Off for the holidays...

I'm enjoying two weeks at home over the holidays! January will be a busy month. On the 5th, I leave for Monterrey, Mexico. After that, it's off to po-dunk Huntington, Indiana. And then back to Nashville. The last week of January I will be working close to home at the Lexington plant.

Project coming along.

I've not posted in quite a while. It just seems that Nashville is not exciting as the rest of the world. But, I guess that's just a matter of perspective. I will be working in Nashville 3 weeks a month for the next year. I might take a couple trips to Mexico but will not likely be going back to France any time soon.

We have just added about 50 new people to the project team. These people are only on board until the first North American deployment, one year from now. Our office in Nashville has been re-arranged into one giant room with about a dozen large tables. We no longer have cubicles to work in. They say that this is to foster collaboration but really its the only way they could fit over a hundred people into the space available. The project is finally picking up some speed now. Next week, we begin conducting "business transformation" workshops. Essentially it's a fit analysis to insure that the core solution can work in North America.

As for the social life while in Nashville, it's rather droll. We wrap up work around 6:30 PM central time and meet up at the hotel around 7:00. Everyone groups up and heads out to eat. Mostly we go to large chain restaurants. Occasionally we venture downtown. Rarely we hit the bar strip in country music city USA. Next time perhaps I'll bring back pictures.

North American Team in Nashville, Tennessee

For the remainder of the year, I expect to be in Nashville probably 4 days a week, two weeks a month. This week in Nashville was rather dull. Meetings during the day consisted of topics such as our documenting our current reverse logistics (returns) processes, mapping master data, and identifying potential system interfaces. Between the boring content and my cold medicine, it was difficult to stay focused.

The first night, a large group of us went to Hooters. I've not been to Hooters in many years. Most of the guys in our group were quite rude and crude to our waitress. It was somewhat embarrassing. But at the same time, I think anyone who wants to be a waiter at Hooters is just begging to be hit on and picked on. It sort of goes with the territory & the uniform.

On day two a different group of us went downtown to the Flying Saucer. This is a huge bar with over 200 beers on tap. While there, I ate some white goat cheese pizza and had a few obscure beers.

Mark (Florida), Daron (Kentucky), and Cedric (France) at Nashville's Flying Saucer

On day three we went to a restaurant called Caney Fork fish camp. The atmosphere there is quite unique. It's rustic with stuffed animals everywhere you look. These animals range from a large moose to an assortment of coyotes and foxes. There was also a live blue grass band. I didn't think to bring my camera but could have taken some interesting photos if I had. My meal consisted of wonderful corn fritters, fried pickles, fried catfish, white beans with ham, and hush puppies. Yum, yum.

Tijuana Trip

The business trip to Tijuana went great. The Mexicans were very intelligent, knowledgeable, and excited about working with us. Mission accomplished.

Apparently, Northern Mexico is no longer safe for American business men and tourists. Our driver told me that tourism is down 90% as compared to previous years and that the government is desperate to get tourists back into Mexico.

Due to security concerns, our company required us to stay in a hotel in San Diego, California and to commute daily. We were provided with a driver and an armored vehicle. The first day, the car was a modified Jeep Cherokee. It had bullet proof glass and armored plates inside the door panels. It looked like any other Jeep Cherokee but weighted around 9000 pounds. The car was a bit small since there were six of us counting the driver. On day two, they upgraded us to a much larger armored car which also looked like any other SUV on the street.

Each day, we went directly from the U.S. hotel to the Mexican factory and then back across the border. So, I didn't really get a chance to experience the real Tijuana. This is the only picture that I was able to take inside of Mexico:

We were told that if we reached the boarder after 5:00 PM that there would be a three hour wait. So, we left the office at around 4:00 PM each day to avoid the traffic bottleneck. This gave us the evenings to explore San Diego. The next picture was take just in front of the restaurant "World Famous on the Beach" where we ate a nice sea food dinner.


