Whatever happened to

[PullMyFinger]

I just realised it's last year that I last saw Canada Bob posting here. Is he still doing his good works in Africa?

I realise this isn't the right forum but it's where he frequented.

[ICT_Away]

Was thinking the same thing myself

[Canada Bob]

Was thinking the same thing myself

I thought me ears were burning, so I thought I'd drop by to see what's going on...

As for me, well I'm still alive after battling cancer for quite a while now, still skating along, never sure how thin the ice might be, but still on me feet and enjoying life.

As for Africa, yea, still involved with that, more so than ever, mostly in Morocco, Ethiopia, Cameroon & Nigeria, think Port Harcourt, a hell of a place, they don't call it The White Man's Grave for nothing. I may be heading back to Nigeria in a couple of months time, but I'll stay well away from Port Harcourt, I was having me breakfast {with my body guard, yea, really, when all of a sudden a battle broke out. Less than a kilometer down the road that we were on a armed convoy of oil workers {Europeans, Americans, and Koreans etc} were attacked by MEND, Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta, {think IRA on steroids} they were driving what they call technicals, small 4x4 pick up trucks with Browning anti aircraft machine guns on the back of them, not to mention these guys bristle with AK47's etc etc etc, they are mad enough and bad enough any time of day but when breakfast for them is a bottle of gin and a snort of cocaine it's a dangerous mix. The result of the ambush {that went on for over 30 minutes} was, one of the Police armed guards was killed, several were wounded, 5 ex-pats were grabbed, one of them {a Scottish bloke} made a run for it, {a bad idea, they say if you are captured don't run, you have a better chance of being eventually released than running for it during a gun battle} anyway this guy made it, the other 4 were taken but eventually released unharmed, I guess you never know what you'd do in the middle of a firefight, I reckon I'd just pass out...

We {me and the bloke who was my pistol packing minder} were about half way through our bacon and eggs {over hard is the safest bet} when the shots rang out, that got everyone's attention, but it's not just the gunfire you hear, you can hear the zip of bullets as they fly through the air, that's when you know you are too close to the action. The place emptied in seconds, everyone heading back down Abba Road back to the relative safety of their compounds or their hotels, speaking of which.

The hotels are pretty decent, mainly well off locals or oil workers, Port Harcourt aint a place for tourism, you don't wander the streets there, not even in broad daylight, in 2009 I think it was 103 "white folks" were kidnapped and held to ransom, most of them released after their employers paid on average $1 Million to get them back, but they don't all get released alive 5 were killed, it's a tough place. Most folks stay in the hotels having a drink, playing cards, watching tv, etc, but there is some other "entertainment". Just down the road there are a couple of Universities, and the girls {looking for fun and money, odd how those two seem inseparable hey}, so they head for the hotels 'for a good time".

They are bonny girls too, well dressed and really good looking, I was having a bottle of Guinness at the bar when one of them caught my eye, and she was over in a flash, we got talking, she knew nothing of ICT, anyway wasn't long before she said "you can have a good time with me for $20 US" !!! I was mortified, well, almost, something close to rigor mortise seemed to be setting it, what was I to do in such a situation, $20 US for a "good time" and there I was with nothing but Canadian s FFS...

Have to say the women over there know how to tempt you, but all that "Faithful" got out of me was a couple of vodka's, and all that I took home was the memory, you don't need penicillin for that. Aids/HIV and Hepatitis are rampant right across Africa, there's a Million a year dropping off their perch from those diseases alone, no wonder the life expectancy in many countries is 47 !!!

Looks like I've digressed, I'm doing different things in different places, on me own bat almost, not working with any major organisation, but going over there and linking up with local Church groups for the most part. Although folks aren't going hungry in Morocco, Cameroon or Nigeria there is a common link between them, the problem they have with mosquito's / malaria. Malaria kills off over 1 Million folks ever year in Africa, I guess you have all seen glimpses of it on TV but it's worse when you are in their midst and you see them bury their children in shallow graves, one after another.

The stuff that I formulated, I call it XL5, after Fireball XL5, you might remember Lazoon ? the monkey who had a mission every week, and although he dint know what the hell he was doing he always got the mission completed, well that seemed to have a resonance with me, what did I know about mosquito's and malaria, I never saw either in Wigan, mind you we aren't short of mosquito's here in Nova Scotia or the rest of Canada.

I think that Caley D and a couple more of you had samples of the stuff from me a good while back to help combat the midges, not sure how it worked against them, but the "new and improved" XL5 has been tested and shown to be "equal to, if not better than DEET". As concerns mount about DEET folks in the Western World are shying away from it, so there's a nice market there to make a few quid from, I use that to help support the cost of making XL5 in Africa, thankfully you don't need a Lab {or a Lab Technician} to make the stuff, a wooded bowl and a spoon does the job.

The latest is that I've been invited back to Nigeria {probably November} to meet with a Government Minister, and chances are that will lead to a meeting with Goodluck Jonathan, he's the Prime Minister of Nigeria, {if you can imagine a cross between George Foreman and J.R. of Dallas you've got the picture}, won't be in Port Harcourt though, either Lagos or Abuja, safer and more civilised there. The reason they want me to go is they want to make XL5 on a commercial scale, for their Military as much as anything, they lose more men to disease than to bullets, even taking into account MEND and the border skirmishes with Cameroon, but they will make XL5 for the rest of the community too.

