Maryland

I just got back from Elkton, a small town in northern Maryland, close to the border of Pennsylvania, arriving by plane via the Philadelphia international airport, driving for 45 minutes in a rental car along the Delaware River, glimpsing New Jersey across the water, passing by the University of Delaware and finally arriving in Maryland, crossing 2 states before arriving at the Comfort Inn in Elkton, an old motel with a quaint 70’s interior, beside a truck depot, a gas station and a Denny’s diner.  Across the street is a liquor shop where the motel’s main guests - truck drivers, can buy liquor for their night’s stay, at least for those who prefer to sleep in a room instead of their truck cab, before driving the long haul to their destination, traversing Interstate 95 which ran near the motel, the highway that stretches from Florida in the South to Maine in the North. It was a cold week with temperatures below freezing point but with no snow, enjoying the brisk cold air walking to the car or to the office, the only time one is outside, enjoying the clear sunshine unlike in the south which had its share of rain.

 
One notices the young charming ladies in Maryland; the waitress at Denny’s diner, where we had dinner after arriving at Elkton, where I ordered chicken soup; another charming and smart waitress in Amalfi - an Italian restaurant where I ordered Salmon salad and steamed clams and the young enthusiastic clerk in the warehouse. They seemed to possess a confident, open and engaging manner towards people, a quality one does not usually encounter in young people, who prefer the automatic and ‘fake’ courtesy of shop girls when working with older folks, lacking the genuine regard that sincere communication can bring, giving the team a sort of exhilarating feeling when doing their work. This is the 5th deployment the team has done, working with all sorts of people - the young ladies in Houston cheerful though lacking in enthusiasm, the middle aged workers in Monee; all wonderful people though the Maryland natives having a more attractive quality about them.  Perhaps the victory of the Baltimore football team on the Sunday when we arrived, gave the state’s inhabitants a certain verve; or maybe the closeness of the University of Delaware gave the place a youthful feel, nevertheless there was a certain feeling of freshness which one could only detect in places like California.

The project went well, despite the usual glitches, though one felt tired instead of excitement, like one has done this work too often, perhaps boredom or burnout creeping in, or perhaps it was the winter climate or the stale air in the room, or perhaps the nearness of deployment between sites, sapping our energy; but one struggles on, rushing through airports, driving in rental cars, eating in nice restaurants, sleeping late at night, driving to the warehouses, doing your sales pitch, unboxing the equipment, setting up computers, plugging cables, testing the software, turning the switch and waiting for the labels to print.  If things don’t work out, writing emails, making phone calls, pleading for support, some tense filled minutes until the solution is found, the bug fixed, seeing the remedy in a chat window; a word or two giving salvation to the tired team. The tenseness of the affair is the reason one overeats, ordering steaks and beer (in Apple Bees or Bugaboo Creek Steak House in Delaware), one’s only chance to eat in these places, or fried oysters (in Blue Crab Grill) or clam chowder (in the Philadelphia airport) or ribs in a street corner hole in the wall, settling in your bed filled to the brim at night, waking up with acid re-flux, burning and choking in the throat, drinking water and trying to sleep.    

Next Level Writing

Last night after work I could not start a regular work method in creative writing, realizing in the early morning as I awoke from sleep, that my writing experience is not suited for creative endeavors; journal writing being a contemplation of actual life events. On the other hand,  creative endeavors is more like grasping stories from the air, working from scratch with inspiration from the ether; something that I actually don’t have experience  which makes me think that another method is required - a method more suited to creativity.  Diarist or blogger’s pen to paper experience is more like transcribing actual events, distilled with reflection and personal thoughts, unlike the creative craft of novelist or authors. Hence, journal writing is much easier to do; easier to create a daily technique because it’s simple to do; the mind working in a mode of recollection and contemplation; no aspect of divine inspiration or imagination which is direly needed by creative work. But what has been gained is a facility in general writing; more attuned to working as a scribe than an author where creativity and imagination is the prime ingredient.

