2001-11-05 - 4:44 p.m.

Many moons ago, before I was married, I worked for a company that sold sport clothing. I was about 24, and very very sassy, and I went to Atlanta for a trade show. At said trade show, we were running a loop in the booth, showing video of an Ironman-type competition that we sponsored, that took place in Europe. And the founders of said race, a man and a woman, were at the booth to promote it. Follow that? So, the guy is obviously from another country, with an irresistible accent, and we flirt and joke. And he tells my boss that he needs to go around to the other booths, and wants to take me with him. And since I am the merchandiser, and it's a way to get into the competition's booths, he agrees.

So we're walking around this huge show, and he's approaching companies to try to get backing from them, to bring this race to America. And as he'd be giving his little spiel to try to get backers, I'm thinking to myself, "Yeah, RIGHT. No one's biting on this thing, dude - but god DAMN you're cute..."

And no one did, really. But we spent the day together, and we all went out for dinner later that night.

After dinner, my boss came up to me and hissed, "let's ditch all these boring people and go out somewhere.. just a few of us" So we ditched the rest of the group, and about six of us headed to some club. To make a long and inevitable story short, I ended up on Ironman's lap, and we ended up slipping out of the club and spending the night and part of the morning in his hotel room. And as I related the story to selected co-workers in the morning, the thing they found funniest was my reaction to his big plans for his future. (yeah, whatever....let's go get another drink, huh?)

And now, he's the mastermind behind one of the most-watched shows on television.

So I guess you won't want me to be giving you stock tips.

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