A Week in Brazil (Brasil)

So I am waiting at the airport after a week of work in Brazil (Brasil - Portug). It is always difficult to be away from home for a week, but sometimes the job demands it. The flight "down" to Sao Paulo was uneventful even if American Airlines managed to serve dry salmon (I don't know how you can do this with a fish with as much oil content as salmon!). It never ceaess to amaze me just how much traffic there is in Sao Paulo, even with the restriction on driving days that they have for the citizens. It is an interesting ride from the international airport over to our business offices and my hotel (just across the street). The sights are like nothing that you see in large American cities. This is especially true of the motorcycle riders who navigate the traffic quickly by passing between lanes of traffic and beeping their horns. These are a resourceful people who treat traffic "laws" more as general guidelines when it comes to motorcycles.

The hotel was a welcome site as I could shower and refresh myself from the long flight. The hotel is very nice, yet, with the currency exchange rate, it is very inexpensive for such a large, cosmopolitan city. The only issue I have is that my stupid company computer cannot hook up to the internet no matter if I use the Wifi, the aircard, or the direct lan connection in the hotel room.

My colleagues picked me up and we had lunch at a Churrascurria (Brazilian barbecue) restaurant called Fogo de Chiao. This is some of the most flavorful and tender meat that I have ever eaten. Interestingly, there are more of these restaurants (by the same owners) in the USA than in Brazil, although several more have opened in Brazil and other South American countries in the last 6 months.

The trip over to the office for my afternoon meetings was short and I was warmly greeted by my colleagues. The warm greetings are not typical of American companies. These folks don't know me all that well yet I feel like they are long-time friends and they make me feel very much at home. After a late day of meetings, we went to dinner at a Japanese restaurant. There is a large population of Japanese in Sao Paulo and this restaurant served very, very good Sushi and Sashimi, as well as Tepenyaki and Tempura. It is not the same as the authentic Japanese food I had in Japan, but the dishes that they do serve are quite good and very reasonably priced. The restaurant has an interesting business model that provides a number of courses for a base price, which is not the case for Japanese restaurants in the USA.

My second day started with a trip to the countryside north of the city. We visited Eucalyptus farms. These trees are amazing in that their average growth is about 1 cm per day. Thery are very large in a short time and, due to the density of planting for paper companies, they are bare from the ground up to about 50 feet and then they have a pear-shaped canopy that moves genly with the wind.

There are not so many super highways outside of the city. It seems that everyone who is moving anywhere outside the city, many for business, use the few roads, resulting in slow traffic. Our trip was slowed by one hour, but it did not matter. The potential customers are very flexible, unlike some in the US, and accomodate our late arrival. The folks there are just as friendly as my office colleagues and patiently put up with my lack of ability to communicate in Portugese. The afternoon was a trip to another potential customer in a different business fairly far away. The roads for part of the trip were what we would call country roads and there were many speed bumps that slowed our progress. Again, though, even with us being late, the people were so friendly and eager to meet with us and spend time well past the time that most US companies would say it was time to go home.

We finished up after dark (it is winter here - although the temperature is warm by North Carolina standards) and started to drive over to our plant site, some four hours away. I tried to spot stars and constellations outside since we were in the countryside where it is quite dark. I did see many stars, but could not really recongnize constellations. It seemed that many were unfamiliar (even though the southern sky is in all my star guides) and for those nearer the zenith that I should be able to see from the northern hemisphere, they were upside down and unfamiliar.

We were not far from our hotel when there was a horrendous traffic accident that resulted in a 3 hour delay and a traffic jam of more than 75 kilometers. When we finally got moving, the site of the trucks that were still wrecked on the side of the road was devastating, with debris everywhere and evidence of fire and oil. We found out later that the truck drivers survived, but that a motorcycle rider, one of those who goes between the cars, was killed. We finally arrived at the hotel at 2 in the morning, after a 750 kilometer day.

The next two days were spent at our plant with my lab team. These are really talented folks who also displayed the same friendliness and acceptance of me that I found everywhere I went in this country. We spent time reviewing how we do work in our two regions (the US and Brazil) and what we can learn from each other. I always learn many new things every time I visit this lab and the customers in this region. No matter how much I think I know, I can always learn more. [I think this is one of the most important things I have learned in business: always be open to new things no matter how much you think you know and be accepting of the opinions and thoughts of others].