This brings to mind a text book that I read long ago called ‘Writing the Natural Way’ by Gabriele Rico, where techniques like clustering and other visual tools helps one use both right and left brain in creative writing; a technique that I think would be helpful as my left brain maybe blocking my naturally creative impulse, i.e. right brain thinking. This visual ‘clustering’ technique, together with dictation, should allow me to construct a regular routine; using software like Dragon Digital Speaking to transcribe spoken words into computer text, thereby freeing me from the technical task of writing; therefore allowing one to focus on that illusive inspiration one needs in creating stories from the imagination, from the ether of divine inspiration, pouring forth words that will be corrected later when one has the time to fix the first draft. Constructing a work ethic is truly the first challenge of the novelist, something I realized in the weekend, listening to an NPR feature in the radio about a 29 year old author who is now a millionaire; who did not study in college nor took a creative writing course, but wrote draft after draft of novels until a consistent work ethic enabled her to self-publish until the inevitable success came almost like a certainty. Her books on the paranormal and vampire romances may have helped in her success too.

I guess I write to know what I am thinking about, to organize my thoughts and synthesize the day’s learning, not really a creative act but more a method to understand life; the diarist being a person of reflection and not an imaginative artist. But one hope to take advantage of the writing experience gained from contemplation and brings to another level - that of creative writing but the mental mode is different, thereby requiring a different set of cerebral gears; the equipment for creativity not really utilized in blogging. The key skill for a novelist is storytelling, not reflective reporting which is the prime skill of the diarist; more akin to essay writing with no thought on character, plot, theme, dialogue and so on which are important elements in storytelling. This is where tools like visual ‘clustering’ and dictation may be useful to jump-start the creative process; to ascribe to another level where verbal skills (honed in Toastmaster?) can help actualize the story telling skills; by placing the person in a different atmosphere, reserving the actual writing process in editing, revising and other tasks that is more ‘mechanical’; that don’t require imagination or creativity. Perhaps one day one can get rid of these ‘tricks’ or tools once one has gotten used to storytelling. 

The Team

The functional analyst was born in the Philippines, lived in Singapore for seven years, a 16 year veteran of the company, who worked in Logistics projects in Japan, Thailand, China, Malaysia, Taiwan, Korea, France, Brazil and Algeria, transferred to South Carolina 3 years ago, working in the same field that concerns warehouses and logistics, holds a Master Degree in Business, a licensed project manager and an  officer in Toastmaster, a book reading aspiring writer, the longest member of the team as the original members have either left or moved to other departments, some say a source of stability for the project, an expert in technology, not talkative though striving to be sociable, prefers to work alone, often the last person to leave a site, bringing the new members up to speed as they came into the project, working above and beyond what was expected of him, focused on the project for the three years since coming aboard, learning the American culture and working with outsource partners in India and Cleveland, Ohio, doing most of the heavy work, feeling stressed at times like carrying the whole project on his shoulders, feeling vindicated after going live in four sites.

These are the members of the project team – a transplanted Northerner from New York, a well-traveled Mormon - both young technology geeks with advanced degrees, a golf playing Southerner with a happy go lucky charm with significant working experiences in the warehouse, and a recently transplanted Asian who has done logistics projects in many countries, also a technology geek with an advanced degree,  working together to get the project running, traveling to different sites like Laurens, Reno, Houston and Chicago, facing glitches on-site, criticism from the bosses, tolerating the foot dragging attitude of the major developer, the skepticism of former project members, facing personal doubts but struggling forward, experiencing problem after problem in the first site, humiliation and grief, nasty emails from the logistics director, questioning if the problem can ever be solved, working with IBM to check the network, talking about bandwidth and major software redesign, finally hitting a solution that solves the key issue, bypassing any network bottle neck that would have stopped the roll out, getting the department leaders on-board to help overcome obstacles, successfully persevering in the end.

How did we end up together, with our different backgrounds, like ingredients in a tasty sauce, different experiences and viewpoints working together to get things done, springing into action collectively; the software not really a major product, but a small system, a side show that prints shipping labels, but a technical innovation, to perform in the cloud; a decentralized process that may entail changes in other areas, like a small rain drop that causes ripples and extends farther out the pond, a fresh wind that may prove to be a catalyst for larger things, perhaps that is what makes the project interesting, despite its meager role in the scheme of things. One recalls a key member leaving the team for a new job but the team moving on, he was the support manager, another 30 year veteran of the company, a former sergeant in the US marines, telling stories of training in the Panama jungle, well-traveled, who also worked with the Southerner in the warehouse, himself born in Alabama who moved to South Carolina decades ago; both these persons from support are middle-aged, while the other members are in their early or late forties,  the team moving like an old war horse, slow but determined with some challenging episodes.    

