RE & RED, you both make good points.

as RE said "still waters run deep"...unfortunately they also get stagnant....

we are not in a position to diplomatically smooth over hugo's emotions anymore...nor do we have to...

the situation now is that hugo's in a pinch and we actually have a little leverage if we use it right now....management may be using this approach (i hope so)....if they are just sitting and waiting for a phone call then i say PROXY FIGHT!!!

imo, the best approach is to gain some respect back from the venz.....if we continue to try to smooze them we're done....