As we consider how consistently the suitors for AnteoTech's hand...

As we consider how consistently the suitors for AnteoTech's hand have sought exclusivity, I am reminded of those delightful Westerns of our youth, where men were men and wimmin were wimmin, and life was simple. From his lonely MT-Bar ranch, Sammy the Slick rides into town, handsome and young, swaggers up to the bar of the Saucy Saloon with a huge grin "And how is my Lily today, my one and only?" Leaning longingly towards him as she serves him a schooner, Lily the Lolly sighs "Oh, Sammy, you're the one for me!" Catching sight of the barman's dark look, she mutters "At least when you're in town."

"Whadda ya mean? Ain't I the only one?" "Oh, Sammy, we gals gotta eat, 'n pay fer our rooms upstairs, and get ourselves decent clothes . . .", and Sammy's romanticism is once more dampled.

And thus it may be for AnteoTech in those early discussions with many a collaborator. Unlike Sammy, their emissaries are more hardened to disappointment, but take revenge with cohorts of technocrats and lawyers and all kinds of other gun-slingers, insisting on this and that condition, this and that evaluation, proof, capacity to scale up, capacity to dance on the table and sing to Philip Glass' "Hallelujah Junction", whatever.

But AnteoTech is right to insist on non-exclusivity, while at the same time must ensure there is sufficient on the table to retain not just the affection of the suitor, but wholehearted commitment. I imagine that before and since our last AGM, rather than in smoke-filled pool rooms out the back of the saloon, there has been many a hard-headed discussion in board rooms, across lab desks, wherever. Like the outcasts in the wilderness, we cry "How long, oh deities, how long?"

Such was the unspoken question in the eyes of my accountant yesterday; for me, it's a bit like a visit to the dentist, indeed akin to fronting a confessional, I imagine. And so now I write, carthetically, what am I now thinking of the fortunes of AnteoTech?

Well, we've been here before, waiting, watching the gentle slide of our fortunes, to be caught up and tossed about in a tsunami of potential opportunity. Is this time any different?

Yes, indeed; far more strength and breadth in the technology, and in the company's management and focus. And far more opportunities, with I suspect significantly bigger players. So I am hanging on to my shares; I did as promised splash out before last Xmas once I had some readies became available, and increased the holdings. That may have been a mistake; hindsight is so helpful, about as useful as regret. But we have been here before.

Meanwhile, one of our notable and very credible posters who spend considerable time researching, passes on to a few of us little snippets, such as research papers referencing AnteoBind as critical to their results. The technology is very sound, and it will win out in the end. The bargaining and the proving are just taking, it seems, forever.

So, back to my MT-Bar ranch I go. Should I have a go at cattle-duffing? Might be a bit in that . . .