Hello folks,

Its been a busy few weeks since returning from the US - for personal and fellowship related reasons. I hadn't told my family about my early return, so walking in to my parents house unannounced, wearing cowboy boots and a stetson was good fun. Sadly however, my Aunt Christine tragically passed away 3 days later and to be honest externship A, Stirling, blogging, Babson and Saltire were not at the forefront of my mind for that week.

Anyway, once back in the zone, Jim and I had places to visit and preparation to do for Garth Prentice (our project sponsor) visiting Scotland to finish the final leg of our assignment. After all the wonderful things Garth was able to do for us in Houston, Jim and I were glad to be able to reciprocate some Scottish hospitality on this side of the pond. The highlight of which was golf at The Loch Lomond Golf Club. If ever one needed motivation to be successful, aspiring to be a member there is definitely incentive enough for me. Informal opulence is how I would describe this fantastic place, only minutes from the doorsteps of Glasgow. And how did we manage to swindle a game there I hear you ask? Well, it all comes back to the fundamentals of what Saltire is about - networking, maintaining weak ties and trying to bring people together to have a greater nett value. The opportunity of Garth's company doing business with a guy who happened to be a member at Loch Lomond was enough to ensure that our balls were on the first tee!

Another interesting thing I read this week was a snippet from the NY times "Freakonomics" Blog - have a look as it made me chuckle.

http://freakonomics.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/07/30/a-different-kind-of-teacher-cheating/

To me, the problem hear is not the tool but the tradesmen, however, PPT definitely promotes laziness - how many uninspiring presentations have we all sat through?

Finally, as the last of the inaugural Fellows make their way back home, it really is astounding that the 7 months in the US are over. That snowy Boston night when we arrived in January still lives vividly in my mind, however not as vividly as the friendships, lessons and memories that I'll take with me for the rest of my life. Thank you America for hosting us so brilliantly, thank you Saltire for this fantastic opportunity and thank you Fellows (especially Jim) for living in the moment with me.

Si