Man tries to pay bill with spider drawing

Again, another weird and wonderful story - this one occurring in my beloved mother land, Australia.

This one actually made me laugh, causing immense pain to my freshly-worked-out abs. I feel compelled to share it with you. Taken directly from the following site: http://news.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=665847

Below is the complete email conversation that Adelaide man David Thorne claims he had with a utility company chasing payment of an overdue bill.

From: Jane Gilles
Date: Wednesday 8 Oct 2008 12.19pm
To: David Thorne
Subject: Overdue account

Dear David,
Our records indicate that your account is overdue by the amount of $233.95. If you have already made this payment please contact us within the next 7 days to confirm payment has been applied to your account and is no longer outstanding.

Yours sincerely, Jane Gilles

From: David Thorne
Date: Wednesday 8 Oct 2008 12.37pm
To: Jane Gilles
Subject: Re: Overdue account

Dear Jane,
I do not have any money so am sending you this drawing I did of a spider instead. I value the drawing at $233.95 so trust that this settles the matter.

Regards, David.

From: Jane Gilles
Date: Thursday 9 Oct 2008 10.07am
To: David Thorne
Subject: Overdue account

Dear David,
Thankyou for contacting us. Unfortunately we are unable to accept drawings as payment and your account remains in arrears of $233.95. Please contact us within the next 7 days to confirm payment has been applied to your account and is no longer outstanding.

Yours sincerely, Jane Gilles

From: David Thorne
Date: Thursday 9 Oct 2008 10.32am
To: Jane Gilles
Subject: Re: Overdue account

Dear Jane,
Can I have my drawing of a spider back then please.

Regards, David.

From: Jane Gilles
Date: Thursday 9 Oct 2008 11.42am
To: David Thorne
Subject: Re: Re: Overdue account

Dear David,
You emailed the drawing to me. Do you want me to email it back to you?

Yours sincerely, Jane Gilles

From: David Thorne
Date: Thursday 9 Oct 2008 11.56am
To: Jane Gilles
Subject: Re: Re: Re: Overdue account

Dear Jane,

Yes please.

Regards, David.

From: Jane Gilles
Date: Thursday 9 Oct 2008 12.14pm
To: David Thorne
Subject: Re: Re: Re: Re: Overdue account

Attached

From: David Thorne
Date: Friday 10 Oct 2008 09.22am
To: Jane Gilles
Subject: Whose spider is that?

Dear Jane, Are you sure this drawing of a spider is the one I sent you? This spider only has seven legs and I do not feel I would have made such an elementary mistake when I drew it.

Regards, David.

From: Jane Gilles
Date: Friday 10 Oct 2008 11.03am
To: David Thorne
Subject: Re: Whose spider is that?

Dear David, Yes it is the same drawing. I copied and pasted it from the email you sent me on the 8th. David your account is still overdue by the amount of $233.95. Please make this payment as soon as possible.

Yours sincerely, Jane Gilles

From: David Thorne
Date: Friday 10 Oct 2008 11.05am
To: Jane Gilles
Subject: Automated Out of Office Response

Thankyou for contacting me. I am currently away on leave, traveling through time and will be returning last week.

Regards, David.

From: David Thorne
Date: Friday 10 Oct 2008 11.08am
To: Jane Gilles
Subject: Re: Re: Whose spider is that?

Hello, I am back and have read through your emails and accept that despite missing a leg, that drawing of a spider may indeed be the one I sent you. I realise with hindsight that it is possible you rejected the drawing of a spider due to this obvious limb ommission but did not point it out in an effort to avoid hurting my feelings. As such, I am sending you a revised drawing with the correct number of legs as full payment for any amount outstanding. I trust this will bring the matter to a conclusion.

Regards, David.

From: Jane Gilles
Date: Monday 13 Oct 2008 2.51pm
To: David Thorne
Subject: Re: Re: Re: Whose spider is that?

Dear David, As I have stated, we do not accept drawings in lei of money for accounts outstanding. We accept cheque, bank cheque, money order or cash. Please make a payment this week to avoid incurring any additional fees.

Yours sincerely, Jane Gilles

From: David Thorne
Date: Monday 13 Oct 2008 3.17pm
To: Jane Gilles
Subject: Re: Re: Re: Re: Whose spider is that?

I understand and will definately make a payment this week if I remember. As you have not accepted my second drawing as payment, please return the drawing to me as soon as possible. It was silly of me to assume I could provide you with something of completely no value whatsoever, waste your time and then attach such a large amount to it.

Regards, David.

From: Jane Gilles
Date: Tuesday 14 Oct 2008 11.18am
To: David Thorne
Subject: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Whose spider is that?

Attached

HA HA HA HA HA!!!!!

Greer criticises Michelle Obama's dress

I know it's been a while since I've had anything new to say. Things have been happening and as soon as I've got a spare moment to brush my crazy curly hair I'll give you all an update.

I hate to admit it, but I'm not a regular news watcher. This results in me looking slightly dazed and very confused when a variety of issues are discussed in every day life and I'm doing my best to rectify this. I've cut back on watching E News! and am now an avid reader of National Geographic and am gearing up to buy a Time magazine.

I was trawling http://news.ninemsn.com.au today because it pops up when I sign into MSN messenger and found some alarmingly stupid stories. I feel compelled to share them with you, as someone in the news sector felt they were worthy of sharing with the world.

First of all, the header of this entry - Greer criticises Michelle Obama's dress. Germaine Greer, the avid feminist and complainer about all things that need not be complained about is on the war path again - her latest target? The lovely and most likely unsuspecting Michelle Obama.

The following story is copied and pasted directly from the following site: http://news.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=668429.

Feminist Germaine Greer says the dress Michelle Obama wore to her husband's US election declaration was a "butcher's apron" and looked like a "geometrical haemorrhage".

In her regular column for the Guardian, Greer calls the outfit "All black with an eye-burning red panel that splattered itself down the front like a geometrical haemorrhage".

It was "a poster in the most disturbing colours known to man, the colours of chaos. Coral snakes and venomous spiders signal their destructive potential by the display of similarly violent contrasts".

Greer refers to online critics of the dress to back up her argument and says that if Michelle had dressed herself and her daughters for defeat, she could not have chosen better outfits.

Most newspapers were too high-minded to refer to it, but reaction trickled through the Internet and surfaced in USA Today, where a poll revealed that twice as many people hated the gown as thought it irrelevant or OK, she said.

One blogger complained that she could hardly listen to president-elect Barack Obama's speech "for fear of that dress".

Ok, I think we all need to take a BIG step back here. First of all, Germaine Greer is hardly a fashion icon herself. Didn't this woman have a large input in the bra burning movement?! Bras are absolutely necessary these days - no one wants their puppies to droop do they?

Secondly, WORLD HISTORY HAS JUST BEEN MADE WITH AMERICA ELECTING ITS FIRST EVER BLACK PRESIDENT. Could we perhaps just stop to savour that moment and reflect on the changes that are happening for the good in our world?

Who gives a rip if Michelle Obama's dress didn't walk itself from Rodeo Drive into her wardrobe?

Perhaps Germaine Greer should find a new speciality, leave fashion comments to the fashionistas and give up publishing near-pornographic coffee table picture books of young boys.....

How is exploiting young men any better than the exploitation of women that she's so avidly against?!?!