My Greek Olympics: Get a place to live and corporate problems

Fixed price review shits:

At this time, the company sent two shits from the Fixed Price Review Board to see what we were doing and get in our way. We had to demo ETEAM and other commercial software system to them and they would evaluate the risk. It was a joke, all they cared was risk and they saw risk everywhere. They even questioned the Windows 2000 operating system and said it was a risk to use it. Really an echo of things to come in the project and how the company viewed what we were doing, they actually didn't want us to do it as it turned out.

Eventually they turned in a report that said there was a lot of risk and the only way out was to bring in a whole bunch of engineers to work on the project. This is what they wanted to do from the beginning, the big dollars meant spread the money to other divisions. It was a cash-cow and they didn't care about how the project ended, just how much money can we get. The project was not supposed to need engineers, but the company sent a bunch anyway, what a waste.

Trip to Spetses:

We decided to do day trip to an island and on one Saturday, we decided to go to Spetses. David, Ron, Vic and I got tickets and took the high speed ferry to Spetses, basically went to the end of the line. Spetses is a small island off the south-east tip of the Peloponnese and is the last stop on the ferry line. The high speed hydrofoils would go out of the main harbor and stop at a few islands along a route. This ferry stopped at Poros and Hydra, then on the Spetses. The boats are fast and the trip took about an hour, plus we could see some of the coast and the weather was great. These boats go about 30 mph and zip along raised up above the water so it is kind of fun.

When we got there we walked around and decided to rent mopeds or scooters. We each got a small scoot and off we went, David in the lead and I was in the back, my scoot was shit. I couldn't keep up with the rest, my scoot was so under-powered and I could barely make it up the first hill. We went around the island stopping to look at the scenery and other things. Not a lot on the island except some big homes, but the town was nice. We went around one curve and David was all 'look at me' but he nearly crashed when there was a large rock in the road on the turn. After that he wasn't as cocky.  The island only has one main town and most of the buildings are on that side of the island, the rest is more open with homes, some large homes on the back side had docks.

We rented the bikes for several hours, but after going around the place and David not wanting to go anywhere else, we turned the bikes in to the shop. When we walked back to the center of town, we found a place to eat and had a few beers of course. They always have squid so we ordered fried squid and salads, some lamb stew and wine. It is a standard type food that you find all over Greece and we would eat it a lot at many places. We decided to head back and slept most of the way back, we could have stayed but we would have just eaten and drank more. Once back at the prot, we walked to the train for the ride into town, back to the annex and off to dinner to end the day. There are so many places to go that are close and we were happy to get out of town, a nice end to a nice day trip.

Routine:

The routine was simple, get up and go to Siemens, spend the morning going over the contract documents, then lunch at a nearby place, then back to the contract for more review. Once in a while I would go some where, but not to often. We would pack up and go out and find a taxi or get a car for the ride back to the center, at first it wasn't a problem to get a ride, but soon the vans and cars were used by the corporate managers and they had to be at their call. We would have to find other transport, stand on the street and hail a cab. The metro wasn't running that far out yet, so no train. The evenings were simple, drop everything at the hotel, then meet at the annex for drinks, dinner at Poliathina or Psara, maybe noodle shop or some other near by place. After a while we moved out a bit, but the old stand by's were convenient. After dinner out to a club maybe, if lucky we would be back by 2 or 3 am. 

Dealing with corporate:

One of the first real things we had to do was look for a place to live, since corporate had decided that we all had to be "expats", they were going to make us "move" to Greece and they would pay our expenses on a monthly basis. This turned out to be one big fuck up, we had envisioned being paid a per Diem and we would take care of the rest ourselves. The thought was that we would get about $6000 a month and with that we could rent an apartment, pay for food and transport, plus other costs. The company said no way and said instead that they would rent an apartment for us, plus pay the expenses, and add a cost of living to our pay.

