quick update from france

[Gabes-Apg]

i am ok - tired but ok

treated myself to a meal out friday night - duck. the restaurant only serves duck, in about 40 different ways.

it was devine...... i knew as i was eating it that there were some contiminents but i needed to eat something different.
after about 40 mins i could feel some discomfort, and by the time i got back to the hotel (10 min walk) i had small amt of D.

it was SOOOO worth it, the duck was devine.

got up saturday, do my chores, washing etc, went and got my ingredients for my meals and snacks for the week,
explored the aix markets, but got a bit depressed about all the food items i couldnt eat, bought myself a bunch of flowers to cheer me up and headed back to the room.
after the meal friday night and small amt of D, saturday all day my knees and ankles were achinging badly.

knowing i had to do a big cook up to eat, i stopped at restaurant and had lamb and mash potato, despite asking for no sauce, it came with sauce. the lamb had been slow cooked for 12 hours and was lovely (not as devine as the duck) only a very mild reaction 1 hour later.

i had a 3 hour sleep, then got up and spent 3 hours doing my cook up for the week.
Firstly, I made up a big batch of chicken stock as the basis for everything else
Then made big batch of gooey rice and veges to have with poached eggs for my breakfast.
then poached up some chicken breasts to have on rice cakes for my lunches at the office
then made some mashed veges and lamb steak for my dinner.

as tempting as it was to go out and eat something decadent, and experience Aix on a saturday night knowing that i was working today (sunday) i did the play it safe option.

work day today ( 9 - 10 hours and then team dinner tonight.

big big week ahead, the days will be long min 12hrs each day and then friday afternoon i start the 36 hour transit home. as dorothy said, toto, there is no place like home.
i am guessing my next update will be when i am back in Bris-Vegas ( 1 week)

take care everybody....

[ant]

Dear Gabes

Thanks for the update. Sounds like you are enjoying some of the atmosphere but, my goodness, they are working you hard!

All Best, Ant

P.S. I am setting in a little Spanish restaurant I have just discovered down a side street in Hong Kong by some old docks overlooking the sea. I could almost be in Southern Europe, eating some Spanish ham, olives and drinking a chilled dry Sherry. (The chief is Scottish so I could easily explain that 90% of the menu was off limits.)

[Joefnh]

Gabes the local food sounds incredible. I'm glad that it more or less settled. Ant's right those are brutal hours, your going to need a vacation after this is over.

I can't believe that you have to cook up all your food there in your hotel room; that's going to be quite an event, I can't imagine the kitchen setup being that great.

Good luck with all your work this week and our upcoming return trip home.



Ant, would the restaurant be La Comida? I was in HK in 96 & 97 working with EDS, and I remember they had the best Tapas and if I remember right it was down near the docks, near the HK botanical gardens. Their wine list was quite good also.

Take care and best wishes

--Joe

[kimtg68]

Gabes,

I'm anxious for you to be going home. You are such a trooper to have worked the hours you have, dealt with the commute and lets not forget the unappreciative management you've dealt with. Your cooking in what sounds like less then ideal kitchen accomodations. I'm sure it's been to some degree an experience you will remember but I'm sure you are ready to be back in 'Your' kitchen and a more relaxed atomsphere where you can return to living in a manner that will be more beneficial to dealing with your health. I hope your travel goes well and that you don't run into any major problems. You will be in my prayers.

[tex]

Gabes,

Those guys are slave drivers. I thought that southern France was supposed to be a "laid-back" place, where "celebrating life" is a normal part of the daily routine.

You are indeed a super trouper, and it shows in your attitude. It takes a real trouper to make statements such as, "only a very mild reaction 1 hour later". That subtle wording captures your "Storm the Bastille", and "Don't sweat the small stuff" attitude.

You've got what it takes, Gabes - don't let anyone try to tell you otherwise.

Best of luck to you during this difficult week,
Tex

[Gabes-Apg]

thanks every body, these notes of encouragement bought tears to my eyes.

having almost no comms to connect with my pp family and being in different time zone to my friends in oz, i have felt a bit alone and isolated as i deal with all the challenges.

Joe & Kim, the cooking bit was a way easier than having to do my washing in the bathtub!

today i got to walk to the venue where we are working, (yipee no driving...) and got to see some more beautiful aix architecture (walked past one of the oldest churches in the world, and someone was playing a pipe organ, sounded very phantom of the opera!)

[Joefnh]

Gabes we have to have a talk with your management. Lets see they booked you into what is probably no more than a 2 star hotel, you have a 2 - 3 hour commute to where you are actually doing the work, there is little to no internet. My guess is that your company saved what, maybe 30 - 40 a night if that. The next question, where did the upper management stay? I'll bet you it was not in the same place as the people who are actually doing all the hard work!


OK my rant is done, they just should not treat you this way.

Take care Gabes and thanks for sharing your trip and excellent travel tips with us.


