KIVA

[kashi]

Few days late this month, forgot all about it as I had a guest from overseas.

Have now made 50 loans.

Team is going great with oodles of new loans, well done everyone.      

[Mysteron347]

I like this game.

[Dingo]

I had another look today but I must have picked people that pay back very slow as I still do not have enough for another loan. 

[Dataman]

Kiva Day. I made two more. Our team has now lent over $7,000 ... way to go team!

[kashi]

Thanks for the reminder. Made 2 loans. Arrgh, Facebook popup attack, the horror, the horror.;D

Haha, great hats again Dataman.:coolgleam:

[Dataman]

Women in hats always pay their loans on time.  biggrin

There is even a team for Women in Hats.
http://www.kiva.org/team/women_in_hats

[kashi]

Good payers indeed. A whole team for Women in Hats, yeeha, looks like those hats are popular with many lenders.

Autopick chose my first loan and I realised I had been neglecting Africa somewhat, so chose another from an African country. Loans to Africa occasionally repay a bit late and may have higher risk but I have decided to spread my yellow areas around a bit more on the map.;D

[Dingo]

I had just enough to make another load so $25 was paid to Tuavao Tagi, Letogo, Samoa Agriculture | Farming.  Now to wait another 6 months to get enough back to re loan out again.

[veebee]

As I have suggested a cpl times before (maybe I HAVEN'Y here, though I feel certan I would have - DEFINITELY sprouted about it on Facebook).. there are a number of those "Survey" mobs, that are not as pesky as most, in fact, there are a cpl of good ones which pay reasonably well... I have funded at least 4 of my loans through the monies paid to my paypal account by these survey companies.

Anyone interested, PM me and I will send a link to the 2 or 3 "good" companies. I am not sure If i get a kick back from friends joining up, but if I do, it will go straight to Kiva.

Cheers,

veebee

[kashi]

3 for me this month.
I chose growing corn and rice in Ecuador, selling bananas in Rwanda and autopick chose a fellow with one of the biggest tie knots I've ever seen raising sheep in Palestine. ;D

[veebee]

... and autopick chose a fellow with one of the biggest tie knots I've ever seen raising sheep in Palestine. ;D

A quadruple Windsor perhaps ??  


EDIT: spelling..... windsoR

[kashi]

The Mythical Quadruple-Windsor Tie Knot
In an amusing tie related anecdote I just remembered...

...when I was 19, I was at university, in Auckland... and I was flatting with my girlfriend. Money was tight, and I saw an advert in the paper that looked good. It was a sales job, no experience necessary, full training provided over 3 days, with lunches and morning and afternoon teas provided blah blah blah.

Well.

It turned out to be Encyclopaedia Britannica..., but, surprisingly, that's not the worst of it. The guy training us was a very short man, of Scottish decent. The first time I saw him I laughed out loud... which was very very embarrassing, but it couldn't be helped. He was wearing a tartan tie - and I don't mean it had tartan patterning, it was made of full blown kilt tartan material, and he had tied what remains to this day the most MASSIVE tie knot I have ever seen. In retrospect it could well have just been a full Windsor made to look gargantuan by the carpet thick material, but I actually thought he had gone for the mythical quadruple Windsor due to his very very small neck and short stature. This tie knot was, I believe around 8 or 9 cm across.

And, that was not even the most amusing part of the whole experience.

This guy was maybe 5'1" at a stretch, 50 odd, with silver hair. A veteran Britannica salesman. With steel capped shoes (seriously - he showed us them) to protect his feet when he literally put his foot in the door to stop it being slammed shut on him. But even that was not the highlight... He also had strongly nicotine stained fore and index fingers on his right hand from chain smoking. And a raspy (I wonder why) thick Scottish accent.

And then he told us about how the first 7 seconds when you meet someone is crucial to forming their impression of you. I immediately thought of how the first thing I saw was his comical tie knot... but anyway. We went on to eulogise about how as a door to door encyclopaedia salesman how you introduced yourself was crucial. With that he leapt up (to his full height), and said:

"I'll demonstrate how I do it.."

He left the room and shut the door behind him, and we all looked at each other in wonderment, amusement and fear as to what was to come next. He then knocked on the door.

Nothing.

He knocked again and we worked out that we were supposed to answer the door.

His foot immediately thrust forward into the door frame and he smiled, exposing his nicotine stained 'pearly whites' and thrust his hand out, shook the guy's hand firmly and said:

"McCook. Hugh McCook!"

and then turned to the room with this "Howzat!?" expression, paused...

...and said:

"Do you see?"

...silence...

"The way I introduced myself... did you notice anything about it?"

I was thinking "Yes, you look like a berk.", but luckily I didn't volunteer that idea.

He said:

"The way I said my surname, then repeated my name first name then surname...?" Does that remind you of anyone?"

...silence...

"Who else introduces themselves like that?"

Someone said "James Bond?"

A look of unbridled pleasure and pride swept across Hugh McCook's face, and he stood up to his full 5'1 1/2"s on elevated heels and tip toes, puffed out his chest and said:

"That's right! And that's what the customer will think too! If you introduce yourself like that they will think they are talking to James Bond!"

I was not the only person who could not contain myself. I literally dissolved in laughter...

Oh dear, oh dear. If I have ever met anyone who reminded me less of James Bond, than Hugh McCook, then I don't remember them.

[Mysteron347]

3 for me this month.
I chose growing corn and rice in Ecuador, selling bananas in Rwanda and autopick chose a fellow with one of the biggest tie knots I've ever seen raising sheep in Palestine. ;D

Ahh - growing corn and rice in Ecuador -

[Mysteron347]

... there are a number of those "Survey" mobs, that are not as pesky as most, in fact, there are a cpl of good ones which pay reasonably well... I have funded at least 4 of my loans through the monies paid to my paypal account by these survey companies.

I've been doing survey for years - it's something to do while waiting for "Job Network" agencies to call 

I asked for a payout from GlobalTestMarket - $US60, so I figured I'd still have most of two loans after the bank's bite - if it turned up.

Well, 'tis Kiva day, and appropriately what should turn up but a cheque in the post - on a Brisbane bank for 56.47 bananas Add that to the Kiva dividend  and I'll see what extra countries I can add to my score...

[kashi]

A great number of countries and current loans you have already.
I've been trying to add some more yellow patches to my Africa map recently.

I didn't realise that about loans to Ecuador, I had thought it was sometimes the case with agricultural loans in other countries that I have contributed to. No matter, looks like they still benefit from the help. I just noticed that Pablo in Ecuador looks like he has aged at least 10 years in the last 6 months judging by the photo from his previous loan.