Sunday, April 26, 2009
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
Unravelling the Myth of German Efficiency (aka What the Schnell?)
So it's been a while since I've properly posted. I apologize for this, I am a bad person for not posting sooner, especially given my elation at finally achieving online status. I mean really it was only a 6 week process... And I'm told that's on the fast side. I'm sorry to be the one to say it, since I know it's probably some big secret we're all supposed to keep, but German efficiency is a lie. Lies I say! Service industry over here is something of a loose concept at best. And by loose I mean there is a slumbering sloth-like entity that is aware of the fact that money comes from somewhere and might do something to facilitate this.
I'd like to take the case study of my cable installation. Sometime in November I signed up for KabelBW, thinking that such a thing as high speed internet would be useful. Having seen the abundant adds featuring happy teutonic families gathered around the computer I was filled with naive glee at the prospect of no longer having to commute an hour to check my email. Thus, with the help of our team's administrator (to whom I basically owe I life debt for helping me get settled) I made the phone call. At the time I didn't think it odd that they'd not quoted me an install date...oops. A week passes, and then another. At which point I begin to wonder if I'd been forgotten about. A few calls later and it is determined that "oh well most installations take 6-8 weeks".
Six to eight weeks...let's think about this for a moment. Doesn't make much sense for a statewide provider looking to up their market share? So this process went on...and on. Come about late December, a week before I go home for the holidays in fact, I get a phone call asking if they can come on the 21st. Now at this point I was desperate for the simple convenience of home connectivity. They could have sent John Wayne Gacey to do the install provided I got a few balloon animals out of it. Regardless, of course the day they pick is the day I fly. So by this point we were looking at January 6th...whoopee.
So the 6th rolls around, and I dutifully await my installation, installer's info in hand. The appointed time comes and goes. A few more hours come and go. Winter turns to spring, new life begins...ok maybe not THAT bad. Bottom line is the installer got sick and there is only one other installer for my city and he was booked. That's right, two installers for all of Bad Cannstatt. Now for the non Stuttgart crowd, it's not like I live in the boonies. Quite the contrary the only people more central than me are either making more money than some small countries or are asleep on a bench in the main station. But yes, only 2 installers nonetheless.
Eventually, the debacle was resolved, but it still begged the question...how does this stay the norm? As a an upstanding commerce minded American, I immediately think customer service when I think about successful businesses. Not quite the same here. In conversing with some German friends, I was able to get some bare bones explanation of the service sector here. Essentially, there is a great incentive here for the formation of 'medium business' that exists at most at the regional level. Sure there are national chains in no small amount, but compared to the states especially there is a proliferation of small to mid sized service sector entities. Now why is this? Well, for one thing there is a large tax incentive to be self employed or to work for a small company. The amount you are required to pay into the system drops dramatically if you work for one of these smaller companies. Certainly from this perspective I can see why the system has a good thing going.
Now, having thoroughly put the system through the ringer, I will say it does an excellent job of providing diversity in commerce. I've seen more small restaurants in Germany than in any other country I've been to. The same can be said for stores of all other kinds. I guess at the end of the day I definitely support the entrepreneurial spirit, but there are those times when I wouldn't mind a faceless conglomerate to come do minor things like hook up my cable or bring the bill in a restaurant without my having to employ flareguns and bear traps.
So there, I have vented, life is good, and next time we get to discuss the fest. No doubt this will contain many, many entertaining stories most of which having to do with how I do in fact like it here when I'm not railing on the service industry.
I'd like to take the case study of my cable installation. Sometime in November I signed up for KabelBW, thinking that such a thing as high speed internet would be useful. Having seen the abundant adds featuring happy teutonic families gathered around the computer I was filled with naive glee at the prospect of no longer having to commute an hour to check my email. Thus, with the help of our team's administrator (to whom I basically owe I life debt for helping me get settled) I made the phone call. At the time I didn't think it odd that they'd not quoted me an install date...oops. A week passes, and then another. At which point I begin to wonder if I'd been forgotten about. A few calls later and it is determined that "oh well most installations take 6-8 weeks".
