As I was telling you in my last post, I am currently reading "The World is Flat", I am already halfway through it. It is a good book, if you ignore some repetitions that tend to disrupt a little of the flow in the book. Well, one of the main themes in the book refers to "outsourcing".
What does outsourcing mean? Well, it is a process through which companies in the US (and not only here) can transfer some of their workforce, especially services workforce to country where labor is cheaper. For example, if you call the Microsoft technical support, don't imagine you're calling America. Someone over in India will answer and give you all the answers to questions you have. And a lot of companies have decided to do this, given the fact that it cost three times less to pay an Indian call operator than an American one.
I was in Boston yesterday, buying tickets to go to Denmark later this month from Northwest Airlines. So, I go, like any normal human being to the ticket office and ask what are the availabilities for the dates I was interested in.
The woman looks at me and gracefully points to a row of phones, somewhere in the terminal. She told me that I should call their center, make the reservatio
n and then come back to her to purchase the ticket. Oh man, I am well behind all of these service advancements that are just happening. And I thought to myself: "Wouldn't it be easier if she had just punched three buttons to check what I need and then sell me the ticket?" Well, for them, apparently it pays off to do this.
Obviously, I go to the row of phones and make the call. I sensed from the first second the slight Indian accent the woman had on the phone, so I realized they were doing exactly what I had read about in the book. Of course, it took me over 30 minutes to decide on a flight before making the reservation, so I guess the call center pays off.
Air France, another carrier I usually use (because of their fabulous food on board) does not do this. They still use the archaic system with computers and Internet. Isn't this funny? What we thought yesterday as being breakthrough technology, today it just might seem as something way old. Metaphorically speaking, of course.
Friday, September 14, 2007
Wednesday, September 12, 2007
Reading list
I have finished Caratrescu's Nostalgia a while ago, and I read three more books, and started a fourth since. The truth is that, sometime I REALLY don't know how to pick them.
The first one was a total flop, but I should have seen it coming, since it was written by the notorious Debbie Macomber, and it was named Dakota Born. What can you expect from a book set up in a small North Dakotan territory, filled with farmers and obedient wives? The amazing feat is, however, just how many good comments she received on Amazon.com. Check it out!
Second book was by my favorite author, John Saul. The guy is good, Nathanial was goosbumping and Brainchild was mind-shattering. Pretty good books, fast reads, enjoyed every second of it, took me three or four days to finish em all.
Book I just started, I'm into the second chapter, is finally a non-fiction. I haven't read one of those in quite a while. Of course you probably heard of the book, it's been out for a while, and it's been back as an updated and extended edition. The World is Flat is a pretty enjoyable book, however what bugs me at the moment is that the author, at least in the first chapter has used the term "the world is flat" in numerous cases, maybe to many for the sheer proof of explaining his case.
We'll see how it turns out to be, and a full book review will be posted here as soon as I'm finished with it.
The first one was a total flop, but I should have seen it coming, since it was written by the notorious Debbie Macomber, and it was named Dakota Born. What can you expect from a book set up in a small North Dakotan territory, filled with farmers and obedient wives? The amazing feat is, however, just how many good comments she received on Amazon.com. Check it out!
Second book was by my favorite author, John Saul. The guy is good, Nathanial was goosbumping and Brainchild was mind-shattering. Pretty good books, fast reads, enjoyed every second of it, took me three or four days to finish em all.
Book I just started, I'm into the second chapter, is finally a non-fiction. I haven't read one of those in quite a while. Of course you probably heard of the book, it's been out for a while, and it's been back as an updated and extended edition. The World is Flat is a pretty enjoyable book, however what bugs me at the moment is that the author, at least in the first chapter has used the term "the world is flat" in numerous cases, maybe to many for the sheer proof of explaining his case.
We'll see how it turns out to be, and a full book review will be posted here as soon as I'm finished with it.
Monday, September 10, 2007
Advice: You don't know EVERYTHING about your characters
I've seen a lot of people writing stuff, excruciatingly painfully explaining every single twitch that character had in the first few pages of that story. People, we do not need to know the entire biography of someone right when you open the story. Why? Well, first of all, because we do not care. We are not yet attached to that character emotionally, so it's definitely not interesting. There are few authors that can pull this off, and they have their methods.
Best was to describe characters is, first of all, gradually, over the entire length of the story, so the reader gets to know it and gets attached to it, and then, use a lot of dialogue and interaction. You can very well describe your character through dialogue, he can answer inspired questions put by other characters, so you don't need to foolishly explain everything to your readers.
That should be a ground rule. Your readers are not stupid. If you hint them something, they will probably understand what you meant without trying to give them every single bit of information you have stacked up. Also, don't have every single character of your fully developed in your mind in the beginning. Of course, if that happens, it doesn't mean it's wrong, but you will be amazed at how much your character can evolve while you're writing your story. Every twist and turn in the plot, will obviously affect your characters, and through that you will find out how they're shaped and how they react to different impediments. Test yourself, put a character through a few different actions that would obviously endanger it. Write down how he or she would react to that. After doing that, you'll have a much clearer picture on how brave your character is. You can do this for a bunch of other qualities you can think of.
