The first week...

Sunday, 8/15/99

What a week! The project is brutal, and it has kept me far too busy to keep up the journal on a daily basis, but it has been a week to remember.

After that first exhausting day, we returned early the next morning to do it again. We're in the Beta review phase of the project: presenting the second iteration of the application to a select group of users, getting their feedback, and documenting their procedures. David ran most of the session, as I took notes on the app, processes, and procedures. I did a short summary session at the end of the day, reiterating what I had learned about their procedures and further clarifying my understanding.

We have another new member on the team, Jack Chao, who arrived from the States about the same time I did. Jack is fairly new to Connaissance, coming from EDS. He's closer to my age than the other guys, soft-spoken, Chinese, and responsible for creating a web interface for the application via ActiveX (sorry, I just can't resist resorting to techy talk). As the newcomer (and not yet well-versed in the Siebel application), he was initially regarded with some misgivings by some, but I found him to be quite personable in that quiet Asian way.

We managed to leave the office by 6:30 Wednesday evening, but we ended up taking a roundabout way home, coming in from the north across the (famous) Harbor Bridge, so we didn't get back till 7:30. Jack took his leave of us, as Ron, David, and I went to dinner at a nice little bistro next to the hotel (Bob had gone off with some Acer people to keep score at their netball game). Expense account living is a nice perk; since I typically eat only one meal a day, I can pretty much have free choice on the menu, without worrying about cost. Ron and David are very much into the good life, so they favor the finer establishments. David had the quail, Ron had salmon in grape leaves, and I went for the crabmeat linguini. After dinner we took a brief walk through Hyde Park, admiring the lights and the cleanliness. We saw a couple of skateboarders cruising the promenade and huge birds nesting in the trees; David said there were bats, but we didn't see any. Finally, we returned to our respective rooms to check email and wrap up our paperwork for the day.

I can't call home in the evenings because of the time differential, so I call first thing in the morning, before leaving for work.At 7 am Sydney time, it's 2 in the afternoon (the day before) in California. Jimi answered, and I checked on his progress updating the GCIU website. Janet filled me in on the rest of the household news, and suddenly it was time to head to work.

Thursday morning, after dropping off our computers in the "war room" at Acer, we went out for breakfast. It's a short walk past the Olympic swimming facility to the Heritage cafŽ in the middle of Olympic Park. Breakfast options include a variety of meat options like sausage rolls and croissant sandwiches. Just coffee for me, but they have good coffee in Australia (except in the Acer office, where it's -shudder- instant). Espresso and cappaccino are almost universal. Long black is a French press; that starts my day well enough. We sat at the outdoor tables while the boys ate, and I watched a sizable crowd queue up at the neighboring Olympic souvenir stand, waiting for it to open. And it's 400 days until the Olympics open. Walking back to the office, I was fascinated by the colorful bird calls all around us. Lots of birds, many crow-like, but much larger with various white markings.

Thursday was another grueling work day. There is ongoing frustration at the lack of IT (information technology) infrastructure: in other words, we can't get out of their firewall to reach our corporate server on the Internet to get to our email and fileservers. The smoking culture here is almost as pervasive as in Taiwan, so the day is punctuated by frequent smoke breaks, when everyone steps outside. I often go out with them, since the important business conversations continue. Although it's nominally winter, it's been shirtsleeve weather, so it's actually a pleasant interlude (in spite of the instant coffee). The smell of eucalyptus is all around, and the birds are plentiful. Breaks and all, we worked till past 7, and I spent the evening in my room checking email and catching up on the journal.

Friday morning I was on the phone with Janet, so I missed Ron's call telling me that they had a server emergency that required them to get into the office early. Consequently, Jack and I were left to take a taxi to work. It took a little over half an hour and cost around $28 AU. After another long day, I was eager to go "home" -- back to the hotel -- but there were other plans afoot, and since we all share one car and I was not keen on another taxi ride, I went with the flow.

Linda Mayer, the Acer Call Center manager, took us to an Irish pub called The Mean Fiddler. It's about 40k outside of Sydney, so there was a lot of grumbling in our car as we followed her on the long dark ride. But when we got there, it proved to be well worth the trouble. It was a hopping Aussie roadhouse, where you can grill your own steak, drink, dance, and party down. So there was a lot of drinking done that evening, although couple of pints is about all I can handle. The bar band was quite good, and Jack earned a whole new respect from his colleagues by spending most of the evening engaged in deep conversation with a friend of Linda's. We left as the place was closing around midnight, and made the long trip back to Sydney. Jack and I turned in at that point, but David, Ron, Ellery (one of our Taiwanese colleagues), and a couple of the Aussie ladies went on to a dance club.

Saturday morning dawned with a cloudy sky, and I took the opportunity to sleep in. After calling home and checking email, I found I had a voicemail message from Ron. I hurried downstairs to catch them as they finished their breakfast, and we walked down to the waterfront to see the world-famous Sydney Opera House. You've all seen pictures of it, but it's so much more impressive in person. The matinee was beginning as we entered the lobby. We picked up schedules and went back out to walk around the building and admire the view of the harbor and bridge.

We walked back to the hotel through the botanical gardens, with more harbor views and a spectacular collection of flora and fauna. We saw some small colorful parrots in a tree filled with red flowers, but then we came upon a group of huge white parrots on a nearby hill. We approached them to get some pictures, but apparently David got a little to close, and they started to get a bit territorial. We beat a hasty retreat, to the sound of many angry parrot voices. We passed through tropical rain forest groves, saw bats hanging from the trees, and finally made our way back to the hotel.

With some free time, I took the opportunity to check out the hotel health club. It occupies the entire 22nd floor, with panoramic views of the city. I didn't bother with the pool (since I couldn't find my swim suit when I was packing), but the gym was extremely well-equipped. After a nice workout, I enjoyed the sauna and a nice shower.

I had arranged to go to dinner with Ron and David, so we met in the hotel bar about 6:30. It was raining pretty heavily at this time, so we hoped to dine upstairs in the hotel restaurant, but we couldn't get reservations until 9. After trying three other places, the concierge managed to get us a reservation at a place called the Paramount in an area called King's Crossing. We took a cab over there and enjoyed another expensive but extremely tasty meal. I had a seafood appetizer which included prawns, squid, and roughie, while David had a yellowfin tempura that looked excellent. My main course was a wonderful lamb dish, Ron had the duck, and David -- I forget. Anyway, a very pleasant dining experience; we tried (with some success) to keep our conversation away from shop talk, and I'm pleased to be developing some genuine friendships with my colleagues.

Today (Sunday) we drove north across the Harbour Bridge, through the suburb of Manly to North Head, the northern cliff overlooking the entrance to Sydney Harbor. With spectacular views of Sydney, the harbor, and the ocean, we snapped many souvenir photos and enjoyed a short brisk nature walk around the park there. Cruising back to Sydney, we left the car at the hotel and walked down to The Rocks, a district of shops, markets, and pubs near the foot of the bridge. We stopped for a late lunch and finally returned to the hotel for a bit of work: freelance for me, preparation for a 5 pm phone conference for David and Ron. So I wrapped up a bit of logo illustration for Dirk Stubenrauch, and here I am. Time to start thinking about the job again. We get up bright and early to do it again for another week. I anticipate another long one, so don't expect another installment soon. However, David has a digital camera, so I may be able to send some pictures in the interim. Until thenÉ