What they added was shit and didn't cover our real expenses. So in the long run, it cost me money to be in Greece, since I was spending way more than the cost of living adjustment. In retaliation, I would make long distance calls to San Diego and run my heater/air conditioner at full the whole time, whether I was there or not. In addition, the company was forced to pay income tax on our wages, since they moved us to Greece and we qualified as residents, they made us get work permits which sealed it for them.

This was stupid on their part, since the tax was 40% of our income, this worked out to $45000 a year for me. Corporate ass-bits also made us go through an "agent" to get our places, she would have places that she worked out agreements with the owners and she would get a kick-back on the rent. I refused to look at anyplace she had, I found my own place and worked out an arrangement, I had her charge $1000 a month instead of $700 and I wanted the company to pay more to screw them. So my apartment was 26 Omirou Kolonaki, kind of on the edge of Kolonaki but near the old university, the anarchy area.

Apartment search with Yurgos:

We needed to find a place to live and David had been in contact with a guy who managed apartments. He was going to look at a place so I tagged along. Yurgos was a retired Air Force pilot and few F-4's. He was a wild guy and seemed like fun, I would get to know him more after the Olympics. We met at his office in the 'Hilton' area and we walked around the block to a place. I really didn't know what to expect and I though the places would be furnished more modern.

The first apartment was up on the 4th floor, it looked like an old woman lived there, it was furnished like any other house, pictures on the wall, etc. It was 1000 Euros a month, I wasn't sure about it, David said he was interested. We then went around the corner to another place that was on the top floor of a building. It was a smaller place and only one bedroom and a very small kitchen. It did have a great view of the Acropolis and Lykabettus. I wasn't sure about the place and George said it wasn't good to be on the top floor, I shouldn't have listened to him. It was also a 1000 Euros a month and I thought it was expensive and small.

We went across the park and up a street to see another place, it was nice and David immediately claimed it for himself. We went around the corner and stopped at a cafe for a drink, Yurgos was very animated and talked wildly and laughed a lot. We went to Mie Tie for a drink and David like the place as well. This was the first time to Mie Tie and it would soon take the place of the annex as the nightly hangout. Yurgos was OK, but I wasn't sure about the apartments. I told them I would keep looking.

My Greek Olympics: Dinner, Meeting, Meeting...

Out with Ron and George:

One night, George, Ron and I went to the Microlimani or "little harbor" or "Turkish harbor" for dinner. George was excited because it was the place where he had his wedding dinner some years ago. The restaurant was still there and Ron and I said it was OK to eat there. Though most people ate by the water, we went inside. George always said that you should never eat at a place that didn't have at least half the place full of Greeks, but this place had a bus load of American tourists. It was a group of American tourists all over the age of 60. The usual small talk of 'isn't this nice' could be herd over and over. We had a table off to the side of their large table and thankfully they were leaving soon, since they ate at an un-godly hour of 5 pm.

We went in and sat down, the expected talk of the elderly tourists filled the air, they were all excited to be there and what a wonderful dinner it was. We looked at the menu and did the usual Greek thing which was to ask to see what was in the kitchen. We picked out some fresh fish and shrimp, ordered some sides and wine, then out to the table to wait. The fish was good as well as the simply cooked shrimp and the sides were good as well. I enjoyed chewing on the fish head in front of the tourists. The bill was a lot, nearly 45 euros a piece. That was the last time I took George's advice on where to eat. Later I would find places that would pile the food on and it would cost a fraction of that meal.

Once we finished, we went out to walk around, the little harbor was lined with small seating areas and these were the seating area for the other restaurants. We should have eaten at one of these places, nice out-doors by the water, cooler and with more people, Greek people. We took a taxi back to the train station and rode back to the center of town, a stop at the Metropol was in order. This is the time when Ron would hang with us, he didn't drink, just a glass of wine or coffee. He would be the first off to the hotel calling it an early night. .