    
There is a ‘cowboy’ culture in the team, unlike in the East, the members are willing to crawl under tables, lift heavy equipment, ready to do the menial tasks like a ‘cowboy’, willing to ‘go at it alone’ mentality, whereas the Asian culture have managers or idea men as people who assign arduous stuff to ‘workers’, a level below senior employees, often to young people, delineating mental and physical chores to their appropriate personnel, unlike the ‘cowboy’ team who are willing to do anything, the democratic principle at work wherein everyone is equal, conscious of pulling their own weight with no distinction between leader and servant with regards to manual work, an egalitarian ideal that gives comfort, that everyone is in it for the duration, giving respect to mental work and idea men, but treating them equally just the same as a janitor, a natural tendency to be suspicious of intellectuals,  respecting only hard work and perseverance, perhaps that’s the greatness of the country; let’s roll up our sleeves and get down to business mentality, a no nonsense, practical approach to life, devoid of the French predilection to high thinking or Chinese subtle stratagems but an innocent and eager approach of the ‘cowboy’, the lonely hero in the range or part of a heroic group out to beat the bad guys.
 

Back from Chicago

I arrived at around 8 pm local time. The trip back was uneventful, leaving the office at about 1:30 pm and driving to Chicago Midway airport under dark skies, following the highway leading back to the city, seeing signs that lead to Wisconsin or Indiana, aware of the historic places nearby like Springfield where both Abraham Lincoln and Barack Obama declared their run for the presidency, aware of Grant Park in downtown where Obama made his first appearance after winning the election, passing by Chicago suburbs with their large homes and the straight lines of streets with ball parks and schools, thinking that Ernest Hemingway grew up nearby, in similar surroundings, seeing the diversity where an African-American can be elected as Senator and eventually as President, recalling reading in the papers this morning of the GOP debates and their attacks, wishing to visit these historic places, maybe a little stop before going to the airport, but deciding against it, to get caught in traffic and rushing to get to the plane - a possible nightmare, some other time when the weather is better.

One makes these trips to see places, to experience new things, to discover and learn, following the Confucian principle of travel, to read and to write as a way to refinement, something I read in the book I just finished called ‘Tide Players’, but realizing that one does not have spare time during these business trips unlike in Asia, instead the value is the meals with the project team, eating excellent food for dinner or lunch, telling stories and sharing experiences, to get to know one another, to work together and solve problems in different circumstances; the joy is traveling together and working together, a communal activity and not the solitary diversion of a tourist; sneaking to visit places in one’s free time, avoiding the natural slowness of moving with a team, instead adjusting to the rhythm of the group, solving problems collectively, it’s the true value of these business trips despite the routine of hotel – office – restaurant  - hotel, a boring cycle day in day out for the few days on site, but one must not miss the real importance:  the formal intimacy of working with different sets of people and learning from them.

The business leader is a Northerner who grew up in Long Island, New York, a Jets fan, deciding to study in South Carolina, meeting his wife and settling down, preferring the Southern climate and way of life instead of the cold, frenzy and high taxes of New York, working in different industries before coming to the present company, a veteran manager of multiple projects and positions, the youngest in the group, with a weight problem before going for an operation in his stomach that would reduce his food intake, dropping from about 350 pounds to 215 pounds, his large frame still significant, his height about 6’5” , a jolly family man who develops web sites on the side, a technology expert in love with the iPhone and iPad and all things from Apple, although having an Android phone, always talking about his family; his wife is a school teacher, complaining about her low wages, his son and daughter in college, diligently writing daily reports, a new addition to the group but providing a steady hand and a commanding presence to the project, possibly the main reason why the projects is moving forward with success.

The support expert is a middle aged Southerner, having lived in the same general area all his life, never venturing far from his Southern roots, going to work straight from high school, working himself up from warehouses and in the production floor, a 30 year veteran of the company, a good ole Southern boy who loves motorcycles, plays golf and has a boat, talking of his grandchildren, satisfied with life in South Carolina, sporting a mustache and goatee, reminding one of those Confederate generals during the Civil War, a kind man who just transferred to the computer department from the factory, an expert on warehouse operations and their computer systems,  preferring regular Southern food than Asian stuff like sushi or sashimi, an owner of several ‘mill’ houses, small homes near former textile mills that workers used to live in, renting them out to folks and earning possibly a decent sideline, harking back to the old Southern land owners who were devastated by the war, a back slapping friendly man who is easy to work with a natural Southern charm that disarms the folks in the warehouse, insuring a friendly rapport with the staff, though easily disconcerted when faced with an issue, sometimes scrambling when some intricate issue is involved, lamenting that he does not have a college education, correcting him that Bill Gates and Steven Jobs did not have a college education themselves, easy to joke with, his laughter a good sign, telling multitudes of stories of his time in the warehouse.

