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.

Out of control

May is out of control. More deals than ever, more turnover than ever. It goes without saying that we've more costs than ever and, naturally, May is the month when the entire crew (with exception of the shareholders) get an additional month's vacation pay. The most prudent way to handle a surge in sales is to ignore it knowing, with certainty, that a catostrophic month (or months) lie smirking around the corner and, in the end, it will all average out following to the letter the immutable law of averaging. I wish I'd kept this in mind before ordering that custom TVR.

Next week is full of interviews. New consults and additional financial support person. Quality of applications has been mixed ranging from good to shambolic. At the shambolic end for example, one candidate had listed the following in the qualifications section:

Prepared and gave a speech to 200 people at the funeral of my brother-in-law.