Meeting with EPSILON:

The first month was a fast paced secession of meetings and getting to know the sub-contractors. I took a taxi to the Epsilon offices, which was near Siemens in Marousi. I met with the GIS people at Epsilon and was introduced to Nikos, who was to be the person we dealt with. He was the person who helped during the demo to the government during the contract award process. I met the staff and the people at their office and saw their capabilities. The girls in the office were very cute and they all seemed to want to talk to me, but I didn't see much of the people at the office and only once in a while at a meeting. I met the president of the company, a woman who seemed happy to have me come by. I like the group and I would have a good relation with them during the project. Nikos was going to leave to do his military service and would be replaced by Dimitris, but that would happen in the summer.

Meeting at Coast Guard with Stavroula, meeting Tryphon:

I was called by Stavroula from the Coast Guard one day, she wanted a meeting and it would give me a chance to see the Coast Guard facility. The problem was I thought she had said to go to Voula, which is a town to the south. So I called Peter to drive me there, but at the last minute Ron told me it was at the port near Pasalimani. It saved me from going in the wrong direction, but I had to pay Peter for the ride and he wasn't cheep. I could have taken the train, but at this time I was still learning the place.

I get to the MMM and go in and tell them I have a meeting. I have to go through security and then wait for Stavroula to come and get me. She always looks good and her uniform wasn't bad on her. We go up and I am introduced to the Commodore and a few others. Tryphon comes in and we talk, this is the first real meeting with Tryphon. We talk and I am shown the current systems and they explain what they do. The Electronic Navigation Charts come up and I get an understanding of what they want. The contract specifies certain things, but the Police will get most of it. The Coast Guard wants more and this was a way for them to tell me.

Stavroula talks to me in her model type way and seem to always be posing for the camera. She should have been a model rather than a chemical engineer, though you would never know by looking at her. I am not sure if she wants me to ask her out on a date or talk about the system, I kept getting a feeling that she wanted something more from me. As it turns out, most Greek girls want/have to be married by 30 and if not they are looked down upon. I guess Stavroula was getting close, though she looked more like 25 than 30. She presses me on a few issues and I say I will look into them. Tryphon is all smiles and I give him my number to call me for any info they may need. Tryphon was a famous officer in the Coast Guard, he caught a ship smuggling cigarettes in the Med. I left and headed back to the center, I was kind of scared of Stavroula in that she always seemed to manipulate her meetings by acting the helpless girl.

Trip up to Seattle

Over the weekend I drove up to see my cousin in the greater Seattle area. It is an easy drive, about three hours if the traffic isn't to bad and mostly views of open country. I was only there for Saturday/Sunday and it rained a bit, but in all it wasn't bad, a nice break from the same old stuff.

View from the back of house

My Greek Olympics: Food and work, two constants

Transport:

At first we had the van to take us back to the center, but soon this is lost by the shit heads wanting to have a personnel driver. We have to take a taxi which means walking out to Kifisia and flagging one down or calling one which is hard to do. We stand on the side and do the Greek wave, arm stretched straight out. A taxi slows and you yell were you want to go, if they stop you get in, if not you wait for the next one. Takes a little time to find an empty taxi that can take 3 people, usually only one or two could go. Some times we would just have them take us to the Metro and ride from there, it was too far to walk to the station and we didn't want to go up to Marousi and get the Electico.

Self-deploy:

A few weird things happen right off, a couple of people just show up and say they are there to work on the project. We find out that these people are either sending themselves to find work or are being sent by people in the States so their division can make money. All are a waste, one guy came because he was getting married and wanted a free plane ticket to Greece. The problems with Siemens start at once, we don't have access to the people we need to talk to and the people we are working with are very secretive. 

At this time we are also thinking of where to live, the thought was that we would get per dim and that was it, it would be the best for us. George was giving lots of advice, since he lived there before, we listened a bit. Part of the process was finding a place to set up our offices, so in addition to looking at places to live, we looked for offices. George was able to find a place through a friend, but we looked at other places as well. The corporate people were showing up too and I didn't involve myself with them to much, Jay and Vic were doing that.

