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### Prologue

My laptop started acting up a while back and somehow, I have been able to manage it - at least, until yesterday. I decided to update the Windows 10 and that was when the entire pc went kaput. Immediately the update finished and the pc restarted, the electricity supply went off (this is a normal thing here) and there went my pc with it. It may seem that the battery has gone totally kaput, or perhaps it is something else.

I read up on what the issue could be and got a couple of suggestions and how to fix them. The first one was to update the bios, which I did but without any result. Another suggestion was to uninstall the power drivers and restart the pc as this will automatically reinstall the power drivers. Yet, no positive result. The last suggestion fix was to replace the battery itself. That is really a long shot for me. What if I commit resources into changing the battery and the status quo remains?

I took a deep, long look at myself, and then took a deep breath. The laptop represents a major instrument through which the little income I use to sustain myself and my family comes from, at least, since I lost my paid employment in November last year. Getting a manageable laptop now is not going to be easy as far as my pocket is concerned. 

### The African Teak has fallen into the house of the Carver
The African Teak is one of the most popular tree species in West Tropical Africa. It goes by the scientific name, *[Milicia excelsa](https://pfaf.org/user/Plant.aspx?LatinName=Chlorophora+excelsa)*, although this was not the name originally. The original scientific name was *Chlophora excelsa*, meaning that the genus name was changed from *Chlorophpra* to *Milicia*.

Locally in Nigeria, among the Yorubas to be precise, the African Teak is known as Iroko. It grows as a large tree up to 50 m in height and 3.5 m in diameter. It is grown primarily for its shade and timber. The wood is hard and deciduous, while the leaves and milky latex from the bark of the tree serve a wide variety of purposes, especially in herbal medicines. [ref](http://tropical.theferns.info/viewtropical.php?id=Milicia+excelsa)

The hard woodedness of Iroko means that it can be utilized for a wide variety of purposes, including constructions and local carving crafts. One of such crafts is the mortar and pestle that are used in pounding yam. 

https://images.hive.blog/0x0/https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/gentleshaid/23xydfTEiwB68LiWamDMuwsJ7EFjWgo5k4bUdcXncu3iiADhLdpNTxAa7Uqg3En4acSSH.jpg<center><sup>The mortar and the pestle. Image by @gentleshaid</sup></center>

Mortar and pestle are carved by craftsmen known as carvers. They make use of local tools to carve out a hollow space in a log of timber of considerable diameter to form the mortar, and then use a slimmer log to carve out the pestle. 

Only timbers that produce hardwoods can be used to carve mortar and pestle. Hence, the hardwoodedness of the African Teak makes it a major candidate for the carving of mortar and pestle. Now imagine that there is an African Teak growing near the house of a carver, a major storm uprooted the tree and it falls right within the abode of the carver. It means that the tree fell right where it is needed and a major work has started for the carver. 

This is how the African saying was derived. 
> The African Teak has fallen into the abode of a Mortar Carver, work has resumed.

### Epilogue
I simply cannot afford to be without a laptop for long because that is where my meal tickets come from. This means that I have to look for every means to get another laptop in the coming days. The African teak has fallen into my abode and I, a carver, must now commence work to make a mortar out of it. 

> The bullet has jumped down, the race has started.

This would be for another day.

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