Six to eight weeks...let's think about this for a moment. Doesn't make much sense for a statewide provider looking to up their market share? So this process went on...and on. Come about late December, a week before I go home for the holidays in fact, I get a phone call asking if they can come on the 21st. Now at this point I was desperate for the simple convenience of home connectivity. They could have sent John Wayne Gacey to do the install provided I got a few balloon animals out of it. Regardless, of course the day they pick is the day I fly. So by this point we were looking at January 6th...whoopee.
So the 6th rolls around, and I dutifully await my installation, installer's info in hand. The appointed time comes and goes. A few more hours come and go. Winter turns to spring, new life begins...ok maybe not THAT bad. Bottom line is the installer got sick and there is only one other installer for my city and he was booked. That's right, two installers for all of Bad Cannstatt. Now for the non Stuttgart crowd, it's not like I live in the boonies. Quite the contrary the only people more central than me are either making more money than some small countries or are asleep on a bench in the main station. But yes, only 2 installers nonetheless.
Eventually, the debacle was resolved, but it still begged the question...how does this stay the norm? As a an upstanding commerce minded American, I immediately think customer service when I think about successful businesses. Not quite the same here. In conversing with some German friends, I was able to get some bare bones explanation of the service sector here. Essentially, there is a great incentive here for the formation of 'medium business' that exists at most at the regional level. Sure there are national chains in no small amount, but compared to the states especially there is a proliferation of small to mid sized service sector entities. Now why is this? Well, for one thing there is a large tax incentive to be self employed or to work for a small company. The amount you are required to pay into the system drops dramatically if you work for one of these smaller companies. Certainly from this perspective I can see why the system has a good thing going.
Now, having thoroughly put the system through the ringer, I will say it does an excellent job of providing diversity in commerce. I've seen more small restaurants in Germany than in any other country I've been to. The same can be said for stores of all other kinds. I guess at the end of the day I definitely support the entrepreneurial spirit, but there are those times when I wouldn't mind a faceless conglomerate to come do minor things like hook up my cable or bring the bill in a restaurant without my having to employ flareguns and bear traps.
So there, I have vented, life is good, and next time we get to discuss the fest. No doubt this will contain many, many entertaining stories most of which having to do with how I do in fact like it here when I'm not railing on the service industry.
Thursday, January 10, 2008
Rise from your grave...
2008 is upon us and with it (hopefully) home internet access for me. What's that mean? More posts and uploading my backlog of photos. Jan 21 is the new install date, let us all join hands and beseech the heathen intertube gods for their help.
Monday, July 16, 2007
Sun, Sand, and the True Meaning of No-Frills Flight
My father once told me that there's no such thing as a free lunch. This is good advice, and I'd recommend that anyone with some sense of self preservation take it to heart. I would like to, however propose an amendment to this paternal preamble. Yes, there is no such thing as a free lunch, there is however such a thing as a very inexpensive one. The implied metaphor here is of course that lunch is representative of a flight, and inexpensive assumes you attach no cost to spending some quality time with some less than sober Germans. Yes, low cost air fare is within your reach, and all you need is a few euros, a light bag, and the refined sense of humor to appreciate a drunk Swabian in a straw cowboy hat mashing the service button for two hours. (Spoilers: The novelty wears off in about 10-15min).
Of course, I went into the whole affair expecting about the same. I mean really, it's a weekend jag to Mallorca, smack in the Mediterranean party Mecca of the Balearic Islands. That said, Germanwings is still a great airline for the price and I'd do it all over again. I suppose this little anecdote also preempts the ever present question of 'what the hell do you do over there anyway?' Well I assure you that in addition to small experimental trips such as this I do in fact work, but that's another post for another time. Now it's tales of hostels, beaches, trains, and the intricacies of European beachgoing.
So to shorten the preface, a friend of mine is working in Barcelona for the summer and suggested we meet up in Mallorca. I decided this was a good plan because a) it would be fun to hang out and b) Stuttgart didn't get the memo that it's summer time. So, sunglasses in tow, I headed for the airport on Friday and a few hours and rounds of drinking songs later was on the ground on the 'med. After a few misadventures trying to meet up at the airport, we finally met up and hopped a cab to the hostel. The hostel itself was a fun little place run by some ex pat brits and about 30m from the beach. All in all not too shabby. A few pitchers of sangria and an irrationally large dish of paella later we took the time to explore the town of S'Arenal where we were staying.