Eating at the Souvlaki Stands:

There were the touristy Souvlaki places in Monastiraki square that were always crowded, but a lot of Greeks ate there too. Sabbas was one place and I would prefer that place over the other two. I would eat inside when it was cold or rainy, but this time I had no choice. It was so busy that I could only sit inside and up stairs. I would order tow or three kabobs with pita, which is a Gyro here, and they put onions and parsley and tomatoes, if you wanted 'vegetables', they put fries on it. An order of fried chilies and a beer rounded out the dinner.

Meet for Kabobs

The place was very basic, basic chairs and tables, all crowded together and it would be packed with people. A narrow stair case was the way up and the sellers would come up selling lottery tickets or cheap junk. It was really cheap to eat there and the food was OK, it was also very quick. There was a "fast food" chain Gyro place around the corner that was never busy and only tourists how were scared to go tot the other places would eat at.

My Greek Olympics: Meetings and exercise

Running:

At this time, David was into his "running" at the national park near our hotel. I decided to join him and he told me of his idea for training. He would run one additional minute every day, he started at 8 minutes and was up to 15. I thought I could do that so I went with him, we walked to the park, which is next to the Parliament building and is full of trees and walking paths. We get there and David starts his watch, off we go on the run. The pace was so slow I could have walked it, I wasn't even pushing myself. After 16 minutes, we stopped, David said it was a good run and he would be ready for some beers and food. I though it was too easy and I wasn't even winded at the slight effort it took.

So over the next few weeks, we would go to the park and do these "runs", adding a minute each day. There were a few others running in the park, a nice looking girl ran in the park and I noticed her giving us a look. I don't know if she was American or not or from one of the embassies, but the Greeks don't seem to run in public. The paths ran through an old zoo and around some statues. It was green and cooler there than in the rest of the city. It would be crazy to run in the street so this was a good place to do it. After a few weeks, David lost interest and our running days were over.

Meeting with the Fire Brigade:

The project is becoming one meeting after another and nothing is getting done, lots of talk. We did have a meeting with the Fire Brigade at a station near Omonia Square, we all go and the meeting is held in a very small room. Most of the people have to stand, but this is the first time I meet the Fire Brigade and Sissy. We talk and I find out that Sissy knows GIS, we hit it off right away and we make plans to meet and discus the project. We all shake hands and smile and since I still know no Greek and I have to rely on the translator. It was a good meeting and I start to see how things are, the Greeks don't use a lot of technology so the system will be a big change. I thought they would be open to the change, but I will soon be proved wrong. The Fire Brigade is more open to change than the police when it comes to using technology.

We spend our days mostly going to Siemens, a horrendous drive in the morning traffic that can take over two hours to go the 6 miles. There we sit in an office and go over documents and contract changes, looking for problems that could arise. Strange things start to happen, people show up and say they were sent to work on the project and then disappear or some says they are only going to be there a few weeks and then they go. We have no idea who they are or what they are doing. The Fire Brigades 911 center is very close to Siemens and I end up going over there from time to time to see the construction of the new building that is being added to the old one. This will be the new command center for the Fire Brigade.

6 things about Oregon Drivers...

I have noticed a few things about Oregon drivers;

1) They are terrified of going fast, in any circumstance anywhere.

2) Oregon drivers think the turn signal is a magic wand that makes the car next to them disappear so they can blindly change lanes.

3) The limit line at an intersection terrifies them, they can’t stop closer than 20 feet from the line.

4) Oregon drivers will never take the initiative or exercise their right of way. Waving the other car through an intersection even when they have the right of way is a given.

5) Can’t park.

6) And even though it rains all the time, Oregon drivers can’t drive in the rain.

My Greek Olympics: Getting started on the work

Kick off meeting with Siemens and sub-contractors:

SAIC decided to have a "kick off" meeting at Siemens with all the subcontractors. This was to be the official start of the project and a get together to meet everyone. As an omen of things to come, it rained very hard that day and the traffic was a mess. Kind of like someone telling us not to bother. So we all made it to Siemens very early in the morning for the start of the meeting. No one and I mean NO ONE in Greece would schedule a meeting so early. Ten o'clock is the average start time but they wanted to start at 8. So we had to wait for everyone else to show, even though we had the longest and most difficult drive, we were on time, no one else was.

