For those of you wondering how this all began.... You're in the right place.
For now, I won't say who I am, though I suppose that's not really a secret either.... But I will say that I'm definitely not where I expected to be. #GodGuides
As the introvert that I am, I had long abandoned social media and locked myself into my cozy nest, undisturbed by COVID19 lockdowns because - well - as Charlie noted...
But one day, while watching news and listening to the struggles of local business owners, many of whom had to shut their doors for good because the pandemic was really bad for business.... I made a realization... I had no idea where these businesses were!
Despite the tiny size of my country, which often isn't even spared a drop of ink on a world map, I really didn't know where anything was, save for the big franchises and a few local shops along my route to work... As for Terry's Tyre Shop and Judith's bakery, I've just never seen 'em... Yes, I fabricated those names. I told you, I didn't know them... which meant that my brain ejected their real names forthwith - a bad habit of mine.
Anywho, I took to Google to find all things unknown in Trinbago. I searched 😃... and searched 🥲... and searched🫠. Where is everybody? So, naturally, my next step was Facebook and this seemed more promising! Hundreds of groups and pages. Thousands of people. Flyers literally flying everywhere! But wait... are these the same flyers I saw in that other group and... the one before?
Long story short (as we Trinis say), I spent a lot of time and energy but got very little in return.
This wasn't the clincher though. It wasn't yet the thing that prompted me into action. The thing that made me say "we neeeeed an app!" I'm getting to that now.
A few weeks later, I heard the sad but familiar phrase from my S/O, "you know, there was a hike to a waterfall on the weekend."
"Really?? How did you hear about it?" I asked.
"Someone posted it in a WhatsApp group that I'm in and I only just saw it."
"Where did they get this information?? We always miss it!" I was exasperated.
I didn't like the feeling of being last to know, especially when it came to fun activities that I actually enjoy. And I didn't want to have to join a bajillion WhatsApp and Facebook groups either - just the thought of that made my inner introvert cringe.
That there was the trigger.... I started mulling over it in my head. If we were in another country, there'd probably be dozens of apps to choose from to supply this type of information. Why hasn't anyone built one for us? Or did they... and we just hadn't heard of it? But I checked the app store... nada.
"Wouldn't it be really useful if we had an app like that? An app were we can find everything easily without having to search all over the internet... Would you use it?" I asked.
"Yes, we need something like that."
And that was all I needed to hear. If my husband would be happy to have it, I'll make it.
There was just one tiny problem. I had been a geologist from the moment I left school. That's more than a decade of drawing maps and drilling campaigns.... I didn't have the slightest inkling as to how I would get this done!
More Episodes to come....
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