Bret

Hope you had a nice dinner:) All these machinations that go on in these meetings, are they all the stuff of John Grisham novels? I bet they are. I bet you're like the lead lawyer in the novel, The Firm:) You better watch Murphy, he's not a school master - he's with the Feds. Check your office, its bugged... That wasn't Santa the other day that told you about your reflective clothing, it was an undercover Fed - Murphy's mate:)

Bam - I wish the meetings were that intriguing. I suppose it depends on your taste. Just imagine an enormous NYC board room with a team of lawyers and accountants on both sides fussing about documents and discussing things like synergies and EBITDA. Far far less mysterious and exciting than a Grisham story. (Cannot stand him as a writer by the way). In the first part of my career I worked as a litigator and spent time in courtrooms - but I traded that in for corporate boardrooms.

Wow Bam.

I know, I've got too much time on my hands at the moment.

Now, this might surprise you Bret, but I'm pretty handy when it comes to P&L's. When Grace was born, I worked for Fitness First (they are/were the largest chain of Health Clubs in the world) and I was a cluster manager - looked after 5 clubs, normally ones that were struggling. I had to sort them out. I always started with EBITDA/operating profit and worked backwards.

There's nothing more beautiful than looking at the EBITDA line and being miles behind and then, a few months later looking at the line and being on track/ahead. And of course, if you've sorted the business without cutting personnel, it's even sweeter.

I'm not a Grisham fan either:)