Starting our and our first few days

We took off from JFK 2 hours late because of a snow storm.  It is perhaps a good thing to have a last taste of cold nasty weather when you are heading to a warmer climate.  It makes you appreciate where you are going.  This was our first time way up front in the plate.  Cathay Pacific gave us the same price for first class as we would have paid for business class, so we flew first class.  There were 6 suites (that is what they called them) on the plane.  We there were 2 seats in the suite, so though Charlene had her own suite, she could join me at a table for dinner, before they both folded flat for sleeping.

We over-nighted in Bangkok, and flew on the next morning to Vientiane.  Once we got our visas, we stopped off at our hotel to drop off our luggage and went right to work.

I have been working for the past two months on new software reporting and quoting tools, which I showed them for the first time.  Everybody was excited, and I think I hit a home run.  We met with Mai, the South East Asian manager for DDD, and with Philippe, a French ex-pat who is their CFO.  I also met with Sambo, a tiny young gal with giant ability who is taking on the task of Director of Project Management.  We went out for a casual dinner after work, but not before we got a tour of the operation.  We saw a young group of 30 or more trainees learning touch typing, and large production rooms filled with Lao workers, diligently working at their computers doing data entry and correction.  

Perhaps the most amazing application for data entry had a screen divided in two, with one side showing European professional soccer games; and on the other side a data entry screen into which operators were entering links to document and reference every player and their contact swith the ball.  It captures data on traps, passes and goal shots, tracking plays and activity.  This information is converted to data and statistics to be used by coaches and fans, and probably bookmakers.It even bookmarks the video, so you can see each contact with the ball.

It would the equivalent of capturing every baseball game and tracking every pitch of every pitcher and what hitters swung at, hit, fouled or missed them.  Capturing this kind of statistics about your competitor could give a team a real edge.  And imagine, those capturing the data on the soccer games first had to be trained in data entry and then on how the game is played.  It was amazing.

Also amazing is that after traveling for over 24 hours and dealing with a 12 hour time shift, we were able to work till 6, and have enough reserve left to go out for dinner.

Today is Friday, and we met with more high and mid-level managers in the DDD family. We put in a pretty full day, only stopping for lunch and to look for more permanent housing for our 2 month stay in Vientiane.  Charlene was afraid we would end up in some primative apartment with little security in a strange backwater location in Vientiane.  They showed us a few rough ones.

We finally settled on a beautiful luxury apartment  in a gated complex overlooking the Mekong River and a park. It includes a beautiful resort swimming pool, tennis court and gym.  The appartment has a big master bedroom with a separate dressing room, multiple bathrooms, a big living room, dinning room and modern kitchen with granite countertops and beautiful cabinetry.  Charlene was, to say the least, relieved.  The time shift is finally catching up with us, and we plan to eat in at the hotel restaurant, maybe watch a movie on TV, and get to bed early.  We have a lazy weekend ahead to catch up on our sleep, shake off the jet lag and explore Vientiane. It is 80 degrees, and I will not be shoveling snow.