My name is Paul last name Sarbanes

Keep chuggin' along I've heard all your pains

I know the days are long and the nights are short

But it's really sad that people try to extort

And we couldn't let things keep goin' on

Cuz there's a lot of companies like Enron

Yea the list is long but we think it's for the best

We had to make it safe for everyone to invest



Yea well my name is Mike last name Oxley

Some think it's overkill but please don't knock me

We had to protect investors from fraud

We wanna minimize the risk for anyone could rob

I think me and Paul finally got it figured out

But I'm sure some of you will continue to doubt

We knew there was something that we had to do

And now you got the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002



Chorus:

 

Clockin' lots of hours on section 404

I go to work early and I get home late

 

Clockin' lots of hours on section 404

No time to waste, can't miss the due date

 

Clockin' lots of hours on section 404

I can pretty much kiss my vacation goodbye

 

Clockin' lots of hours on section 404

I wish my fiscal year ended in July



I'm the SEC so don't mess with me

I'm gonna tell you 'bout the PCAOB

They're gonna show up at your front door,

Checkin' out your section 404

So you gotta make sure that you get done

And I know for sure it's not gonna be fun

You need to buckle down, you need to get your mind straight

Cuz this is something that rella just can't wait



Yo my name's COSO and I know control

So jump on board and get ready to roll

I brought this up back in '92

But this is something that nobody wanted to do

Y'all probably know my acronym of crime

It just didn't fit and it was hard to rhyme

But these are the things that you need to know

If you think you're gonna make it in the big show



Chorus



Now we haven't even talked about the Big Fat 4

Everybody knows, they're the consultin' whores

It's bad enough when they only had audit

And now with SOX, now they know they really got it

PwC, E&Y, and Deloitte

KPMG, hell they all exploit

The partners at the top make all the cash

While the ones at the bottom have to bust their ass

It is all about charity & Donation.

 

听闻今年北京PwC的annual party又是盛况空前，不但汽车照旧抽，明星照样请－－而且是我很fancy的林忆莲－－参加的人数肯定也是“猪头爆棚”吧，呵呵…………

 

俺在英国就没这么幸运了，Christmas期间英国PwC的各种活动，和往年一样，惟一的主旨就是给慈善机构募捐。

 

从十二月初，配合英国媒体今年圣诞节的宣传主体－－贫困的马拉维（一个非洲的小破国家），PwC Glasgow office就推出了一项活动：为马拉维的小黑孩儿捐款。据说，5.30英镑就可以喂养一个马拉维儿童一整年。截至今天，PwC Glasgow Office已经捐资喂养了161个马拉维小朋友了。

 

现在，在我写这篇ｂｌｏｇ的同时，在我身后十米的地方，一场看起来很平常的weekend drink活动正在进行，不过与以往不同的是，每瓶beer都要one pound或者two pound－－所得全部捐给马拉维的小朋友。

 

下周四会举行annual part，和往年一样，如果你想参加抽奖，你的自己花钱买奖券：五磅一张、二十磅五张。而头奖是什么呢？－－－价值75磅的Ranger的球衣。－－－当然，奖券筹集所得也是全部捐赠给慈善机构。

 

英国人对于慈善活动的热衷由此可见一斑了了吧。

 

Merry Christmas!!!

 

 

 

 

我和老婆在苏格兰趣事数则

在Glasgow生活的的这一年多里，经历了几件有意思的事，感染了一些苏格兰人的幽默感，写来大家看看。

我和老婆刚到苏格兰时，去一家手机店里买pay-as-you-go的手机Sim卡。我们问柜台旁的一个salesman帅哥:“你们这嘎沓Sim卡多少钱一张啊？”这位哥哥一本正经、一字一句地对我们说：“Five Million Pounds.”我和我老婆当时惊在那里！以为我们听错了，但是他说得真真切切啊！！―――三秒钟之后，这位帅哥突然满脸堆笑地说：“Five pounds.”原来刚才是在跟俺们开玩笑。

早就听说英国的蓝领代表，road worker，工作时的娇气和摸鱼打混是出了名的。在马路上随便挖个小坑，也要出动一大堆挖掘机、打孔机、电锯。有一天，阳光灿烂，我和老婆到一个公园散步，在公园门口看到了一群road workers正在懒洋洋地晒太阳，旁边停着一辆非常袖珍的挖土机，那个挖斗，毫不夸张的说，只比饭盆大不了多少。正好我们带了照相机，我就让老婆给我照一张站在挖土机旁边的照片。照的时候被那几个工人看到了，一个大叔突然大步向我们走来。我还以为我们拍挖土机冒犯了他，心中正有点忐忑。没想到，那位大叔走到跟前，突然大笑着用土得掉渣的苏格兰口音说：“Go inside!!”――于是我得以端端正正地坐在驾驶室里，照了一张“猪头开挖土机”的照片。

还有一次，我坐从爱丁堡坐火车回Glasgow，到车站的时候还有5分钟就到开车时间了，我急匆匆地问一个全副武装的警察：“请问14站台怎么走？”―――那个警察看了看我的票，突然紧张地做半蹲状，指着前面的栏杆说：“Jump over the bar, and run to the end!！”我当时一惊，警察竟然让我从检票口的栅栏上跳过去？？脑子进水了吧！―――两秒钟之后，警察叔叔拍拍我的肩，恢复了正常，告诉我14站台在最左边…………Faint，连警察也这么爱开玩笑。

此前受北京一个朋友之托，要我买一只“苏格兰黑脸小绵羊”的毛绒玩具，在Glasgow几个礼品店里遍寻不着。前两个礼拜，天天去爱丁堡做一个电力客户。一天中午，跟随team的大部队利用中午吃饭时间在prince street上window shopping，在一家Scottish 主题的礼品店里竟然一眼就看到了这个东东。赶紧“抢”了一个，高高兴兴地去cashier交钱。收钱的大妈，可能被Christmas shopping的热烈气氛和我兴高采烈的样子所感染，收完钱之后，做童心未泯状地问我：“Do you want a bag, or you want to play with him now?”――大妈竟然用了拟人手法。－－更牛的还不是这里，跟我一起去的一位大哥Stuiart Mitchell,此时正站在我身后，补充道：“It is not 'him', It is 'her'. I am convinced that this Scottish Sheep is a lady!!”－－这不是绝了吗？

这一年里，很多时候，我在Scottish Power的英国业务中心上班，那个地方，Cathcart，离市中心有点距离，需要打车往返。从Cathcart回来的时候，经常通过Scottish Power的前台叫出租车。有一个礼拜，天天都是一个大叔来接我，这大叔人很好，天天跟我聊天。周五的时候，又是那个大叔，我上车以后，他习惯性地问我到哪里去。我说：“Take me to City Centre of Beijing, China. Please. ”――兄弟我也学学苏格兰人的幽默感。――大叔连想都没想，就说：“No problem, Sir!! Would you mind if I say goodbye to my wife before we go?”――呵呵，还是人家苏格兰大叔牛啊，开起玩笑来连磕都不打！！佩服！！

闲适的生活，开朗的苏格兰人！