For those for whom this kind of incentive holiday was a first, dark skies and cold rain on Hawaii was a grave disappointment. For me, however, it was a relief, especially since I had spend the preceding weeks in a Californian heatwave. In any case, there was more to the holiday than the weather.

When the breakfast buffet opened, for example, I encouraged my sister J to follow SM to the far end, just to hear the witticisms that he shared with the waiting staff (while I piled my plate high with bread and smoked fish).

BC was also in attendance, and always good for a laugh. On this occasion he was particularly scathing about the poor spelling and grammar in a memo that we received about equality and diversity at the awards ceremony later in the week: it was a requirement that everyone invited on stage received exactly the same amount of applause.