I’ll be back, America

Torej, avantura je končana, in to je skuppotegnitev celotne zadeve. Nekaj linkov, nekaj misli, nekaj želja.

Za vse, ki ste po neumnosti zašli na to stran, to je blog o delu in potovanju po ZDA, ki se je dogajalo od julija do oktobra 2011. Scrolajte, klikajte. Nove objave se več ne bodo pojavljale, sem pa še vedno obveščen o komentarjih in lahko odgovorim.

Amerika je dobrega okusa… predvsem pa ni ene Amerike. Raznolikost znotraj ZDA je večja kot znotraj Evrope, tako geografsko kot socialno. Ena mojih glavnih future activities je trajna emigracija na drugo stran luže, in morda bom kje pisal blog o tem početju in vsemu, kar pride zraven. Če bo, bo link v tem tekstu.

Po končanem bloganju tukaj razmišljam o nadaljnjem javnem družbeno koristnem delu (hehe). Morda kakšen filozofsko – ekonomski blog ali kaj takega, za lajšanje svoje potrebe po čvekanju. Morda celo Vlog, ker sodobna generacija je prelena za branje, hoče video. Če mi bo patološka potreba po mreženju res hudo zvijala roko na tipkovnico, lahko nekoč celo pristanem na Facebooku, in končno najdem prijatelje :-).

Hvala za spodbudne komentarje in dobre želje vsem, ki ste bili virtualno z menoj na tem potepanju. Se vidimo kaj v ljubljanskih snobovskih kafičih, z dobro kavo in slabo glasbo :-)

 

Back in Jamahiriya

Prvi vtisi ob vrnitvi so nekoliko depresivni… no, vsaj hrana in kava sta še vedno superiorni.

LJUDJE

V ljubljani je povprečje deklet veliko lepše kot v katerem koli ameriškem mestu. Ampak vse so resne in zlovoljne. Hodim po mestu, in se vsakemu mimoidočemu prijazno nasmehnem… osebek stisne ustnice in pogleda v tla tri do pet metrov pred sebe. Pa kaj vam je, ljudje, smile doesn’t cost a thing! V celem popoldnevu sta se mi morda vrnila dva nasmeha. Če je tako… zakaj že ljudje radi živijo tukaj? Inercija?

CUSTOMER SERVICE

Stojim v mobitelovem centru, da si spet priklopim staro telefonsko številko. Tri mesta so namenjena delu z raznimi potrebami strank, blagajna pa je posebej, in tam pač denarno zaključiš kar si uredil na enem od treh mest.

Stojim, in čakam, da bom na vrsti. Nihče ne reče dober dan. Eno od mest se sprosti, gospa se dvigne od mize in gre MIMO MENE v zakulisje nekaj naredit, ter se vrne čez minuto. Niti besede. Potem se usede nazaj na svoje mesto, in me povabi. Šele potem postaneva prijazna in strokovna. Aktivirajo številko, zakasirajo novo sim kartico, nimam pripomb. To je to, hvala, nasvidenje. Grem ven, spet mimo blagajne… nič, kot da sem mrtvec.

JAZ: “nasvidenje!” (s prijaznim nasmeškom)

BLAGAJNIČARKA: “nasvidenje.” (nezainteresirano, z bežnim pogledom od svojega telefona)

Me je že imelo, da bi ji razložil, da ONA PRVA ogovori stranko, jo pozdravi, med čakanjem vpraša, če kaj potrebuje, in z nasmehom želi lep dan, ko človek odide… costumer service, jebemumater! Plačana si za to, da si prijazna in ustrežljiva, če je to pretežko, delaj v skladišču, ne pa kot prvi fris, ki ga stranka vidi.