Down the street in Plaka

So we waited and finally people showed, since it was raining, everyone was wet and not in the best mood. The meeting was a standard glad to be here talk and not much more. I did get to meet some of the contractors that I would work with for months to come, and they were nice people, mostly. The Altec  people were scum and David and Jay were already trying to get ride of them. The corporate dick's wanted to have a breakfast meeting at 6:30 am, no one in Greece would ever hold a meeting that early, it clearly showed how out of touch they were with the culture. A pointless meeting and a total waste of time, what a great way to start the project off on.

The Central Hotel:

After a few weeks at the Athos, we had to re-schedule our stay because of previous reservations. I had to move out and stay at another hotel down the street for a few days since the Athos was booked by a group. The place was a pit, the ceiling was only 7 feet and the shower area was less than six. I had to bend over to shower since the ceiling was so low, plus the hose didn't reach far enough. I then had to move back to the Athos and juggle rooms, it was a pain.

A hotel around the corner was in the process of being re-modeled and would open soon, I asked when they would open and they said they were but the elevator didn't work and the kitchen wasn't finished but I decided to move there. They had lots of space since they didn't have any reservations yet. So I moved to the Central hotel and was the first guest. It was so new the place smelled like paint and new carpet but it was large and I had a good room looking out to the Acropolis. It was also the same price as the Athos, but much larger. Soon most of the others moved over, I would stay there until I got my apartment and then a time after the Olympics.

My Greek Olympics: Living and Working

Aegina trip:

With our small group in Athens, we decide to go one of the nearby islands for the day, Aegina. So we met at the annex for coffee on a Saturday then take the train to the port and we buy round trip ticket on the next boat to which ever island we can get to. It coast 18 Euros, it is one of the high speed hydrofoils not the slow old ferries. The boats are fast and it only takes 30 minutes and we are there. First thing is food, we eat at a place on the harbor which had a nice view and the food was ok. By this time it is getting warm, but we decide to walk around a bit and see the island. Vic leads us out of town around the harbor and we walk into the surrounding hills, it is hot and dry. We eventually call this the Baton Death March of Vic, we all complain of the heat as we are just walking around a Pistachio grove.

We eventually decide to head back down to the water, we are all complaining about the heat, except Vic since he liked it. We find a small bar and drinks are the order of the day. After we cool off, we walk back to the town and find a place to eat again, Aigina is famous for Octopus and squid, so that's what we have, and more drinks of course. The harbor is nice with many small boats. This is where the boats have the produce that is from the mainland and it is displayed in a colorful way. Many colorful fruits and vegetables, plus nuts and fish, each boat is different. We take the next boat back and soon find ourselves on the train back to the Metropol.

Meeting with the Committee:

Jay, Vic, David, Vegelis the interpreter and I went to a meeting with the committee at DAOA. This was the new facility that was built by the organizing committee and the Police would get it after the Olympics. Since it was being built by the Organizing Committee, it was on schedule. This was my first meeting with the committee and seeing what was happening and how things work, Vegelis would translate for Jay and I would lean in to listen. It wasn't as important for me to hear, but I wanted to know what was going on. It was a back and forth that didn't seem to accomplish much.

After about an hour of this, Vic and I left to go to Siemens. There was an endless line of meetings we had to go to. We still were dealing with getting all the systems up and get a place to work so we could show the government what they were getting. We had an ETeam running on a laptop so the others in the office could look at it and get an idea of how that system works, no one did.