I hope my advice will help you, and hoping to see some feedback here.
Start writing.
Best was to describe characters is, first of all, gradually, over the entire length of the story, so the reader gets to know it and gets attached to it, and then, use a lot of dialogue and interaction. You can very well describe your character through dialogue, he can answer inspired questions put by other characters, so you don't need to foolishly explain everything to your readers.
That should be a ground rule. Your readers are not stupid. If you hint them something, they will probably understand what you meant without trying to give them every single bit of information you have stacked up. Also, don't have every single character of your fully developed in your mind in the beginning. Of course, if that happens, it doesn't mean it's wrong, but you will be amazed at how much your character can evolve while you're writing your story. Every twist and turn in the plot, will obviously affect your characters, and through that you will find out how they're shaped and how they react to different impediments. Test yourself, put a character through a few different actions that would obviously endanger it. Write down how he or she would react to that. After doing that, you'll have a much clearer picture on how brave your character is. You can do this for a bunch of other qualities you can think of.
I hope my advice will help you, and hoping to see some feedback here.
Start writing.
Flight
I have been pretty busy recently, writing more on more. The Glass Gazebo is going further and further at a pace I really enjoy writing in. Soon enough I will post here some other fragments of the stuff I'm writing. Pretty much the major characters of the novel are all set up, and I'm starting to get into the details of the minor ones, since they are important as well, right?
Oh well, now, I have some other personal stuff to tell you, if you're interested. Otherwise, just ignore this post. Just kidding.
I have been to Boston a couple of days ago, to set up a flight for Paris I am taking at the end of this month. Usually, I go to Boston by Ferry from Provincetown, it's a nice smooth ride, you don't get to see to much, but it's enjoyable and gets you there pretty fast. Pretty fast means a little more than an hour and a half, compared to the excruciatingly painful 3-4 hours that a bus needs to take to get there.
The interesting story starts now, the day before I got to Boston I took an afternoon nap at home. I still remember what I dreamt. It wasn't a very interesting dream, however it gave me a brilliant idea. In my dream I was flying from Provincetown to New york instead of going by Ferry. Even more exciting, the airport was right next to Long Wharf, where the ferry docks. I woke up, got on my bike and headed towards the airport. I was curious how much the plane fare was for Boston. I got there, and after finding out the price I bought a ticket for the first flight out the next day.
I do not remember exactly the name of the plane I was on, it was some type of Cessna, a plane, that, I suppose you already know that, has a very limited size. This one could carry up to a staggering 8 passengers plus the pilot. Of course the pilot's "cabin" wasn't separated from the rest of the seating area, so, if you were lucky enough to sit on the sit next to the captain, it would have been a very interesting flight, worth all the money spent on it. And so I was pretty lucky, since I got to sit there on my return flight, and kinda figure out what he was doing there.
I love planes, I always did, and I have had my fair share of flying. Including this last trip I have been on, I've been on 22 flights. It's not that much, but it's more than a lot of people I know have flown. Anyways, that's what I wanted to tell you, raegarding my personal life. Leave comments wherever you like and be sure to come back.
Oh well, now, I have some other personal stuff to tell you, if you're interested. Otherwise, just ignore this post. Just kidding.
I have been to Boston a couple of days ago, to set up a flight for Paris I am taking at the end of this month. Usually, I go to Boston by Ferry from Provincetown, it's a nice smooth ride, you don't get to see to much, but it's enjoyable and gets you there pretty fast. Pretty fast means a little more than an hour and a half, compared to the excruciatingly painful 3-4 hours that a bus needs to take to get there.
The interesting story starts now, the day before I got to Boston I took an afternoon nap at home. I still remember what I dreamt. It wasn't a very interesting dream, however it gave me a brilliant idea. In my dream I was flying from Provincetown to New york instead of going by Ferry. Even more exciting, the airport was right next to Long Wharf, where the ferry docks. I woke up, got on my bike and headed towards the airport. I was curious how much the plane fare was for Boston. I got there, and after finding out the price I bought a ticket for the first flight out the next day.
I do not remember exactly the name of the plane I was on, it was some type of Cessna, a plane, that, I suppose you already know that, has a very limited size. This one could carry up to a staggering 8 passengers plus the pilot. Of course the pilot's "cabin" wasn't separated from the rest of the seating area, so, if you were lucky enough to sit on the sit next to the captain, it would have been a very interesting flight, worth all the money spent on it. And so I was pretty lucky, since I got to sit there on my return flight, and kinda figure out what he was doing there.
I love planes, I always did, and I have had my fair share of flying. Including this last trip I have been on, I've been on 22 flights. It's not that much, but it's more than a lot of people I know have flown. Anyways, that's what I wanted to tell you, raegarding my personal life. Leave comments wherever you like and be sure to come back.
Monday, September 3, 2007
3 worst places to work in Provincetown
All right, since I am almost of townie here in P-town, I thought it would be nice to give you a little scoop on what places NOT to even dare approach if you're looking for a seasonal job in the town.
There are enough reasons for all of them so let's get started...
