That Black Seal

     I just got a call from my brother. He asked me if I still had "that black seal" with me. I asked him "What black seal?"

     So he went on and explained that he got a call from his old co-worker from Taiwan last night. His friend said my brother still owned stocks of the bank he used to work for, and because the bank was acquired by another bank, so the stocks were going to be worthless.

     "What's that to do with my seal?" I asked my brother.

     "Well, because my old company forbids us to buy the stock, so I used your name..."

     "In that case, I can give the seal to you, if I can find it, but your friend can't have it." Well, I trust my brother, but I don't trust his friend (or friends, because I don't know them), so I have to be careful.

     "I know, so I'll go to the broker and stamp it myself."

     "Are you saying you're going back to Taiwan?"

     "Yeah, my stocks are going to be worthless if I don't sell them now."

     Hmm.... I don't know how the stock market works in Taiwan, but if it's anything like the stock market in the US, it's actually a good thing because the stock price usually goes up in my brother's case.

     Anyway, my brother still thinks he is going to loose all the money, so I'll just have to explain to him when he comes over to my place.

     What if he decides to go back to Taiwan after all? Damn, lucky him!



Update: March, 2007

He is now in Taiwan. Double Damn!  As it turns out, the buyer is a private company, so no stocks. No stocks means what my brother said was true--his stocks would be worthless.