Dominic wants me to go to Brussels on the 24th and attend a one-day workshop at the Dufresne office. As soon as he told me about it this morning I told him that I was fully enthusiastic and was sure I would learn a lot from the trip because the topic was something very close to my heart. Then he reminded me that he still hadn’t told me about the topic. (Minor goof up due to over-enthusiasm.) I told him that I heard ‘someone discuss it somewhere’ and somehow avoided embarrassment.

The workshop is on ‘US Housing Market: Growth and profit opportunities for Dufresne’. Dominic thinks that the workshop is on an obvious topic and entirely useless. But every Dufresne team working for a bank has been asked to send a rep.

I have no idea about the US housing market. But how complicated can it be? People need houses. Someone will sell the houses. Where will they sell it? At a housing market. Finished. I am sure I’ll manage.

He asked me to coordinate with Valentina for my Schengen visa. I flatly told him I would not. He told me that the secret was to email her everything. She would use a dictionary to translate and then do the correct thing. Telling her orally, apparently, is pointless.

So I quickly wrote her an email. The workshop is in two weeks and there is just about enough time to get a Belgian visa. I wrote the email to Valentina in plain English and used small worlds. I also cc’d it to Dominic.

Excited!!! I’ve never been to Belgium. It will be nice to get away from London for a while.

LLTLF update: The first charity show is on the 25th. Budgeted at a total cost of 245,000 pounds. Tom has already transferred half a million into the LLTLF account. I don’t know what I am supposed to do. He will tell me at some point.

Sugandh continues to roam around the office from morning to evening minding everybody’s business. Thankfully he ignores me mostly except for occasional LLTLF expense reports. Which anyways Jenny files in full without any errors or issues.

BRUSSELS!!!

15 May 2007

11.45 p.m.

Almost midnight! Man!

Dominic is making me work like a maniac before I leave for Belgium.

Travel agent came and picked up my passport. He should be submitting forms tomorrow. And I should be getting the visa latest in five days. Provided there is no goof up. But the travel agent seemed like a professional chap.

Going to Madame Tussauds this weekend to take a photo with the Shah Rukh Khan statue. Not only am I going to send it to Gouri, I am also going to print it, frame it and then courier the frame to her. Now that I have enough liquidity in the bank, as a boyfriend I think I should fulfil her requests.

She will be very excited.