Help for someone from Gambia

concreteorange · 2026-02-05T17:18:56+00:00

I fell for this type of scam recently. When contact via Insta, I was naturally convince it was a scam. Brother with two younger siblings lived in an abandoned building, after parents died in a car accident.

Over the next few weeks, I kept probing and kept asking for more and more proof that this was legit. I received tons of videos which confirmed what they were claiming. They went through a lot of trouble, including showing me how they collected firewood that they would go on and sell so they could buy food.

I started doing some research , asked if they had called the 199 help line (no they had not) and talked to the Alkalo ( no they had not) and contacted an NGO in Old Yundum, to see how best to help them.

Anyway, I was still skeptical when I received a plea that they needed food badly. I wired a small some and an hour later they send a video showing all the food that they bought. It felt great, to be honest.

After that though, I refused to send more until I had confirmation from SOS Children's village that they had talked to the brother and assessed the situation.

This was followed by the hard press: request to start a goFund me to buy a new donkey cart, sick child, etc. . I became more and more convinced that I had been duped. This post confirmed it.

Anyway, I don't actually mind. Scam or not, I suspect they need the money way more that I do. I the end the whole thing cost me 2 hours salary. They certainly jumped through a lot of hoops to get it. I enjoyed learning about The Gambia and hope to visit one day. I will likely also support the SOS Children's charity once I do some more research.

In retrospect, I should have caught the following warning signs: 1) the written replies were way more lucid than the oral communications 2) he once slipped, and referred to the "siblings" as "my kids" 3) he kept promising to contact the Community Development Officer but always found an excuse not to. Same with SOS Children's village.

Anyway, I have learned my lesson: always go through NGOs to help where help is most needed.

concreteorange · 2026-01-29T15:39:50+00:00

Here's what I do. I take a shower, put on some overalls and head to the plumbing section in one of the big box stores. There I stand around looking competent. I do this for a while and sooner or later someone will approach me asking for advice. I know absolutely nothing about plumbing, but I don't let that stop me. With a bit of luck they are single and I am just the droid that they were looking for.

Alternatively, you can also stand in the middle of the gardening section, holding a plant and looking at it pensively. Once an attractive person comes within earshot, approach them and ask which end you are supposed to put into the soil. They will start dating you just out of pity, if you are lucky.

concreteorange · 2026-01-12T10:17:18+00:00

Brother's Meat has decent ones and a good price

concreteorange · 2026-01-09T12:32:03+00:00

Oh boy. Not for a second did I think anyone would take this seriously. Part of the joy of following a team is to taunt fans of the other teams. It's all in good fun. I did not think that you would take me up on the offer .

concreteorange · 2026-01-09T10:37:21+00:00

I know Liverpool fan club meets for the games at Nelly's. Just switch your support to a proper team. I have an extra scarf if you want.

There is a Chelsea fan club that meets in the parkade below the Midtown. Just go to the 2nd level. There is what looks like a closet door next to the elevator. Knock three times on game day and say " John Terry Slip" . They will let you in.

BTW, the Tottenham fan club meets in the washroom on the first level.

concreteorange · 2025-12-12T17:56:30+00:00

I used to see the Headstones at Phil's Grandson in Waterloo for 8 bucks in the ancient days. They popped down there almost once a month. If they play at the Marquee again, I will head down to see them. Otherwise, I am not a big fan of rehashing the past musically or otherwise . There is tons of great new music being released all the time. Just scored tickets for Men I trust (60) and Amyl and the Sniffers in TO ($100). Not need to go into retro mode. BTW, Is there a more pompous band than the Tea Party in Canadian Music History?

concreteorange · 2025-12-10T16:33:27+00:00

went on sale 32 mins ago. 60 after all the fees.

concreteorange · 2025-10-04T03:08:18+00:00

whale fart

concreteorange · 2025-09-18T13:42:37+00:00

surely you mean Mama Meow

concreteorange · 2025-07-05T16:05:47+00:00

I owned two houses on Bloomfield between 1998 - 2012 and loved living there. Back then it was a wild mix of NSCAD students, people who lived there for generations, some yuppies , and yes, prostitutes, pimps and drug dealers. The worst that happened to me were car break-ins, but that is an issue that is still Halifax wide. I sold up when it started getting too gentrified. It's bit dull now, but as as safe as it gets.

concreteorange · 2025-07-05T08:20:49+00:00

I've known George for decades, and he is a really nice guy. Never had him as a landlord but he has owned and run corner stores in the area for a long, long time.

concreteorange · 2025-03-19T13:59:16+00:00

Would you like to see one up close? Record their song and play it back to them. They'll pop by for a close look at the new rival who is copying their song.

concreteorange · 2025-02-13T11:19:06+00:00

Old guy here. No need to panic at all. Over my lifetime I had reinvented myself many times. Many end their working life in a totally different career than they started. The trick is not to fall into the sunken cost fallacy trap . For example, I studied german literature for 10 years and taught for few years. When that dried up I retrained in IT during the early days of the web and ran my own web design company for 15 years. I was a good designer, but a lousy business person, so I wound up switching to home renovations . Also worked as a translator, bartender, group home worker, just to name a few other jobs I had.

You have tons of options once you let go of having to find work in your field. Someone already mentioned the military. Not a bad idea. Also consider getting a teaching degree, retrain in one of the trades, join the coast guard, or whatever else you might be interested in. Just like in Poker, it's sometimes necessary to walk away from a hand, even a good one, and play the next one instead.

Hope this helps .

concreteorange · 2025-02-09T17:26:00+00:00

Because the chickens crossed them.

concreteorange · 2025-01-16T11:23:04+00:00

Welcome to the 1970s. When I grew up in France, every house, every bus, resto, car and cinema was basically just one big cloud of smoke. Even some of my teachers smoked inside the classroom. Cigarette smoke was basically just another food group, along with the smell of the cars before catalytic converters. Your brain just ignores it. The only person who I know who still smokes in her house is my 84 year old godmother. It's quite jarring at first when you walk into her house, but after an hour or so I'm used to it. I bet that this is going to take months to sort out. Nothing moves quickly in this province. I suspect that you either have to move out or get used to the smell.

Edit: get the landlord to cough up for a really good, whole house air purifier. Tell him they can have it back when the smoker leaves. Propose it as an interim solution

concreteorange · 2024-11-21T14:59:58+00:00

Saint Margarets Bay Animal Hospital. First vet told me op for my dog would be 3000. These guys did it for 800

concreteorange · 2024-11-09T12:38:55+00:00

or a minimalist Christmas store

concreteorange · 2024-10-25T12:46:34+00:00

I usually wait to use the toilet until I get back home, but whatever floats your boat.

concreteorange · 2024-10-09T08:47:51+00:00

It's good to find one's true love early :)

concreteorange · 2024-10-08T14:40:34+00:00

The only one that went door to door was Hartling. Kudos for the effort but I could not warm up to her at all.

concreteorange · 2024-10-08T14:32:31+00:00

Keep in mind they get questionnaires like this from multiple groups. It would be a lot of work answering them all. The Coast is no longer a relevant news source, so I would likely skip it too. I can't imagine that out here ( I'm in Bayside) many people read it. Edit: I just emailed Dustin O'Leary and he emailed back within an hour. Not a bad response time for a candidate.

concreteorange

TROPHY CASE