Rotating Project Managers:

Even though Jay was the brains behind the project, she was not the project manager. At first, during the bid and proposal phase, we had a Greek guy named Cosanettis. He went by "Coz" and was an American/Greek. This is important since most Greeks hate American Greeks (they feel they are not Greek). Coz was an idiot and he did lots of back-door stuff. He made really bad dirty jokes in Greek that the Greeks thought was stupid. After the first month in Greece, we had Coz removed and brought in Paul Williams then he was replaced by Paul Shifler who was the ports project program manager.

Shifler was working on the ports part of the project and he seemed to be an OK guy at first. I didn't know him, but David said he was better than Coz or Paul Williams. So Shifler took over and the power went to his head. Instead of listening to us as to what was going on, he fell in line with the corporate shits and caused the project to get off on a rocky start. It never recovered and the mentality was that they would fight with the customer the whole way.

Voodoo Doughnuts....

Well I was going to have to go once. Voodoo Doughnuts has become a 'cult' destination for anyone coming to Portland. There seems to be a line out the door and around the corner at all hours. I haven't seen it without a line or at least a group in front. But there is a second location that most tourists don't know about. Across the river up Burnside is the other location, usually never a line and it is the same stuff. It is a disgusting color pink building, must have been an old Taco Bell at one time by the looks.

Yes, Captain Crunch and Fruitloops...

So what makes Voodoo so good? Well it is the name and the fact that it has been on TV shows. They sell doughnuts with different toppings, topping like kids cereal or crushed candy bars, filled with different stuff or strange shapes. There most famous is the bacon doughnut in the shape of a glazed bar. But they are just very sweet doughnuts in the end. So I went and took a look, I got a Butterfingers and a Apple Fritter, the apple fritter was just like any I had had, and the Butterfingers wasn't anything to special. But I guess you just have to go once to say you have been. Who knows, maybe I will try one of those bacon doughnuts one day.

22 Southwest 3rd Avenue Portland, OR 97204-2713
Or
1501 N.E. Davis St. Portland just off Sandy Blvd and NE Burnside

My Greek Olympics: Work...

Dealing with Siemens, Chia Pet and SAIC:

We had office space at Siemens, but no one from Siemens seemed to want to help or do anything to get things going. On top of this, we had a bunch of new SAIC shits who came over and knew nothing of what or why we were doing things. One of the guys was some one who did some work in Salt Lake while I was there. He was supposed to do the training plans, but he didn't really seem to know much about training. One day after everyone else left, I was closing things down and Garry was there too. He came over to ask a question about something and the sun light was coming from behind his head. The light made the hair in his ears really shine and I couldn't take my eyes away. The only thing I could think of was a Chia Pet. So Garry became 'Chia Pet', the nick-names started to flow after that.

During this time we had many idiots coming in, Jay and Vic were off at other places and David was around some, but I had to deal with others alone. Ron was hanging around and George and we had moved away from the contract work and on to planning for the system install and IET1 issues. The corporate types rally made the work harder than it was. Siemens of course didn't seem to do anything.

Feeling like home:

One night we all were thinking about were to go to eat, Vic suggested we go to an area near his apartment in Thesio. We all walked from the annex to Monastiraki, then up around the flee market to Vic's place. We walked to the corner and there was a place with tables out in the little plaza area. We sat down and took a look at the menu. The menu had lots of fish which I liked and some other usual stuff. The waitress came out and we asked a few questions, she said she will bring out the fish tray to see what they had.

Thesio area of Athens

When she returned, she had a large tray with all kinds of fish and lobster. She described each and picked up one of the lobsters, it seemed dead. She said in a joking voice, the batteries had run out and they would get new ones. We all laughed and ordered, Vic got the lobster pasta, I got grilled bass and the others ordered different fish. George was kind of bitching about the price and we all thought he would try to bum a meal by not putting in enough.

This was a classic George move, everyone puts money in the pot and when it is counted there is only a few dollars more needed, that's when George puts his money in and only a fraction of what he should. Soon we take his money first to make sure he pays his fare share. George turns out to be a real cheep guy and is always looking at getting over on others. As David would say, he is tighter that a fly's ass stuck on fly paper.