Since I can't make the party...

Since I can't make the party, the least I can do is tell a couple of embarassing Ashley stories. When he was in his later high-school years, he worked out his family wasn't going to be much help in his climb to the top. We'd all go to the beach (Knobby's) in Newcastle and Ash, who was there with his "friends", would pretend he didn't know us. Mum told the story for years of finding him in the surf and splashing him. He was mortified.

Ash started his career in finance by taking refundable bottles from the back of the local shop in Lismore and cashing them in at the front of the shop. When the owner finally worked out that he'd bought the same bottle back maybe a hundred times, he rang Neil and Eileen. Typically, Ash was hurt not through remorse but because he'd been caught. Proving those who don't learn from history are condemned to repeat it, there was the famous cheese-theft incident at the Sydney restaurant. Since Glenn is going to the party, he can tell that story.

It may not be obvious to everyone, but Ash tends to have a short fuse. I helped him move once in Sydney and, to help me start my "proper" wine cellar, he rewarded me with a very expensive bottle of wine. It said something on the label like "best in 20 years" but it was thirsty work so I drank it in the car on the way home. He found the empty bottle rolling around in back of the Volkswagen a couple of weeks later and didn't speak to me for about six months - precious, if you ask me. What a pity I can't make the party - I'd be able to tell his Adelaide friends about the time he...

-Grant