A Positive Quote for Now

"We delight in the beauty of the butterfly, but rarely admit the changes it has gone through to achieve that beauty."— Maya Angelou


Explosion at Home

A True Story
by
Copyright ©
Picture related to the title of the story
With permission, I've extracted this picture-quote from Poets. All rights reserved worldwide.

Yesterday, I woke up to a beautiful morning here in Kiserian and started crooning the wonderful old hymn "Angels We Have Heard on High" as I made my bed. Then I thanked God for the restful night I had and recited the Lord's Prayer.

So that Mum wouldn't interrupt me when I was reading the previous day's paper, I went to the living room and switched on our smart-TV which she likes watching. But before settling down to read the paper, I headed to the loo.

I hadn't walked more than three metres when I heard an explosion. On turning my head, I saw it was a gadget called TV-Guard that had blown up. How I wished someone else had switched the TV on! Obviously because I feared being blamed for the damage.

Not long afterwards, Dad called me about from his workplace in Nairobi to inform me there was a power surge in our home area that was destroying electrical equipment. Phew, I was relieved.

Perhaps because I didn't warn anyone at home about the power surge, I heard my nephew Roy tell Mum that someone wanted a bulb switched on. He switched it on - and bam! - it blew up in a deafening sound that frightened Mum out of her wits.

The explosion, which was louder than that of the TV-Guard, also shook me up. And to prevent further damage, I turned off electricity on the main switch. Then I told Roy there would be no more watching of the telly. He came visiting last week with his two sisters.

Besides blowing up the TV-Guard and the bulb, the power surge had also damaged two phone chargers and the extension Dad used to connect his printer and laptop to electricity. The darn power surge was that devastating.

Fortunately, I hadn't switched on my laptop and piano keyboard - my most treasured possessions - during the power surge. They were therefore spared from damage. How fortunate!

**********************
RECOMMENDATION: If you've enjoyed this story, you might also enjoy "A Glitch That Frustrated Me".
---------------------------------------------------------------------

Spread the Love

Facebook icon X icon LinkedIn icon

Allowing Others a Mistake

A True Story
by Thuita J. Maina
on Apr 2, 2022
Copyright ©
Picture related to the title of the story
With permission, I've extracted this picture-quote from AZ Quotes. All rights reserved worldwide.

Last Monday evening, I went to a certain supermarket to buy my favorite bread. As usual, I picked one that costs KSh 70. Then I went to a cashier who scanned it. I gave her a KSh 200 note, expecting her to give me KSh 130 in change.

But alas! She gave me KSh 110, meaning she subtracted KSh 90. Of course I asked her why she had sold the bread to me at KSh 90 instead of KSh 70 as shown on the bread bag. A young lady assisting her quickly intervened.

Agreeing with me that the bread was priced at KSh 70, the lady went to the supermarket bread shelf to look into the matter. I followed her. She confirmed that the bread was supposed to be sold at KSh 70.

Unhappily, she told me there was no way I could get KSh 20 since my receipt had already been processed. I did protest, rather humbly, for being forced to pay for a mistake that wasn't mine.

Insisting that I couldn't get KSh 20, the lady requested me to pick a KSh 90 bread. I agreed to her request but sadly, we didn't find such bread on the shelf. She then asked two other supermarket employees to help her sort out the issue.

They, too, confirmed the bread I had picked was retailing at KSh 70 and then they saw it had been packed in a bag for KSh 90 bread. That's why the scanner had made the cashier charge me KSh 90.

As the employees contemplated what to do, they called one of the bakers. The baker came strutting with floury hands and with good news - there was KSh 90 bread in the bakery. He went for it and gave it to me.

Though they apologized to me, I exited the supermarket feeling frustrated because the mix-up had wasted about 15 minutes of my time. (And 15 minutes is a lot of time given that I can read a Reader's Digest story in those minutes.)

Not wanting the mix-up to sour my Monday evening, I looked at the sunny side of the situation. I thought of the kindness the supermarket employees had shown to me and then realized the mix-up was part of the mistakes we humans make.