On Wednesday, we decided to hit Target, a store near our hotel, to buy swim suits. We spent a couple hours at the beach before going out to dinner.

Here's Mac & Chad showing off their new swim-wear:

Status Report

Sorry for not posting during the last couple of weeks. Last week, I worked in Nashville, TN. I don't have any pictures.... nothing much worth taking pictures of. Evenings consisted mostly of typical American chain restaurants.

This week, I am working from home. It is suggested that everyone take vacation this week. Due to lower seniority, I have half the vacation of most of my team. I don't want to burn my vacation yet as I hope to visit relatives in November. The result is that it's hard to get much work done as I can't seem to reach many people for calloboration. I might take a day and bring Sky & BJ to a water park depending on the weather. Next week I'm back in Nashville with the data team.

The upcoming trip to Tijuana is on. Don't expect many pictures. I can't take photos during work. And, they'll have an escort (possibly armed) to drive us each morning from San Diego across the border to the plant. Then, they'll take us back at the end of the working day. So, no exciting evening jaunts in Mexico. And for dinner, I suspect we'll wind up at a steakhouse chain.

Working from Home & Future Travel

I have been back in the States for a little over two weeks. It feels like a month has passed already. Skylar, my two year old son, keeps asking to go back to places in France. It's amazing how often pictures of key Parisian landmarks are shown in advertisements and product packaging. And, each time Sky sees one, he says, "I wanna go there again."

Now that I'm home, my role is changing once again. Instead of testing the core global system and reports, I'm starting to coordinate the mapping of data for logistics objects. My Lexington plant office is being moved to the other side of the building. Not that it matters since I mostly work from home when I'm not traveling.

Things I like about working from my house:

1. My home office / guest bedroom is so much more pleasant than a drab cubical.
2. Internet access is faster than in the office.
3. My Internet access is not monitored as long as I don't use the company laptop.
4. During conference calls, I can put the phone on speaker. In an office cubical, this is disturbing to others.
5. I can get more work done with fewer distractions.
6. I can cook lunch instead of always eating out.
7. My wife is a school teacher and has summers off. So, during the summer, I can eat lunch with family.
8. No dress code. I can even go to work in my PJ's or boxers if I want.
9. My morning commute now consists of simply rolling out of bed. With inflated gas prices, this saves money not just time.
10. I can bring my dog to work.

Next week, I go to Nashville for the official kick-off of "work ahead" data mapping for standard product plants in the U.S. and parts of Mexico. I'm likely to be required to travel to Nashville two or three weeks a month from now on. The schedule will be arrive Monday afternoon, leave Thursday afternoon. It's only a three and half hour drive from Lexington. And, unlike working in France, I get to have all of my weekends at home! If I gained anything from all of my travel abroad, it was a growing appreciation of family and my time spent at home.

Next month, I am planning a 4 day trip to Tijuana, Mexico. But, the trip may not happen due to increased security measures due to current unsafe conditions in parts of Mexico. I've been invited to Monterrey and other Mexican locations but don't have time to visit them all personally. Tijuana is the least safe of all but is where my key subject matter experts reside.

More of Paris...

While I work, the family plays. But on the weekends, we get enjoy Paris together....





On Saturday, we visited the catacombs beneath of the streets of Paris....

While roaming the streets of Paris, during tourist season, we found this appropriately named street.

Luxembourg Gardens has a section that houses bees. I'm not sure of the significance but thought that it was interesting to have such a thing smack in the middle of a public park.

My wife is taking lots of pictures of our son's stuffed animal "RJ" (Raffe Junior)...

Here's another pic from today's visit to the Rodin museum. This one's the famous "Gates of Hell". And here I am, walking up the steps...

This is likely my last trip to Paris. My involvement in "core" work has come to an end. Next week, I start working on North American projects and will be spending a great deal of time in "Honky Tonk" Tennessee.

