Ones and Twos

This is what I use to flush the toilet. Two buttons you ask? If it's yellow, let it mellow. If it's brown, flush it down. Can you guess which button is for each?

Wine and Cheese

Wine and Cheese
27-10-2005
12:36 AM

Almost 1AM, I lay in bed with a Sapphire Tonic and the motivation to catch up after a 13 hour day.

Saturday was my first attempt at experience Florence. Woke up around 9AM after a full night of drinking. Wasn’t hung over or anything; I must be fully adjusted to the time here. Did some work and jogged for 45 minutes near the hotel. Got back to the hotel and left for downtown with Ashraf at 12:30.

I don’t know if you can really call it a downtown, but it’s definitely the heart of Florence. We usually get dropped off at the Santa Maria Novella station, a huge place with trains and buses coming in from all over Europe. Decided to whip the camera out and snap everything worthy.

My mission was simple: find a Vodafone store and see as much as I could before heading back to the office at 3. We found the store but the cheapest phone they had was around 90EU. Couldn’t justify the cost in my head so decided to go without it. Then the adventure begins.

Ashraf is much more of a photographer than I. I’ll do my best to steal as many of his pictures. In total, we walked around until 3:30 and I managed to take over 100 pictures. Most of them won’t make the cut. We grabbed McDonald’s and I headed into the office by 4.

Worked until 7:45. We had a dinner party to attend with the team at 8. Nazarine left me a key to lock the office but when I went to close up shop, the damn thing didn’t fit. She gave me the wrong key so I had to grab the security guard, who doesn’t speak any English, and get him to lock the door. Comical 20 minutes. I felt like I was playing charades with him.

Got back to the hotel, met up with Ashraf and we went to the grocery store behind the hotel. Arrived at Charles’ apartment for the cheese and wine dinner at 9. It was amazing. We killed 15 bottles of wine between the 10 of us who were really drinking. The cheese was really good too. Nothing like WI cheese, this stuff was straight from Portugal.

Headed out and hit up a couple of bars. By this point, everyone was smashed and all the bars were closing. Then we went to the river Arno again and chilled for an hour or so.

Slept in til 1 on Sunday. Finally got off my ass around 4:30 to hit the laundry mat and grab some food. Pretty uneventful Sunday.

The last few days have been more of the same. I can sit here and bitch about work but it’s not worth the trouble. Let’s just say that I average 5.5 hours of sleep a night, if I’m lucky.

Glass is still half full and it’s only 12:48.


Random observations:

There are a lot of hookers on the ride back home from work. Granted, it is late at night and we are in a heavily business centric area. Monday night, I counted 5 in a matter of the 7-minute cab ride.

In the states, it’s rare that you find attractive women working for my company. At Nuovo Pignone, there are MILFs everywhere. Italian women are beautiful people.

There are two buttons to flush the toilet. One is for a #1 and the other for the deuce.

Pizza here is supposed to be superb compared to America. Haven’t experienced it yet.

I swear that the night bellhop is Filipino. He looks like my uncle Boy from my dad’s side.

I miss American TV. Especially the sports. It’s just not the same on ESPN Motion. Football season is halfway into the season, basketball is starting in the beginning of November, and the World Series is going on. I haven’t had TV since I moved to Norwalk, but at least I was able to catch football games at 7 Lorena. I’m living off of business CNN, the only channel here in English. It’s definitely CNN, but very watered down.

At the canteen, you can buy wine in a juice box (remember Ecto Cooler Hi-C?). Hilarious. Beer too. There are kegs with taps all throughout the seating area.

You can buy beer at McDonalds.

The elevator (or the lift) in my hotel is as big as a Geo Metro.

I’m sure there are traffic laws in the country, since there are traffic lights and signs everywhere. No one obeys them. I would love to rent a car for one day and drive as crazy as the cab drivers to.

I’ve been here for 9 days and spent over 250EU. I’d say that 90% of it is spent on cabs. At $1.25 = 1EU conversion rate, you do the math. Thank god for the corporate card.

I get free breakfast every morning from 7-10. Not that continental breakfast shit; eggs, bacon, assorted pastries, fruit, yogurt, etc. My pants are starting to fit snug.

The really do call it a Royale with Cheese.

Italians love to talk with their hands; and I love it. Saw two guys arguing with each other outside of work one night. Thought they were shadow boxing. The Italian accent is one of the easiest to emulate.