Best wishes

--Joe

[ant]

Hi, Joe

Amazing you were in Hong Kong in 1996 and 1997. Where you there during the handover to China? It was quite an historic moment. Hong Kong keeps changing. La Comida is now in SoHo, Mid-levels. The restaurant I found is called Tapeo. It is quite far out passed North Point.

All best, Ant

[Joefnh]

Ant it was just before the handover. At the time there were a lot of demonstrations especially with the land owners / farmers outside of town; I almost got caught up in one of those groups when I rounded a corner onto the street leading back to my hotel. A policeman with the green shoulder boards made sure I got out of the way. That protest was turning a bit 'active' .

A lot of the employees at EDS had obtained passports to other countries; they were concerned about what was going to happen

I was in HK for 4 weeks working with EDS (Electronic Data Systems) on border security issues, that was from December 28th 2006 to January 26th 2007. just missed the handover wasn't that in July?

Right after I finished there I was down in Australia for the first of several trips to the Sydney Brisbane area.

The time in HK was great, I found it much more enjoyable than Tokyo.

I was surprised at the time to find such varied excellent food there.

--Joe


_________________
A happy life consists not in the absence, but in the mastery of hardships. --Helen Keller

[Gloria]

Gabes,

I didn't realize you were going to be in France for two weeks -- I thought it was just one. You are a brave woman, although it sounds like the second week will be easier diet-wise than the first because you've been able to prepare your meals ahead of time.

I'm beginning to see that planning on Sundays what I will eat for each day and meal of the week allows me to prepare ahead of time. No more stress from making last-minute decisions.

This week should go a lot smoother for you. I hope you can fit in some relaxation time.

Gloria

[Stanz]

Gabes.

In spite of all the accommodations you've had to make for your own health, I do hope you're able to appreciate seeing a new part of the world somewhere in your busy schedule before you go home.

Connie

[Linda in BC]

Gabes, so glad to hear you took a three hour nap. You must have needed it! So I take it you only got the one day off ( Sat.)?
Your duck and lamb sounded awesome..
Know that we are all thinking of you and following you in our minds. You are a hero for being so brave! May the rest of your week go smoothly (sounds like you've done your best to ensure that it will) and your trip home seem quick and uneventful. I hope you get to walk to work all next week, too!
Linda

[Gabes-Apg]

thanks ladies for your support -

Joenot sure if you have been to tourist areas of europe, on the cusp of peak summer season.

the difference between our current accommodation and the next level up of accoms in this town is about 70 euro per night! that applied across 6 people for the 2 week duration it was a bit hard for the managers to justify this to the bean counters.
there are other towns you can stay that may or may not offer better accommodation, but being in the town of Aix means we are within walking distance to over 150 restaurants and cafes.

some of the managers are in equiv type accoms, have had things like dry cleaning go missing for a whole week, (this was the suit and shirts for one very senior manager) they are experiencing very similar adversities!! because of limited avialability in the area, some people have moved accommodation 3 times so far (over a 2- 3 week period)

the senior managers took us out for dinner last night and if the CFO's were not controlling the purse strings sooo tightly they would do more for us. it is the current culture of our company, fact of life, cant change it.
compared to travelling in PNG and Tonga this is not too bad.

the commute has good days and bad days. Good day is 45 mins each way, bad day is about the hour, and really bad is 1.5 hours.
for entertainment of a night we have a betting ring (1 euro each) for what time we will get back to the hotel.

[Joefnh]

Gabes I have spent a fair amount of time on travel for business mostly in northern Europe; Germany, Netherlands and into Russia on business.

I understand what you are saying, it just upset me all of the things that you have had to put up with on top of MC during this trip. That's mostly what drove my rant...

I realized after I wrote it that it probably was a bit strongly opinionated

With that said I do have a few stories of similar nature in Minsk and Belarus and looking back I have done my wash in the sink once or twice before, and have had some crazy commutes. Come to think of it, during some of those those trips I traveled with a wonderful Australian fellow - Graeme Mann from Sydney, and those were some of the most fun trips I think I ever had while on travel; that Aussie defined what nuts truly was... Graeme worked for 3M and was a another developer of the border security products that our companies were developing.

It's amazing that after after 10+ years I had 'forgotten' the little challenges that travel brings, but fondly remember all of the fun times...I also have to remember that the number and distribution of hotels in Europe is quite different than in the states.

I am glad that your work and health is going well, thanks for all of your MC travel tips and updates


Take Care

--Joe

[Gabes-Apg]

joe
thanks for that, i made it quite clear to mamanagement that i didnt want to be treated differently to the others in the team because i had certain limitations with MC.

I dont think it fair that workers that are the same level or even higher than me, are in accommodations of a lesser quality if they upgrade me because of the MC.

I am ok - prefer the current set up as i can prepare my meals, and i am not reliant on room service or eating out all the time.


remember the manta, que sera sera,