I'm back

Sorry, I've been really busy and haven't had time to post. Here is a random list of what happened recently:

- I was in Italy with my wife for a week in Portofino and Florence in Italy in amazing hotels; it was "divine" as my South African friends say!

- We found out that our cat, Tommy, is HIV. It's not contagious but he will probably die from it within a year. The whole family and especially my daughter is really upset.

- My first colleague joined me in my new Dubai office. It's great to have someone around!

- My 14 year old son is in Mexico learning Spanish and building homes for the poor. I'm pretty proud.

- My 11 year old daughter is in Switzerland for her first summer camp to play tennis. I'm pretty proud.

- ABN AMRO, my former employer, is about to be swallowed up by Barclays or RBS/Santander/Fortis... I still remember the days when we were elected "The Best Bank in the World" by IFR....

- I'm getting better at yoga, but my skiing is stagnating... thank God a new course will be up and running in September!

- I read Attali's book: "une histoire du future" ("a history of the future") - amazing stuff, despite the fact I do not particularly like the author.

I'm back.