The diary

Pan European one
Thank heavens for Xerox, which is doing its bit to alert the world to the fact that there is a European directive on waste management due to come into force in the next few years. The cumbersomely entitled Waste, Electrical and Electronic Equipment directive, shortened to WEEE for convenience, has suffered, we are told in the Xerox press release, from a lack of profile among businesses in Europe. Perhaps they are having trouble taking the message seriously. The Xerox press release urges: '...it is important for businesses to familiarise themselves with WEEE and look at the impact it will have on their bottom line.'

Pan European two
As Diary warms to the theme of EC regulation of waste, yet another press release lands on our desk. 'The quality of our bathing water has improved for the fifth year running,' pants the environment agency, obviously flushed with success. All this means is that there are fewer 'faecal coliforms' in the water . Anyone fancy going 'bathing'?

Choice cuts
Is the operations director trying to cut your catering budget? Worried about how your catering team is going to feed all those hungry executives? Perhaps you could take a tip from one of Australia's airlines. The carrier, Diary reads, had its entire catering budget for passengers slashed in response to difficult trading conditions. However the airline's flight crews stepped in, just in the nick of time, by offering their own home cooking to passengers. Muffins in flavours from blueberry to cinnamon are being lovingly prepared and served up in-flight by the cabin staff. So, next time you're asked to make a budget cut, ask the directors how they like their eggs.

Clients 2 Contractors 1
How closely do you really read those tender documents? Ever skipped a paragraph or even a page or two? Diary hears that some authors of tender documentation are resorting to special measures to get the signatories to contracts to read them properly. These include slipping the football scores between item 2, section 4.1, and item 3, section 4.1...