Other than the above, I've been messing about with a little bucket thing to sanitize drinking water, the water may or may not look clean in Africa, but it is more likely be littered with bacteria, virii and or parasites including cryptosporidium {a potential killer that no amount of chlorine can kill off}. Faced with such concerns {for meself as much as anyone, did I mention about it being the white mans grave}, so...

By chance having some knowledge of nano particled stuff, and how nano titanium dioxide {being a photo catalyst} will kill bacteria, virus, AND crypto, so I got meself a couple of what had been 5 gallon ice cream buckets, found a way to attach the nano powder to the walls and the base of the {opaque} bucket, poured the water in, put the lid back on, and let the sunshine activate the TI02 releasing hydrogen atoms that combine with the H20 turning {some} of it into H202 {hydrogen peroxide} left in the sun for 12 hours {there's no shortage of sunshine in Africa} the water is as "clean" as any water in the First World. My little bucket is getting a lot of attention now, if I wasn't 63 I'd go for a Patent on it, but being in the final furlong of life now it's no use looking for new shoes to run in is it...

Speaking of Patents, the Ultra Shaving Cream {remember it} became a Tattoo Cream, odd how things like that happen, like buying a flat racer to see it run into the first 3 now and again, then put it over hurdles to see if become the Fav for the Champion Hurdle. Have a look at the link below, After Inked is now the fastest selling product in the tattoo aftercare market and is selling all over the place, the royalties come in handy, certainly keeps the wolf from the door.

After Inked Locations

I've also managed to buy and supply over 300 new footballs for schools etc across Africa, be nice to be able to provide them with shirts, shorts and boots, but all they need for starters is a ball to kick around, so that jobs done, I often wonder if one of the feet that kicks one of the balls that I got them will ever find its way to Old Trafford, Stamford Bridge, the Emirates Stadium, Barcelona or the DW Stadium, you never know hey...

It's a long way from Wigan aint it...

Canada Bob.

Edited August 19, 2011 by Canada Bob

[PullMyFinger]

Good to hear from you Bob.

You seem to have a very full life, why don't you do a blog? I'm sure lots of us would love to follow your journeys.

[Caley Braveheart]

Glad to hear your still living the quiet life Bob!! Just the gun battles, meeting Prime Ministers new inventiations, and countless hours of charity work to keep you busy.

Good to hear from you, and dont forget to bash the bookies every now and again

[Joonya]

Excellent write up on where you're at and what experiences you have had. I sometimes find it hard enough to get sponsor money from people for Highland Marches, let alone dodging bullets to provide kits and equipment to the disadvantaged folks in Africa.

My hat's off to you good sir!!

Keep safe mate, and we'll all look forward to seeing you a little more regular.

[Canada Bob]

Nice to drop in and say Hello, good to see that the Betting Forum and the Comp we started 5 or so years ago is still going.

As for writing a blog, well, some of the events are so bleedin' strange that few would believe them, I still can't figure out why the hell these things happen to me. Have to say that I've dodged a few bullets in my time, what with the C4 explosive being attached to my car in 1986, then being diagnosed with cancer in 2004 and told I just told I'd 6 months to live, and then managing to have pulled off Abba Road for a breakfast, that saved us from being in the middle of what went on, I'd best not lose that rabbits foot hey...

As to the betting, haven't been doing as much as I used to, if you don't watch the horses of the football games yer betting blind and that's a well trod route to the work house. Rather than be wrackin' me brains every week end for a bet, or throwing money at a game just for the excitement and the entertainment {that can be expensive} I've had 2 bets this season and I'm leaving it at that. I have 13k to win 8k that Swansea will be relegated, be nice if they don't get a point out of their first 10 games, {c'mon Wigin, 3 bowt ul do}.

Other than that I've backed Peterheed to finish top of the 3rd Division, took me ages to get a couple of grand on. Bookies have no bottle these days. Anyway I threw a bit more into the hat finishing up with just under 5/2 to me 4k stake. That's it for me, tempted to back Chelsea as I think they're still scalded after throwing the Premiership away last season, but maybe I have enough on already to keep me interested.

I got the nod about Peterheed from "a man in the know" {Reef knows his stuff in the SL} time will tell...

Canada Bob.

PS... I near forgot, I'm also "Trading with the Indians" {feathers not dots} with me XL5. I dropped on a bloke called "Red Feather" at a Pow Wow in Halifax about a month ago. He saw me putting XL5 on and how the mosquito's were leaving me alone but swarming everyone else, so he bought 250 of them off me for $5 each, put them on his stall and sold them all in a matter of hours for $20 each, he made $3750 in half a day, I made less than a grand {after costs} looks like the pale face got scalped again hey...

But, "all's well that ends well" he now wants upwards of 30,000 units so I should make a few quid off that. Right now Red Feather sells just a couple of things {but he's making good money from them}, he was looking to expand his range and XL5 {to be re-branded} seems to fit the bill. Do a Google for "Redfeather.ca" to see his web site, I can't get the link to work in here.

Never did I think when I was a kid watching "Hawkeye and The Last of the Mohicans" that one day {50 years on} I'd be trading with the Natives, odd old world hey, odder still that the avatar I've had for 10 years or more, now seems now to be so prophetic.

Edited August 20, 2011 by Canada Bob

[PullMyFinger]

Redfeather.ca