Day 7 Cape Town “The Brit’s b-day”

No offense, but this day was ridiculous. We had already had so many company visits that I had a hard time keeping track of them. It was like a tease to look out at Table Mountain as we were waiting on Chevron to get their act together. I think I almost had a mini break down, since we had no free time the entire trip…but here is what I remember:

Mothers to Mothers, Global Carbon Exchange and Ethical Co-Op visits. Don’t have much to say about any of them, since this morning was painful.

HOWEVER...Investec was very interesting. Joel Stern, the inventor of the finance term EVA was present in a major way. The presenter was also hysterical because he looked extremely sloppy/nerdy/british with stains on his shirt and pants that were falling off…yet he was obviously intelligent and had a lot of interesting things to say about South Africa’s economy. Joel kept interrupting everyone with his loud opinions and interesting banter. I actually agreed with most of what he was proposing…but his delivery was interesting and fun to watch. Basically, Joel was a huge proponent of having investors choose between cash dividends (taxed) and stock dividends (to reinvest and create value). Joel also had some interesting views on the sub prime crisis. All in all, it was an enlightening visit with some good stories to share afterward. On with the party.

Later, we had a group dinner in honor of David Rudick’s birthday at a great little Italian restaurant. The dinner was so much fun since we had been working so hard all week. Everyone was in great spirits, drinking wine and throwing up the horns whenever we sang to David. After dinner, we headed out for a dance party. Most of us didn’t get in until 4 am and my feet were sore from dancing. Go figure.