Italians take better care of their teeth than the British. <- (Someone will kill me for that comment.)

¼ a glass at 1:01AM. I wish I had White Castle right now.

The news is depressing, no matter what part of the world you watch it from. Everyone loves soccer (the real football) in Italy.

There are mosquitoes in the office, and it’s almost November! I have two bites already.

Weather is in the 70’s during the day and low 60s at night. Great fall weather, but the leaves haven’t changed color here yet. I just hope that there are still leaves on the trees when I finally get back home.

An empty glass at 1:06 AM. That’s your cue, Mr. Sandman. Going to be busy the next few days, hopefully with more stories than recap.

Ristorante il Latini - First Auditor Night Out

(Ristorante il Latini - Clockwise from left: Judy, Me, Ravi, Charles, Vasco, Alfredo, Matt, Alexis (Matt's wife), some random guy walking by, Tony, Jeff.)

Time Flies...

Time Flies…
23-10-2005
5:30 PM

It’s been a while since I’ve had time to write anything so I’ll do my best to catch up. I’m at the laundry mat with 25 mins to spare before my clothes are done. Wednesday was by far my longest stint in the office. Had meetings for 4 hours straight from 7-11PM. Then worked until 1AM, hastily preparing for Thursday morning. I still somehow managed to wake up at 6:30.

Thursday was more of the same and at this point, I began to really feel like an auditor. There’s always work to be done and in hindsight, it’s sad to think that I’m living in one of the most beautiful cities in the world and there’s little time to enjoy it.

Worked straight til 7:30 PM then it was time for Auditor Night Out (ANO). Alfredo was kind enough to reserve dinner at Ristorante il Latini. This place is near the rest of the team’s apartments. You could tell it was good since every night they pass by, there is always a line to get in. It was raining that night and there expectedly was a line. We had a huge table waiting for us and as soon as we sat down, the food started to roll in.

We started off with traditional Italian appetizers: bruschetta, prosciutto, mozzarella, tomatoes, salami, goose meat (it was decent), and a few other dishes I don’t recall the name off all capped off by a huge bottle of cabernet. After a few glasses of wine, the next course rolled through: an array of exquisite Italian dishes including different breaded soups, ravioli, a beef and pasta dish, and a some more dishes I don’t remember. Four big bottles and a table full of stuffed auditors, you’d think that we were done. But it didn’t stop there.

I undid my belt and pulled down my fly to make room for the main course: an assortment of meat including prime rib, roast rabbit, roast beef, roast chicken (catch the trend?), and veal. I had to try everything. The desert tray was amazing with too many items to list off. My favorite was the biscotti and the potent wine that you dip it in. We capped the meal off with a bottle of the best champagne, which I took as a shot cause that was the glass that it came in.

This place was straight mafia style. As I watched people pour in and out of the restaurant, I thought I was in a Godfather scene. For the entire 2 ½ hours we were there, people stood outside waiting for us to leave. I felt on display like the gorilla exhibit at the zoo. ANO dinner = 500 euros. Insane.

We headed out for the first time to Tony’s favorite local bar, the Old Stove. It’s an Irish pub (go figure) with where a lot of Americans frequent. Shot after shot, Guinness after Guinness, we closed the place down at around 1:30 AM. Not many people were there – my guess is cause it was Thursday.

I stumbled my way to the train station with Ashraf and Alfredo. Finally got to the hotel and the whole time I was thinking I absolutely needed to wake up for my 9:30 one-on-one with Tony.

Four minutes until I have clean underwear again…


9:34PM

I’ll save the team breakdown for next week. That’ll give me ample time to really get to know everyone.

Friday morning, I was hurt. Got my 6:30 wake up call but the sandman got the best of me. I finally woke back up at 9 when the cleaning lady walked into my room then back out. Holy shit – I overslept! I had 30 mins to take a shower and high tail it to the office. I didn’t even bother; figured it was better to be on time for my one-on-one than to smell good.

I hopped in a taxi at 9:20 and told him to gun it. Got in around 9:25 and tried to sign on. I definitely was hung over; the room spinning, my heart racing, my face glistening with sweat, and the whole time, my damn laptop would not come out of sleep mode. I finally hit the power button and thank God, Tony wasn’t online. I walked up to his office and sure enough he wasn’t there. In fact, he didn’t stumble in until 11AM. Said he needed to catch up on sleep considering we were out late and he knew he would be in the office late.