Eiffel Tower at Night

Family in Paris

Once again, I'm in Paris. But this time, I brought family: My wife, our child, and my wife's 15 year old sister. We're staying sixteen days. While I work, they play. Last weekend, we hit Euro-Disney together. Euro-Disney reminded me an awful lot of Dollywood in Tennessee. It's even smaller than Six Flags. Regardless, we had a great time.

Business is still moving slowly. We're working on testing. Our North American implementation partners have now been on boarded and were here in France this week. We ate dinner on the river at a place that was depicted in one of Renoir's famous paintings.

This Week in U.S.

I was in Nashville Monday and Tuesday. We were working on ironing out details for our U.S. project to implement SAP in standard product plants. Today, I'm working out of my house. When working at home, the majority of my time is spent collaborating via conference calls. Tomorrow, I'm going into the local plant. Part of the day will be spent helping them with stuff related to a job I held over three years ago. On Sunday, I leave for France. I'm taking family with me this time...

English as the official language...

This article was in today's global company news...

To speak English still makes debate in firms

English has today become the language of the business world. Most French enterprises, which are present on the international stage, have chosen to use English in most of their everyday communications. This is notably the case of (company a) and (company b, my company), which has more than 120,000 employees in about 100 countries. However, HR Managing Director (Mr X, company b) regrets this decision as the use of the English language reinforces the hegemony of the British culture.
France, May 20th 2008

It's interesting that Mr. X's primary concern appears to be about re-enforcing the domination of British culture as opposed to doing what would best facilitate collaboration in a global company. Considering that probably 1/3 of the employees speak English as their native languare and that English is one of the most prevelent 2nd languages globally makes it one of the only viable options. I also find it a bit ironic that the article was published in English rather than French.

Note: As of May 26, 2008, Mr. X has moved on to another position within the company.

Another Day in Paris

Sunday, some of us went to the Museum D'Orsay where they have on display numerous famous pieces by Degas, Van Gogh, Whistler, Monet, Rodan, and others. This is now one of my favorite museums in Paris.















The following are a couple of pictures of billboard ads in train stations.

Normandy Invasion

Today, Mac and I did a tour of Normandy. I'm glad that I have had a chance to stand on the very same beaches that my grandfather invaded over sixty years ago. If it weren't for soldiers like him, the world would be a very different place and I probably wouldn't even allowed in France.

It's good to be home!

I was asked to go to Nashville this week. They told us that we didn't absolutely have to go if we'd been traveling extensively. Politically, I probably should have gone. But sometimes you have to put family first. I've seen very little of my two year old son over the last month. I even missed his birthday a couple of weeks ago. Sure, we had a party for him when I got back but it's just not quite the same.

Usually, when not traveling, I work from home. Yes, I could drive across town if I wanted to. But, I share a large office space with two other people and am on conference calls most of the day. I can't exactly put the phone on speaker and I feel that my talking on the phone all day would be a bit bothersome to them. I haven't been into my Lexington office for several months. I'm going to go in on Monday as I have a meeting to attend. It'll be nice to see old faces and meet the new hires. So much has changed this year at the plant. It'll be fun to walk around and see the new plant layout in action.

I return to France on Mother's day. I'll be there for two weeks. Then in June, I'm back for 2 1/2 weeks. But in June, I bring my family. Am I crazy to be bringing a two year old on such a long airplane ride? I imaging it'll be hard to keep the kid in his seat. Oh well. At least I know I'll have someone small in the seat next to me... more room to stretch out!

Going Home & Coming Back

This three week stay has seemed to go much faster than I would have expected. I think that the weekend trip to Munich really helped break-up the extended stay in Paris. I'll be on my way home tomorrow! Yeah! I'm looking forward to my son's 2nd birthday party on Saturday. I'll be home for two weeks and then come back to France.

As soon as travel is approved for June, I'm buying tickets for my wife, child, and wife's sister. We're all going to stay for two and a half weeks. That will give me two weekends with them in Paris. We're hoping to also go to Euro-Disneyland during the trip. I'm actually looking forward to coming to France in June. It'll be very nice to show my family around and let them experience some of what my life has been like for the last six months.

