Henry Ford's Polar Opposite

So you remember the saying that Henry Ford once told people that they could order his Model T in any color as long as it was black? Well, they seem to have the opposite perspective in South Africa - Dan and I have noticed that about 90% of the cars in the parking lot at our office seem to be white. Now, you *could* assume that this is due to the strong African sun and that white reflects all that sunlight - EXCEPT that the interiors of these cars all seem to be BLACK. Go figure.

Preparations........

Never let it be said that PSO is all work and no play. We spent part of our weekend preparing for the new project. As you can see, Dan was anxious to impress everyone on his first project. With a glass of fabulous South African wine in hand, he was diligently studying the Retail Supply Chain Management textbook he brought with him from the States - on a SATURDAY night, no less. I thinking that is a far cry from what anyone would call fun, but we will have many more weekends to drink wine *without* the textbook! :-)

OK, I lied.

I just noticed that I promised to add more comments and pictures to the blog on Saturday and here it is Monday night and I am going to upload a few pictures and go to bed..... Today was our first day on the new project and I think it went really well. Its a very complex business, but I think there is a lot we can do to add some value here (geez - do I sound like a consultant or what???). Anyway, my brain is pretty fried, so this will be a short post, but there will be more to come, I promise. The highlights so far - we have already ate lunch at 2 of the local wineries, driven down into Cape Town (well, I must be honest - Dan is doing all of the driving, and so far he's only almost gotten us killed once), I put my feet in the Atlantic Ocean (it was *way* colder than the Cape Cod - I swear!)and stopped at a roadside bazaar/crafts market (I bought a gorgeous seashell and have my eye on some other items to bring home). The scenery is just as gorgeous as you hear about - the coastline is just amazing. The wierdest thing so far is to keep reminding myself that it's summer down here and winter at home. Here are a few pictures from the past few days - keep in mind we did quite a bit of sleeping this weekend, so the weekends to follow will have more stories and pictures, I'm sure.



This is a picture of Dan, Chirag and our teammate, Hashaam, who lives in London and did us the tremendous favor of picking us up at Heathrow and taking us out for lunch at a true English pub.



The Hind Head Pub in Bray, England



Gorgeous Camps Bay Beach where the water is freeeeeeezing!


More pictures later - this internet connection is so slow it is taking forever to upload pictures......

Are we there yet?????

No, really - are we there YET? Well, if I am blogging, I must be somewhere with an internet connection. We landed, safe and sound in Cape Town this morning. It was a long, long, trip; I will blog more details and post some pictures tomorrow. But for those that have been wondering and praying for our safe travels, we are at the guesthouse in Brekenfell. We are meeting for breakfast in the morning, working for a few hours and then meeting a business associate for lunch. Hopefully we will do some sightseeting in the afternoon.

24 hours.... and counting!

So, in less than 24 hours I will be on the plane headed to London. Am I packed? Nope. Will I be? Sure. I figure I will just keep running on adrenaline until I get to the airport. At that point, whatever did not get done at home will just have to wait. I changed the blog template this evening - this one is called, "Harbor." I thought it was appropriate. I also thought I would post a quote I have been holding on to for a while now - I think it is just as appropriate.

"Change has a considerable psychological impact on the human mind. To the fearful it is threatening because it means that things may get worse. To the hopeful it is encouraging becuase things may get better. To the confident it is inspiring because the challenge exists to make things better."

-- King Whitney, Jr.

Ironically enough, this quote was left on my pillow at the Annaheim Marriot a few months back. It was the first and only time I received a quote instead of the standard pillow chocolate. But since I never really ate the chocolate anyway, I figure this was a great substitute. :-)

Here's to challenges! The next post will probably be over the weekend, but perhaps I will have a picture or 2 from our layover in London.

Transitions - Quiksilver

I started this blog to document my travels for work - specifically when those travels took me to Manchester, England earlier this year. When I left Manchester in July, I was assigned to a project in Huntington Beach, California working for Quiksilver. Quik started selling boardshorts to the local surfing community back in the '70s and has transitioned into a multi-billion dollar company specializing in sportswear for men, women and children. There are not many pictures to share from this project as I flew home every week (which should also explain the lapse of blog entries over the past 6 months - I have been in a near-constant state of jet lag). But I would be remiss if I did not include a least a few pictures. So, here you go.

