Loving my Oldies

Well 30 years on and it is even easier for a business to swallow up others. The profit motive is stronger, the regulations are useless, communication is instantanious, the people who are supposed to guarding against aggressive and inappropriate marketing are part of the problem. Perhaps you can explain to we simpletons the difference. The last time I looked, a business case was a business case whether you were selling bananas, property, uranium, or veterinary services. Is there a profit in it? How can we maximise that profit? How can we get around any strictures imposed by the regulators without drawing attention to it? Etc etc etc.

Of course they don't, but when a practice manager/vet has signed a contract guaranteeing certain KPI and whose remuneration is subject to the rise and fall of share prices, then the potential for over-servicing becomes so much the greater It's called "Economies of Scale" and I reckon it is one of the greatest furphies perpetrated on the consumer and society in general. It means fewer jobs, less regulation, less choice, etc etc. Yes, it works for a while, but reach a certain size and all the good things that are supposed to happen are cancelled out.

yes they do, those little growly noises that are like music to me after the way Feather's been all her life. I've never heard her make them until now. Ah such emotive posts .... little tears here, but happy ones. Looking forward to your update telling us that Zeph has learned how to play Dee's game .... or has taught her one of his own.

Oooh, I got all teary and funny in the tum looking at those photos of Juniper ready to go on trial. So sweet, so eager, so full of love. Darling girl.

Princess Playful

To see dogs fnally click is just the best thing. Such a lovely story and beautiful beautiful photographs. It has happened here (the clicking that is, sadly not the photographs ): http://www.dolforums.com.au/topic/252412-it-has-taken-a-while/page__p__6313276__fromsearch__1#entry6313276

Oh, how special is that.

Yes, as I said above, it will be all about profits and the interests of the shareholders, most of whom probably couldn't tell a dog from a cat and won't care less unless it affects their dividend. :(

The trouble is in today's market, this is what we will be reduced to. Same as the strangle hold that Woolworths and Coles have. I used to think I was supporting a small wine shop, only to find it was part of chain owned by Coles, I think.

Some orgs on there that I wouldn't recommend.

I imagine so , but worse than that, because the vets would be on a profit share, they might (just might now, nobody jump on me from a great height about how wonderful their vet is :D ) be tempted to push unnecessary treatments and/or operations. (The latter is already being done for luxating patellas with some vets boasting that they make their money out of those operations. Although some dogs definitely do need the operation, for most it is a bit like the Scam thread going in general: they frighten the owner by telling them all the dreadful things the dog will suffer if they don't have the operation. ) With the Greencross expansion, it really worries me for the future pets and their owners, because I have seen this exact same scenario IRL, but with medical clinics. I worked for a venture capital organisation for many years and one of their investments was to bring a whole lot of medical clinics under the one banner. It was very successful and a lot of people made a lot of money. However, they spent more time working out how to share the profits among the investors and management than they did on whether or not the venture was a good one or a necessary one. One of their selling points for the raising of future funds was the number of millionaires they created.

I regularly get messages on my computer advising that my computer is running slow. Needless to say, I ignore. No way would I be giving personal information to a voice over the phone or a "box message" on the computer. But, again, I have been using computers years both at work and at home. Many many people don't have constant daily computer use and are at risk simply because of lack of exposure to all the things that can go wrong or to all the scams that are around.