Weekend in Germany

This weekend, we went to Munich... a beautiful city with wonderful beer.

Another Weekend in Paris

Today is Monday, a travel day for most people on the project. The other Americans will arrive this afternoon. The Europeans who went home for the weekend will arrive tomorrow morning. So, there are very few people on the "platform" and there is very little core work available to work on individually. It's days like this that frustrate me the most. I come half way around the world to sit and twiddle my thumbs. The result is... time to post to my blog.

Friday night, I walked two miles to try a seafood restaurant & Jazz club near the Chateau Malmaison. The menu was very confusing. I hadn't realized the French had a dozen different types of shrimp all with different names. I ended up with a huge slice of white fish, the species unknown. Thankfully, they had German beer to wash it down. The Jazz band got set up just before I left. They were okay but not great jazz musicians.

K., an American from the services domain, was also in Paris this weekend. Unlike me, he stays downtown near Charles de Gaulle Etuille (Arche de Triumph) and commutes. We met up on Saturday and went inside Notre Dame. Afterwards, we visited the Musee des gouts de Paris (the museum of the guts of Paris). This is a tour of the sewer system. If you can get past the smell, the tour is quite interesting.

On Saturday, I went to the modern art museum at the Centre Pompidou. I'm not usually very fond of modern art. Too often the pieces are sloppy and thrown together with very little in the way of refined skills. But, I must say that the majority of works on display were quite good. There were only one or two pieces that I felt were a bit insulting. Such as the 3 white canvases. This goes well beyond the concept of minimalism and is, in my opinion the epitome of laziness. I can just picture the artist laughing his ass off about getting paid to hang up blank canvases!

Another Week in France

This week, we continue testing our SAP system which is to be implemented globally. The process is slow and very few scripts have succeeded on the first pass. While this is a bit frustrating, I am finally getting my hands on the system and learning how it works. This is great as the last three years, I have focused mostly on standardized business rules and data mapping with only an abstract concept of how these would be applied in SAP.

Right now, I am just about the only American on the team who is staying in Ruiel Malmason, France. Almost all co-workers who are here this week (mostly non-Americans) are staying in downtown Paris. I'm looking forward to Monday when the rest of my American team arrives. Eating alone hasn't made for the most exciting evenings. Plus, this week I have started back on my low-carb diet. It's a bit difficult knowing what to order while I still can't read half of the French menu descriptions. Breakfast is also a challenge. I'm cooking breakfast in the hotel microwave, alternating days between bacon & eggs and quesadillas (I brought my own low-carb wraps with me). Last night, I simply walked along the Seine river (pronounced "sin"). I took this picture (right) of myself standing on a dock.

This weekend, I think that I will be on my own. I'm going to finally hit Notra Dame and maybe Pompidou, a modern art museum. Or, I may just do whatever strikes my fancy at the time.

Yuck! Andouillette Sausage!

I have arrived in Paris. This time, I am staying for three weeks. I'm now determined to do low-carb even while abroad. Today, in the office cafeteria, I carefully selected a low-carb meal consisting of a large salad, green & yellow wax beans, and two plump sausages. The sausages looked like good 'ol German brats. But, when I cut into one, it crumbled into a pile of greasy, gristly chunks. I didn't know that andouillette sausage was made of pig stomachs and colons. I ate two bites and couldn't handle any more of it. I simply ate my beans and salad while trying not to breath the sausage's feces aroma. Yes, that's right, it literally smells like shit. I suppose this is because it is made out of intestines. I only hope that the two bites I ate doesn' t make me sick. Apparently this dish is very popular in France and considered a local specialty. Lesson learned: don't eat sausage in France!

Vacation Time...

My co-workers are jealous because I've been on a Caribbean cruise while they were stuck in Paris, France...

Sunday Evening

Today is my 10th anniversary with my employer. It's hard to believe that I have stuck around this long. But, it's a good job that keeps my interest. And the compensation has improved quite a bit over the years.

