Nyerere's Butiama straggles with district status

How we remember the good old times when Butiama retained the character of a village! The new reality struck home recently after I strained my ankle, having fallen off my bicycle.

Remember the good old days when, if hurt, you could receive medical attention in hospital by obtaining the Police Form 3 (PF3) and then proceeding to hospital for treatment? The law has apparently received a minor, critical, change.

I was told that the current procedure for issuing the form would require police to file a case against me before I get the treatment. The police officer explained his predicament (and mine) and asked aloud: "Now what can we charge with you?"

I almost offered the following suggestion: "Riding a bicycle in a reckless manner, with total disregard for my own safety and consequently injuring myself." But I thought it wise not to tempt him.

But he was helpful. He told me to go to the hospital and explain to the doctor that I hurt myself while cycling and ask the doctor to provide treatment. I did, and the doctor accepted my explanation.

Mwalimu Nyerere said, a long time ago, that residents of Butiama should remain residents of a village. The government had other ideas and decided that Butiama should become a district. This new procedure for processing the PF3 form probably has nothing to do with Butima having being designated a district, but it is likely that we are at the beginning of the end of village life as we know it.

Mwalimu Nyerere rides a bicycle.

The era of falling of a bicycle and ending up in court for reckless cycling has arrived.

Here's the ultimate in old school syncing

I have had enough hard disk crashes, and lost enough mobile phones to know that traditional methods of storing information are more reliable than the latest computer based backup systems,

Nothing beats pen and paper when it comes to preserving your data. And nothing beats backing up your information written on paper than a backup system that is based on pen and paper.

So, for a while, I have been experimenting with just that; backing up my information on my personal diary with a desk-based larger diary.

My information backup system.

It is extremely reliable, no doubt, but it consumes much more time than a few clicks on the laptop. Maybe I'll just postpone this old new way of recording information and post it at the end of my todo items for next year. That is, on my desk diary.