My host for the week took me back to the airport tonight. I had to laugh a bit more about driving in Brazil. All week, in the city where our plant is, every driver does the same thing. There are traffic circles and intersections throughout the city that are marked with signage and street painting that states "PARE" (stop). Well, the Brazilians look at this as more of a "yield" sign for us Americans and it makes for an interesting ride. It always seems to work, though.

This is my 9th or 10th trip to Brazil. Each time in Sao Paulo, sometimes in outer cities such as Rio, Salvador, or Blumenau (to mention only a few). The one constant is the attitude of the people I meet. They are exceptionally friendly and accepting of people and they have an attitude that could help us all grow old ... "it's ok, things will work out".

Even so, I am really looking forward to going home, because (see "The Wizard of Oz") ther is no place like home.

Uniforms and Youth

George Carlin said it best when he noted that uniforms in public schools reminded him of the Hitler Youth. This is flat out wrong. I had this opinion 5 years ago when they instituted uniforms in my son's middle school and my concern flared up again today when I heard on the radio that yet another North Carolina school has instituted uniforms. They use the same, tired arguements that it avoids distractions and minimizes differences in socioeconomic classes. I have never met a teenager who did not know who was richer or poorer than they were. Clothes are only a part of class status. One cannot cover up other traits that separate those who have from those who haven't.

This is just another case of government trampling on citizens rights. The citizens fund the public schools but are rarely given options to voice opinions about how these schools are run. Edicts show up and must be followed. What we are doing is demolishing the individualism that has made this a great country and society. It is but one step in that direction, but it is a big step and cannot easily be reversed.

English oddities

I have always been facinated by the word "nothing". I love the way it is used in advertizing ... "nothing works better than ..." or "nothing beats ..." If you read it in a certain way, it would seem that nothing is the best choice. If nothing beats a Toyota, then I guess I want "nothing". You see the point. Just one of those oddities of the English language.

Night of the Living Dead

Today I heard an odd commercial for one of the ambulance chasers you often hear on television about some class action activity. They were interested in a product called Digitek, which is some sort of variant of digoxin, a heart treatment drug. Their commercial says ...

If you or someone you know has been injured or died as a result of the use of Digitek, call ...

I wonder if the dead are watching or listening to television.

A Day in Pompeii

About a week ago I got to go to Discovery Place in nearby Charlotte to see the "Day in Pompeii" program. This is a facsinating presentation of information and artifacts related to Pompeii at the time of the eruption of Mount Vesuvius two centuries ago. The artifacts are on loan from Italy and have made stops at only 4 cities in the US prior to leaving. They will be in Charlotte through early January of 2009.

The artifacts are fantastic. The stove, for instance, that has raised rings on the back for pots to sit on and is a stone tray that allows a fire to be built and moved under the rings to regulate heat. There were artifacts of jewelry, burial accoutrements, furniture (some parts ... the wooden ones ... were reconstructed), pots, statues, frescos. All of these were well documented with interesting descriptions. There was also a short video of the day of the eruption that described normal life and the impact of the eruption and how quickly it engulfed the city. The complexity of the displays grew as you moved deeper into the museum and the program reached a crescendo as you moved into a reddish black hallway that opened into a black room housing a number of casts of people and animals that were made from the original Pompeii site excavations. These casts capture people and animals in the throws of death, recreating in a visual sense, the last moments of their lives. It was very tastefully done and very moving.

I have posted some photos on this site so that you might share in some of this experience.

Govt INC

It seems that my local representative in the House in Washington wants to have Uncle Sam (Govt INC) take charge of yet something else. Her proposal is to have Washington regulate the public colleges and universities of North Carolina (everything from UNC to community colleges) in such a way as to prevent the education of illegal immigrants. I can't stand this. The federal government has NO BUSINESS regulating these institutions. They are state institutions and should be controlled by the state government and the people of North Carolina. We regulate enough from Washington.

For those who think that state regulation of their university system could lead to some failure of that system, remember, the civil rights laws apply to everyone. Thus the state cannot regulate the Universities in any way that interferes with applicable federal laws. As to quality of education, I hope Govt INC never tries "no scholar left behind". The current system of accreditation and the competition to take in more and better quality students will regulate academics much better than the government. It is up to the state and the people who fund the state to determine if illegal immigrants belong in these institutions.

