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Monday, December 17, 2012

Filling Stations...Day Light Roguery!






I feel very sad that this fuel scarcity of a thing in Lagos is still on after several weeks. The amount of traffic this scarcity cause is tremendous. What makes it even more bitter for me is the fact that upon the scarcity and silly queues you end up even paying more for the fuel. You know, its like you are being cheated and you know it but not being able to do anything about it.

It occurred to me one day after buying some fuel, I asked the driver, "the fuel in the car should be more than this ah ah what happened?" He explain that he bought the fuel at N110 per litre instead of the usual N97. Meanwhile the price advertised at the filling station was N97. So I told him to buy from other filling stations that sold at N97 next time.

He got to Total filling station another day and had to pay N200 nozzle fee before the fuel was sold to him. Nozzle Fee? What is Nozzle fee? Wonders shall never end in my lovely Lagos State. So whose pocket is this nozzle fee going into?

Anyway, this morning I discovered this trend going on especially with the filling stations around me, what they do is this: those ones that sell at N97 per litre sell in the mornings a bit into the afternoon, then the rogues open in the afternoons and towards the evening when the N97 per litre ones stop selling. So basically once the N97 per litre ones are not not selling the N110 litre ones start selling. If your tank is almost empty you wouldn't have a choice but to buy from them or if you didn't have the opportunity to leave work ontime. I know that NNPC filling stations don't get involved with that dodgy deal.




Those big eyed attendants will build houses from the illegal money they are making from selling petrol at silly prices. They actually act like its their right. I challanged one lady fuel assistant the other day, she even brought out her calculator to explain to me that they sold at N110(though N97 was advertised on their board) at their own filling station and she had that kind of attitude that said "If you don't want to pay, please step aside, who is next?". I didn't have a choice but to pay, my fuel tank was almost empty and the other customers were busy saying "ah madam, thats how we buy it here o".

So, instead of fighting with fuel attendants, I target filling stations that sell at N97 per litre and don't charge nozzle fee.


How have you all been coping with the fuel scarcity?

You can also read a post I wrote a couple of years ago about my cousin's experience at a filling station here

Monday, December 3, 2012

Christian Louboutin: I don't care if my high heels hurt women



Yesterday night, while searching for something on the internet I stumbled on this contradicting piece below. This article really caught my attention maybe because I would be attending a wedding later today and plan on wearing a pair of Louboutin that I had been dying to wear since May(didn't want to waste the shoes, been waiting for the right event to wear them to).

After reading this article below, I am uncertain of how I feel about the cobler, Mr Louboutin. There is something about his attitude that seems funny.

Please read an extract from the article I found online below to further understand what I am trying to explain. I have also included some comments the article got.

Here we go...


Christian Louboutin, the shoe designer, has said it does not matter to him if women are in pain when they wear his shoes saying: "If you can't walk in them, then don't wear them."


Cobbler, Christian Louboutin Photo: Andrea Klarin

Louboutin said high heels are ''pleasure with pain'' adding that he had no sympathy for women's complain about wearing the shoes because he once saw Tina Turner perform for three hours in Madison Square Garden in New York wearing a pair.


He told Grazia magazine: ''I really have not so much sympathy. If Tina Turner and Prince's back-up band can perform on stage in them for three hours, you can't tell me they are impossible to walk in. High heels are pleasure with pain. If you can't walk in them, don't wear them.''

(I have added some comments that this article got below)

COMMENTS

darrenp

Sack the PR team! Call the medics!


Jaykay25a

If ever there was a reason not to buy this ghastly mans overrated footwear, he has just provided it.


Thomasgoodey

There's a fool born every minute, and that includes the women who buy these things


Romancitizen

I find that when I arrive to referee a rugby match, my pair of silver 4 inch stilettos always creates an impression amongst the players, especially those from Gloucester.


Songe_Marie

I knew I wasn't trippin! Louboutins hurt everyone's feet! Smh and he don't even care lol


http://fashion.telegraph.co.uk/news-features/TMG9210721/Christian-Louboutin-I-dont-care-if-my-high-heels-hurt-women.html

(END)

To be very honest, in as much as those shoes are sometimes eye catching especially because of the red soles, they are sometimes uncomfortable, I have also heard a couple of people complain about how uncomfortable Louboutin's are. But the interesting thing is that we still wear them :)

Could it be that Mr Louboutin is not interested in making efforts towards giving his customers value for money(Value in the sense of finding ways to make the shoes more comfortable since alot of women seem to be complaining, and humility in the sense that if there are no ways to make them comfortable, can he be a little more selective with his choice of words or just keep quiet)? because in my opinon, not all high heeled shoes are uncomforble, there are some that you wear that are actually fit just fine and you wouldn't need to keep taking them off when you sit down.

Anyway, I would love to see you comments. Do you own a pair of Loubutins? are they comfortable? Even if you don't own one, what do you think about Mr Louboutin's statement?


(Shoes I would be wearing later today)


Christian Louboutin is a French footwear designer whose footwear has incorporated shiny, red soles that have become his signature. A pair of Louboutin shoes cost between $500 to $5000 depending on the style.