Ampak vem, kam sem prišel, in samo nasmehnil sem se…

FAKS

je lep, in prvo predavanje je bilo navdihujoče. Filozofi smo najbrž edini izven sfere naravoslovja in tehnike, ki imamo nekaj predmetov o znanosti. Tokrat je bilo to uvodno predavanje v Filozofijo in teorijo znanosti (Andrej Ule).Predvsem je opozoril, da so naravoslovci podjarmljena sorta… vsi morajo znat Shakespearja in Prešerna… noben družboslovec nima blage veze o temeljnih zakonih termodinamike, čeprav imajo ta znanja na svet neskončno večji vpliv od vseh dram in sonetov skupaj. Ta svet je butast.

To sta dve stvari; teorija znanosti je precej nefilozofsko početje – razlaga pač, kako nekaj spravimo pod pojem “znanost”. Zakaj to početi? Zato, ker se tako uvrstiš pod financiranje ministrstva za znanost, hehehe… sicer se lahko obešaš nekje med kulturo in umetnostjo, in tam ni denarja :-) Angleži imajo lepo sciences in humanities. In te druge pač niso znanosti, pa da se na glavo postavijo. So pa zato izumili social sciences… en tak stvor, ki pravi, da upošteva znanstvene in preverljive metode, čeprav govori o ljudeh, ki znajo biti precej variabilna bitja.

Filozofija znanosti je seveda povsem filozofsko početje… je tisti prvi refleks nas fafljačev na nekaj trdnega, kar so pogruntali dogočasni laboranti ali električarji.

Primer:

Darwin: Človek je  v bistvu ena taka opica, ki so ji dlake nehale rast, ker se je enga hipa iz čiste lenobe spomnila, da se je bolj komot oblečt kot pa mraz trpet (lenoba je gonilo napredka, by the way).

Filozofi to slišijo, vidijo dokaze, in začenjo tuhtat. Rezultat: “ojebenti! človek se razvija!!! nismo nepopolni in majhni, ker je bog med ustvarjanjem bil nečimrn, pač pa zato, ker smo pač še mlada zadeva na poti k popolnosti! Razum je vsemogočen, we will conquer all! vesolje je naše, wow yeaaa!” (vse to seveda po dolgi poti zanikanja in kurjenja knjig – akademska sfera pač)

Isuse isusek, darwinu je bilo najbrž žal, da je se je sploh spustil v vseskupaj.

HRANA IN KAVA.

Ampak to, da greš v trgovino za prvim ovinkom, in dobiš odličen kruh… in vsak drugi kafič ima zelo dobro kavo… uh, to pa paše.

—————–

PS: trenutno imam đabest paket pri mobitelu, za 21 evrov lakho telefonarim in internetim dovolj za svoje potrebe. Moje potrebe so tam nekje 200 do 400 minut na mesec, pogosto skočim na net, predvsem na mail. Če se mi splača vzeti kaj drugega, kar bi stalo enako ali manj in bi mi zagotavljalo isto storitev, se priporočam za predloge. Nekaj se mi tudi ti novi pametni telefoni svetijo, kjer kar po ekranu mlatiš in je skoraj kot en žepni računalnik. Sedaj imam cegl, ki pa se zelo rad obnaša kot windowsi – torej nonstop nekaj zmrzuje, in mi gre malo na živce.

Houston, Texas

Moje najljubše mesto v ZDA. (Ja, urejen in svetovljanski Boston je pravkar padel na drugo mesto.)

community project

z mini odrom spredaj, za lokalne svirače

hiša spremenjena v umetniško delo

bejzbol pod svobodnim soncem

nasvidenje, Houston

poseljen gozd… a great place to live

Še se bom vračal, in z veseljem bi živel tukaj. Turistov ni. 2.5 mio ljudi se ukvarja s čim drugim… oil industry, poceni mehiška delovna sila, liberalna texaška zakonodaja, pristanišče… vse skupaj daje odlične pogoje za uspešno gospodarstvo. Houston je drugo mesto (za New Yorkom) po številu sedežev Fortune 500 podjetij. Center je majhen in obvladljiv. Vpadnice imajo 4, 5, 6 pasov, transport špila. Mesto je razprostrto daleč naokoli (cca 40×40 km), in takoj dobiš občutek prostornosti. Mestni parki, ki so že sicer moja najljubša destinacija, so velikanski, urejeni, in dostopni. Ko se voziš po predmestjih je Houston v bistvu bolj poseljen gozd, kot pa mesto z obsežnimi zelenimi površinami. I like it.