Long story short, the Germans apparently like to vacation by taking as much of their homeland with them as possible. Biergartens, signs offering schnitzel, and Bavarian checkered flags abounded. Did I really leave the continent? This cemented our afternoon plans for the next day - find something resembling Spain on this island. After some wandering we crashed out and awoke early to hit the beach. Hit the beach we did, and I have to say that even with the crowds it was really nice. A few differences from my usual US jaunts however, as it seemed to involve less clothing for both sexes, lots of naked children, and far more boomboxes than I'm used to. Even with all of that, the water was great and we still managed to get a good spot.
That afternoon saw us on the electric railway to Soller, which feels a hell of a lot more authentic than S'Arenal, what with being nestled up in the mountains. The Cathedral there was an unexpected surprise, and wandering the narrow streets and hearing people actually speaking Spanish, or perhaps Catalan. The ride home was an adventure, since it was the last train out. I will say though, that riding on the platforms on either end of the carriage is a fun way to see the mountains. We rounded out the day in Palma, seeing some of the older areas and the Cathederal before retiring for Tapas and bad techno in S'Arenal. Still a great time though. Sunday was a simple day at the beach for me before at last flying out with great reluctance and returning here to sunny (surprisingly, in fact) Stuttgart.
The entire affair was without a doubt a learning experience. I learned that you do get what you pay for when it comes to airlines. I certainly learned that if I ever go back I'll rent a car and get right out of the tourist traps. Most importantly, I learned that aloe vera is a really, really good thing. Pictures to follow when I get things uploaded to Flickr and maybe cook a steak or two on my forehead.
Of course, I went into the whole affair expecting about the same. I mean really, it's a weekend jag to Mallorca, smack in the Mediterranean party Mecca of the Balearic Islands. That said, Germanwings is still a great airline for the price and I'd do it all over again. I suppose this little anecdote also preempts the ever present question of 'what the hell do you do over there anyway?' Well I assure you that in addition to small experimental trips such as this I do in fact work, but that's another post for another time. Now it's tales of hostels, beaches, trains, and the intricacies of European beachgoing.
So to shorten the preface, a friend of mine is working in Barcelona for the summer and suggested we meet up in Mallorca. I decided this was a good plan because a) it would be fun to hang out and b) Stuttgart didn't get the memo that it's summer time. So, sunglasses in tow, I headed for the airport on Friday and a few hours and rounds of drinking songs later was on the ground on the 'med. After a few misadventures trying to meet up at the airport, we finally met up and hopped a cab to the hostel. The hostel itself was a fun little place run by some ex pat brits and about 30m from the beach. All in all not too shabby. A few pitchers of sangria and an irrationally large dish of paella later we took the time to explore the town of S'Arenal where we were staying.
Long story short, the Germans apparently like to vacation by taking as much of their homeland with them as possible. Biergartens, signs offering schnitzel, and Bavarian checkered flags abounded. Did I really leave the continent? This cemented our afternoon plans for the next day - find something resembling Spain on this island. After some wandering we crashed out and awoke early to hit the beach. Hit the beach we did, and I have to say that even with the crowds it was really nice. A few differences from my usual US jaunts however, as it seemed to involve less clothing for both sexes, lots of naked children, and far more boomboxes than I'm used to. Even with all of that, the water was great and we still managed to get a good spot.
That afternoon saw us on the electric railway to Soller, which feels a hell of a lot more authentic than S'Arenal, what with being nestled up in the mountains. The Cathedral there was an unexpected surprise, and wandering the narrow streets and hearing people actually speaking Spanish, or perhaps Catalan. The ride home was an adventure, since it was the last train out. I will say though, that riding on the platforms on either end of the carriage is a fun way to see the mountains. We rounded out the day in Palma, seeing some of the older areas and the Cathederal before retiring for Tapas and bad techno in S'Arenal. Still a great time though. Sunday was a simple day at the beach for me before at last flying out with great reluctance and returning here to sunny (surprisingly, in fact) Stuttgart.
