[woofa.express]

Chapter 1.

Howard's Purchase.
I lived at Finley NSW and Howard lived 10 miles east. He owned a gyrocopter, had his own airstrip and lived in his hanger.
I had a Mooney aeroplane for sale and Howard took a liking to it. I said to him to take it home and see if he liked it enough to buy it. He reckoned that was a good idea. I called him some time later and yes he wanted it. I said that’s great but just keep it and pay me in the new financial year which was only a couple of months away. He thought that was great too. He flew into town twice and I cleaned it and gassed it. All complementary.
Well the new financial year arrived and I called the man only to be told he no longer wanted it. I had paid for not only the fuel but the interim other fixed costs including maintenance and insurance. He had knowingly done the wrong thing by me and I accepted it without a fuss and once again my wife called me a sucker. But it didn't end there.
A short time later Howard called to tell me he had left a map, ruler, pencil and rubber in the plane. And a few days later he called again asking for the return of same. He was starting to irritate me now. I returned the first three of those four. Some days later he called yet again to see if I had found the rubber. (I must point out to the American readers that here, down under, what we call a rubber is not a contraceptive devise but it is what you call an eraser). He was really irritating me now.
In good ‘ol Aussie it is practice to make a contribution to a party or a social event by taking something, usually liquor. Well my daughter in law tells me that Howard has a six pack that he takes to each party he attends and departs with the very same 6 pack he brought without ever having opened a single bottle. She says this 6 pack has attended so many parties the bottle caps and cardboard carry pack have started to fade.
Howard has avoided me ever since. Understandably.
Footnote. The picture of the Mooney was not mine but came from the internet.
End of chapter 1. Chapter 2 is next story.