Ewwwwwww

Finally got down to work today by moving to a new office that actually has good internet access and had a productive day. Am continuing work tonight but this nasty nasty dirty gross bug started flying around me. I can only describe it as a massive fly on A-Rod steroids that has a worm for a body, and when you swat it it falls on the ground and uses its worm tail to flip itself right side up. It's probably four inches long and did I mention nasty? Luckily one of my teammates captured it in a cup but the cup is sitting next to me and I can hear it banging around. Ewwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww how is a girl supposed to concentrate on labor statistics with The Fly hanging out next to me like its my best friend? I suppose I haven't seen anything yet, although the mantis that landed on someones head while we were in the middle of a conversation the other night was something to remember.

On a lighter note, here's another pic from some of my adventures last weekend to the Bourne's Potholes.




The postings on this site are my own and don’t necessarily represent IBM’s positions, strategies or opinions.

First Day of Work

Finally after months of preparing and planning and after several wonderful days sightseeing we were ready to start work today. The meeting with all of the clients and IBM consultants started bright and early at 11(ish), with the first presentation lasting about 30 minutes. After that it was time for a break (no joke). Three more presentations lasting about an hour and it was time for…lunch.

When we finally arrived at our new offices to get down to some real business my four team members and I wasted no time to pop open our laptops and dig in. Our client, Sam, had a stunned look on her face when we all just started chattering away about our assignments and started getting into some heavy conversations. With all this pent up energy you could actually feel the momentum in the room starting to build until…wait for it….wait for it….no internet, which (personally for my assignment) is absolutely critical to getting our analysis done. After another hour or so fumbling around trying to get things working we had enough connectivity to get started when….wait for it….wait for it…we were informed that it was 4:30 and we were the last ones in the building and they had to lock it up. So much for making a dent in the workload. I guess this is all part of the experience, right?

Before I go on I just have to say that everyone from all three teams are quite overwhelmed by the amount of work that needs to get done. We keep talking about it amongst ourselves and everyone is genuinely excited to dive in. So, with the concern for our workload weighing heavy we all got together and….went to a gorgeous reception in our honor under the African night. The reception was held in a beautiful open outdoor hall with music and food. There were several speakers, members of the press, IBM-SA, all of the clients and other members of the community. The people that we are meeting are so genuinely happy to see us, excited about the work that we are doing and grateful for us to be here. Speaking to many of them (not just tonight but throughout all of our nights here) has brought the many books I have read about the country’s history and struggle to life. Most everyone we meet seems to be moving away from the past and excited about the future, and it really is amazing to see first hand how much this country has overcome and what a bright future it has.

Now that the night is over I think it is finally time to get down to business. Most of the teams are going out tomorrow to do field work and interviews, while my partner and I will be online (hopefully) getting through some research before our interviews start next week. .

And – for the record – we have no more formal social events planned for the rest of the stay, so I think the hard work starts now.


The postings on this site are my own and don’t necessarily represent IBM’s positions, strategies or opinions.

Since I Last Left You

Much has happened, not sure where to start. We left Johannesburg on Sunday morning for the 4+ hour trek to Nelspruit via 2 vans. After sleeping through the first hour via my magic powers to sleep anywhere anytime anyhow I awoke to beautiful scenery, littered with paper mills and coal factories dotting the land. Fast forward to our arrival in Nelspruit where we were met with some bad news --- the lodge that we were supposed to stay in for the next month (that had been vetted by IBM security and where bookings were confirmed as of three days earlier) had inexplicably sold our rooms to another party. There’s still something shady about the whole story that we haven’t yet figured out, but nonetheless we were left with 15 people needing rooms in Nelspruit for a month at 6:00 on a Sunday night of a holiday weekend. With so much to worry about our team promptly….went to the bar!!!! With not a care in the world we drank beers and ciders (!!!) and ate apps, listened to fun live music and had a jolly ol’ time while the poor guys representing the agency charged with our care scrambled around like madmen. Several rounds later they had come up with a temporary solution which required our group to split into two --- not ideal, but everyone took it in stride. Personally, I have landed along with four of my teammates at an absolutely lovely B&B with wonderful hosts (but no internet). Luckily one of the reps has been able to give me baseball updates…

So, with our first crisis of the trip temporarily solved (but only temporarily --- we will be moving locations again by the end of the week), we went on a fanstastic excursion today to see some amazing sites, including a few waterfalls, God’s Window (aptly named as you can see for endless miles into the amazing scenery), and my personal favorite the Bourke Luck Potholes. After 10 hours touring the region we came back to a traditional South African braae (barbeque) of round roast, beef sausage, ostrich sausage and a terrific array of salads and breads, all homemade. We all had a great time under the stars with the whole team and some wine and beers. And – oh yeah – I have become the source of the biggest joke thus far on the trip. Something about an alleged engagement to a street vendor, it’s all a little shady and I wouldn’t believe a word of what gets blogged by my teammates. As I keep telling them, trouble keeps finding me, not the other way around : )

Before I leave you thinking that it is all play around these parts, I need to confirm that work officially starts tomorrow as we will be meeting with all of our clients and the clock starts to tick on the immense workload we all have. So far we have been lulled into a happy place full of relaxation, good food, good wine and lots of laughs, but I think it all comes crashing to reality tomorrow. Back to the real world, South African style, I guess.




