Hi, I'll have a go at answering this, though I'm not too sure of some of the questions. 1) He's writing in an ironic, conversational tone, so what he means is "I've been able to see that standing outside asking for money doesn't generate a lot of profit". "Sneak a peek" means "to see something you usually wouldn't see" and "books" and "account" are accounting terms. So he's had a unique position to see how much money homeless people make from begging, and his point is that it isn't a lot. 2) I need more context, I'm afraid. The Board of Directors are the people who usually run a company and have the final decision (the people who appoint the Chief Executive) 3) Depends on the context, you would say "I'm sitting down here" if you're lower than someone else (for example, you're sitting on the floor). You'd say, "I'm sitting here" if you wanted to show someone where you are. You would never say "I am seated here", "seated" is not widely used in these kinds of sentences. You could say "I spend a lot of time sitting/seated/or sitting down" they all mean the same thing,