Notes from the shore

I'm back from New York. New York is very chaotic and nobody stands still or stays quiet. People dress and talk just like in the movies. And though assumed to be opposites, New York and Beijing are frighteningly similar. Maybe it's just got to do with size, and loud people.



For some reason, though New York is packed with sights (and sounds), it seems like my visit at Google made the biggest impression on me. Perhaps it is because when people ask me what I did over there, that visit is the least obvious of touristy targets.

This is a picture on the terrasse outside the Google cafeteria -- Pablo invited us for a gourmet free lunch. Maybe the best meal in New York (especially if by "good" you also add healthy)


After a week in New York, life has returned to abnormal:

I'm not actually off-shore, but pretty close, since I am living in an oil platform which is standing in the water. Luckily I have steady ground just a little walk from here. A soft beginning to what seems to become a normal state soon.

I'm inside the oil rig which can jack itself up those pillars.



Down on the ground people in the shipyard, or rigyard are running back and forth, everything is really gritty, and not-so-nice. The ambiance down below is one of dirty overalls, restrooms without soap, and men making obscene gestures to the very few women around

Up here, everything is a little more relaxed, a little bit more communal. Money is no good, food is ready in the mess room at fixed hours (breakfast from 0545 to 0745), and no doors are locked. There's are "recreational rooms" and a gym. All in all, not unlike Google. Though less fancy and more dirty.

I'm sitting on Deck E next to a room with which hosts control systems. An alarm keeps going off (locally), but I can't be bothered to mute it -- it's gonna start again anyways.

We've also managed set off the General Alarm and Deluge (i.e. heavy heavy duty sprinklers). Yay...

It's time for dinner. I'm starting to suspect it's customized for people with more physical labor than me...