Texas medical center je impresiven. Veliko možganov, veliko denarja. Kot nekakšno mesto v mestu.Takoj poleg je Rice University, kjer vedno potrebujejo kakega filozofa. Živeti v Houstonu bi bilo čudovito (ja, vem, to sem zdaj že drugič napisal). Je nekaj, za kar se je vredno potruditi.

Imam svoj favourite pub v Houstonu, baje da je najstarejši v mestu: http://www.facebook.com/leonslounge Vrtijo glasbo 60tih in 70tih… z vinilk! Houstonian girls so prijazna nasmejana bitja. V petek zvečer se je ena od njih najprej prepričala da odhajam in me ne bo več videla, potem pa mi je zaželela vso srečo in dodala en tak orenk vlažen poljub, pa roke so ji malo ušle… to close for comfort, ali kako bi temu rekli :-))

Zadnji dan preden sem odletel mi je bilo prav težko. Večino dneva sem preživel v parku in v novem Whole Foods centru; supermarket s poudarkom na nepredelani hrani, zunaj imajo mize in wifi. Noter lahko kupiš gotova jela, se usedeš na svežem zraku (svež zrak v Houstonu… yea right) ali v klimatiziranem zastekljenem predprostoru, in se nažiraš. Poceni, kvalitetno, nobenega vsiljivega kelnerja… pa tudi kozarec vina lahko kupiš.

Pozornost sem posvečal predvsem opazovanju ljudi – vse te bogate diverzitete. Houston zapuščam z upanjem, da nekoč tudi sam zaplavam v ameriškem talilnem loncu.

Arizona Rocks

This is the second in business case studies series. I have some more to add, but being a victim of time is hard.

THE FAMILY

my part of the house :-)

what a bed... and alpha male sleeps alone in it...

Again, no names will be included. I met a charming couple (Australian »Crocodile Dundee« husband and very classy »southern charm« wife) as clients when I was working at the Canoe rental shop. (By the way, the pay for the last two weeks is still in a phase of wishful thinking.) We instantly felt the connection and mutual interest, so they invited me for a dinner at their place in Arizona.

They have met while getting divorced from their first marriages, which helps them to keep it real and respect what they have. She is staying at home, he does the corporate battle. There is no inferiority in that… she is smart enough to be part of the business, but frankly they are both better off that way – at some point it doesn’t matter if they had more income, but it does matter to give your child full attention of a loving and witty mother.

THE BUSINESS

It is a mining business. Arizona is rich with copper, and they are implementing a special technique to get it at lower costs than usual. The company is in its beginnings. He is it’s CEO with 25 years of experience in mining industry, and a PhD in geology. Some drilling has been done, they have basic information about the amount of copper and probable income when extractions begin. Company now has markat capitalization from 20 to 25 million USD, management owns about 15% of it. The amount of cash they have is around 5 million.

middle of nowhere... oh, the cactus are protected... and more than 100 years old!

For the next stage they need around 30 millions. This is mining. Research means you drill very deep holes, extract rocks, and they study them. Drilling is expensive. Geologists that contemplate over the rocks are not for free either (he has a few of them, they cost 150.000 USD per year plus lots of shares, respectively).

To be in full capability for extracting copper they need from 200 to 300 millions. He is not worried at all about getting that amount of money – the only question is at what price (how much money will they get per share). As the whole market is going down and the commodities bubble is fading out, this is not the best time for raising money. Money that comes in first, risks the most, but also gets much better return.

I, as a micro investor, can of course buy shares on the market without raising it’s price. If you have 10 millions of venture capital you can only get the shares from the company. With such quantity you would bubble yourself up on the market.

