Sam I am

I was only in Athens a little over a week the first time I got here. It was a bit hectic; I had a lot of programming and other IT work to do. I ended up writing a major application and making significant changes to a couple of other applications. I was a bit concerned that there were a lot of bugs in the programs I worked on. Fortunately, everything has been going quite smoothly.

Of course, it is one thing to hear that everything is going smoothly, and it quite another thing to experience everything going smoothly. I got here late yesterday afternoon, and I cannot believe how relaxed all of the technical people are. Everyone who is working here is tired and stressed out, but no one seems to have the deer-in-the-headlights-end-of-their-rope-about-to-go-postal look that typifies people who have been screamed at one too many times.

A true metric of how things are going can be determined by looking at what I did today. Rather than having to sit in the press center banging on the keyboard all afternoon, I was able to go through the Olympic park and visit the SI hospitality tent. The Olympic park was a lot of fun to walk around. It is really great to see fans from all of the different countries dressed up in their country’s colors and flags. The babble of languages is comforting, and it truly makes you feel like a citizen of the world.

The architecture of the Olympic venues is impressive.

This is called a stoa. Here is a description of the stoa from a sign in the Olympic park:

Built around 460 BC, the “Stoa” was the seat of the Royal Archon, thus it was also known as “Royal Stoa.” In this Stoa, the council of Aeropagus held its meetings and the laws of Solon, which are credited with the founding of Greek Democracy in ancient Athens, were displayed.

I fixed the punctuation in the preceding quote, but I think it is a bit clear that it is translated.

I know that some readers of this page may think that this is a giant joint. Do not attempt to smoke the Olympic Stadium torch. The torch is made out of metal and fueled by some oil-based liquid. It is not made out of paper and fueled by pot.

I have been staying in the media housing during my stay in Athens. Our facility is called Selete. It is a secure facility and brand new construction. The rooms are small and simple, but very functional. Every room has a desk, a single bed, and a small television. Most rooms, including mine, share a bathroom with a small shower.

The building has marble everywhere. The floors are all marble. The facade is marble. Pretty much everything except the furniture is marble. The front of the building is very sunny and pretty. You can walk to the media center, but you don’t generally want to. It takes a half-hour in brutal heat.

I am going to try to stay downtown for my last couple of nights in Athens; I think I will get a better opportunity to see all of the tourist attractions.

I arrived safely in Athens. Everything is calm here, and the technology seems to be working out smoothly. I did not have a direct flight, and I did not get a lot of sleep. One hour before my flight left, I had to help coordinate the restoration of a bunch of files for our main office. It went pretty well, and I was able to step through the process before my flight. Still, it wasn’t what I really wanted to deal with just before I took off.

We have already started to plan for Torino, Italy, the site of the 2006 Winter Olympics. Torino is also known as Turin.



I took this photo of the Italian Alps from my plane flight to Milan. Torino should be very pretty.

I was in Park Slope the other day. I went to get my haircut at Il Camelion, and I checked on my friend Mike’s apartment. (Your apartment is fine, Mike.) On the way into the office, I stopped at Blue Apron Foods, a really nice cheese and meat shop in Park Slope.

I bought a nice goat cheese round and some crackers for lunch. (Note to self: eating only goat cheese and crackers for lunch leads to poor digestion.) I mentioned to the woman at the cheese counter that they were not open when I last visited in early August. She said that they were closed because everyone went on vacation and mentioned that this was the first job she had that gave her a paid vacation.

As a professional computer support and development person, I take paid vacations for granted. I really shouldn’t. Many people in the country, let alone the rest of the world, do not get fair wages and benefits for their work. I’m thankful that I work for a company that not only recognizes the work I do but also rewards me for the work.

The United Nations recognized paid vacation as a right in article 24 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948, yet many people are not allowed the benefits of this right. [Full text of article: Everyone has the right to rest and leisure, including reasonable limitation of working hours and periodic holidays with pay.] I’m sure that there are many people who would consider such a right specious. (I think those people are wrong.)

Regardless of how you may feel about the status of leisure as a human right, I encourage you to support companies that treat their workers properly. If you live in New York City, you should definitely try to shop at stores like Blue Apron Foods. In the case of Blue Apron Foods, the owners treat both their employees and products with respect and love.

I’m flying off on Thursday back to Athens. One of my coworkers, Phil, will be returning to New York City the day after I leave. Anne wanted one of the two of us here for the two intervening closes so that we could provide coverage for the magazine’s servers. The closes went very well.

I am busy trying to make plans for Italy and wrap up all of my work. It looks like I will be coming into the office both on Wednesday and Thursday. I have an meeting on Thursday just before my flight.

It’s a lot of work to do, and I still have not settled on a contractor.

I’m feeling a little stress, but no pain.