A Ford tractor, SOLD and bound for Africa

A month or two ago, a fellow came to look at the Ford tractor Cliff had listed on Craigslist.  I didn't go outside at the time, since most guys who come looking to buy a tractor aren't interested in buying.  They are "lookie-loo's" as we call them, just wanting to talk about tractors.  When the fellow left, Cliff came in and told me he was a black man and didn't really seem to know much about tractors.  "He told me where he was from," he said, "but I don't remember the name of the country.  It sounded like someplace in Africa."

Ever on the alert, I asked, "Was it Nigeria?  Because a lot of Internet scams come out of Nigeria."

"Yeah, I think that might have been it.  I think it was."

We talked about it and decided this must be somebody wanting to take us for a bunch of money (blood from a turnip?), or maybe make off with our rusty old Ford 5000 diesel tractor without paying.  We agreed that if the guy came back with cash, we'd have one of those pens you use to mark on paper money to see if it's counterfeit.  Oh no, nobody's going to take us to the cleaners.  We weren't born yesterday.  

And just as we thought, we never heard back from this man... for several weeks. 

Then, after we'd given up ever seeing him again, he called Friday to say he'd be here Tuesday (yesterday).  He had someone coming from Massachusetts to check out the tractor before they bought it.

Could it get any crazier?  All of this sounded like a made-up story.  Cliff has had some problem understanding the guy due to his accent, so we weren't sure what he'd said.  Surely he got something wrong. 

But we got a call yesterday saying they were on the way.  I intended to meet them this time!

These three are all related, although I'm not sure how the young lady fits in the picture.  Cliff spent over an hour explaining how the tractor worked and showing the relative who had come from Massachusetts how to drive it.  His English wasn't as good as the others, so his uncle translated a few things for him.  I had no problem understanding either of the others; in fact, the lovely young lady and I had a wonderful discussion.  She is from Tanzania (I think... because you know, my memory isn't the best), and spent most of last year there.  I didn't want to pry, so I didn't dig for too much information.  When I brought her up to our house so she could use the bathroom, she remarked, "Oh, something smells good!"

I had some steaks in the Instant Pot cooking; that was the smell; I considered inviting them to stay for dinner, but didn't.  I wanted them to make sure they wanted the tractor and then hand over the money!  I didn't want to stretch it out any longer.

Cliff tried to show him the necessary things about driving this tractor.

But this... a cheap, old, faded sun-shade... is what he seemed to be proudest of.  Oh, and one other thing:

The ancient radio that still works.

After the test-drive, they followed us to the bank, where we had a bill of sale notarized for them and deposited the cash they'd given us.  Before they drove away, they told Cliff to let them know if he every got another such tractor.  

And Cliff shared a bit of his profit with me, a very generous act on his part since I never make him share his tractor fund money.  I've been needing a new winter coat.

Bye bye!