The Management Mythbuster

Redefining the Rest Stop

As a brief respite from my world tour, I got to spend last weekend in and around Catalonia in northern Spain.  On Friday I headed north to spend a couple of days on the Costa Blanca in the town of Roses right by the sea (picture of hotel below - cool eh?).  After leaving Barcelona I joined the N-11, a good two lane road to Girona. After leaving Girona the road gently winds through the countryside and looks much like any other road, except for one thing.

I was casually minding my own business, playing with the "flappy paddle" gear change on the surprisingly nippy diesel powered Citroen C4, when out of the corner of my eye I saw what appeared to be an attractive girl sitting in a white plastic lawn chair by the side of the road.  Being a normal male my gaze wandered over to examine her more closely.  She looked a little out of place for a rural road in northern Spain. She was wearing very high heels and a skirt that was as short as the heels were high.  I cruised on not really knowing what to make of it.  My first reaction was that it was  strange place to have a bus stop.  A couple of kilometers further on, another similarly attired girl sat beside the road - only this time the shoes were replaced by boots.  Somewhere in the slower moving parts of my brain it began to dawn on me that they were not waiting for a bus.  This site was repeated at regular intervals for the next 20km or so. 

I know the Spanish are a friendly bunch but I had no idea that the services they extended to weary travelers were so comprehensive -  very different than the free coffee at an American rest stop!

On my return to Barcelona on Sunday morning, I reversed my route. This time it was raining so most of the white plastic chairs were empty, either that or business was especially brisk that morning.  I did however pass one petrol station where a couple of members of the "traveler relaxation team" were hanging out under the canopy.  Now that really did redefine the concept of "full service" never mind having your windscreen washed...

It is sad but at least I made an effort

Perfect day here in Catalonia - managed a quick drive into France but then returned to the relative civilisation of Spain.  Foolishly embarked upon a bike ride this afternoon.  I am too old, fat, unfit, and stiff to try such things but I think I made it about 20km. I like the metric system - when I ride it inflates the number, 20K is so much more macho than 12.4274 miles and 110 kilos sounds a lot better than the equivalent in pounds (no, I am not telling you what it is, if you want to laugh at me, look it up yourself).

Surprisingly I survived the ride -  the worst part was the friction generated by the seat and the parts of my body that were in contact with the seat - but I am sure you don't want to hear about that.  To offer proof, here are pictures taken at the 1K and 19K mark.  As you can see the effects of exercise were minimal...

 

 

0-60 in four seconds, 125 mph and it's electric and made in the USA!

Sitting on the terrace at the magnificent Dolder Grand Hotel in Zurich when what looks like a really cool Italian sports car glides past, but it's got no engine - there is no noise. 

On closer inspection its not Italian, its American!  A beautiful, eco-friendly American car - an oxymoron surely.  But no, the Tesla is sexy and Yankee - sort of the Gywneth Paltrow of cars.  It may cost $100K but it looks worth it to me.  No room for the baby seat or golf clubs but who cares - check it out.

Balkan balls-up

Winston Churchill once said that, "The Balkans produce more history than anyone can consume." Even forty-four years after his death it remains true. While in Croatia, one of about seven countries that emerged when Yugoslavia imploded I was amused by the inter-regional bickering that still goes on. Here are just some of the news items I saw  during my sojourn in the Balkans:

- Croatia and Slovenia agree to stop arguing over their border if both agree not to prejudge any settlement
- Croatia and Montenegro meet to discuss combating organized crime (sounds like the Obama/Calderon talks doesn't it?)
- Serbia and Croatia to meet to discuss dropping mutual lawsuits regarding genocide
- Slovenia fires its foreign minister
- Macedonia seeks to improve relations with Greece (US and Cuba?)
- Maldives bribed to recognize Kosovo
- Croatia wants to help Serbia in European integration
- Montenegrin government gives massive construction contract to Croatian consortium.

And we wonder while the assassination of a dodgy Austrian Archduke caused WWI?

