In a message dated 11/22/2004 3:15:05 PM Eastern Standard Time, [log in to unmask] writes:
I am the head of the account department of a Private Bank in Netherlands and I would like to intimate you with certain facts that I believe  would be of interest to you.
Wow, Barry, that's cool!  I am from Holland, too!  At least, through my grandfather.  They lost the land in Uitwerde in the farm depression of the 1880's, when American wheat blew the European market out of the water.  What a bitch - 9 kids. 
 
Came to the US without knowing a soul, age 15, got himself on a train to - where else? - Holland, Michigan.  Worked felling trees in the still virgin forest, farm hand, other odd jobs, put himself through Hope College and, just to complete the American streets-paved-with-gold dream, became a ... Dutch Reformed minister.   (Barry, fyi, doesn't matter in DRC, works vs. faith, you are a damned sinner anyway.  No prisoners.)
 
Barry, where are your people from?   "Barry" - doesn't sound like a Dutch name, ya know?   Any chance you're from "Breukelen"?  (That's a joke, Barry, contact me off-list.)
 
So, Barry, what exactly do you want from me?  Bank account?  PIN number?  Bullamanka sign-in code?  Ebay password?   Ruth's unlisted number? 
 
Barry, I have to tell you upfront something I learned from my granddad - 50-50 split Barry, that's it, non-negotiable.   That's just the way we Dutch-Americans do it. 
 
best,  christopher riepma gray