The project leader is possibly a Mormon, grew up in Utah but lived in Egypt, Israel and all sorts of other places in the Middle East as his parents, possibly Mormon missionaries traveled the globe to preach their religion, living in different places like Colorado, Utah, Indiana and, finally, South Carolina; a licensed gardener, who has a Master Degree in Business from a local college, like the project leader a college educated professional with advance degrees, a certified project manager, an expert as well in technology, especially Android and Google products, a geek who plays online strategy games in the evening, a friendly person who also talks about his family especially his wife who he had met in his youth in the Middle East, talking about his hearing problem, being deaf in one ear until a recent operation that fixed it, a small square contraption strapped behind his ear, a hole through his skull that keeps the gadget in place, a Toastmaster whose life changed significantly when he got back his hearing, and like the project leader, experienced a new life after a major operation, a good manager though a bit laid back at times, passing work to others, but a good leader though unable to travel with the team because of budget constraints.

Last Day

Strong winds this morning, some flights delayed according to the television in the lobby, meeting the team for breakfast, telling stories of Christmas presents; the other two preparing to go to the airport while I go back to the office to check any loose ends or issues, planning to depart to Midway terminal after noon time, the flight back to South Carolina at 5 pm. Packed the bags in the early morning, surfed the Internet for news, checked out the hotel, cold wind as I walked to the car and wearing my beanie, driving down the highway, skies dark with ominous potential for rain, arriving in the office parking lot and noticing fewer cars; the pretty and smart supervisor not in her cubicle, some offices unlit, their tenants absent from work, perhaps because our project leader had gone home, the place going back to its usual rhythm of slack and relaxed tempo, glad the place has shown its true colors, hoping for a serene morning but confronted with an email from the carrier; the electronic transmission somehow failing to be sent or received, realizing that this glitch alone justified my staying back.

Booted up my computer but unable to login the network, feels like working blind if not connected to the grid, unable to do anything but check past records, providing the new account number to the warehouse staff so she could reply to the carrier; maybe the reason for the missing transmissions, waiting for the reply to see if the hypothesis is correct. Still trying to login, trying repeatedly but no luck, afraid that one would be helpless if an issue arises, knock on wood and hope not, paranoia and worry creeping in the brain, thinking about Andrew Grove’s dictum that only the paranoid survive or something like that, the former chief of Intel sounding like a drug crazed teenager, but he’s right in today’s world of frenzied work and overheated arguments; for example, another government slowdown possibly looming in the horizon, the nut cases in Washington willing to create turmoil during Christmas. Recently, one can control the frenzied thoughts, no real need to worry after all, the product of a competitive environment, now in a country of calm demeanor except for the lunacy of Washington, adjusting to a sort of strange tranquility amidst feeling of envy and materialism.

The network is congested, too many people logging in from outside the company, suddenly realizing that one can switch to another server site, changing the IP address and ‘Voila!’, login  successful, now why didn’t I think about that earlier, glad to be in the grid and ready for work, it’s 9:45 am local time. Started writing emails on the missing transmissions, the carrier not replying yet, making phone calls to the help desk to resolve another issue, thinking that Chicago was not difficult after all, working in the conference room, seeing the truckers and warehouse pickers eating their snacks in the canteen during their break, talking loudly and joking among themselves,  remembering the mental fears in weeks past regarding the roll-out, the words ‘Chicago’ like a monster lurking in the shadows, where some surprise would come out and blind side the team, but finding no monsters but kind accommodating people, sharing pizza and having pleasant conversations; software working well despite some bugs, overall a pleasant experience, wondering what the doubts where all about.

