Warren in India

Ten-hut!
Pvt. Benedetto reporting for duty in the Homestarmy at ThoughtWorks Global Boot Camp!

Yesterday (Monday) we started the more technical aspects of out boot camp: Object Boot Camp. It's been a mix of high-level general Object-Oriented (OO) development and design, hands-on application, and a healthy amount of philosophical indoctrination regarding practices (e.g., having lots of very short methods is good; using getters and setters is bad). I'm glad that I have background both in OO and our toolset (the C# language) -- otherwise, it might be far too much information for me to absorb. We also had an abbreviated database session this afternoon. (Despite its short length, it was again quite a bit to absorb for those without much background.) We have also continued learning through discussion and games (a.k.a. "practice") about consultancy and the role of developers and analysts in ThoughtWorks' typical development process, which is our own adaptation of the Agile model. (For those familiar with manufacturing methodologies, it's roughly analogous to the "just in time" model that has been all the rage over the past decade or so, especially in automotive manufacturing. The instructor gave us a bit of context by explaining the history of JIT in that realm. Being from Detroit was a real advantage there.)

Our schedule for the daily sessions has been quite fluid, which I think is a reflection of the flexibility and attentiveness to feedback that ThoughtWorks values so much, as well as another manifestation of the fact that this entire shindig is a first for the company as a whole. For example, last night we had to go back to the local office to get a database client installed for a session today (bad -- I got home from dinner, thoroughly exhausted, at about 9:45 last night), and there were technical problems with that session this afternoon (good -- we got to leave about 90 minutes early today, which was a welcome addition to my personal time). In a way, it's hard for me to get used to such a dynamic environment; however, it does keep things interesting and fresh, which ought to make it harder to get stuck in a rut. All in all, the organizers are quite interested in feedback from us campers. I've already lost count of the number of positive changes, small and large, made in the curriculum and timing thereof that have grown out of our daily evaluations and opinions.

Another angle on that dynamism is that post-camp plans for the lot of us are just now starting to come together. From a few informal conversations, I had gotten the impression that London and Melbourne were options for me (in the near-term for "finishing up" camp), but now it sounds that my impression was wrong and that foreign placement usually requires at least a six- or twelve-month commitment, which I'm not even close to being able to consider. It does seem quite likely that, if I like, heading back Stateside in mid-to-late March is a strong possibility for me. Placement is a bit of a mysterious art here at TW, based to varying degrees on both the employee's preferences and the company's needs. Although it's generally been a blast here, my first choice will be to return to the States and to work in or around Chicago. (ThoughtWorkers working in the U.S. tend to visit client sites rather than working out of their home office, so there's a chance that I could stay in Chicago and end up working in, say, Naperville.) There is a monstrous project near Syracuse, NY that seems to have an insatiable hunger for ThoughtWorkers, so I may not get my Chicago wish straightaway. Since my weak Northern European stomach continues to balk at the idea of curry three times a day, ending my expatriate status sooner rather than later would be a welcome scenario -- not to mention the homesickness factor, which at this point is manageable but quite real. I'll post further updates as events warrant.

As far as Sunday's volleyball went, we were asked to leave the badminton court soon after we had started because, well, it was a badminton court. It was fun while it lasted, to be sure, if rather unsatisfying.

We still don't have internet access in our flat, so I have to stop here and go pay attention to my grumbling stomach. I've spent some time carefully considering how to tell about my first week here, including my inadvertent and infamous sleep-deprivation experiment, so time permitting, I'll have something on those topics ready to share soon.

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Free time? What's that? Ah yes, I remember now....
Today has been pretty fun, as well as relaxing. After a casual evening last night (Pizza Hut at home, then chatting with eight or so other TWorkers on someone else's terrace), I met with a project group this morning for about an hour, then a larger group of us headed over to a restaurant at the fabulous Leela Palace hotel (where our bootcamp sessions are being held, as luck would have it) for a 1200-Rupee buffet brunch. The spread was incredible -- a wide array of vegetable dishes, kabobs cooked to order, sushi (!), other meat dishes, and desserts. I abstained from the all-you-can-drink champagne and decided to stick with bottled water ("100% Trust" goes the slogan) since it's warm and dry here. There's a pickup game of volleyball happening at 5 PM, which should be fun. After that, who knows? Probably some more e-mailing and a stab at another entry here to cover the high points of last week.

Those of you in the throes of winter will probably question my sanity for having written this, but the weather here has been quite boring: sunny, 90 degrees, and low humidity every day. While there is more smog than I care to think about, before today I had seen only two clouds. It's been mostly sunny today, but the clouds I've seen today and earlier in the week have all been of the half-hearted, wispy variety. Before you all cry for my hardships here, understand that the thought of the six inches of snow and/or ice forecast for Chicago (yes, I'm spying on you all) doesn't make me homesick at all. Yet it's quite a mental exercise to fully realize that it's still winter back in the States.

BTW, the project for the project group that I mentioned earlier is actually a quite a difficult exercise. We have to analyze a case study of a project that ThoughtWorks took on a while back for a major retailer in the UK. When we* came on board, the project was about a year behind schedule, with a firm legal deadline (having to do with responsibility for bank-card fraud) looming. Our project is to make a recommendation WRT the appropriate course of action for TW at eight different "decision points" through the duration of the project. These vary widely from the broad ("Should TW even take on the work?") to the more specific (questions about system architecture). In working through them, it has made me appreciate the difficulties that can crop up throughout the life cycle of an engagement. I'm just glad that these issues are discussed here at a fairly broad breadth and that I wouldn't ever be responsible for dealing with them on my own. :) (Despite the difficulties, we* did deliver to the client successfully.)