As for me, I've done more mistakes than I care to remember, like forgetting where I've kept some things. And I will never forget the morning in 2012 when I wrote an SMS for Dad and sent it to Mum. To be human!

*********************
RECOMMENDATION: If you've enjoyed this story, you might also enjoy "Mistakes That Made Me Grow".
---------------------------------------------------------------------

Spread the Love

Facebook icon X icon LinkedIn icon
← Newer Stories  ||   Older Stories →

Connect With Me

Do you want to get regular updates of new stories and videos on this blog? Then connect with me on:
Facebook iconFacebook
X iconX
LinkedIn iconLinkedIn
Goodreads iconGoodreads
RSS Feed iconRSS Feed
WhatsApp iconWhatsApp


Latest Stories

Dream Come True
on December 24, 2025

Lessons From the White-Supporter Tree
on December 17, 2025

A Joke I Stopped Cracking
on December 11, 2025

Bible Quote

"Always be full of joy in the Lord; I say it again, rejoice! Let everyone see that you are unselfish and considerate in all you do... Don't worry about anything; instead pray about everything; tell God your needs and don't forget to thank Him for His answers. If you do this, you will experience God's peace, which is far more wonderful than the human mind can understand."

~Phillipians 4:4-7 (TLB)

About the Author

Name: Thuita J. Maina
Marital status: Single
Lives in: Kiserian, Rift Valley, Kenya
Mission: To inspire the world to godly living, one person at a time.

Just for Laughs

There was this drunkard called Azoge who loved drinking at Josiah's Bar. On being told a certain Hon. Nanga was flying to America to be conferred a law degree so that he could be admitted to the bar, Azoge replied, "Why fly all the way to America to be admitted to the bar while you can get into Josiah's Bar any time?"



The 7 Deadly Sins

  1. Pride
  2. Envy
  3. Gluttony
  4. Lust
  5. Anger
  6. Greed
  7. Sloth

Author's Note

I am learning to treat life as a journey, not a destination; I have therefore given up the things that weighed me down and I am now living my life to the fullest because the tomorrow I had always hoped to live my dreams may never be mine.

Fun Facts

  1. The fear of having no cell-phone service, running out of battery, or losing sight of your phone is called Nomophobia, reportedly affecting 66% of people.
  2. A single Google search needs more computing power than it took to send Apollo 11 to the moon. The Apollo computer was less equipped than a modern toaster.
  3. Besides being some of the biggest names in the tech industry, HP, Apple, Google and Microsoft share another commonality. They all started in garages.
~Extracted from Codingforums.com

Health Tips

"So many of us take for granted the wonderful construction of the human body and the workings of its various parts. Some of us even expect it to function efficiently with less than the minimum care and attention. Learn the much you can about your body and how the care of it can help give you that greatest blessing of all - good health."

~From Your Body (A Ladybird Book)

Wonders of the Modern World

  1. The Simplon Tunnel
  2. The Sky-scrapers of New York
  3. The Boulder Dam of Colorado
  4. The Panama Canal
  5. The Golden Gate Bridge
  6. The Taj Mahal at Agra in India
  7. The North Sea Oil Drilling Rigs

The Kind of Leaders We Need

"My life in politics was a joy. I loved campaigns and I loved governing. I always tried to keep things moving in the right direction, to give more people a chance to live their dreams, to lift people's spirits, and to bring them together. That's the way I kept score."

~Bill Clinton

Scientific Marvels

  1. Space travel
  2. Heart surgery
  3. Fibre-optics communication
  4. Concorde
  5. Radios
  6. Computers
  7. Anesthetics

My Supreme Desire

To borrow the words of Elbert Hubbard, my supreme desire is to radiate health, cheerfulness, calm courage and goodwill. I wish to live without fear, hate, guilt, worry and jealousy; to be honest, natural, confident, clean in mind and body - ready to say "I do not know" if it be so; to treat all men with kindness; and to meet any loss, failure, criticism and rejection unabashed and unafraid.