http://www.smh.com.au/money/investing/greencross-credentials-can-only-get-stronger-with-merger-20131212-2z8ru.html Fragmented industries can create profitable opportunities for the brave, and this has certainly proved the case for Greencross. The veterinary services provider has grown impressively through acquisitions in recent years, delivering compound annual growth rates in revenues and earnings of 29 per cent. With an aggressive acquisition strategy in the past five years Greencross now has 85 general practices, nine specialist/emergency centres and four laboratories. Advertisement Outlook We believe the company's successful roll-up model of vet clinics still has plenty of room to expand, with less than 6 per cent share of the available revenue market in Australia. Management is looking to acquire 10 to 20 clinics in the next year with target multiples of 3.5 to 4.5 times earnings before interest and tax. Acquisitions have not blown out the balance sheet with gearing set to remain below 65 per cent. The company has reached a scale whereby acquisitions can be funded out of cash flow rather than debt. The company's growth profile could be further turbo-charged by a proposed tie-up with Petbarn, a big wholesaler of pet products which has 100 shops in Australia and 24 in New Zealand. Petbarn has a robust revenue and earnings profile, and the merger would create strong synergies between the two. The combination would create the leading integrated retail pet-care company in Australia, with 124 shops and 100 vet clinics in Australia and New Zealand. The merged entity would have pole position in the industry which is estimated to be worth about $7 billion a year. The combined company would have revenues of about $440 million and EBIT of about $40 million. The deal is subject to shareholder approval in late January. Price Shares in Greencross have been performing exceptionally, up 54 and 138 per cent in the past six and 12 months respectively. The gains are even more impressive on a longer time horizon, and a testament to the impressive growth delivered by management's roll-up strategy in the lucrative but fragmented industry. Worth buying? We are attracted to the growth proposition Greencross already represents in isolation. We believe this will be only strengthened by the proposed combination with Petbarn. The integrated nature of the new business would be a first for Australia but has successful form in other countries such as Britain and the US. Meanwhile, we do not regard the valuation of Greencross – either in isolation or after the merger – as demanding, given its enviable earnings growth, and the prospective market share gains. Consequently, we believe the stock is worth buying at about the present level. Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/money/investing/greencross-credentials-can-only-get-stronger-with-merger-20131212-2z8ru.html#ixzz2ngQvmRpr

I thought it was terrific, Leema. Can I suggest just a couple of little tweakings? I would change the shot of Bandit after the words about him waiting to the one where he is lying down and looking pensive or the one at about 3.47mins into the video. I watched it again and it is head shot - gorgeous. I would also combine the various activities such as playing on the couch with the blue ball, at the water with the other dogs, and playing with the little pup and not show different aspects of the same games in the second half of the video. I would also caption where he gets right down on the ground so the pup can play with him. I think dogs who do this have an extra softness about them. He is a lovely dog. Maybe he was meant to stay with you :laugh: :laugh:

Nah! I'm a member of the Bee Gee's Appreciation Society. :laugh: :laugh:

It isn't just the older generation, Scootaloo. When I joined an organisation some years ago, the office computer was absolutely riddled with viruses because the young girls just opened up anything and everything . It was cheaper to get a new one and start afresh than try to clean it up. Probably more useful than a govt campaign would be a built in warning as the computer was turned on.

It isn't so much that Tibbies are renowned for their ferociousness :D :D , but more so that everyone and anyone in the house would have been alerted. At least that's what I tell myself when I look at my very useful littlies barking madly because a bird has flown past the window. :laugh:

Happy Gotcha Day, Tempeh. I wanna see the pic of her photobombing, please. Such a gorgeous girl.

That is horrible, Westiemum. How can people be so callous, I wonder. Stupid thing to wonder: it is proven everyday a million times over .

Osha is a stunner. And it is great to see Christmas Smudge again.

Beautiful photos And, as always, sage and caring advice from Ams. I always check in to see what is happening in the Bonnie/Georgia world :laugh: :laugh:

I suggested that once on this forum and I was accused of being a dreadful person, hurting, bursting and god knows what, eardrums. You'd think I'd suggested poking out their eardrums with a knitting needle There are plenty of people who don't use computers at work and may decide to get one at home. If someone isn't a frequent or confident user, I imagine it would be very easy to be taken in.

Such a ghastly tragedy. Not one of us was there so we don't know. There are any number of scenarios. The parents of a 3 month old baby are probably a bit sleep deprived and when they do get the chance to sleep I imagine they sleep very very deeply. However, it is all supposition on our part. Poor little baby, Mia, and those whose lives are changed forever.

Loving this, keep it going :laugh:

My dogs are very good at emptying my bank accounts. It is a very good thing that another one of their very useful attributes is for lying around looking gorgeous.