The rest of the day was an unmotivated blur. Next thing I knew it was lunch. Tried to work but spent the most of the day surfing the next. We decided on Mexican for dinner at 8:30PM.

I waited for Vasco to get out of his last meeting. He was in with his clients until 8:30. We finally got the restaurant, Tijuana. I step in and all I see is Americans. I figure, great. What the hell am I doing in a Mexican restaurant in Florence?!?

The service was horrible. The waiter was confused and thought there would only be 3 of us. We had 7 total. It was a logistics nightmare; all we wanted to do was take the table right next to us and put them together so we can all eat at once. The waiter said that the table was reserved and finally got it 15 minutes later.

The food was good. Three beers into it, I had the Enchiladas Nera, the spiciest enchilada I’ve ever eaten. We finish dinner and Jim heads to the Old Stove 45 minutes before the rest of us to meet Tony at 11. Vasco and I had our bags with us so we decided to stop back at his apartment and drop them off. As we are heading down the stair, in walks Jim. He waited there for an entire hour and Tony never showed; neither did we. Jim called it a night.

Ashraf ended up going home while Naz, Ashraf and I headed to a bar named Capocaccia. Good place. Strong drinks. One drink turned into 3, and two of those were Long Islands for me. Had some good conversations; more team building than anything else.

The bar is located right on the river Arno. It’s a beautiful scene (keep a look out for my next posting.)

We called it a night around 2 AM. I stumbled to the train station again but this time, I had to go sooo bad. I found a corner I thought I could use, but someone beat me to the punch. Then I saw the McDonalds and headed straight there. The bathroom is in the basement and was closed off, but I went anyways. Then I bought a bacon cheeseburger. The best meal I’ve had so far. Finally got back to the hotel round 3.

I know my blogs aren’t really blogs since I ramble on. I’m struggling to find a balance between too much detail and not enough. I’m getting hungry (and thirsty) so I’m calling a night. Tomorrow starts week two.

Go Vikings!

What a Day

What a Day
19-Oct-05
6:38 PM

I’ve got almost 20 mins before I’m stuck in meetings for 4 hours from 7-11. Insane. I must have brought that shitty CT weather with me cause it’s projected to rain for the next 10 days. Glad I bought an umbrella. I tend to lose those things often so hopefully I don’t lose this one anytime soon. (Which I did later that day. Bought a bootleg one from some Asian guy in the city.)

The offices here at least have awnings set up through most of the walkways. I don’t spend much time outside the office anyways so it doesn’t really matter. Few comments on the facilities here:

Nuovo Pignone was established in 1842 as a cast iron foundry. It was bought by GE in 1994 and employs ~2500 people. It is the largest job provider in the city of Florence. Amazing how if you tell the taxi drivers “Nuovo Pignone.” They know exactly where to go. There are two main gates here. I went to the wrong one my first time and had to walk 7 mins around to the other side.

It’s a manufacturing facility that makes compressors and other machinery for oil drilling. We took a plant tour on my first day. Amazing what this place, this company, does. Each item is valued over $1MM and has a production life cycle of about 2 years. It’s a long-term business model with most of the highest profit margins coming from the servicing side, which we also own.

The room I work in is a small conference room set up with 6 tables; 4 in the middle and 2 on the side. I literally have someone in front of me, right of me, and behind me all working his or her ass off. At least I’m not the only one. They also have wireless in the building, and between 12 of us, we share 2 phones.

The cafeteria (or canteen) reminds me of a big high school cafeteria. My Florida friends would appreciate the seating color scheme: blue backs and seats with bright orange metal holding the swivel chairs to the table. They have 4 big setups for food: one for pizza, a pasta bar, a grille, and an ala carte. There’s olive oil, vinegar and salt at every table. Oil is like their ketchup: they put it on EVERYTHING. Food is decent but not what I would call pure Italian.

The bathroom I’ve already commented on twice. One other thing I noticed is that all the piping is audibly connected. When someone flushes a toilet, the water pressure from the sinks is reduced. There’s also a weird air freshener thing above the urinals. It’s in a purple plastic case and the thing itself looks like a piece of shit, literally. I’m not too interested in taking a closer whiff.
5 mins until my meeting. Will write more.