3 - - - - - -
On the third place I would have to say that you wouldn't want to work at the "Clem&Ursies" restaurant even if they begged you to? Why? Because the managers there don't really have a clue on how to run a business. Apart from the fact that people working already there have no sense of where they have to be at any given time, it appears that their managers don't know that either.
From my talks with the people there, they are overworked and underpaid, are not allowed to take the half off company meals off the premises, therefore they have to come in early to eat, otherwise they don't get the food discount. They are treated like trash, not even being granted a few hours free in case they are sick. Disgusting!!!
2 - - - - - -
Second place is "Twisted Sister's" pizza place. Even if the pizza is amazing there, working in that joint will definitely kill you. Few people there actually make it through the season. The two owners there have a system, they hire about 15-20 people in the beginning of the summer, and gradually fire the ones that cannot keep up with what is going on there. You have to bake pizzas, serve ice creams, do the register, if possible all at the same time. In times when it is not busy the owners do not allow the employees to sit and relax, instead they use the following phrase: "find something to do". Apparently, cupboards there get to be cleaned an average of 50 times a day. Clean place, huh? Wage is awful as well. 8$ an hour, paid in CASH, which is ILLEGAL. Nobody seems to notice, though.
1 - - - - - -
Winner of the "worst place to work in Provincetown" award goes to Maria Bizzotto and her "Friends of Heart" "animal boutique". In fact, it is a pet store that sells products made in China at prices that tend to skyrocket. I don't even know how to start explaining how bad that place can be.
People that work there start at 8$ an hour, being promised a 10$/hour wage by the time they finish a week of training. There are people for whom training has lasted for more than a month.
Mrs. Bizotto is extremely rude to her employees, does not allow them to have friends in the store. An interesting story with someone working there was that some of his friends dropped by, not knowing about the rule. That person was shouted afterwords by Bizzotto, and been told that if that is to happen again, he might get fired.
People working the register at "Friends of Heart" are promised a 20% share of the sales in case they go over $600 in sales in a single day. What they are not told, until they find out by themselves is that, they get 20% of whatever they sold minus $600 dollars which is almost nothing.
Mrs. Bizzotto has the unhealthy tendency to spy on her employees when she is not present in the store. Separating the stockroom from the store itself there is a mirror. Apparently, that mirror is a "police-like" one way peephole, through which the Italian spies on her employees when she feels like it. People reported seeing her in the alleyways around the store carefully watching what was going on inside.
Oh, well, I'll be back next time with the three BEST place to work in Provincetown if you ever decided to come to our scenic part of the world.
There are enough reasons for all of them so let's get started...
3 - - - - - -
On the third place I would have to say that you wouldn't want to work at the "Clem&Ursies" restaurant even if they begged you to? Why? Because the managers there don't really have a clue on how to run a business. Apart from the fact that people working already there have no sense of where they have to be at any given time, it appears that their managers don't know that either.
From my talks with the people there, they are overworked and underpaid, are not allowed to take the half off company meals off the premises, therefore they have to come in early to eat, otherwise they don't get the food discount. They are treated like trash, not even being granted a few hours free in case they are sick. Disgusting!!!
2 - - - - - -
Second place is "Twisted Sister's" pizza place. Even if the pizza is amazing there, working in that joint will definitely kill you. Few people there actually make it through the season. The two owners there have a system, they hire about 15-20 people in the beginning of the summer, and gradually fire the ones that cannot keep up with what is going on there. You have to bake pizzas, serve ice creams, do the register, if possible all at the same time. In times when it is not busy the owners do not allow the employees to sit and relax, instead they use the following phrase: "find something to do". Apparently, cupboards there get to be cleaned an average of 50 times a day. Clean place, huh? Wage is awful as well. 8$ an hour, paid in CASH, which is ILLEGAL. Nobody seems to notice, though.
1 - - - - - -
Winner of the "worst place to work in Provincetown" award goes to Maria Bizzotto and her "Friends of Heart" "animal boutique". In fact, it is a pet store that sells products made in China at prices that tend to skyrocket. I don't even know how to start explaining how bad that place can be.
People that work there start at 8$ an hour, being promised a 10$/hour wage by the time they finish a week of training. There are people for whom training has lasted for more than a month.
Mrs. Bizotto is extremely rude to her employees, does not allow them to have friends in the store. An interesting story with someone working there was that some of his friends dropped by, not knowing about the rule. That person was shouted afterwords by Bizzotto, and been told that if that is to happen again, he might get fired.
People working the register at "Friends of Heart" are promised a 20% share of the sales in case they go over $600 in sales in a single day. What they are not told, until they find out by themselves is that, they get 20% of whatever they sold minus $600 dollars which is almost nothing.
Mrs. Bizzotto has the unhealthy tendency to spy on her employees when she is not present in the store. Separating the stockroom from the store itself there is a mirror. Apparently, that mirror is a "police-like" one way peephole, through which the Italian spies on her employees when she feels like it. People reported seeing her in the alleyways around the store carefully watching what was going on inside.
Oh, well, I'll be back next time with the three BEST place to work in Provincetown if you ever decided to come to our scenic part of the world.
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