Kelvin’s Brother Keith

Kelvin from BC Hydro is one of the nicest people in the world. For a while I had even thought that he might be the nicest; but then I met his brother Keith in Nairobi. Now I think there may be a tie. (Kelvin, if you’re reading this please don’t be embarrassed; besides, shouldn’t you be busy optimizing or something?)

Keith works for the MAF – Mission Aviation Fellowship. He and his wife Rosie and their three children have lived in Africa for close to twenty years, first in Ethiopia and now in Kenya. I had a few extra days in Nairobi between my wildlife safari and Mount Kenya hike and was able to spend a pleasant Sunday afternoon at their home.

It’s not hard to notice the family resemblance between Kelvin and Keith, both in terms of appearance and personality. Some of Keith’s mannerisms were so similar to Kelvin’s that I was ready to start quizzing him on his latest hedging strategy. I also wondered to myself whether Keith, like his brother, would struggle to select a half-decent hockey pool team.

We got off to a bit of an awkward start when Keith initially assumed that since I was from BC Hydro I must be an engineer. Ouch! It may not be cool to be an accountant, but thanks to engineers we know it could have been worse. Any ways, Keith quickly made up for it by asking me if it would be okay if we had pizza for lunch. This was followed later by coffee and muffins. If they hadn’t stop putting food in front of me I would probably still be there.

Keith is a keen hiker and mountain climber and had lots of good stories, photos and advice relating to Mount Kenya. His enthusiasm was contagious. He also kindly leant me enough warm weather clothing for an assault on the North Pole. For me, being in a strange city in a foreign country it was really nice to spend an afternoon where I was made to feel at home.