While in Chicago, while preparing to leave in a few hours, seeing not much work today, thinking how far one has gone, not only the external journey from Asia to America, but the internal journey as well, from some obscure book reading geek to Toastmasters and attending writing workshops, from journal writing to Tai Chi, to blogging; it has been a large leap with modest success, the smooth transition because of kind people; one wonders how it is with the family, how they have adjusted, with their father leading them to faraway lands and new experiences, thinking these thoughts as one basks in the success of another project; one realizes how far one’s journey when sharing stories with the team, comparing experiences and realizing you have the most to share, travelled the most and perhaps accomplished the most, wondering if all this movement was worth it, a replacement of some permanent home with firm roots, instead of a nomad lifestyle; the other team members living in their homes for nearly 20 to 30 years near the same place, while one has traversed oceans and continents, not staying for more than a decade in one place, enjoying new food, places and experiences that nowadays one feels tired of all the new things and thinking that one should settle down, glimpsing the large homes in the Chicago suburbs, perhaps one can live here in America, contentedly and see the kids grow.  

Live in Chicago

The final major piece was tested successfully today, software purring like a well-oiled machine, drawing grateful sighs from the team, a major milestone achieved; all is well in the world after all, God listening to the pleas of a tired and bruised team.  Leaving tomorrow, relieved the project has gone well, going home in victory (like those soldiers from Iraq announced today by the president), after all those months of hardships and humiliation, as one struggled to fix all those bugs, emerging months later with a better program, a mature team, ready to conquer the other sites. Seven months later, four sites are converted with about five more warehouses scheduled next year, now a seemingly ordinary task, after the ease of the last two deployment, overcoming major bumps and challenges from different folks, management with limited viewpoints, unaware of the challenges tackled on the ground, clever in their remarks; arm chair experts while the soldier in the front  face the actual problems and pressure, finally making the point that the project succeeds if everyone do their part, realizing that the fault lies in their feeble attention in the early years.

This morning the work area of the staff was re-organized, old equipment removed and the new one brought in, teaching the staff on the final feature, going over the other features again, the staff satisfied, that it wasn’t really difficult, reducing work for everyone, some slight glitches still to be fixed like missing labels and reports; the project leader writing great updates to bosses at head office, strangely no remarks of encouragement or congratulations, perhaps realizing that earlier criticisms where foolish and dead wrong, silence a reward that means acceptance. The local staff eager and intelligent, ready to adapt to the change, enthusiastic and hardworking, unlike the staff in the other warehouses, finally meeting folks focused on the job, grateful that they understood the nuances of the software, confident that the project will go well, feeling like an undefeated army inexorably marching on, bringing progress and newness to obscure places, appreciating  the new warehouse boss, erudite and experienced, thanking the team and showing off the changes in the warehouse since he came, a game of give and take.

Lunch in the ‘Iron Skillet’, a truck stop beside a gas station, a section of the restaurant reserved for drivers only, kind old lady serving us, lunch is a meal of sirloin tips with pepper and onions and rice and chicken noodle soup, the meat soft and cooked well, a great lunch served in iron skillets, avoiding the buffet and watching the truck drivers come in, some fat, some with long hair, some bald with beard, watching the trucks drive by, some stop to fill their tanks with gas, old couples coming in, ordering the usual, finishing with a full stomach; an early lunch so the team could work during the staff’s lunch hour, clearing her desk and de-commissioning old printers, watching her work and pleased with the changes, the warehouse management coming to us to shake our hands, realizing that it’s the last day of two of our team who will leave in the morning while I will remain for a few hours to make sure things are fine, our team leader writing the last report, a job well done, leaving early under the rain, the sky dark as evening comes early in Chicago at about 4:30 pm in the afternoon.

From the warehouse we went to Best Buy to look at the new Kindle Fire, walked through the store looking at all those sleek gadgets, row and rows of modern gizmos, no trace of envy in the body wondering what’s it all for?, going for dinner at Apple Bees, dinner of sirloin steak, chocolate fudge for dessert and Heineken beer, going back to the Hampton Inn and discovering a free dinner of tacos, light beer and wine, an event sponsored by the Inn every Wednesday, going back to the room and meeting the team at the lobby, enjoying 2 bottles of light beer while we talked about the company, the old workers that we met, experiences in the warehouse and factories, sharing stories of long ago, good episodes with good bosses and bad bosses, talking about the turnaround in perception of the project, remarking that a lot of the officers in the company are from the military, graduates from West Point, Annapolis and the Air Force Academy, the father of one of the team members a West Point graduate too; himself avoiding military school and settling in the South having been born in Long Island New York. At dinner he shared his story about an operation that save his life while at lunch I shared my experience with the worker’s union back in the Philippine factory about 10 years ago, long memories that one can still tap to learn the lessons of experience, a good foundation in the project today, meeting and working with different people in the warehouse.

