tokajodu, I am in the exact same boat as you! I rang the company this morning and was told that the record date will be 22/10/09, meaning the ex date was some time earlier in the week. Apparently it was to prevent any confusion, to stop people mistakenly thinking that they could buy shares before the record date and still be eligible.
Ian sounds like a good guy even though he said that there was no way that I would be eligible. Feel free to give him a call and beg on behalf of both of us though ;)
Cheers
ESG Price at posting:
90.5¢ Sentiment: Buy Disclosure: Held