Nothing

I have always been intrigued as I travel around Addis and the countryside how people can sit in one place doing nothing for what seems to be forever. When I go to work in the AM I see endless numbers of people sitting say on a pile of rocks, by themselves or in the company of others. They seem to set and sit and sit as time passes and who knows how long they are there. I am pretty sure sometimes I will be out and about in the same area hours later and they are still there. It's even more evident in the country where people are observed sitting under a tree and have probably been there for hours.

So I decided to try this today. I hobbled down to the common area and parked myself in a chair. I lasted about an hour and could not stand it any longer. I went upstairs and retrieved my reading glasses, computer, and book and am back downstairs passing the time doing what comes naturally ... not what comes unnaturally ... doing nothing.

The stitches are out of my finger and I am looking forward to its healing properly. There is still a bit of swelling but it is down a lot. The residue of scabbing is left over so that should clean itself up hopefully over the next few days.

I met with Ato Mussa and Mesfin at work Friday to discuss deliverable #13 on my contract. This relates to "Improve IBEX2 Design", where I am expected to gather evidence and report on my findings/feelings about whether I believe the new system is an improvement over the old. I returned affirmative with a 40 or so page document to support my findings. My 2 MoFED colleagues refused to signoff since they believe the complete system has to be in place to truly assess whether the underlying design/architecture is an improvement over IBEX1. Basically, as we say in the west, the meeting Friday confirmed that we have "agreed to disagree". As a result of this impasse, the vendor will be paid for the deliverable and I will not. My contract states that both parties (i.e., the auditor and MoFED) must sign-off to facilitate my being paid.