INVESTOR RELATIONS

As I was visiting, he had a big investor relations event going on, and invited me in. Seventeen men and one (very attractive) woman came. The company has a deal with some other company specialised in IR (investor relations) that helps them with all that. One guy there does an amazing job with it – I am not fully sure by which side he is paid – and he organized the whole event. I want his job :-)

9am – breakfast: CEO gives an overview of the company and what  we are going to do today. Nice presentation, some questions asked…

11 am – driving to a warehouse where research is done. Lots of rocks and some geologists being all smart about it. Presentation about the geological structure and pros and cons of he  technical part of work is done more thoroughly.

1pm (approx.) – lunch: presentation about permitting. It is very important that the new way is not environmentally invasive, no dust, and the location is in the middle of nowhere – so no issues with  any neighbor communities.

2.30 pm (approx.): Quick flight to the site: we took two charter planes to go directly to the site. By far most expensive part of event was done solely to leave an emotional impact: there is nothing there to see. A few little hydrant-like metal cylinders rising from the dirt, and a highway half a mile away. We were there for an hour at max, and that is the reason to take the plane: if you drive somebody for 2.5 hours there, show him emptiness, and then drive 2.5 hours back… he might not like it too much. But paying for flight just to assure one that you really are mining in the middle of nowhere… that leaves a good impact.

6pm – dinner: at the dinner it was quite obvious who is bringing serious money and who is just taking a short look at the whole idea. It was relaxed socializing, the CEO and some other professionals were having an easy-going discussion, leaving the business aside. The company is presented, the management knows what they are doing, and no pushing and begging is needed. Very good soft selling. You don’t push people with 30 millions. You lure them, and in this case the product speaks for itself and gives good grounds for negotiating the price of shares.

9pm – CEO and me take off to the train station as I am leaving for Texas. IR specialist stays with the group and wraps up a very good day.

——

It was interesting to see that each investor was most worried about the woes in his field:

geologists said »Oh, the permitting will go through, but the technique might prove much less efficient.« But geologist has no clue about the permitting at all :-).

Lawyer said »Oh, the mining will bring in the money, but what if the authorities don’t let it through because of environmental impacts and all that crap?« But lawyer has no clue about the mining process.

Young financial analysts said »Oh, this is going to be great, but what if stock market crashes and there is no money to fund it further to later stages?« But financial analysts don’t know shit about anything anyway!

BUSINESS RELATIONS

People introduce and exchange business cards (that I don’t have). Very interesting bunch of geologists, investment analysts, brokers, and some old guys… you cannot stuck oldies in any branch, they’ve seen it all. Age goes from 30 to 70. And as I saw the CEO and the IR guy do the job, it felt like something I would be good at, too. It is a high-end sales: you are not trying to trick a dumb consumer… you are representing a very good idea to people with decades of investing experiences. It is all about risk/reward. Every one of them needs to be persuaded, that at the risks that come with a mining start-up, this company is offering better return than average. I, as a very intelligent all-round evaluator of business and people was persuaded, hehe. I cannot think of a better education for investor than Philosophy with strong emphasis on Gnoseology :-).

One lesson learned: good management in a start-up is more important than a good project. If management is good, it will get you out of a bad project. If it’s bad, it can screw up a good project.

So when the other investors asked me who do I work for… »oh, I’m a freelancer. I’m here on my own.« Then they smelled money on me and the discussion would take a wild turn… maybe I’m a son of some Slavic oligarch and could invest millions in something… So I smilingly corrected myself: » well, we could also say a freeloader. I’m CEO’s friend and he is showing me his business today, hehe.«

There is no prejudice when money is involved. No matter the age, origin, colour, or accent. As long as you don’t introduce yourself as a society changing hippie, worried about CO2 emissions… after all, this is mining business. I might be good at IR, and even enjoy it as long as representing companies I would believe worthy of investing in.