The postings on this site are my own and don’t necessarily represent IBM’s positions, strategies or opinions.

Johannesburg

Getting ready to leave J'burg later this morning. Had an amazing time vacationing with my new team, getting to know each other, eating some great food, and seeing parts of the city. I have to say that Johannesburg is NOTHING like I expected. From reading about the intense crime and poverty of the city I really expected slums everywhere, beggers, and an overall threatening atmosphere --- that's what the papers and news reports would have you believe. But it really isn't like that at all. Now, I recognize that we are staying in the nicest part of town, and were a group of 15 with an escort, so I'm sure that had something to do with it, but it's kind of like any other city that has it's problems but also has its nicer areas. I was surprised that it doesn't seem as bad as I expected (which just goes to show you that you can't be scared away by everything you read or you'll miss some great places in the world). All of that said, J'burg is certainly not the G-L-A-M-O-R-OUS that Fergie sings about, and I wouldn't plan my next trip here, it' s just not as bad as I thought.

I have to just say one more thing about Johannesburg --- we had an AMAZING meal last night at a traditional SoWeTo-ian restaurant. Really amazing salads, meats, desserts, entertainment, and topped off with some face painting (I'll post pics later). Really wonderful, and the wine, too. A great way to end our short stay here after a day of visiting the IBM facility, Apartheid Museum and SoWeTo township.

















The postings on this site are my own and don’t necessarily represent IBM’s positions, strategies or opinions.

A first, hopefully not one of many

In my hotel room getting ready to head out this morning and encountered my first sp**er. I suppose I should be grateful that it was only the size of a quarter. Thankfully my nice hotel neighbors - an english speaking chinese man and his son - "volunteered" to help when I flagged them down in the hallway, although the son said that it was past his size limit so Dad had to take care of it. I'm getting the queesy feeling that I might have to get used to this.


The postings on this site are my own and don’t necessarily represent IBM’s positions, strategies or opinions.

New Life Update

After four 30 Rock episodes, three movies, three magazines, three naps, two CDs, one layover, some work reading and ALL of the Mere-bakes oatmeal chocolate chip cookies with a cinammon twist, I finally opened my plane window to see --- amazing Lake Victoria and all of its dried up tributaries staring back at me. Truly amazing to have that be my first view of Africa.

Anyways, I'm here, I met most of my team (they look like their pictures) and I'm tired and stinky. More later.



The postings on this site are my own and don’t necessarily represent IBM’s positions, strategies or opinions.

Life Update

Since I last left much has happened…

I said goodbye to the kitty.
I said goodbye to the Daddy.
I said goodbye to the Paulies.
I said goodbye to the Mere and got a nice big ooowwwwwwwwwwww goodbye at the airport (I think it was an all time best).

I’m now on the plane and finally getting caught up on the inches of economic data reading that I have to get through to be prepared for my assignment, and it’s finally hit me --- I’m really excited for the work assignment. Many of you have asked what I’ll be working on, and (in a nutshell) I will be working with one of my colleagues from India to evaluate the attractiveness of the key local industries for foreign investment. At first I was a little overwhelmed by the breadth of the assignment (which requires a lot of research into not just the South African economy and local industries, but also an understanding of the industries in other competing regions of the world). But now that I’m finally getting immersed, I’m not only excited to get started but I have a vision for how to tackle this (which of course involves lots of spreadsheets, data, math and analysis). Anyways, this is a long way of saying that I’m looking forward to the work, as intense as it may be.

Oh yeah, and it’s super cool that there is a power outlet in my seat so that I can play with excel and type this out while flying. Even more super cool is the fact that there is no one in my row so I get to stretch out for 12 hours. And if it could get even more exciting, I opened my computer and found the most wonderful present from the Paulie : ) warm and fuzzies all around!



The postings on this site are my own and don’t necessarily represent IBM’s positions, strategies or opinions.

Slow news day in Norwalk....

http://www.stamfordadvocate.com/ci_12194260?IADID=Search-www.stamfordadvocate.com-www.stamfordadvocate.com



The postings on this site are my own and don’t necessarily represent IBM’s positions, strategies or opinions.

Who doesn't belong and why?

So, I think I am almost done packing. Let's see --- clothes for 5 weeks? check. camera? got it. computer? check. ipod? yup. 18 hours of plane reading? uh-huh. kitty? ummmm......???

(For those that don't know, let me just say publicly how very proud I am of Rascal for losing FIVE kitty pounds. That's a lot!!! He's just about withering away to nothing : )

The postings on this site are my own and don’t necessarily represent IBM’s positions, strategies or opinions.