Positive Economy™, Knackered Body, Security Alert....Wii Wii!!!

From Thursday to Saturday last week, we had the third of the set of four IPP seminars. The topic was Positive Economy™ - economy that generates economic growth but restores ecological capital - and the lecturer happens to be an alumnus of the HEC MBA programme and the University of California, Berkeley. He has been actively promoting investment in CleanTech companies and has just started his own consultancy. The lectures were interesting, and the sessions included videos, a movie, a case study and a guest speaker. He sure did put in a lot of effort in making the whole thing very interactive but I must say he could have gone a bit deeper in the subjects we discussed. But then, he probably had a lot to cover in a very short period of time...and a very broad audience! Not to worry as we were not back in school for just the lectures...we, as in my classmates and I, had a lot of catching up to do. All in all, most of my classmates are happy with their respective IPPs but a few are desperate to get out of their companies. And, some have stayed on at HEC to do more lectures and they seem to be loving it! It was really nice to see them again...and some of us went out to Cafe Oz, a popular hunt for foreigners in Paris, for a number of B52 shots and more bonding!

On Saturday, my wife and I took our son to his grandparents' place for a short vacation for him. He certainly likes being there but I think he misses us as my wife is now back in Paris and I am back here in England. And, a conference call between the three of us every evening is not going to be enough! While I was at my in-laws', I practiced a few rounds of boxing, a few games of tennis and a few rounds of golf. It was cold, wet, and windy outside and still we managed all these...the secret is Wii. Nintendo has done a great job and even amateurs like me can win against professionals like my brother-in-law. Unless, of course, he was thinking about family peace and letting me win! I even mentioned to my wife I won't mind getting one for my 30th birthday but I don't think that is going to happen! :-) Whatever the case, I must say I have never been physically challenged this much by a game console!

And, while I was queing to get back to London on the Eurostar, we heard an announcement that they had found an unidentified package on the track on the English side of the tunnel and we were being put on a security alert. Which essentially meant no boarding for a while and the knock-on effect meant I got home at 1:30am, about two hours late. Which would have been fine if I hadn't been woken up by 6:30am by my cousins to sort out the last details of two apartments we have just invested in in the booming Indian real estate market! Let's hope I find a job soon to pay off all these mortgages and loans!