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I have had them oh so many times in my life. I had a lot of them in Belgium in the early days of my professional career when I was selling pots and pans from door to door. I had them in France, in Germany (though very rare with German people), the Netherlands, and all over the United Kingdom and Ireland. And I have had a whole bunch of them in Portugal. Especially in this beautiful country where I am currently living. The “secret meetings”. I had one yesterday as well! Let me explain what I am writing about.

The day before yesterday, I received a phonecall from some Portuguese guy. He was a little bit in panic, and told me his business had been robbed the night before. The thieves had destroyed his safe, and he needed a new one urgently, in order to replace the broken one. I asked him the necessary questions to find out what kind of safe he really needed, but obviously, he didn’t have any idea of the different possibilities in that market area. I proposed to send him my best offer by e-mail, but that was not good enough! He insisted on having an appointment with me, so he could then immediately decide to buy a new “Gifoa-safe” of outstanding quality! Hey, I never say no to a business opportunity, so I agreed to go and see the guy yesterday, which was a Saturday. The only problem was… this guy was calling from a place close to Coimbra, a 500 kilometer drive for me (one way!).

So I woke up in the middle of the night (well, it was still dark outside), and drove the distance. It was pretty foggy along the motorway to Lisbon, and the rest of the road was driven in pooring rain. I was, as always, on time on the appointment. Guess what? I was the only one. My prospect was not there! I called him several times, and he finally answered my fifth or sixth phonecall. Telling me he had already found another solution, and the appointment was not necessary anymore! This Portuguese son of a bitch didn’t even have the decency to cancel our rendez-vous.

This is what I call a “secret meeting”. One drives a lot of kilometers, spends a lot of money on gas and tollway, invests a lot of time (which is also money of course!), and then the other party does not show up. It happens. It’s part of business. It’s part of the game. So I never swear about them, I just accept this fact and move on. I am not proud of it, and normally, I don’t tell anyone…

I only hope that the robbers who robbed him last Thursday night are reading this blog. If this is the case, hey guys, please do go and rob the bastard again! If he then needs a real good solution and yet another safe, I will invite him to come to my showroom in the Algarve, so he can drive the distance this time!

Fortunately, I have already made friends all over Portugal. So I spent some quality time with them yesterday afternoon, had a nice lunch and dinner with them, and went to bed early last night in my hotel room. There used to be a time that I would have returned home immediately, but I don’t do that anymore. Driving 500 kilometers on a Saturday is fair enough. So I only returned back home this afternoon.

Early this morning, I took the opportunity of visiting the old part of Coimbra, and walked around the narrow and ancient little streets, up and down a whole lot of stairs, as the city has been built on a steep hill. I enjoyed every second of it. Obviously, I had taken my camera with me, and the pictures below are the result of that walk.

Oh, and by the way, last Thursday I celebrated my birthday. I don’t feel any difference at all right now. I still feel 18, but now I have to add a full 31 years of experience to that! Anyway, I hope you’ll enjoy some of my pictures of Coimbra.

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