Working Behind A Desk And Sri Lanka

I've actually got work in the last few days.  I had thought that the global recession will do greatly for my time to do this work.  Apparently for some, recession means more work.  I won't get into that.  I'm not going to bore you with this.

The recession is the beginning as is the swine flu if my information is correct.  No, I'm not talking about the "New World Order".  There is no such thing.  Maybe on the dollar bill.  What we're seeing is a struggle between various geopolitical groups that are beginning to seek the decline of old world powers.

It's not China versus the US.  Dollar versus a basket of currencies but an attempt to decentralize control of political and economic power.  By who or what, I haven't been able to ascertain.  How do I know this?

As I've said before, I have limited skills insofar as the Internet, computer programming and scripting, and "Googling" for information.  But I have a network.  Some knowingly work for me while others simply find the tasks I assigned (or pay) them challenging.

But my focus has been trying to get a family out of Sri Lanka.  The war has ended.  But the humanitarian effort has just begun.  One of our client's son, let's call him "Peter", left the comfort of his colonial style estate to travel the world "seeking his meaning to life".  I met him before.  Many times in fact.  At professional baseball and hockey games.

Make no mistake about Peter, he is not a spoiled rich kid.  I'm not rich and I'm closer to a rich spoiled kid than he ever was.  But he was in trouble.  No one has heard from him in weeks and his father was beginning to worry.  Why did I involve myself in this?

Peter has a brother, "Venom".  Their father is mere years from retiring and he will pass the company along to his sons, Peter, Venom, and "Rodney".  Rodney is into the New York art crowd, not the business type.  Peter would be perfect.  He has the same temperament as his father but has the smarts to survive in today's global business environment.  Not to mention the fact that if I can find a way to rescue him, he'd "owe me one".  A big one.

However, Venom would be bad.  The brute has a killer instinct.  In fact, he'd do a better job as the company head.  But the guy has no sense of what the greater good is.  Sense of responsibility.  It's all about him and what others can do for him.  It'll only be about growing the "empire" (I've heard him referred to his family business using that word) at all cost.  And I'll probably do Carl a favor.  Venom would drop him the second after he takes over at the helm of the company.  It's about doing this different from his father.

We cater to clients all over the world.  We've got twenty or so Fortune 100 companies as clients.  Hundreds of clients.  Many of them have operations in India as well as South Asia.

First I had to search and find out where Peter's last known location was.  That was no small matter.  Credit cards.  Airline tickets.  The amount of cash he was carrying.  Not an easy task.

I'll get to that someone day soon.  I ended up hiring a team of mercenaries.  Their leader was a former major in the US Army.  A former officer who kept his commanding officer from wiping out a village of scared Afghans who were forced by the Taliban to help them ambush his platoon.  I don't have the details.  I have a way to get a hold of the classified mission files but I don't want to waste time and resources to do it.

His actions earned him court-martial.  However, at the risk of a major public hearing, it was decided he would simply be discharged.  I had set up an offer from a global logistics company.  One of Carl's competitors in France.  The man fought with distinction and honor.  His dishonorable discharge was not deserved and he's the very reason why I do what I do.

And from time to time, I provide him with a mission of humanitarian nature.  This one involved extracting Peter out of Sri Lanka.  

Back to work.  Really, who would have thought a recession meant more meetings, reports, and kissing clients' behinds?


Note:  I got a warning.  Remember I said someone was out there?  Here's the warning:  You're leaking a trail.