Sunday, September 13, 2009

Congratulations You've Won????

MARKETPLACE MIDDLE EAST UNDER DIFC/ DUBAI INTERNATIONAL FINANCIAL CENTER YOUR GATEWAY TO GROWTH AND MTN MIDDLE EAST NETWORK
IN COLLABORATION WITH INTERNATIONAL TELECOMMUNICATION UNION
PO Box 702101, Dubai Media City - United Arab Emirates


DUBAI INTERNATIONAL AND MTN MIDDLE EAST NETWORK ECONOMIC FORUM FOUDATION LOTTERY PROGRAM PROMOTION OFFICIAL PRIZE NOTIFICATION
We are pleased to inform you of the result of the just concluded annual final draws of the DIFC/ DUBAI INTERNATIONAL FINANCIAL CENTER AND THE MTN MIDDLE EAST NETWORK ECONOMIC FORUM FOUDATIOND MIDDLE EAST NETWORK In Collaboration With INTERNATIONAL TELECOMMUUICATION UNION LOTTERY PROGRAM PROMOTION.

Your email was among the 20 Lucky winners who won $950, 000.00(Nine Hundred and fifty Thousand United State Dollars) each on the MARKETPLACE MIDDLE EAST UNDER DIFC/ WORLD ISLAMIC ECONOMIC FORUM FOUDATION PROMO dated as stated above.
This is from the total price of $20 million United State Dollars shared among the 20 lucky winners.
You are therefore approved for a lump payment of $950, 000.00 (Nine Hundred and Fifty Thousand United State Dollars)
However the results were released today and your email attached to ticket number ( MM001A12-543E343CN ,and Deposit Reference no: FSLWA-6545-ES92R) and ballot serial number (080-17) was among the winners.
The online draws were conducted by a random selection of email addresses from an exclusive list of 290,600 E-mail addresses of individuals and corporate bodies picked by an advanced automated random computer(TOPAZ and ITU) search from the internet. Henceforth,no tickets were sold but all email addresses were assigned to different ticket numbers for representation and privacy.
This Lottery is approved by the WORLD ISLAMIC ECONOMIC FORUM FOUDATION AND DUBAI INTERNATIONAL FINANCIAL CENTER Game Board and also Licensed by the International Association of Game Regulators (IAGR).
This lottery is logistic and strategic way to promote our market expansion worldwide thus, we intend to sensitize thepublic.

As indicated by the computerized selection machine,your lucky winning number falls within our Asia booklet representative office in HONG KONG/CHINA as showed in the coupon.
In other to claim your $950,000.00 prize,which has been deposited in a nominated SECURITY FINANCE FIRM with your email address that won you the prize,you will have to fill the form below and send it to the manager of THE SECURITY FINANCE FIRM IN ASIA for verification and then you will be inform on how your outstanding winning prize of the total amount of $950, 000.00 will transfer to you.

NAME:.......................
AGE:...........................
SEX:...............................
ADDRESS:(RESIDENT ADDRESS ONLY)...............................
EMAIL:.......................
PHONE:..............................
OCCUPATION:......................
AMOUNT:......................
COUNTRY:..... .................

Please you are advised to complete the form and send it immediately to manager of the finance security firm through email for prompt collection of your
fund with the
details below.
(CONTACT THE MANAGER)
OFFSHORE COMMISSIONS & ACCESS STORAGES
ASIA BRANCH
MR. FREEMAN GOE
Email: freemangoe3@gmail.com
Telephone: +86 13544246807

For security reasons,you are to keep all the lotto information confidential especially your ticket number and ballot number.
This is part of our precautionary measure to avoid double claiming and unwarranted abuse of this program. *Staff of MARKETPLACE MIDDLE EAST UNDER DIFC/ISLAMIC ECONOMIC FORUM FOUDATION Lottery Company are not to partake in this Lottery.

Accept our hearty congratulations once again!

Yours faithfully,
MR Nizamiyyah Rizwiyyah


The odd thing is that the DIFC actually exists, maybe I should email them? I can't think that they'll be too happy have their name taken in vain.
You have to wonder who on earth believes these scams, I feel sorry for those people desperate enough to give it a try. I guess we all have seen these lottery scams before, normally sent to friends and family from some trustworth Nigerian politician/businessman(NOT). However, this is the first time I have seen a middle east focus, although invoking the name of Islam cannot be good for business.