Anyway, I'm off to volleyball.

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Excuses, excuses
I know that I'm long overdue for an update; I've been here over a week and have made only one post! I hope to get in the habit of making a shorter post every day, starting on Monday. It's also my plan to post a summary of the story so far sometime before then. In the meantime, rest assured that it's been a blast so far -- not perfect, but still absolutely worthwhile. :) Problem is that I've been so exhausted at the end of every day (not to mention slow in getting over my jet lag) that going into the office (we're having our bootcamp sessions in a nearby hotel) to write and upload a blog entry has been beyond me.

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Arrival
Well, I'm here. After a bit of a rocky start, I'm mostly adjusted to being here. Our training starts this morning -- It will run Monday through Friday, from 9-6 with breaks for tea and lunch.

The experience of getting here was possibly the worst travel experience of my life. I was unable to get a spot in an overhead bin for my bag on the Chicago-Frankfurt flight, which meant that my large carry-on bag had to go under the seat in front of me. I had very little leg room and was able to get only a few catnaps in. Still, it was "only" about nine hours, so it wasn't totally awful.

The real confusion started after we landed in Frankfurt. Three fellow ThoughtWorkers were on that flight with me, and we had all assumed that we were on the same flight from Frankfurt to Bangalore. But since our flight was about 45 minutes late getting into Frankfurt, we didn't have much time to check our tickets to verify this. All I knew was that I didn't have a boarding pass yet and that everyone else did. To get a boarding pass, I needed to go to the Transfer Desk, which was in a different direction from where the other three were going. While I was standing in line for this, I figured out that I was on a completely different flight from the others -- they were on Lufthansa, I was on Air India. When I finally made it to the front of the line, the woman at the desk told me that I needed to go to the gate to get my boarding pass. Thankfully, my second flight was delayed as well. Otherwise, I would have missed it.

I had a lot more room on this flight -- I managed to get my bag into an overhead bin -- but I still was unable to get more than about 90 minutes total of sleep. We had a stopover in Mumbai (Bombay) and were once again late in both getting in and taking off for Bangalore. My flight touched down in Bangalore at about 5:30 AM local time, two-and-a-half hours late and nearly 24 hours after I boarded in Chicago.

Immigration was a breeze; baggage claim and customs were not. Immediately, they pulled me aside and x-rayed my carry-on bag. Yes, I have two laptops. Yes, I will come see you again after I get my bags. (We flew in on a half-full 747, and the one baggage carousel was smaller than I remember the carousel at tiny Windsor Airport being.) Forty-five minutes later, I had my bags and was talking to the customs officer.

Originally, the coordinator of the program here had told me that I would have to pay a tariff if I brought my own laptop in addition to my work laptop. Later, after doing a bit of research, she told me that there was a new regulation that exempted Bangalore from this restriction, and that I wouldn't have to pay. The officers I spoke to claimed to know nothing about this, despite my repeated insistences and refusals to pay. (Somehow, I think the tattered rule book that they showed me was not totally up-to-date.) After realizing that they wouldn't budge, I gave a conservative estimate of the value of my own laptop and went and bought enough rupees to cover the tariff.

When I returned to talk to the officer, rupees in-pocket, he told me that if I didn't need a receipt, he would accept a gratuity of 50% of the stated tariff in lieu of full payment. I needed the receipt to give to our CFO here in order to try and get the tariff that I should not have been charged back, however. So I paid the full amount and went on my way.

I'll get into more detail on the accomodations (nice) and people (nicer still) here sometime soon; now, I have to start getting ready for class! As I said, the journey here was awful, but I'm here, safe, sound, and mostly over the jet lag. Things have been 1000% better since I stepped out of the airport, and I'm really quite excited to get started with the formal sessions!

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First day at ThoughtWorks
I started orientation at ThoughtWorks today -- over two months after I accepted their offer. Orientation is going to run through Wednesday, then I'm off to India on Thursday.

There's not much unusual to report about orientation, other than its length. We're going over a lot of things that haven't been big factors for me at other jobs: immigration, travel, cell phones, intellectual property. We're also going to learn a bit about sales and recruiting, which is another first-week first for me. From looking at the syllabus for boot camp, I'll be learning a lot more about many of these things between next week and early March.

Although I'll try to write a more in-depth "preview" of my trip later (after I'm packed? ha), I will say that it's been an interesting experience just getting ready for it. I've received eight immunizations and booster shots; I've started the most expensive drug regimen of my life (the anti-malarial drug Malarone, weighing in at about $6/dose); I've tried to figure out what I could possibly need over the course of four months while living on the other side of the world; and most importantly, I've tried to prepare myself for being immersed in a totally new environment with dozens of strangers without seeing any family or friends for almost four months.

Maybe this will show me what life would have been like had I decided to attend the University of Alaska at Fairbanks. Except for the weather. And the shots.

There is one bit of news that I'd like to share yet tonight. A few weeks ago, we campers were told what the general schedule would be: three weeks of intense learning, followed by thirteen weeks of half-contributing to/half-observing an actual project -- possibly internal, possibly for a client. The twist is that they may not be able to place everyone on a project, so those who cannot be placed will be sent back to their respective home offices. In other words, there is a small but real chance that I will be back in March, not June. I don't know when these decisions will be made, but I'll be sure to document them here.

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