Man, flying to nigeria seemed like such a good idea at the time. Little did I consider what an impact it would have on my IM schedule.... Thanks goodness for invisible mode.
So, it's been a few days since I arriving in Lagos, I had the following offlines waiting for me.
-- Bill
P.S. I'm happy to see other people posting in the thread. Glad you guys are getting as much amusement out of this as I am.
Code:
Conversation with Mary at 2005-06-18 04:25:35 on Bill (yahoo)
(04:25:35) Mary: hello
(04:25:45) Mary: Mary: pls sorry for not getting back to you soon
(04:26:18) Mary: because u told me that u were coming by sunday and now saturday i already mised u
(04:26:49) Mary: well maybe u can talk with me when you are online at your hotell and tell me the hotel that you are in lagos nigeria
(04:37:03) Mary: can u give me ur phone number so that i can call u
(04:41:13) Mary: hello
(04:41:40) Mary: give me the details you use in sending the money so that I can come to your hotell ASAP
(04:41:50) Mary: <ding>
And here's my first contact with her after arriving in Nigeria.
Code:
Conversation with Mary at 2005-06-20 10:09:05 on Bill (yahoo)
(10:10:46) Bill: Good afternoon Mary, I'm so sorry I've not been in better contact... this has certainly been a memorable trip. I'
m still quite jet lagged. I've had a real hard time getting used to the time difference...
(10:11:37) Bill: Plus those gentleman from the oil ministry are very persistent and have scheduled me with meetings from what seems
like everyone in the entire damn ministry. It's like I don't have a second to myself.
(10:14:24) Bill: It's been hot hear lately. luckily, my hotel is quite nice. I'm at the Hotel Sheraton Lagos Hotel & Towers, Lago
s. The phone number is 234 1 4978660-9
(10:16:06) Bill: ohh, this morning, I went ahead and picked up my own money order. I felt uncomfortable having that much money wait
ing for just anyone to pick up. Instead, I've left $300 in an envelope at the main desk at the Sheraton. I've instructed the hotel
staff to only give the money to you.. Mary Bratt.
(10:16:51) Bill: hopefully you can stop by the hotel and pay me a visit tonight?
My main goal here is try and cause "Mary" at least some level of inconvienience... It's also fun to see how far ole Mary from Boston is willing to go (or say she will go) for $300.
Note also that I'm trying to only IM'ing when it makes sense to IM on Nigeria time.
Code:
Conversation with Mary at 2005-06-20 10:09:05 on Bill (yahoo)
(10:10:46) Bill: Good afternoon Mary, I'm so sorry I've not been in better contact... this has certainly been a memorable trip. I'
m still quite jet lagged. I've had a real hard time getting used to the time difference...
(10:11:37) Bill: Plus those gentleman from the oil ministry are very persistent and have scheduled me with meetings from what seems like everyone in the entire damn ministry. It's like I don't have a second to myself.
(10:14:24) Bill: It's been hot hear lately. luckily, my hotel is quite nice. I'm at the Hotel Sheraton Lagos Hotel & Towers, Lagos. The phone number is 234 1 4978660-9
I feel kind of guilty having the poor Sheraton operators have to handle her call... Not so guilty as to stop giving it out though.
Code:
(10:16:06) Bill: ohh, this morning, I went ahead and picked up my own money order. I felt uncomfortable having that much money waiting for just anyone to pick up. Instead, I've left $300 in an envelope at the main desk at the Sheraton. I've instructed the hotel staff to only give the money to you.. Mary Bratt.
(10:16:51) Bill: hopefully you can stop by the hotel and pay me a visit tonight?
And now an actual convo with Mary (the preceding messages have all been offlines).
Code:
(14:10:18) Bill: sorry hun, I'm trying trying to catch up on like 4 days of missed email... am down at the hotel's business center.
(14:10:28) Mary: i got ur meesage and was pleased
(14:10:39) Mary: ok
(14:10:49) Mary: so are u in ur room now
(14:10:50) Mary: ?
(14:11:31) Bill: in the hotel, but not in the room... but I'm going to have to go soon... dinner plans with the government guys
2pm my time == 8pm Nigerian time, figured it was a convienient excuse. Plus, I don't want Mary trying to arrange for me to meet her.
Code:
(14:11:45) Mary: oh ok
(14:11:58) Mary: are u the only one that come to nigeria?
(14:12:21) Mary: hello
(14:12:29) Bill: I brought an assistant with me as well...
(14:12:47) Mary: oh ok
(14:12:55) Mary: so what about business
(14:13:30) Bill: I'd love to talk with you more about it, but I really do need to get through this email before I'm picked up to go to dinner.
(14:13:41) Mary: ok
(14:13:42) Bill: perhaps tonight you might want to swing by the hotel room?
(14:13:50) Mary: so u had picked up the money back?
(14:14:24) Bill: Yeah, I picked it up from Western Union this morning... I just felt uneasy with all I've read about Western Union employees giving out money inappropriatly.
(14:14:38) Bill: It's waiting for you down at the hotel...
(14:14:46) Mary: ok
(14:14:48) Bill: just be sure to bring your id with you tonight.
(14:15:18) Mary: why id
(14:15:19) Bill: The conceirge will give it to you, even if I am not there
(14:16:35) Mary: can u try to call me now
(14:17:21) Bill: The driver for the car just arrived... am going to have to shut down... these guys don't have a sense of patience I've noticed.
(14:17:29) Bill: will chat with you later tonight hopefully.
(14:17:49) Mary: ok
(14:19:20) Mary: try to call me when back\
(14:19:54) Mary: 08023799527 ask for mary pls when u are back
(14:37:32) Mary: 2348023799527
You know, I've gone all this time thinking Mary is really some guy named Festus... Perhaps there really is a female that is part of the team? I really don't want to waste an international call to nigeria to find out though. I'm signing up for Vonage soon, and will soon be able to place calls to Nigeria for $0.11 cents per minute (or $.28 cents per minute if it's a cell phone) (how's that for an elaborate setup... this whole thread is just one big setup for a Vonage commercial)
Back to our story... after returning from dinner (more like a coffee break at work):
Code:
(16:46:11) Bill: so is it a nigerian thing to take forever on dinner, or is it that these guys just want my investment so badly?
(17:07:34) Bill: I don't know what's wrong, but I've tried calling your number like 3 times and I doesn't seem to go through. I'm getting a tone that I don't even recognize... busy? call incomplete? I don't know the nigerian phone system enough to know what I'm hearing.
And that closes my third day in Nigeria...