I was really lucky to have two great Tr@deStone team members on the project with me - Alicia and Kevin. And they must be represented in the blogosphere! I will miss working with them - I spent more time with them then anyone else in the past 6 months! We had a running joke at Quik that we were "in the closet."

Let me explain - as most consultants will agree, we (consultants in general) are not exactly given top of the line accomodations at client sites. Since we are transitional "employees," there are not generally offices or even cubicles available to us. We work where there is space. As long as we have a table, a chair and an internet connection, we are good to go. Phones are sometimes optional. That's one of the many reasons we have cell phones. :-) At Quik, we were assigned workspace in the "Sportswear Closet" (that's what the phone said as our caller ID whenever we called anyone). Basically, it was the sample room. We were surround by next year's collection of boardshorts, ski jackets, shirts and pants (and some of them are really cool - you'll see). Near the end of the project, Quik needed to relocate us to another workspace, so our joke then became that we "came out of the closet." I don't have any pictures of the closet, but here are some others.

Alicia hard at work in our "new" workspace








Kevin in front of one of the many great surfing posters that can be found all over the offices








This was the poster I looked at from my desk in the new workspace - pretty much looked at this model's behind! LOL









Sunset on Sunset Beach - Alicia and her boyfriend Sam hosted a roll-off barbeque for Kevin and I. I was able to take off my shoes and walk on the beach in February and I even picked up a few shells to bring home.

Catching Up Part 7 - Cancun

In October, Mom and I took our annual Mother-Daughter trip - this year to Cancun, Mexico. Neither of us had ever been to Mexico and for me, this trip was *all* about rest. In fact, we only left the resort twice. Once to go shopping at a local outdoor mall (of course) and once to venture out to find the local Hard Rock Cafe (Danny and Katie needed another pin, after all!). The rest of the week, we ventured no farther than the hotel next door for an occasional meal. We got lots of sleep (I averaged 11 hours a night) and the biggest decision we made was where to park ourselves for the day - the pool? the beach? the pool and then the beach? You get the picture. The surf was incredible - the undertow was very strong, which made it hard for Mom as she was still awaiting her knee replacement surgery and even I was exhausted after an hour of playing in the surf. The color of the water was incredible, as you can see from the pictures below. We came home rested, a little tan (yes, even I had a *little* bit of a tan!) and with some great new silver jewelry. We are already planning our trip for next year - we are thinking Aruba...

I guess I could have taken off the t-shirt, but I was trying to avoid a sunburn!









The color of the water is just gorgeous!









We stayed at the JW Marriot - they have an "infiniti pool" which was just beautiful. Mom and I would highly recommend this resort - their spa is also top-notch! You know I am *all about* the spa!

Catching Up Part 6 - Packard Weekend

As many of you know, my Dad is an antique car enthusiast and his favorites are Packards. He is currently serving as the Director for the North Atlantic Packards Club. Among the many social activites the Club participates in, Mom and Dad have hosted a "Packard Weekend" on the Cape the past few summers. This year's event included a driving tour of Route 6A with stops at Annie's Crannies (a local cranberry bog, the Dennis Manse, crafts shop co-owned by one of the club members and Sydenstryker Glass, a local studio that creates beautiful glass pieces with stencils and powdered glass.

Everyone met back at Mom and Dad's for a cocktail party before heading to the Hyannie Yacht Club for dinner. Brunch back at Mom and Dad's the next morning brought a wonderful end to a beautiful weekend. Here are just a few pictures of the gorgeous cars and great friends in attendance:











































Dad and Mom - host and hostess extraordinaire!

Catching Up Part 5 - A Bad Day at the Beach....

....is still better than a good day at work. Truer words were never spoken! Now, that's not to say this was a bad day at the beach. A) there is NO such thing and B) we had a wonderful day. I had been telling my friend Kathy about this beach in Newport, Rhode Island for years and the great beachcombing to be had there. Shells and sea glass galore. I could spend hours walking up and down this beach, picking up sea glass (wait a minute - I HAVE spent hours walking up and down this beach!). Kathy, Justin, Connor and I spent a wonderful day on the beach relaxing and catching up. I am already looking forward to next summer.

