LIFE HACKS

Life can be difficult, I have come to learn how to make it easier over the years. A hack a day… or two keeps the doctor… or bottle away.

The calendar.

Most Africans don’t believe in the calendar guide for reminders and what not. See the calendar helps you see all events at once so that it’s hard for you to plan more than one event a day on the same time slot. I activated my calendar on about two months ago, safe to say I have never missed a meet since then, and… am always the first one there. Most smart phones have a calendar app already installed so all you have to do is learn how to use it. Get organized.

What to do with your old calendars; what I have learn over the years is that Calendars, especially those smaller desktop versions have the coolest pictures, and fittingly so because, i am sure those companies work hard to ensure that the pictures used are meaningful, and needless to say timeless. The DIY pro will be happy to hear this, recycle! I made this beautiful desktop clock with old wall clock bits, an old plastic container and a calendar pic. You can use them to make cards, bookmarks, frame them for beautiful wall hangings.... tear down older months and get creative!

 The salt remedy.

Do you watch Supernatural? The series, it’s been running like forever… beside the point, so according to the show, salt is used to line doors and windows to ward off evil… well mine is less creepy… so I live in a very wet area, borderline swampy, so especially on rainy seasons [NOW]… my worst nightmare comes to pass. No, it’s not evil!!! SNAILS! I hate those slimy things, so I learned that if I line the threshold of the doors and windows with salt, I can effectively keep them out. Do not forget the drains; bathroom and kitchen. See your life get easier already?

A salt gaggle can help with mouth sores and a salt soak with fungal and bacterial infections.

Moisturizer.

This tip is especially for the ladies. Moisturizer is Lotion, for the Kenyans in the building. So you spend about 300-500 shillings on an average cost 350ML bottle of lotion that lasts a person about two months, okay… those stats are of me. Then you spend about the same amount on a 50ML container of face moisturizer with a fancy name because you believe that your face needs special attention. What I have come to learn, whatever goes on your butt, can go on your face. Same person, same skin. Only difference is that the face is  exposed to a lot of things i.e. radiation, dust, cold… etc. thus the need for a layer of protection from the elements. A good lotion can save you from all that. Vitamin E in the lotion is good, a base product that is natural and safe. Scrub your face with mild scrubs like once a month, just before your cycle. Note that if you have coarse bathing sponge or scrubber thingy for showering… don’t scrub your face. You do that every day without knowing it, may be the reason why your face has pimples because it’s constantly irritated. Oh, and change your showering sponge often, because those things collect dirt and germs.

Fun fact; ‘siyangu’ is Luhya for the scrubber thingy for showering (not sure about the spelling – born Tao!)… Which translates to NOT MINE in English, I wonder why it’s called so, maybe because after so many uses they look so bad no one wants to own up that it’s theirs!

Running fearless

So I recently picked up the fitness thing that hit a lot of people this year, so in August 2015 I started running four times a week. If you know Kasarani, in the outskirts of Nairobi, you know that there are no paths to run on, so my running partner and I have to run on the main road, and endure the stares! And dodge cars especially public transport vehicles. But what is most annoying is the people who will always find words to tell you. Some things people say, you feel like they don’t have a filter! It’s utterly infuriating… so this one time I ran with my cousin from the army and he ran in his army clothes! And NO ONE SAID A WORD TO US…soooooo, I came up with a new strategy, I got myself camouflage pants for my four day a week runs, if fear is the only way to scare off on-looking rattle mouthed commentators who  have a lot to say and do not have the courage to run themselves, then so be it. They think am in the army… i.e. FEAR TACTICS!!! HAHAHAHAHHA *^{EVIL LAUGH}.

That’s all for now. Thanks for the read, don’t forget to share.

PS; say a prayer for Paris.

Nekh.