They come and they go

One of the property managers just quit. Not Eddie - the other one. Just had it "up to hear." At least, that's what his eyes said. His mouth said something like "I've had a great time, learnt a lot, personally developed and (deep in my heart) it's really tough to leave this paradise all behind."

Frank must learn the ancient art of disguise and, if not full on disguise, at least the noble, if not ancient, art of pretending. In this case, Frank should have pretended to be heart-broken about the loss of the property manager (not Eddie) – at least to the property manager concerned in person to his face and so on. That fact, though, is that Frank and I have been wrestling for weeks with how to get rid of this guy (not Eddie) without having to pay him a large pot of gold as stipulated in Dutch employment law. Frank’s heart soared with the announcement and he appeared unusually upbeat throughout most of the afternoon before retreating into his morose seriousness indicating that his post-vacation glow was gone (and within the day and after a two week Spanish rest).

Interviews for consultants and someone for the financial assistant role continued today and will continue to continue for the rest of the week. Not a bad consultant interview this afternoon until that is I asked her to ‘sell me’ on a property. After twenty minutes she had detailed ad nausea the proximity to the highway, trams and the quiet evenings during which birds could often be heard. Under pressure, she conceded that the entrance hall had been retiled and that light was well reflected from the new and white ceramic – still no actual mention of the apartment. Despite not remembering to remember to talk about our core offering, she made a good impression which demonstrates that we really need to interview better candidates.

As for the financial role, the first candidate was a disaster as he prefers to work alone, with minimal supervision and not to interact with colleagues. The other one seemed a great personal fit although his experience in financial administration was limited. Actually, that’s just not fair. He had zero experience.