Good For A Laugh

Happy Independence Day for all you partying Americans. I didn't even realize it was the Fourth of July until I looked at the date of this post. How weird. I've obviously lost all touch with my home culture. I guess that's what it means to be an ex-patriate. I just remembered I'm missing out on a party for the 4th at YWAM (youth with a mission). I wonder if they'll have fireworks. Maybe we'll shoot some off here. We can buy some extremely illegal (in the States) pyrotechnics down here. The only problem is the permanent drought conditions and the perfect makings of a country-wide forest fire. Oh, yeah, the forests are gone. Since I didn't blow anything up playing with electricity, perhaps we'll try with fireworks.

I'm checking Tara's emails while she's gone...this one made me laugh. (Many of you have probably received this also, or similar scams, but hey - it's the little things that entertain me now.) Looks like our money problems are solved:

very important and urgent my dear,My name is Mr. gordon otabil, I work in a managerialposition in a well respected security company, with ahead office in Accra–Ghana.I am contacting you because of an urgent businesstransaction that I want to do with a trustedforeigner, I got your email information from thoroughnet search.On the 25th of November 2003, the sum of $41,500.000was deposited with my company, disguised as a familyheirloom in a trunk box, this is not the only timethat corrupt government officials uses the services ofmy company to ship their ill gotten wealth abroad orsecure it for future use. I took exceptional note ofthis deposit because it was large and as the man atthe helm of affairs then, I got to know the man behindthe deposit, Late President Gnassingbe Eyadema whodied on February 2005.The reason for my contacting you is that I checked andfound out that the deposit is still intact and nobodyhas asked for it, and I know that nobody will ever askfor it, I am the only living soul who knows the trueidentity of the depositor, no other person canretrieve the deposit except the person can produce thecodes combination which was given to the depositor,the way we operate is that if the depositor wants toretrieve his deposit, he will instruct the company inwriting and give his codes and if the manager confirmsthe code, the deposit will be released at once to theperson, no name or identification is needed.If you accept to work with me, I will give you theinstruction letter to send to my company and also whenthe company asks for the codes, I will give them toyouPlease if you are not interested in this business letme know so that I can contact someone else.Please sendyour response through my alternative email addressesbelow for security measures

AMAZING!!!! A man with such wealth and influence with such disregard for the tenets of grammar and sentence composition! How could this not be true? I'll let you know how I spend it.

-Troy