The India Chronicles (Day 76)

This turns out to be a good new, good news, bad news kinda day.

The good news - they eye felt MUCH better today. Still feels like
something is in there and it is still blurry (kinda like a blurring film
is over the eye), but it doesn't hurt today. Hopefully we're well on
our way to recovery. I don't think I ever described the sensation when
it was in pain; imagine 10 grit sandpaper scraping across your eye each
time you blink. There you go. Ouch!

Strange / Scary that my eyesight is pegged to the effectiveness of Rs45
Indian-made eye lubricant! Where's the FDA when you WANT 'em????

Good news part II - My ocean shipment (crated on 15/04/04 and got into
Cochin 26/06/04) was cleared through customs and they only charged
Rs1,850 in duties. Everything was delivered to my apartment today as
well. It really IS Christmas in July. Time now to close the
relocation expense report (this one's probably gonna cause a few
short-circuits in Finance). I think between the two expense reports
from my recent boondoggle / junket and the relocation expense report,
we're in the neighborhood of $12,000 back to good 'ole Scott.
cha-Ching! Oh wait....unfortunately this is just paying Scott back, so
it's not like it's free money. Besides, Uncle Sam will try to tax the
relocation reimbursement and who knows what else, so it doesn't really
matter.

Riley got his wicker bed back, and all his toys (he only cares about the
pull-ropes) and his long retracting leash.

My Queen-sized bed is setup again - my back will be SOOOO happy!

I got a 1000W, 220V/110V converter for the PS2 at an electronics store
here for Rs180. I paid $39.99 I think at Radio Sucks in the US for a
50W 220V/110V adapter. There are some things that are really good about
India!

Good news part III - the missing Playstation 2 power cord WAS found!!

Bad News - Playstation 2 + Transformer / Converter doesn't work. No
power. Plugged my alarm clock radio (US - 110V) into the transformer /
converter and it works fine.......I was really hoping to report UMich
was able to begin anew their regular PS2 whoopin's of Ohio State. OSU
gets a temporary reprieve.....

We're dehumidifying the power cord right now. Maybe it will work later.
~ (The sad thing is that sometimes this actually works! Remember, I used
to work for a cable manufacturer!)

So, our VCR is now here, all the videos, my two computers, the monitor,
keyboard, mouse, etc. I also found my Dilbert 2004 calendar (you have
no idea how much I missed THAT!) and God knows what else! I'm telling
you it is Christmas in July!!

Oh yeah - Manu is walking around with one of my old watches since his
broke. He needs his next paycheck before he can fix / replace his old
one. I check each morning and afternoon to make sure he still has it
on......

The real sad thing is my watch is LOOSE on his wrist. Oh, yeah! I forgot
that I am, like, totally ripped and my watch would be loose on ANYONE's
wrist. Ok, back to reality.....

So yesterday something happened I had a feeling would happen, the books
told me it would happen, but I was hoping not to have to worry about it.
~ Baby asked for a Rs10,000 loan for her daughters education. Payable in
10 installments of Rs1000 each. Everything I have read says this is to
be expected and that everything will be duly paid back, but just to be
safe I am checking with the Managing Director at work to see whether I
do or I don't and if I do, how to cover myself. I could just take
Rs1,000 out of each paycheck going forward and Rs2,000 out of the last
one (assuming I cut and run in April 2005). I think we're talking $222
USD or so. She got Rs1,500 more in her pay today as a "thank you" for
watching my dog while away. She was shocked and tried to not accept it,
but it's the least I could do (cost me $2.25 USD per day - I couldn't
beat that if I wanted to!)

Oh, and I solved my employee-relations issue. I had to write job
descriptions for everyone for a new HR system they're putting in place.
~ I wrote them, tailored them to their experience level of the people
knowing that I need to put that structure in place anyway (I can get
more meaningful job titles tailored to the experience of each fr 2005),
explained what these were for and how they would be used from an HR and
performance appraisal standpoint, and had them help "finish" them. Two
guys didn't like what I wrote so they TRIPLED the text. I was impressed
with them, what they came up with was REALLY good. The others accepted
what I wrote more or less. The initial disgruntled employee seemed
quite satisfied with the path forward so that's a good thing.

Oh - and today three of my guys stood up to the global guy they are
doing work for. He saw the error of his way and is re-evaluating the
path forward. I was so proud! Sad that I missed the fun, but proud
nonetheless. They're starting to think on their own!

Speaking of which, that will be the hardest part. Teaching them how to
read the data. I don't mean how to look at it, massage it, and report
it. I mean taking a goal / objective (complete with incomplete
information), understanding what info you do and do not have available
(and therefore the gaps), how everything fits together and then
identifying the best tool / method to get the result. To me this is
like a class I took during my MBA - Operations Research / Quantitative
Methods. We had to do these silly things called linear programs to
arrive at an optimized solution to a multi variable business problem.
The problems were always those dreaded "word" problems. The facts are
laid out, you set your objective function and then define all the
constraints against it then entered the equations into the computer to
solve it. To me either you saw it or you didn't. If you didn't I don't
know how to explain it. Neither did the Professor. It's like The
Matrix. You look at it and you can read it. I would just look at it
and see the solution (as Will Hunting said "when it came to that, I
could just play").

It's the same thing with data analysis. I look at it and arrive at the
solution; even if it's not the right solution at the time, it gets me
90% of the way and then I change gears as needed to finish it (this can
be nerve wracking to watch, as some of my friends can attest to).

How do you teach that? I think the only way is through a few brick walls
and large cliffs. They need to start thinking freely. They need to run
head-first into that wall, fall down, tell me it hurt like hell and then
try again. They need to try again, fall head-first off a cliff, slam
into the jagged rocks below, bounce back up like the Wil-E-Coyote, dust
themselves off and try again. They need to pull their hair out, punch
the wall, the desk, etc. (anything but each other or myself) learning
how to think and develop the analysis. Some of them are closer than
others (they're all starting pretty much from ground zero, though), but
this is a hurdle that will take time. If I can get a few of them to
that happy place in the next few months, I could leave here happy.....

I still don't know what I am doing with the new guy, though....anyway.

Well, that's that for now. More info as it becomes available.