Greatest American Presidents

  1. Abraham Lincoln
  2. George Washington
  3. Thomas Jefferson
  4. Franklin Roosevelt
  5. Theodore Roosevelt
  6. Woodrow Wilson
  7. Andrew Jackson

Making Peace With the Past

"Dwell not on your past. Use it to illustrate a point, then leave it behind. Nothing really matters except what you do now in this instant of time. From this moment onwards you can be an entirely different person, filled with love and understanding, ready with an outstretched hand, uplifted and positive in every thought and deed."

~Eileen Caddy

Toughest Colleges to Get Into

  1. MIT
  2. Princeton
  3. Harvard
  4. Yale
  5. Stanford
  6. Brown
  7. Columbia

Why You Should Trust God

"Men and women who turn their lives over to God will find out that He can make a lot more out of their lives than they can. He will deepen their joys, expand their vision, quicken their minds, strengthen their muscles, lift their spirits, multiply their blessings, increase their opportunities and pour out peace."

~Ezra Taft Benson

The 7 Greatest Scientists

  1. Albert Einstein
  2. Isaac Newton
  3. Galileo Galilei
  4. Nikola Tesla
  5. Aristotle
  6. Archimedes
  7. Charles Darwin

You Matter

"Always be yourself. Never try to hide who you are. The only shame is to have shame. Always stand up for what you believe in. Always question what other people tell you. Never regret the past; it's a waste of time. There's a reason for everything. Every mistake, every moment of weakness, every terrible thing that has happened to you, grow from it. The only way you can ever get the respect of others is when you show them that you respect yourself and most importantly, do your thing and never apologize for being you."

~Unknown

The Most Industrialized Nations

  1. United States
  2. Japan
  3. Germany
  4. France
  5. United Kingdom
  6. Italy
  7. Canada

Keys to Success

"...in his effort to withstand temptation, to economize, to exercise thrift, to disregard the superficial for the real - the shadow for the substance; to be great yet small, in his effort to be patient in the laying of a firm foundation; to so grow in skill and knowledge that he shall place his services in demand by reason of his intrinsic and superior worth. This is the key that unlocks every door of opportunity, and all others fail."

~Booker T. Washington

The 7 Social Sins

  1. Politics without principle
  2. Wealth without work
  3. Pleasure without conscience
  4. Knowledge without character
  5. Commerce without morality
  6. Worship without sacrifice
  7. Science without humanity

Cherish What You Love

"Cherish your visions, cherish your ideals, cherish the music that stirs in your heart, the beauty that forms in your mind, the loveliness that drapes your purest thoughts - for out of them will grow all heavenly environment, of these if you but remain true to them, your world will at last be built."~James Allen

The World's Largest Cities

  1. London in England
  2. New York in the United States
  3. Tokyo in Japan
  4. Berlin in Germany
  5. Chicago in the United States
  6. Shanghai in China
  7. Paris in France

Benefits of Optimism

"In terms of success, optimistic people out perform their pessimistic colleagues. Research shows that they are consistently promoted higher and make more money while working fewer hours than those who think pessimistically. Optimists also contribute more significantly to social progress. It is the optimists who start and run successful companies, who win elections and carry out reforms, and who make breakthroughs in the realms of science and technology."

~Pepe Minambo

The World's Greatest Lakes

  1. Caspian Sea in the Commonwealth of Independent States, C.I.S. (formerly U.S.S.R)
  2. Lake Superior in North America
  3. Victoria Nyanza in Central Africa
  4. Aral Sea in C.I.S.
  5. Lake Huron in North America
  6. Lake Michigan in North America

Demonstrating His Love

"Take your communication for instance - the way you address others. It ought to be with loving, gracious and edifying words. Never talk people down. Never use words that hurt and demean people. Communicate excellently with others without destroying their self-image or making them feel sorry for themselves. Talk to people in a way that they never forget the excellence of your words, the love and grace of Christ that you communicated. It's how God wants us to love."

~Dr. Chris Oyakhilome

World's Longest Rivers

  1. Missouri-Mississipi (U.S.)
  2. Amazon (Brazil)
  3. Nile (Egypt)
  4. Yangtse (China)
  5. Lena (Russia)
  6. Zaire (Central Africa)
  7. Niger (West Africa)