Another ETC trick

Ethiopian Telecommunications Corporation, the outfit that runs internet here (actually with the speed or lack thereof, it should be said "walks the internet" :)), does pay-as-you-go on everything. So I go to a store today and buy 5 40-birr cards to put on my internet account. The balance was just over 44 birr, getting somewhat low for an approaching weekend. I call the 903 number as always, go through the key sequences I am used to, finally enter the hidden number on one of the cards, and am told the number is invalid!! I try a few more times then run back to the store where I bought the cards. I keep the one card whose hidden number I had scratched and the clerk refunds the other 120 birr. He says the system can be flaky. I mention the refusal of a card has not happened before. He suggests trying in the AM.

I try a few more times over the evening, and same result. So I call in to the 903 number and query my balance ... 84.45 birr! Say what, the card went through even though the mechanical voice said the number was invalid :). Welcome to Ethiopia.

What with the Muslim government holiday today, Ileana, me, one or two others, and the cockroaches were the only ones at work today. I got quite a bit accomplished and am looking forward to a nada weekend. I will head down to Bole 19 tennis in the morning for a while. I am at Dr. Paul's tonight for dinner and Eddie, a local actually from Ireland is there. In the midst of some chatter, he mentions that he has played tennis at Bole 19 and once the coach there mentioned he knew a Canadian who was looking for a person to play with. Must have been me! What a small world Addis is just like Ottawa ...