So Far so Good

The past 2 days have been great but tiring. On the first day we toured the warehouse, seeing tasks never seen before like loading 60 foot agricultural tires in a flatbed truck, expertly put into place by an ace with a forklift, reminding one of flipping pancakes; afterwards setting up computers and printers, checking cables in the back of tables, under the furniture and delving in the spaghetti like mess in the computer room; finally all the equipment was ready and a test successful y conducted to prepare for the next day’s go live. Lunch was pepperoni pizza and diet coke; the team deciding to stay in the office instead of going out to lunch, finding a glitch in the software and alerting the suppliers; all other test looking good and the supplier promising to have the glitch fixed by tomorrow.  We left late from the warehouse, completing emails and performing the final preparation, fixing the tables in an orderly manner and telling the local staff that we will be in the office early the next day in time for the go live, excited again to be in the eve of another warehouse roll-out.

We had dinner at a ‘hole in the wall’ restaurant called ‘Dusties’ which featured a buffet of pork knuckles cooked in oil, chicken in various forms;  fried,  spicy chicken and pork, sausage and sauerkraut, rice and beans, slices of pepper, olives,  onions and Heineken beer.  It was not a great dinner but we were tired, an interesting restaurant nevertheless with booths and tables, pictures of old artists in walls paneled with wood, mostly African American singers of the 60’s to 70’s, tunes of Rhythm and Blues wafting in place; pork knuckles is a rare treat after all, a dish available in Asia but rare in America, plunging into a second serving but giving up when feeling dizzy, a condition that arises when one eats too much fat.  We went back to Hampton Inn; I had tea, drank vitamins and some medication, went to Sports authority with a colleague so he could buy gym clothes, got back to the Inn, exercised for 40 minutes, alternating the routine with the cross-trainer and the stationary bike, the food digesting with the physical effort, back to the room, taking a shower and trying to write but falling asleep by 11pm.

Woke early the next day, read yesterday’s paper, tried to write but no time, ate breakfast of hardboiled egg, ham, potatoes and scrambled eggs, yogurt, orange juice, chocolate and green tea.  The morning at the office went well, software working great, met remotely with the suppliers and team leader, reported an issue again, lunch of chicken tenders; warehouse staff happy with the way it works, continue to set up the laser printer, the day ending, wrote emails and make phone calls, performing the day end procedure, everything looks good except the reports don’t print. Going home early, having dinner at an elegant restaurant called ‘Barneys’, entree of rack of lamb with mint sauce, rice pilaf and Heineken beer, back at the Inn by 7:30 pm, working out at the gym an hour later for 40 minutes, chatting with colleague about work and office challenges, so far so good in Chicago, some remaining issues, hoping the supplier fixes the issue by tomorrow would make the perfect roll-out. Still a major feature will be used tomorrow that will determine if the exercise is a success.  So far the windy city has been kind to the team and luck likely will continue.

We spent some time in the warehouse floor the past 2 days, learning about automatic light switches to save energy, pallets and other packing debris cleared from the floor; good housekeeping to increase the space for product, different ways to load into trucks, inspecting the computers and printers on the floor, planning to de-commission several equipment once we’re done, learning about the operations in the past 2 days than in a career in Logistics, glad that one is working with professionals, experts who know their stuff and done a lot of projects, sharing stories during dinner, of the ways the product is stolen, about the mischief done in the warehouse and the trucking companies, talking about the latest technology, scanning barcodes and using radio frequency identification or RFID, about stolen goods hidden in the truck driver’s cab, about accidents in forklifts, about the warehouse being staffed with crazy people who take drugs and drink a lot, about outsourcing and the loss of good people to third party logistics providers, companies willing to take these people (some are crazy) after being outsourced, cutting costs and freezing wages, talking about changes in the industry and how one adapts and make everything work out right, being in the midst of another change and glad to have participated in some way, a voyage of many countries and warehouses that one realizes that he is an expert, too.