Ferrari

Ferarri
19-Oct-05
12:10 AM

Second day has come and gone. Woke up this morning around 6:30 AM with more than enough sleep. Still wanted to snooze but with no alarm clock, no dice. Didn’t have any water this morning. Seriously. I thought there was a law or something that prevented the amount of water you could consume in a given 24-hour span. My hair was a mess but did the best I could to hide it. Later on found out that I wasn’t the only one. Apparently, the water main broke down the street and our entire block was out of water. Go figure.

Today was my first taste of the audit lifestyle. An 11-hour workday goes by fast. At least I’m finally starting to feel responsible for something and contributing to the team. Had a review of my development plan with my audit manager. I’m glad I came to this team vs. KC.

Went and got my picture taken in downtown today. I have a meeting with an immigration counselor at noon tomorrow. All my documents should be set and the permit of stay should be ready soon. Dozed off a few times.

So the hole in the ground was my mistake. There are actually toilet bowls in the stalls, just near the end of the bathroom. Am I an idiot or what? But it all adds to the experience. I also learned today that people here do not pay attention to the DO NOT DISTURB sign you leave on your door. I left it on there this morning but to my surprise, there was another Italian chocolate on my bed, and the rest of the room left like I first remembered it.

Still sucks to not have a phone. One of the auditors told me that I should just buy a prepaid phone and then use my Dial-Comm card to make calls. Only around 30EU but is convenient. Is it worth paying that for only less than 1 month of use?

I’m gonna get fat while I’m here. Free breakfast, lunch, AND dinner. Right now, it’s all about living to work.

36 Hours and Going Strong

17-Oct-05
8:54 PM

(Sunrise in Frankfurt)

It’s been a hectic weekend. Tons of travel starting with CT to MN, non-stop action with Libby’s wedding and hanging out with the Crew. Woke up this morning around 8:30 AM CST to meet my parents and uncle. Finished packing then headed to MSP en route to Florence.

I love traveling, especially the airports. So many people, so many stories. I could people watch all day. Still felt the pressure of the pilot like a linebacker on my shoulders. I already feel disconnected without Internet access or my cell phone.

It still hasn’t hit me that I am now in Italy for my pilot. I’ve lived a surreal life for the past 14 months and still have yet to stop and smell the roses. Thank God for my iPod…music makes my world go round.

The view from the Frankfurt to Florence was absolutely breath taking. Be sure to check the pictures. The mountains peak above the clouds, even at an altitude of 20+K”. Like John Mayer says, “And strange, how clouds that look like, mountains in the sky, next to mountains anyway.” At first I couldn’t tell whether they were clouds or snow, but definitely the former.

Surprisingly enough, customs was very easy here. Took all but 30 seconds to get through the gate and enter a world away from my comfort zone. I’m still a little upset that I didn’t go to KC for my pilot, but definitely worth the sacrifice.

Arrived to the office around 10:30 AM. First thing I noticed was the men’s room. “You’ve got to be kidding me!” was the only thought that popped into my mind. Even worse than the Philippines, at least they had toilet bowls in the stalls. That’s right, you heard it here. It’s just a hole in the ground that you drop your ones and twos. I had to go BAD with all the nasty airline food I ate.

The flight was horrible. I hate overnight flights, but traveling to Europe is definitely easier on the jet lag than traveling to Asia. It took me over a week to adjust to the Philippines time zone. Here, I can stay up the whole time and crash hard by 9:30, which will give me ample time to rest well.

Work was work. They took it easy on me being my first day and all. Looking to get my ass handed to me later this week and for the next month. In my book, it’s worth it.

I actually ran into a former LDP at MSP. She and her husband both worked for GE in separate leadership programs, and their first reaction to my news of me piloting for CAS was not inviting. I think it was something to the extent of a sarcastic chuckle and an even more condescending “Good luck.” Whatever. I’ll never see you again.

I’m a bit worried since a.) my phone doesn’t work here and b.) there’s no alarm clock in my room. I guess I can ask for a wake up call, but everyone’ knows of my tendency to hit the snooze alarm a few times in the morning.

Welcome to Audit Staff, so they say…

Finally...

Hey everyone. I actually set this blog up over a year ago but my laziness and lack of time got the best of me. Assuming all goes according to plan, I'll be using this regularly. Much better than the Friendster one since anyone on the web can reach this page.

Level setting: I'm not the writer I once was, but am eternally searching for who I will be. Don't expect this to be anything more than what's on my mind.

Feedback is welcomed and encouraged. Feel free to drop me a note anytime. I would love to hear from you.

Enjoy!