It is risky enough for a broker to move jobs and even more dangerous if one starts banging on about what a lovely time one has had on gardening leave. Hence I decided against a change of title for my ridiculous Friday afternoon email. Play it safe I tell myself because of course I have moved jobs - yes.....yet again! I have joined CIMB which I firmly believe is an opportunity for me to get back to basics and focus on delivering some interesting ideas, research and corporate access, primarily, at least for the moment, founded upon our position within ASEAN. And, throwing caution to the wind, before I set out to deliver some value added later on in this email,I just can't resist telling you what I've been up to since October.
If I was to say that the highlight of my spell on the sidelines was being able to enjoy a mid-morning cup of Waitrose Kenyan coffee standing by the Aga with Mrs S then you may immediately get the sense that this was not the most self-indulgent of breaks. We did enjoy a week in Sri Lanka and I came back extremely bullish on that economy. Interestingly enough a quick glance at my Bloomberg screen reveals that it is comfortably the worst performing market in the world since our visit. Only Bosnia and Herzegovina and Jamaica come anywhere close. It would appear that three months off have done nothing to improve my ability to identify attractive investment opportunities.
Nope. Far from gallivanting about the globe my three months included just six games of golf, five days out hunting with the Thurlow, a few days shooting and an afternoon's walk with the dogs on the beach in Norfolk. Otherwise I was at home, busily engaged in a major gardening project, appropriately enough, Remarkably, I managed to sell a large, unsightly and unused ( partially because it was broken ) horse-walker on Ebay which was positioned at the back of our house. The buyer took it away and the next day we set about fashioning a vegetable garden out of the concrete foundations that remained. How exciting is that. Brace yourselves for a riveting series of updates as my garlic, carrots, lettuce, potatoes and raspberries progress once spring is upon us. And never let it be said I lack ambition. I have also started a small orchard, renting a Kubota digger on which I spent a happy day creating 15 enormous holes around the place. I have since planted a selection of apple, cherry, pear, quince and almond trees. Furthermore, in my drive for self sufficiency, Sophie was thrilled yesterday with the present of a new chicken hut for her birthday. Six hens to follow, possibly seven, if ultimately we need to replace Topic,one of the existing flock, a lovely Sussex hen, savaged by a miniature Schnauzer which some friends brought with them for lunch last Sunday. So, busy busy busy. Quite how my colleagues at CIMB think I am going to be able to hold down a job with all this going on I do not know.
And what of the rest of my flock I hear you ask. Well, Hen is with us for a few days recuperation from the trials of Leeds. I got home last night to find she had spent the day drawing up, on two sheets of A4, a "healthy living regime" based on meals of superfood vegetables, mackerel and chicken fillets interspersed with regular sessions of meditation which she intends to follow over the next few weeks to restore her equilibrium, so she explained to me. Aghast look when I suggested she also drank less and gave up smoking and little mention of how her university course was going to fit into this programme but who I am to question her on this? Meanwhile if it wasn't for the fact that last time he come home he immediately went out for a walk and came back an hour later covered in blood and mud to inform me that he and Twiggie, his lurcher, had caught a roe deer, you might think that my son Bob was developing a soft spot. I had a text message from him the other day after I had quizzed him about a story I had heard involving another pigeon he had apparently caught with his bare hands and summarily dispatched, rather than, as last time round, smuggling the unfortunate creature into his house under his armpit and lobbing it at an unsuspecting friend.
From: Bob Sandison <
Subject: RE: Pigeon
Date: 8 February 2012 20:02:46 GMT
To: ">
Nah, people change it around!!!!
Could have caught a squirrel yesterday, got right up to it but didn`t go for the grab cause squirrels bite!!!
Reassuring to see just a hint of discretion over valour. Hey ho.
Right. On a serious note I am raring to go here. Bought three new suits to replace the two I had previously been wearing which had been made for me by a tailor in some little soi behind the Oriental in Bangkok back in 1997. Sophie has callously put these in the bin. My first day in the office here at CIMB was interupted by the need to wander down to Sloane Square to have the security tag removed which I discovered dangling obtrusively off the back of my jacket, but I am all attention to detail and professional these days and VERY keen to be of service. Please drop me a line if you need anything and in particular if you are planning a trip out to Asia anytime soon.....in the meantime I am still trying to sort out who's who, how our systems work and trying to restore my confidence after the disappointment of my call on Sri Lanka.
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