samirabid.com

The inspiring yet ultimately tragic story of Andrew McAuley.

At the begining of 2007 he set off from Australia for New Zealand in a Kayak.  The 1600km trip took in some of the worst weather the sea could generate, storms and swells of over 30ft.  The irony here is that he survived the big waves and the mental challenge to capsize and drown in relatively calm waters.  After 30 odd days spent in his kayak he got to within 30km and within sight of land.  Rescue crews found the kayak but not him.  Most of the footage from the film was recovered from one memory card on one camera that he took.  You see total range of emotion. A link to the blog is here.

What a great weekend.  Valentines was a great excuse to spend some time with lovely my wife.  One of the unseen challenges is balancing family life with the intensity of MBA study.

For many on the course it is not an issue but for others this balance takes its toll on their loved ones.

Simply good food, good company and uninterrupted time together was great.  We even popped in at the cinema to see the much talked about Slumdog and I am glad we did.  A very thought provoking film that confirmed much of what I have seen on India.  A good love story too and apparently based on a true account.  If you get the chance, watch it.

The reputation of Entrepreneurial finance is with good cause.  We got the folders for the module last Friday and the work load is significant.  Although fully intensive, one does sometimes feel we are not being pushed hard enough on the MBA so this module will certainly make up for it; especially having to give submissions through the exam week of this term.  I am really looking forward to it and to meeting the lecturer flying in from UCLA.

In the last week also, the momentum has started to build for everyone on the project and job front.  The PepsiCo presentation, where they brought fridges full of produce!, was very popular with the cohort and I am sure they will get many applications.  Rolls-Royce are in this week and there is a session on renewable energy solutions that I will be attending.

I am looking at projects in growing sectors (if there are any!) in the field of business strategy and development, rather than say with a business operations focus.  Ultimately however, my approach is always to understand what the business issues first.