strange times

Five things that happened this week that may be a sign of the times... or may be a sign that some things in business never change

1. An article in Ehotelier, written by a US lawyer, stated: 'With people beginning to look at the German mark as the replacement for the dollar, we have to wonder a bit about our direction." Not the only thing we have to wonder about mate....

2. An email to an industry colleague resulted in an out-of-office reply that read 'I will be away from my office indefinitely'. Is that a very long business trip or a really subtle way of saying bye bye?

3. A recruitment consultant accepted a 60% reduction in fees without any resistance at all

4. When I complained about delays to the customer support rep of a leading high street bank, he told me candidly 'yeah, the service here is awful'

5. I've been trying for over a week to sign a contract with a state-owned company which would bring them thousands of £££s per year. No one returns calls.