Catching Up Part 4 - There's no place like home

Boy, Dorothy had it right. There's.NO.Place.Like.Home. On Sunday, I drove down to the Cape to spend the week at Mom and Dad's. In addition to spending some quality time with the 'rents, there was the added bonus of a mini-family reunion. Although I was still working from home that week to support my client in Manchester for one more week, I was able to spend some time (but not nearly enough) with my cousins. It was especially nice to spend time with Kim, Kelly and Paul as they joined me for dinner on several occasions when I was on a project in Lyndhurst, NJ for 11 months last year. We didn't grow up near each other and we didn't even meet until we were all adults, but I am so lucky to have great friends that are also my relatives. Mom and Dad generously hosted a barbeque for the whole clan and we managed to take some group pictures of each of the 3 generations in attendance.

The first cousins and their spouses

The second cousins and their spouses

The third cousins (but no spouses yet!)













And a few other pictures that are just so great, they need to be blogged:

My cousin Kim and Paul's daughter Mia


My cousin Kelly and her daughter Julia

Catching Up Part 3 - Home Again

I flew home on Friday, July 13th. On Saturday the 14th, the Marcoux clan arrived in Boston to celebrate the wedding of Jane's brother Pete. It was so great to see them!

The Marcoux girls all dressed up for Uncle Pete's wedding.

Two of the Marcoux men


Jane with Baby T


Kim came up and joined us for breakfast

Catching Up Part 2 - Edinburgh

I decided that if I had to work on my birthday and the 4th of July, that I was going to need something to look forward to. I was working really long days at that point, so I booked a weekend at the Marriot Dalmahoy Hotel & Country Club in Edinburgh, Scotland. I took the train up to Edinburgh after work on Friday and returned on Sunday night. Edinburgh is gorgeous - I would go back in a heartbeat. The scenery is amazing, the people are friendly, the food was delicious and I was able to relax for a few days. I was lucky to have my room upgraded at the hotel and they put me in a corner suite.



Me and the Guard at Edinburgh Castle


The castle overlooks the entire city


Of *course* I had to fit in some shopping - this is the inside of a tartan weaver right outside the castle. I bought several yards of various plaids. I have NO idea what I am going to do with them, but how can you go to Scotland and not buy tartan and a good bottle of Scotch Wiskey? Did I mention the tastings at 10 AM? That'll wake you up!



The Royal Mile descends from Edinbugh Castle down into the city. It is lined with shops and restaurants. One of the nestest things I saw on the Royal Mile was a museum of sorts called "Mary King's Close." A "close" was another name for a street. In old Edinburgh, the streets were extremely narrow, the buildings with many stories high and people literally lived on top of each other. With no indoor plumbing, waste and refuse were literally tossed into the streets where it ran downhill to the lake below. The lake is now a park and the flowers were beautiful - must be all the natural fertilizer from centuries before! Here's a link to the website in case you might be planning a trip to Edinburgh - a word of warning - this tour is not for those who leans words claustorphobia.

http://www.realmarykingsclose.com/

Catching Up Part 1 - Happy Birthday to ME!

If there are any remaining dedicated blog readers out there, you are well aware that I have been, well, lax about keeping up with the blog since oh, about July. My last couple of weeks in England were pretty crazy - trying to get as much done as possible before heading back to the states. I was pretty bummed to have to work both my birthday and the 4th of July in Manchester. For some reason, the English don't seem inclined to celebrate American Independence - go figure! They were very good natured about it, however. And if I had to work on my birthday, my friends at JDW made it the nicest day possible. They brought me a beautiful bouquet of flowers and treated me to a "Victoria Sponge Cake." Yummy. The entire team also joined me out for dinner that night. I could not have asked for a better group of friends to celebrate with.

While I was away, I tried to come up with a great souvenier to bring home for Danny and Katie. I decided to start them a collection of pins from the Hard Rock Cafe - that way, I could add to their collection from all of my travels. So, I stopped by the HRC in Manchester to pick up their first pins. I got into a conversation with the guy running the gift shop and he informed me that they actually had a pin to commorate July 4th. A pin from the Manchester, UK Hard Rock Cafe to celebrate American Independence? Of COURSE I had to have one. It's an American eagle with stars and stripes and sure enough, it says Manchester. I wonder if there was a big demand for this pin???? Needless to say, the irony was not lost on me!