From Russia With Love

I managed to escape from Moscow and head over to the former Soviet republic but now pro-Western state of the Ukraine.  The first change was in prices - taxis in Kiev are about 75 percent cheaper than their Russian cousins and my hotel room was a mere 50 Euros compared to 250 in Moscow.   Spring had also sprung in Kiev which was a pleasant change from the Siberian chill of Red Square.  So here is the photographic evidence from my tour:

Monday morning in Red Square

  Yes I was really there and did not just download a few pictures

Me and Vladimir IIyich

The Soviet WW2 memorial in Kiev

Next stop Sao Paolo!

Back in the USSR - part two

So here I am in Moscow, 32 years after my last visit. Needless to say much has changed - I am not fifteen anymore, my weight is slightly more than eleven stone and the USSR doesn't exist anymore.  So what of Russia today?  Based upon my extensive three days of research here are the findings:

- Russians have the dirtiest cars in the world.  It's early spring here, but the there is little snow left on the ground, so the cars are a little mucky, but no one seems to wash them.  One of my Russian contacts tells me that a car wash in Moscow costs about $25 so no wonder they don't bother.  Sounds like a market opportunity to me.  Although when I suggested this, my Russian friend said it would be difficult to undercut the market price once you have bribed local officials and paid off the mafia!

- It's very expensive here - a beer is $15

- The Metro is outstanding and one of the few cheap things here, a single ride is about 75 cents. It's clean, the corridors are well lit and the trains run frequently -- I have not had to wait more than a minute for a train. Some of the stations look more like museums than stations with ornate ceilings, chandeliers and sculptures.

- Red Square is stunning - St. Basil's cathedral is magnificent and its in much better shape than on my last visit in '77.  The Lenin Mausoleum still stands on the square by the Kremlin Wall and I am sure Valdimir Ilyich is still inside.  The Gum department store stands opposite the Kremlin.  This is where the biggest changes have occurred.  In '77 there was nothing for sale and inside it looked like a dilapidated market.  Now it is stocked with all the top brands and the the decor puts Harrods to shame.  At night, thousands of lights decorate the facade and it looks like Disneyland.

- Young Russian women dress very well - the skirts are short and the heels high, never-mind the ice on the footpath.

- The Lada, formerly the staple of the road over here, is disappearing -  if you can peer through the grime that covers every vehicle you find the same brands in any other country - Fiat, Ford, Renault, Citroen, Toyota and quite a few Jaguars and Range Rovers.

-  the food is interesting, some of my colleagues sampled Beaver for dinner and were paying the price the next day!  Yes there is a McDonald's right outside the Kremlin so the progress is not all good.

- the people are great - very friendly and not very Communist - they have high tech phones, iPods and aspire to better quality of life. Unfortunately the "crunch" is being felt here as well. Falling incomes and rising inflation have put a damper on the decade long boom.

All in all its been so cool to visit places I last saw when Brezhnev was Soviet leader and Elvis was still alive.

 

A massive step back for women?

Yesterday I experienced the mayhem that is Terminal 5 at Heathrow. Actually is wasn;t that bad just very busy. I barely had time to pick up a Sunday Times during my two hour layover en route from Chicago to Moscow during my hike from T3 to T5. 

It was good to read a proper paper for a change, the 12 page Akron Beacon Journal with two pages of news doesn't really qualify.  The Sunday Times is a good inch think and carries more content and less ads than its American brethren.  One article caught my attention.  Apparently, former British Prime Minister, Tony Blair is the world's highest paid speaker having recently earned $600,000 for two half hour speeches.  Blair has surpassed former champion, Bill Clinton, who scaled back last year as Hil' ran for the presidency.  During the article the very British named, Sylvia Tidy-Harris, was quoted as being surprised that Tony could out earn Bill commenting that,  “I can understood Bill Clinton’s appeal – every man wants to pat him on the back and every woman wants to be the next Monica Lewinsky,” she said. “But Tony Blair . . . he just doesn’t have that charisma.”

What got me was the slam on the fairer sex.  Do they really want to be in Monica's role.  From my recollection she was more the giver than the receiver in the relationship and without being too crude - does every woman really want to be on her knees in front of the pudgy former President?  I think Ms. Tidy-Harris needs to rethink her soundbites!