I'll think we will pass on this one, how about you?

Sunday, September 06, 2009

Life Apart

So returning back to the heat and humidity of Muscat was a predictable shock, roll on winter.
I had two weeks of normalcy before Ramadan arrived and just under three weeks before the family returned.
Going back to work was not a struggle as the three weeks in Bali had had a definite revitalizing effect on me and, although I had intended to sort out all the little odd jobs around the house, my jet lag was murder. It seemed ages before I stopped waking up at stupid o’clock and wanting to go to bed before it was dark. Predictably the evenings were a complete washout, so I was determined to be active at the weekend.
My first opportunity came thanks to a diving buddy at work, at trip to the Daymaniyats in the hope of seeing a whale shark that had been hanging around. Unfortunately, on the day the weather took a turn for the worse and we were forced to take a rather pedestrian alternative in the opposite direction. Oh well, at least I got to play with my new underwater camera.










A big Thank You to those family members who contributed to my 40th Birthday present, making the purchase of this camera possible. I think you’ll agree that the difference in quality is amazing.
So fired up after a day of diving, I decided to spend the second day of my weekend tidying up and doing odd jobs around the house. An early start meant beating the heat and I had all the outside jobs finished before 9am. I then retreated inside and thought it best to give my workshop a tidy up. I had put all the tools away, swept up and organised every thing on the workbench before tackling an adjustment bolt on the pillar drill. Well, the bolt was tight and when it came loose, my arm came around in a perfect arc at which point I punched the side of the drill housing. Ouch!
I had neatly split my right index finger from knuckle to knuckle down to the bone, which meant a swift trip to Muscat Private Hospital.
The medical staff, spurred from their boredom by the sight of blood, rushed into action and, shortly afterwards I had the unforgettable experience of having a syringe full of iodine injected directly into the cut (without warning). A few choice words later and the doctor arrived and promptly anesthetised the wound (before the iodine might have been better!). Fortunately, I hadn’t damaged the tendons, but I could see that for myself, so six stitches later I was heading home with the instruction that I was to keep the finger dry for at least a week. No more diving for me then, grrrrrrrr #$@*&#$!!!



I am showing the photo again in the vain hope of a little sympathy from more people than just my wife!!!!!!!!!!
Becky, on the other hand (excuse the pun), was feeling the strain of being a single parent in Bali. Being woken each morning at six am by a demanding two year old was taking its toll and, then some thoughtful neighbour decided to open up a night club (8pm – 4am) next door and play REALLY LOUD MUSIC all night.
After three consecutive nights of little or no sleep, it was decided that enough was enough. A new home for the final week had been sourced via a friend of a friend, which turned out to be a little slice of heaven.
The villas had only just been completed and were not officially ready for business, so the stay was to be a ‘shake down cruise’ for the staff.




When you are getting it for a fraction of the official cost, the odd teething trouble is nothing to write home about.
It would appear to be fortunate happenstance that the new villa came with LCD TV’s, satellite and DVD players as, ‘Shock/Horror’ our new MacBook DVD drive (for the new laptops) had mysteriously stopped working trapping a disc inside!!!
Jump forward in time a week and a half, the boys are in bed, asleep and Becky and I relaxing on the sofa at home. I picked up the ‘busted’ drive and plugged it in to my laptop, a couple of ‘whirrs’ then nothing. I scratched my head and tried a couple of ideas, still nothing, the stuck disc would not eject or play. Thinking outside the box and off the wall, I picked up a spare dvd and slid it into the players slot. Imagine my surprise when the player not only picked up the disc but began playing it too!
So the reason that Becky couldn’t play or eject the disc in Bali, was because there wasn’t one in the machine to begin with. Is there something about turning forty that makes technology become automatically incomprehensible???


So the family has now returned home, happy and as brown as berries and a really big surprise is Oscar’s swimming. Only two years and two months old and he is swimming without arm bands. He has also very definite opinions as to what is and, what is not acceptable for him and boy can he pout and scowl!!!!




And since everything (well almost everything) is closed for Ramadan, swimming is our major weekend past time, so Oscar will get in a lot of practice in the coming weeks!