Grand Canyon

Grand Canyon

V grand canyonu sem se ustavil le bežno. Odlična destinacija za geološke navdušence, ali za kake avanturiste, ki se želijo sprehajati po skalnih globinah. Sam sem bil impresioniran nad velikostjo, ampak umanjka pa tista volja do življenja. Kar je naredilo Glacier za mojo najljubšo destinacijo je ravno to, da sem si komot prestavljal, da bi tam živel. V Grand Canyonu ne moreš živeti. Je nekaj za pogledati, ne morem pa reči, da bom hrepenel po vračanju. Evo fotke:

velik, tale kanjon :-)

domača žival, kot vse ostale v nacionalnih parkih

Ptice z modrim perjem

dremež z izjemnim razgledom

Pozer, itak

Yellowstone

Rumena skala, that’s what it is. Yellowstone je posebej zanimiv za vsaega biologa ali geologa, pa tudi za sociologa. To zadnje morda ni evidentno, gre pa tako:

Nacionalni park je prekoračen s cesto v obliki velike osmice, (ali dveh krogcev), ki ima potem še nekaj odvodov do vhodnih/izhodnih točk. Park je približno v velikosti 70 x 120 km, in osmica znotraj parka je cca 168 milj. Jaz sem jih naredil cca 120. Kjerkoli pride iz šume kakšna žvau… v 5 minutah se ustavi 20 avtov. Iz avtov poskače 50 ljudi. Potem se počasi približujejo nesrečni košuti in škljocajo. Moja prva asociacija so zombiji.

Yelowstone je zelo bogat z raznimi zverinicami, ampak to se najde tudi v živalskem vrtu. Da se znebiš tega filinga, je treba zagrabit šotor in se odpraviti v gozd.

Kar se tiče gejzirjev in strupenih vročih vrelcev… ko vidiš dva ali tri, naslednji niso več tako zanimivi. Po drugi strani bi kakšen biolog z interesom za čudne bakterije tukaj našel svoja nebesa. Vseh temperatur, barv in globin.

Skratka: če greste v Yellowstone, pojdite pozimi. Vrelci so še vedno vroči, turiste pa zebe. Poleti pa nujno v divjino… z zadostnim znanjem o spopadanju z medvedi, seveda.

Tukaj je še galerija:

utrinek s poti

Ko pridem domov, bom ugrabil Ireno, in s prvim letalom nazaj sem. Act first, ask questions later. Po ameriško :-)

Trenutno sem v San Franciscu, zelo lepo je. Severno od mesta so čudovite doline posejane s kvalitetnim vinom. Plan potovanja je več ali manj narejen.

24ega zjutraj grem na vlak do Grand Canyona, tja prispem 25. zjutraj. Najbrž si bom kanjon ogledoval le en dan, zvečer pa se bom odpravil v Phoenix. Ali pa naslednje jutro.

Potem dva dni tam, in 28. zvečer na vlak do ljubega mi Houstona. Tja pridem 30. zjutraj ob petih, 3. oktobra pa letim nazaj proti Benetkam.

Moja sponsoring organisation mi je končno vrnila mail, pravijo da so kontaktirali delodajalca, in čakajo na odgovor… imam tudi številko nekega bojda uporabnega strica na Vermont Labour department.

Spoznal sem izjemnega slovenca, star 63, se upokojuje. Njegovi starši so se priselili sem leta 1949 iz Linza v Avstriji, iz očitnih razlogov v tistih časih.

Prevečkrat se mi je že zgodilo, da sem preživel nekaj dni na nekem območju, in vedel, da se moram vrniti: Houston, Boston, Maine, Montana, in zdaj Sonoma valley… moram priti nazaj. Moram.

Kaj pogrešam? Ireno in vas nekaj neprilagojenih, potem predavanja filozofije, potem pa še politično nekorektnost v javni diskusiji. Ko bom prišel nazaj, bom pogrešal mnogo več…