Today is also Mac's 60th birthday. Mac has been my boss off and on since I started. We are now the same level, in essentially the same job. We searched all afternoon for a bakery that was open on Sunday from which to buy a cake... The one we bought is really more of a big round brownie.

Several on my team have "Sling Boxes" that allow them to watch their home TV's via the INTERNET. A few are really into Nascar. So, here we are in France watching Nascar on U.S. TV. I find it rather boring and left early to post here and to read a book.

Sunday Afternoon

I don't recall who's house this is.... In the courtyard are numerous special police with brightly colored uniforms. The grounds are treated as a big park that is open to the public.


I thought that the duck houses on the pond were a pretty good idea. It give the ducks a nice safe place to nest away from people and predatory animals (i.e. dogs).



This church was near by. I forgot the name of it. It's one of the churches in the DaVinche (sp?) Code movie (and book).

On the way back, I saw this double rainbow that ended right at our Suitehotel where we are staying. I guess this is a good omen? The hotel is on the left side of the road lit up by a ray of sunshine.

International Projects and General Ramblings

During the first two trips, I was working with French "tutors" or what I would call test leads. They would say start at 9:00 but not start until 10:00. Then after 30 minutes they'd say "lets take a 5 minute break" and not come back until a half hour had passed. Progress then of course was slow. And, I was beginning to wonder if we'd ever get anything finished!

This week, I was working mostly with a female Hungarian "tutor" and a Chinese man. We stayed much more focused and were able to accomplish most of our tasks in half of the allotted time.

I prefer the latter as I'd rather work hard and get this work done as apposed to letting it drag on for several months beyond the plan.

Tonight, my boss, Richard is taking me out for dinner to celebrate my 10th year anniversary with the company which is Sunday. I think we're going to a high end French restaurant. This week I have eaten more French food than all of the previous trips combined. Usually we eat quite a bit Italian, Chinese, and Mediterranean. I actually like the French food. But, I've not yet worked up enough guts to try the raw steak tartar. Maybe I'll try it tonight... or maybe not.

This weekend, several of the Americans are going to Versailles. I'm leaning toward just venturing out alone to see where I end up. Versailles, I am told is better done when it warms up as much of what there is to see and do is outdoors. Plus, the weather isn't supposed to be very good today. If I don't stay out too late tonight, I may try to hit Notre Dame as soon as it opens in the morning.

Next week, I'm likely working with a French "tutor" rather than the Hungarian. But, as we learn more and more about the SAP system, we will likely start working more independently only calling for help when we get stuck.

I used to think that I wanted to do expatriate work. But, I don't think that I'd like it as much now as I would have when I was younger. I'm coming to really appreciate Kentucky and my family back home. Even with everything to see and do in Europe, I'd much rather have my weekends at home. Plus, it'd be nice to have the company of my wife more frequently.

D.

The Metro

Wednesday, the metro was almost deserted. I've never seen so few people on it. With the metro system, each route has different types of trains. I think that this one is my favorite design. It's flexible, long, and open; much like being in the belly of a worm. Watch as the train twists and turns.

Horse Meat

Translation:

"How do you like horse, as a friend or as a steak?
Don't put horse on your dinner plate. "

I thought my friends in Kentucky might like this bill board in the train station.

While in Paris, I can literally say, "I'm so hungry that I could eat a horse!"

I wonder what other kinds of meats they eat? Perhaps we should be more careful with the mystery meats that we get from street vendors in France!

Back again...

I got back to Paris yesterday. Niels, Richard, Mark, and Mark's son Peter roamed around town, trying to stay awake until a reasonable bedtime. The highlight of the afternoon was the Picasso museum. For dinner, we actually ate French food not just French fries. And, it was pretty good. Regardless of everything I'm getting to see and do, the novelty has just about warn off. I'd rather be home with my family.

