I just got off the phone with Neil. I was surprised that he was in the office, and that I wasn't on hold for more than the time it would take for the receptionist to introduce me.

I avoided a lot of the questions like "What the hell were you thinking" since I knew he would evade or decline to answer them.

Instead, I asked him what price he started the negotiations at. Even this wasn't easy to get, but eventually, he said that Boor was told to double the offer, and Novak would present that to the shareholders. Obviously, Boor had no interest in spending that kind of money. He is disappointed that Cliff wouldn't come to the table with more money.

He did tell me the reasoning behind the RS attempt. The BOD had planned on separating Big Daddy, since they could see the writing on the wall after Cliff bought out Freewest. The plan was to consolidate the shares, and issue shares (by dividend) in a new company that would contain everything except Big Daddy. This would have had the least tax implication for us shareholders. He said that Spider was an exploration company, and he or the BOD had no interest in trying to raise the necessary capital to go to production.

It's too bad that the BOD wasn't allowed sufficient time (or wasn't able) to present their idea to the shareholders. In hindsight, I think that this would have been in our best interest, and one of the ideas that I thought would happen under the merger with KWG.

I asked him what his future held, and he said that he is still under contract with Spider to act as the President. Cliff is aware of that, and will either retain his services, or pay out the penalty. He said that he isn't really interested in spending any more time in the swamps as a Geo. Guess he better make enough money on this deal to retire. Just wish the he had held out longer, so that I could join along with the retirement plan.

Cylinder