economy away from dependence on oil in GDP, export earnings and government revenue.”

There is a precis of her research on the Oxford University website. It concludes, “[My research] analyses . . regional economic performance in two of Nigeria’s major economic hubs, Lagos and Kano, measured by their respective Internally Generated Revenue (IGR). The study employs an institutional approach, and also borrows from elite theory.”

I think I can understand ‘Internally Generated Revenue,’ although I may be way off. But what is an institutional approach, and what is elite theory? These are beyond me. Any economists who want to explain?

Almost Spoken in Haste 

I came out of my shower stall at the gym on Friday morning and wrapped the towel around my drying body. As I walked back to the locker room, I saw a towel on the floor outside the stall near me where I knew a woman had been showering.

Why would she leave her towel on the floor? Who did she think would/should pick it up?

She was dressing at the bench across from me, just a few feet away. I watched as she went to one of the two small shelves where we put on make-up and dry our hair. She took the bottle of lotion to her bench.

I didn’t want the lotion, but I wanted to remind her it didn’t belong to her alone! How thoughtless she was!

From the article Locker Room Etiquette

From the article Locker Room Etiquette

Not my place to speak out, I said to myself. I don’t know what’s going on in her life. Who am I to chastise her?

But it was hard not to tell her she was being rude! Of course the cleaner would pick up the towel later, but still. . other women would be using the showers before the cleaner came in. And others might want the lotion and not realize it belonged to the gym, not to her!

She finished dressing before me. To my complete surprise, she walked back to the shower area, picked up the towel, and threw it in the laundry basket where it belonged. As she walked out of the locker room she replaced the lotion on the shelf.

I took to heart the lesson that I should think carefully before speaking out of annoyance or my sense of rightousness! I am not the world’s judge!

I found a good piece by a Huffington Post blogger about how to behave in the locker room. The picture is from the same article which I also found in Everyday Health.

The author didn’t include the advice, “Don’t correct others.” Maybe he should have!

How Many Countries ‘Fit’ in the African Continent?

True size of Africa chart

True size of Africa chart

I usually include in my speaking presentations this chart from The Economist. Audience members are always surprised.

The red is China, the orange is India. You can tell the U.S. Other countries fit too! You can see it better here.

It was part of my presentation to the Westport Rotary in November.

A couple of days ago Rick Benson, extremely active Westport Rotarian, stopped by to ask if I could give him that slide. He’s speaking soon about his Rotary trip to Nigeria as part of the polio eradication efforts. I sent it right away.

I’m thinking I’ll ask him or another Rotarian, maybe current president Jane, to invite me to that meeting. He told me briefly where he went, but I’d like to hear more about his trip. I’ll share details with you if I go.

Church Cancelled

Our music director just called to say church tomorrow is cancelled. Another day of staying in! Feels like a holiday.

 

 

 

Author: Catherine Onyemelukwe

Author, blogger, speaker. Born in New York, grew up in mid west United States, lived in Nigeria for 24 years, back in U.S. since 1986. Advocate for racial justice.

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