Ramblings....

Forgive me if I wax quixotic....

I spent the week in a perpetual state of dysphoric fatigue. The prerequisites for me to sleep are silence and darkness. Late night thunderstorms provide neither. Regardless of the level of my exhaustion, I have been unable to enter the peace of slumber until long after the sun has departed our grimy city. The blare of the alarm clock at 5 AM is often mistaken for some warning siren for whatever character I happen to be playing in that evening's dream. At some point, I finally realize the sound is calling me to leave the ethereal world of dreams and rejoin the terrestrial. I slowly roll out of the warmth of my bed, place two bare feet on the cold marble floors, and begin my day with a long, hot shower.

I've discovered that when I spend my weeks in a stupor of caffeine induced highs, sleep deprivation, and high activity: 1) I write better, 2) I'm more creative (see #1), 3) I work harder (mostly so I don't fall asleep at my desk) and 4) I'm more reflective on life. So, at the risk of sounding like a dreaded Democrat:

1) The more time I spend here, the harder it is to believe my position in life is based on hard work, education, and choices I've made to advance. I work with too many women who are secretaries or, in some cases, maids who have law degrees to believe that I have complete control of my destiny. I've always felt that education and motivation can overcome any obstacle. Indonesia is teaching me otherwise. Availability of opportunity plays a tremendous role. Being born in the United States was not a choice I made, it was luck of the cosmic draw. I owe much of my success to the fact that I was born in a country that has opportunity.

2) Blue sky in Jakarta is a scarce commodity. I've seen colors I never knew the sky could be, but seldom blue. There is the orange haze of morning when the pollution from 18 million people commuting to their various jobs paints the sky with noxious fumes. When the storms come in mid-day, we have skies that remind of the burnt sienna crayon in the 64 pack of Crayolas. For the heavy storms, skies are black as starless nights and the city is hidden in a cloak of rain and shadows. On weekends, before the rain comes, I get my one shot at seeing blue skies.

3) Rain doesn't wash away pollution, it bonds with it. The rivers and creeks in the city are never any color other than brown. After a heavy rain, the streets and sidewalks are slick like oil spills. You seldom seem birds - the canaries in the mine, so to speak. Although the fact that you can find "pigeon" on the menu at many restaurants may contribute to this.

4) Indonesians - at least the ones I work with - never lose that childish appreciation of life. When I hear laughter, it's the giddy laughter of people who aren't fearful of having to maintain the material trappings of life. The laughter of people who laugh with pure joy, and excitement, and happiness; not the stiff laugh of the stoic, the polite laugh of the professional, or the reserved chuckle of the somber religious. People here laugh with their souls. It's a pleasure to witness.



In addition to Indonesia, my company has a tremendous asset in the Congo. It's not fully operational yet, but we have recently produced our first ingot, which is a huge accomplishment. As the global provider of technology - and the closest team to Africa - my team supports any software needs of the operations in Africa. To this point, no one has asked me to visit Africa - nor do I expect them to - though many of my colleagues here in Indonesia and back in Phoenix have participated in building the network on the ground in the Congo. My team, to this point, has supported their efforts from Jakarta.

This week I had the opportunity to speak with some of the colleagues who travel there. Americans think the environment in Indonesia is odd. Indonesians say the Congo is odd. A few stories I will always remember:

1) On his first trip, one of my colleagues was driving from base camp into Lubumbashi to have dinner at one of the local restaurants. His driver spoke only French, and he spoke only English. He was running late, so the party waiting at the restaurant called his cell phone to inquire as to his position. When he answered the phone, his driver became immediately agitated. He slowed the car down to a crawl while my colleague spoke on the phone. In the Congo, you do not stop on the roads. When a car stops, locals immediately surround the car and the situation becomes very dangerous very quickly. Driving slowly is ill advised for the same reason. If you look ahead and see an obstacle, you choose a new route so you don't have to slow down. Needless to say, my colleague was not happy with the driver slowing down. The longer my colleague spoke, the more nervous the driver became. As they neared an intersection, the driver pulled to the side of the road and abruptly stopped. My colleagues realized the car had stopped because he was on the phone, so he quickly hung up the phone, and the driver continued. At dinner, he explained what had occurred on the drive over. The GM of the site told him why. He was driving past the governor's mansion in the heart of the city. There are armed guards that have permission to open fire on anyone who is on a cell phone as they drive by. The government is concerned the cell phone is triggering a bomb. The driver knew this, my colleague didn't.

2) One of the systems my team installed and supports is a Universal ID system. The UID System has terminals at all major security check points where employees have to provide proof of their identity. Swiping the card displays a picture of the approved card holder so security can verify the person using the card is the person we expect to have it. People in the Congo do not like to have their picture taken. This makes security badges a difficult challenge. The reason they don't like to have their picture taken is probably not what you think - they aren't afraid it will capture their soul. The Congo has lived in a perpetual state of Civil War. They are afraid if you have their picture, you will show it to someone who will then come and kill them. I can't imagine living in a country where that was my first thought at having a picture taken.

3) Another colleague, on his first trip to the Congo, got off the bus and immediately started taking pictures of the surrounding area to share with family and friends upon his return. This wasn't in the city, this was on company owned facilities. Within 15 minutes, the military arrived, fully armed, walked up to him and said "no more pictures", and walked away. He didn't take the camera out the rest of his trip. I probably would have wet myself.

4) Another odd situation we have is ownership. We recently received a request to modify our UID system to include printing some additional language for the back of the card indicating the ID card is company property. Apparently, we have had several parties refuse to return their cards at the end of their employment. We gave them the card so, in their mind, it was now theirs. They didn't associate possession of the card with possession of employment with our company. Not sure that a label is going to solve that problem, but it wasn't worth arguing over 4 hours of work.

5) In a country ravaged by Civil War, long term is not in the mindset or vocabulary. I'm surprised we aren't paying people at the end of every day. It is very obvious, however, that no one thinks beyond the current week - often the current day. We have had situations where we have told an employee that we need them to move servers from one building to another building by the end of the day and they have responded "Okay, but first I must find food for my children". It appears the lower you go on Maslow's hierarchy of needs, the more interesting are the challenges.


One last item. If anyone wants to send us a care package, here are the things we need:

1) Cinnamon gum
2) Seagram's
3) Bagels
4) Refried Beans
5) Tortillas


On Monday, I'm having breakfast with Steve Ballmer, the CEO of Microsoft. It's not a one-on-one breakfast, I'm part of a group, but it is a small group. Should be interesting. Hopefully I'll blog more than one entry next week.

Oh, and I've told my staff to not use English when the email me. I have to learn Bahasa Indonesia at some point. Now's as good a time as any.