It looks like we will have a pretty busy work schedule this week and next. Our consultants apparently have finally gotten some deliverables complete that we can test. Business during the last two trips was rather slow. It was beginning to make me wonder if the work would ever really get anything done. I would rather work hard and get this stuff done by June than to keep up this intense travel for several additional months. Either way, there are some other related North American projects on the horizon that might pull some of us off of the global work. So, if I am lucky, I might not have to be here very often starting in summer.

The following photo is taken from my hotel window. I am on the highway side of the building. But, it's still very quiet. I have two windows each has two glass panels seperated by a foot of air. The two office buildings on the right belong to my company but are still under construction. We are working in a building just on the other side. The walk to the office is just a few blocks and probably only takes five minutes.

Sunday Outing

I am still not feeling great. But, I am felling better. Richard (my boss) and I went to the Louvre today. It was very tiring but much better than being miserable in my hotel room. After a long day of staring at uncountable naked men and women lounging beneath hovering angels, we headed back toward the hotel.

We hopped off the train for a quick look at a part of town called "Le Defense". This is the big glass building big business part of town. We just walked around a few minutes then got back on the train.... Here's some pictures we took while there:

Status Report

This week, I have not noticed the stench of sweaty Frenchmen. Perhaps it is that we are not packed in crowded conference rooms. Or, more likely it is because I have a terrible cold and my nose is stuffed up. Don't get me wrong. Not all Frenchmen stink. It's only a small minority that make them all look bad.

On Thursday, I was feeling quite miserable. I was coughing up a storm. I was wearing a heavy coat at work and still feeling chills. My boss finally told me to go back to the hotel and rest. Progress was slow. The test script we were to go over in the afternoon was 90% the same as the other two we did in the morning. So, I left. At the hotel, I slept for nearly 18 hours. When I awoke, it was Friday evening.

I then went out for dinner at a nearby Italian restaurant. This is my boss's favorite restaurant. It's not bad. But I think I still prefer the Americanized Italian back home. Regardless, it's a nice cozy little place with very pleasant waitresses. Most of the Americans were going to play Texas hold em in the hotel lobby. I really wanted to join them but was feeling like crap. I was so exhausted I thought I could go back to bed. But even though I was sick and tired, I couldn't sleep well. I don't think I finally went into full sleep until about 5:00 AM. I slept until close to noon. Upon awaking, my symptoms still persisted but I somehow felt better. And, I was sick and tired of staying in my hotel room.

So, a group of six of us made the trek to downtown Paris. We started with a late lunch in the Latin Quarter. Gyros's this time. I'm not quite sure that I know the difference between a Donar Kabop, a Schwarma, and a Gyros. I used to think I knew the difference. But in Paris, they all seem the same to me. This fountain is where we usually meet up if we don't all ride out to the Latin Quarter together.

Next, we went to the Notre Dame Cathedral. My co-workers said that there usually is not a long line. Today, the line was excessively long. Instead of standing in line, they recommended that we skip it and do the tour some other time.

The plaza in front of the cathedral had many Gypsy baggers as well as street entertainers....

Just underneath the plaza floor and possibly under part of the cathedral is Crypt Archeologique. We were able to go on the crypt tour. These are ruins of buildings some of which date back to 100 AD. It kind of makes you wonder what other ancient ruins are still buried throughout Paris.

And then, just around the corner is the "Musee National Du Moyen-Age" or Middle Ages Museum. The building was equally impressive as the displays inside. Much of the building is originally Roman. I don't have many pictures of the inside. But, I did get a snapshot of this well and interesting sun dial on the wall.

Much of this museum building and it's contents date back to before any white people were in the America's. France is old as dirt. There is a mind boggling amount of history around every corner.

By this time in today's excursion, I was pretty worn out. I'm still feeling ill. We sat for a while in a coffee shop and then headed back to the hotel. I then ran by a grocery store to stock up on breakfast items and snacks. Everyone else was going to take the train back into town for dinner, but I decided to call it a night. I'm hoping to recoup a little in hopes of hitting the Louvre museum tomorrow.