Today's postcard

Nice one, Alastair... you almost had me...

Hi Glenn,
You didn't reply to our emails, but we came anyway! We are having a great time here and have already done some of the 'touristy' things like Windsor and Big Ben. Saara & I can't wait to see you, are you coming to meet us at Lottie's?
Love Ally & Sah.

OK. This was funny. But I was highly suspicious...

(a) It's a London postcard, with a UK stamp.
(b) The text says "Saara and I", so Alastair wrote it.
(c) But it's not his handwriting.
(d) "Ally & Sah" is what Saara would say...
(e) So it might be Saara's writing, but see (b)
(f) Who does he know in England that would send this for him?
(g) Could they afford to fly to England to surprise me?

After a bit of confusion receiving this today at lunch time, I rang Lottie. She had no idea about Alastair being in England. So I called Mum on SkypeOut.

Me: "Hello. Could I speak to Alastair?"

Mum: "Well you could if he was here."

Me: "Could I speak to him if he was in the country?"

Mum: "He's at Saara's. Ha ha, did you get a postcard?"

Turns out Al found a guy on eBay that will do this... you tell him what you want written, and the "to" address, and this guy does it for you. Talk about niche marketing

Then I hung up, and Mum signed onto the computer so we could continue talking for free. Partway through the conversation, Alastair came home... so I was able to congratulate him on his almost-successful prank.