what really takes the biscuit is we didn’t get a car from someone a day earlier who slashed the price from $800 to $500 cos she was lieving that night. we decided not to get it and later she affoered $400 but we refused. i mean to say, what? madness. but it was a bit scanky.

julio

It might have been worth swallowing your pride and saying “Well, how about $900, then?” Or even going the full $1000. It’s ‘only’ £30/£60 more. I mean, she was spurning the certainty of an okay deal for an only slightly better possible one … so she would probably have gone for $900. It might even have been a bargaining attempt on her part to extract more from you.
I remember two car incidents, both selling, when similar things have happened to me. One creep, having agreed to pay £1300 for a Volkswagen van, after I picked him up with a friend to drive to his house where we would complete the deal, started mumbling about a ‘noise’ he had heard, his friend corroberated this, and I was beaten down to £1100 – I was desperate as I had a ticket back to Portugal that day. Another time, another van, the guy who was buying, as he counted out his money, ‘discovered’ he was somewhat short of readies.
Again, I had a deadline … he offered his old wreck of a vehicle in part exchange … I accepted the money he had. Even more annoyingly, we bumped into him a couple of years later in Gibraltar, driving our old van, where he invited me into a restaurant for a coffee, which I ended up paying for!!!

Well, M agrees nothing is the best plan – “We never got Malaria, etc, etc …” but I’m not so sure. Maleron would have been good to have to hand, at least. I suppose you can start Doxy again if anything untoward happens. Just remember what that nurse said, and don’t assume it’s a touch of flu or dengue:

“If you experience a high fever of 38C or more, seek prompt medical advice for a blood test for malaria parasites.”

Nothing!!! and feeling fine Dod, so all’s good i say. Chemists here look like they would give you pwdered chalk as soon as look at you, so i opted for the nothing option. No swelling in sight at al.

Exams sound mighty exiting Liv, hope it all goes well and you sail thoguh with the first you should get !!! As for hey fever, just come to a warm climate. geoff’s asthma has disapeared all together!!!

Jul, plan A sounds fine. Did Dod tell you that we are on a different flight out of bali to singapore (SQ143) as the original one was cancelled. All most confusing, but as long as you leave on the same day as us there should not be a problem. The day hasn’t changed.

We are off to the other side of the island now which, being remote and un modernised probably won’t have e-mail and such like, so will be in touch soonest!!

Love tanya

leave it black you say? to coin a frase: BWHAHAHAHA!!!
the ring i took from tans jewel box (the one with the black stone) is continualy tarnished by the hellish stinking air, but i am able to polish it clean. the ankh on the other hand just becomes a shinier black when i try and clean it, like obsidian. strange. i think buying silver pollish will be just as expencive as buying washing soda and foil. so i shall think upon it.

yesterday we got a mesage from one of the many people we phoned about purchasing there cars to meet u to check it out. it was very nice, a station wagon perfect for putting a mattrase in an no sign of rust, good tires/oil/radiater. blah blah. in a word perfect for only $800. after uming arhing annika decided to get it so we went to the post office to sort out the forms together. unfortunatly annika had to leg it back to the hostel to get here adress book to filn in the form propaly. the woman selling was getting twitchy as here bus left soon and she had to book it and ring up a friend about picking here up in auckland. i suggested that she ring up while annika was away. so she did. her friend and i waited and tried to think of stuff to say to each other. eventualy i saw annika in the distance and i becond her over, the friend wandered over to were the woman was talking on the phone. annika quickly completed the form, i gave a thumbs up to were the woman and her friend were talking, looking a bit worried i thought. they came over. we waved the form around, she looked rather sheepish. “i feel bad about this” she said. “what” we said? she explained that she had phoned her friend and she had stated that someone wanted here car in auckland for $1000. so she would sell it to him not us. aaaaaaagh!!!! i couldn’t believe it and annika was furious. so close yet so far. oh well verbal contracts, not worth the paper they are not printed on. god rot her, and her pox ridden car. the moral of this story is don’t let you ankh go black as night, becouse it will twist your luck and those in your close proximity for better or worse.

i will go and change the flight now. i will tell you what i have aranged tarn. plan A i believe.

julio

Doxy … maleron … nothing?