The entire affair was without a doubt a learning experience. I learned that you do get what you pay for when it comes to airlines. I certainly learned that if I ever go back I'll rent a car and get right out of the tourist traps. Most importantly, I learned that aloe vera is a really, really good thing. Pictures to follow when I get things uploaded to Flickr and maybe cook a steak or two on my forehead.
Monday, July 9, 2007
Alive, In Tune, and Sort of On Time
So as that picture right over there might lead you to believe, I am in fact in Germany. That's the view from my place, well when it's not cloudy. Stuttgart appears to have elected to exist in a perpetual state of late-mid spring this year, meaning that moisture and big dark scary clouds abound. Hooray!Ok, I'll be honest, it hasn't been that awful. Yes the weather is rather conducive to the lush greenery, but all in all it's a rather nice place. Sure I've only spent one weekend here (more on that later), but what I've seen is pretty nice, not that the abundant good beer has swayed my opinion, nope, not at all. The city is nice, and I'll get some shots of the Schossplatz up on ye olden flickr in the near future. It's easy to wander around downtown for hours and run into all sorts of things. Stuttgart is undoubtedly industrial, as the large spinning Benz logo atop the Nuremburg-esque Dailmer (used to be Chrysler) building might suggest. However, it remains surprisingly welcoming with a lot going on downtown.
Of course with all of this comes the minor question of 'well why are you here'. Which of course brings us to the topic of the dreaded W-word. Work here is interesting, as it's a mix of people on TDY and people who might be here a bit longer. The SI Centrum where we all live is kind of like a college dorm with better beer and way stranger stories. Really what can you expect with our mix of guys plus the folks headed to or from Iraq. Saturday morning story time is one of those must attend sort of affairs.
Work itself is interesting, certainly keeps me occupied with the patented 'drink from the firehose' concept. I've learned a lot about what we do in the past few weeks, and I'm still making that uphill spring. Briefs, reports, white papers, guess my skills with writing are being put to use, so that's good. My coworkers really help though, as they've not only been in my shoes but are also awesome. That second part is a good thing and has been a huge help. On that note, as the Benz logo is now lit, I'd best seek dinner and some chores before bed since apparently I am not only 6 hours ahead of many of you but also in the real world (I don't know either, I just woke up one day and here I was).
Wednesday, June 20, 2007
Online and Better than Ever
For those of your who remember the original Ray=Out, you're undoubtedly familiar with my long standing tradition of putting a blog together either several days before, or in this case the day of, my departure. I feel this inaugaral post should be accompanied by some grand sort of fanfare, but I'll settle for simply promising that updates won't stop suddenly like they did on the original Ray=Out. I firmly place all blame for that on North Korea making my job much more time consuming.
That said, things are a bit different this time around. Gone are the glory days of the unpaid intern. Rather, I now post as a (arguably) productive member of the workforce. For a little more on what sort of work I'm involved with check out http://pims.org . I'll be living and workingin Stuttgart, Germany for the next few months. At the behest of so many to 'take lots of pictures' and 'keep us posted' I decided it was time to dust off the blogging skills and make an earnest attempt this time around. Thanks to a new digicam and a whole new area to explore, I forsee it going well, if only due to the abundance of performance automobiles I'll undoubtedly see.
In the interest of taking care of a few minor issues, such as 'not missing my flight', I'll wrap this up for the moment. When next I post it will either be from Stuttgart or the Airport, depending on what kind of day security is having.
That said, things are a bit different this time around. Gone are the glory days of the unpaid intern. Rather, I now post as a (arguably) productive member of the workforce. For a little more on what sort of work I'm involved with check out http://pims.org . I'll be living and workingin Stuttgart, Germany for the next few months. At the behest of so many to 'take lots of pictures' and 'keep us posted' I decided it was time to dust off the blogging skills and make an earnest attempt this time around. Thanks to a new digicam and a whole new area to explore, I forsee it going well, if only due to the abundance of performance automobiles I'll undoubtedly see.
In the interest of taking care of a few minor issues, such as 'not missing my flight', I'll wrap this up for the moment. When next I post it will either be from Stuttgart or the Airport, depending on what kind of day security is having.
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