Still no fixed day or week for leaving. The car-sale thing is a
moderate-level nightmare, but I am not -- not yet -- ready to give
up my one remaining serious asset and abandon the car.

I keep thinking the process will go relatively quickly, and then some
other mishmash comes up. This week I found that Document Authorization
and Registration has added a requirement -- it's a good idea but so
inconvenient -- and so frustrating, since they could have told me
earlier that documents must now be in both English and Amharic if any
of the signers can't read English (or can't read Amharic). So the old
partners, Ababa and her daughter Saba, made the trip to sign and then
Ababa was refused. Therefore Saba must also re-sign.

So I spent an entire day at Doc Auth/Reg getting the translations done,
inspected, redone, accepted, signed, and stamped (yes, rubber stamps).
Then I lost another day in reaching the lawyer, who claims he has now
spent a couple of unsuccessful days trying to reach Ababa and Saba to
come sign the new papers.

Then Fasika, the would-be buyer, cancelled the sale agreement and then
reversed his position and said he wants to do it. Meanwhile he has
stolen my car registration and says that his lawyer tells him to keep
it -- in case I steal his deposit. Dear God. Fasika originally offered
to pay 90% of the price as a deposit, and I said no, just 30%. And he
is now telling Abrahame that foreigners are known embezzlers.

His refusing to give back the registration is a farce since I can go
to Road Authority and get a new copy (which I need in case I'm stopped
by traffic police). BUT I would have to spend an entire day there,
would have to pay for the copy and would also have to deal with
requests/demands for bribes, and would have to cope with the weird
guy in charge of coordinating car-sale paperwork, who also wants to
buy the car and was calling me at night to "talk" about it. DAMN I
hate the way things run here.

Get the picture as to why things take so long to get done???????

[Posted in FML 7767]