More English Abuse

Another observation related to interpretation of English -

Driving on the highways have you seen the sign that is diamond shaped, yellow, lettered with:

Slow

Men at Work

Since it does not have the comma that is implied, it would seem that this is all the more truthful. Slow men at work. Road projects do seem to take forever!

Restaurant with History

I just finished travelling for business in Guadalajara, Mexico and had lunch yesterday at a wonderful restaurant in the old city: La Fonda de San Miguel Arcangel. The restaurant is housed in an old convent, the Convent of Santa Teresa de Jesus. The orginial convent was built for sisters of an order devoted to poverty and chastity. Construction took place from 1690 to 1694. This is the oldest convent for nuns in Guadalajara and was funded through an endowment of 42,000 solid gold pesos. The site has a very volatile history. The sisters had to abandon the site in 1860 due to reform laws and the site was later a garrison for the military. The sisters regained the site in 1885 only to have it taken from them again in 1914. Undeterred, they got the site back in 1919. In 1925, the sisters lost the site again as a military garrison during the Cristeros War. Finally, in 1939 the sisters could return and there they stayed until the site was abandoned in 1977.

I am not sure when the site became a restaurant, but it is very nice. There is a long, dark corridor from the street to the courtyard of the convent where a number of brightly colored seats surround many tables.



There is a lot of lush greenery in the courtyard and a relaxing stone fountain in the middle. Bird cages are all over the edges with a number of Conures and two, large, green and teal maccaws. The birds have free reign of the site, but the clipped wings prevent flight. The telltale shrieks add some charm to the place.



The meals are excellent and traditional (read: not Mexican American). The main course I had was the local fajita. The only resemblance that this had to an American fajita was the tortillas. The chicken was grilled and then mixed in with onions, peppers, and radishes in a rich broth and baked in a small cauldron. It had the look of some kind of volcanic rock. The salsas that were brought to the table were rich and varied with several levels of hotness. Between the meal and the ambiance, this is a great place to spend a couple of hours in Guadalajara.

The New Math

I am continually amused by ignorant politicians. Our genius American presidential candidate, Barack Obama, today proposed the tired, liberal suggestion to tax "windfall profits" of oil companies to give Americans (the one's he considers worthy of getting something) 1000 dollars to stimulate the economy and help offset their rising energy costs.

This is supposed to be a regulated, but relatively free market. I thought that the whole reason to be in business was to increase profits. Further, companies that deal in commodity products such as oil often go through cycles of high profitability and moderate loss. The good times keep things floating during the bad times.

Why not have a windfall tax on other areas that are profitable? What else is benefiting from windfall profits? Corn farmers. Let's steal their profits. How about hybrid battery manufacturers? Let's steal their profits too. How about Honda? They were smart enough to see things coming and converted to smaller car production and are making a lot of money. They should be punished.

This hurts ordinary Americans as well. I would say that 50% or more of Americans have money in pension plans and 401 k's that include oil companies. Currently, these 401 k funds are getting hammered by the drop in stock prices and would be further hurt if the oil companies, that we all own part of and are doing well, were gouged.

The idea of a company is to generate wealth for share holders. If I happen to own something that goes up in value, why punish me? The land I own has gone up. The house. What about the gold jewelry we buy. It is all worth more by no direct action that we have done other than to possess it.

Ok, so the math transfers money to some tax payers to help with energy costs. Now, the oil companies have less money, which, by all rights, they would plow back into building the company and creating more jobs (this really is done ... no company will continue to exist if it does not grow) to invest in itself, alternate energy, the local community, etc.

I get tired of this type of thinking. The oil companies are currently making lots of money (not huge percentage profits, just lots of money ... but they are worth much more). When oil was 40$ a barrel I don't remember anyone going to bat to give them more money to make sure their profits were ok. Leave the companies alone. With the higher oil price and the profits, they can finally think about getting at shale oil.

Politicians should focus, instead, on removing barriers to exploration and acquisition of oil to stabilize pricing while we move to nuclear and hydrogen feedstocks.

Oh, but the environmental groups will not let us drill off the coast or in Alaska. It is ok, though, to pay high fuel prices based on removing oil from someone else's back yard. It is only our environment that we cannot tap in to.

This kind of thinking by our politicians just tires me out.