My Greek Olympics: Getting started...

David's place:

David's apartment was on the other side of Kolonaki near Evangelismos and once I had my place I would walk over to his side of Kolonaki and go to a cafe/bar called Mia Tie for drinks and food. The beer was expensive, $10 for a half liter of Alpha, and the food was a bit pricey too. The food came from a place next door called 'The Grill' which was owned by the Mia Tie. But this was a real happening place and it was always crowed, so crowed that people would use parked cars as tables, and that's the double parked cars. We got to know the owners and all the staff, they were fun to be around and the girls were cute, David was King as always.

David's apartment was furnished and was comfortable. The bad thing was it was across the street from the hospital and there was always a group of people hangout in front. A lot of people who inherit an apartment will rent them out with the same furniture. So they look old and have that "Grandmother" smell. But it was a nice place with a lot of room.

David's place was a short walk from Kolonaki square which was where Tops the restaurant was. Tops of Kolonaki or just Tops, which is an old school style restaurant in the heart of the fashion district. Many hot girls would walk by and a crew of old movie star types would hang about. We of course got to know everyone there as well. Around the corner there were a number of restaurants and bars we would go to as well. One place was a American style western bar, very expensive and not to good.

Work Permit:

We were told that we had to obtain a work permit since we would be in Greece for more than the allotted time. The company would arrange it and we would be told what we had to do. I didn't actually need one since I was an EU citizen and had the Italian passport, but I didn't want to give that info to the company. So we had to provide information on our families and we all had to have a chest x-ray and visit a doctor. We had an appointment at a facility in town and the van came to take us for the x-ray. We showed up at some building and all went in, kind of an old run-down looking office and one by one we went in to get our x-ray.

About a week later we had to go to a doctor's office way out of town and meet the doctor for the exam. They took us to a place that was some medical facility and we had to wait for our appointment. We waited and waited until finally we would go in for the "exam". We just sat there while the doctor filled out forms and wrote a few notes. They didn't ask anything or even look at us, it was a big waste of time and the company paid a bunch of money for nothing. Later we got the work permit, but since I always flew through Germany and never had to show my passport or I would use my Italian one, the permit was a joke. Just another stupid thing we had to do.

So many meetings, such a waste of time:

I can't even explain how many meetings I had to go to, they were constant and at all locations throughout Athens. Either I would have to take the train to the port or to Marousi, a taxi to a command center or some place out in the middle of nowhere. In the summer months I hated the train ride back from Marousi, Greeks don't bathe a lot so in the hot months it really smelled on the train. Also everyone was so packed into the cars that the sweat was like oil in the can of tuna fish. I felt sorry for the shorter people who would be forced to smell the people and have no air circulation. At least I could breathe since I was above most people.

George would grab a seat and stay seated no matter who was on the train. Even a 90 year old women on crutches would have to stand because there was no way George would give up a seat. When I was going to the Fire Brigade center, I would take the metro as far as I could go then walk to the main street or grab a cab for the remainder of the trip. It is not uncommon to share a cab with people. If there is someone flagging down a cab, the driver may ask if it is OK to stop and pick up the other person. In most cases it is alright and the drive will slow down and the person will ask say where they want to go. If it is in the same direction they hop in. I would share with other people all the time, it cost less and I could get to where I needed to go.

Some meetings were quick and I could get out fast, but having to travel across town and at the worst times made the meeting that much more painful. In most cases, I could have just phoned in rather than drive or travel to the location. It is the corporate mentality to have everyone together in one spot. In Greece most of the decision-making takes place not in a meeting, but at a bar in the evening over drinks. I would sit in a meeting with the committee and nothing is resolved, them I go out with some of the committee members and we talk thing through and all is solved. Amazing!

The meetings that I would have on my own were better than the ones with the corporate losers. I could go somewhere and meet people and talk about the problem or the system. I would try to give an honest answer to questions and try to explain why things are the way they are. In most cases I could get the information I needed or find out what the issues was. If the meeting was with the losers, then I had to deal with the stupid people saying stupid things.

While I was working out of the Siemens office, we would go to a little cafe down the street. It was in a bad location, at the end of the road with little traffic. They had good food and it wasn't too expensive, but the location. The first month we were there we didn't know much about the place so we asked the waitress where to go and things to see. George would make stupid comments and embarrass us. We asked which island to go to and place to visit, she told us to go here or there and we said we would go. I don't think we went to any of the places though. Siemens did have a lunch room type place, but it was limited and we had to deal with the people in the office when we ate there.