Canada by Richard FordMy rating: 4 of 5 stars So much of 20/21 Century American fiction seems to be about the desolation of life in rural communities in the mid-west. Steinbeck described the depression, Cormack McCarthy the plight of the modern cowboy and here, Ford takes a look at 1960’s Montana and Saskatchewan – all
Read More

Dominion by C.J. SansomMy rating: 5 of 5 stars One of my favourite reads for 2013. The storyline is a “39 steps” ripping yarn of spies and resistance – whacks along at a great pace. More absorbing is Sansom’s speculations as to the make-up of a post-war, fascist influenced Britain, after signing a peace treaty
Read More

Consolations of the Forest: Alone in a Cabin in the Middle Taiga by Sylvain TessonMy rating: 5 of 5 stars Beautifully written and a temptation – to run away from it all and become a Russian woodsman! In part, depressing as Tesson struggles with isolation, alcohol and relationships. In the main, inspirational as he re-connects
Read More

My first observation today is to report two situations that occurred in the last few days and give you my thoughts: A dental receptionist refuses to attend one of our Saturday TCO training courses (at her Employer’s expense) because she has a Saturday “hobby”. A nurse who we thought wanted to become the practice “social
Read More

On Friday Tim Caudrelier and I took a flight to Belfast with Flybe to meet successfully with a prospective business partner for 2014 and beyond (more of that another day). As the flight prepared for departure and the stewardess demonstrated our “safety procedures”, a couple of passengers on seats 2A & 2B engaged in a
Read More

It is rather humbling and also comforting to see from analysis that almost 2,300 people have read my original blog post from Friday morning. Add to that over 600 Facebook “shares” and I’m confident that any kidnapping would be dealt with very quickly! Please don’t think I’m taking the situation lightly – far from it
Read More

I owe you that. The messages of support have been overwhelming – thank you. The 16:00 “deadline” came and went – we remain vigilant and very securely protected. I have discovered today that the hired thugs presented themselves at the “famous” Hale Cafe on Tuesday morning, announcing to the manager that they had a scheduled
Read More

I’ve always attempted to be as honest as possible with my faithful (and sometimes critical) followers and, except where the confidentiality of others could be compromised, my “ups and downs” in business and in life have been shared with you. I’ve attempted to be transparent, authentic and vulnerable in all my writing and lecturing –
Read More

During my Discovery Day in South Wales yesterday we discussed (yet again) the issue of “price” and how to answer patients’ questions. In this case, the lovely team at Jamie Pugh’s practice in Aberdare are about to enjoy a 2-week break whilst the practice premises are significantly refurbished. Occupying a prominent position on a main
Read More

In his book “To sell is human”, Dan Pink suggests that we used to strive for “access” to information in a world of scarcity – and that now we are struggling to “curate” information in a connected world of overwhelm. Just how many web, e-commerce and m-commerce sites can we visit? How many social media
Read More