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Published: September 18th 2006
9/11/06 thru 9/15/06 (Mon thru Fri) Wait For It….. Wait For It…. Whoomp There It IS!
I know, I know you all want to hear about work; but your just goanna have to wait and read the following first. No fair reading the end of the blog first! Wait for it….
When does something become a tradition or habit? I think I’ve reached that point with our weekly pub quiz night. While I’m not partial to the Empire Pub any other night of the week, and thus could never shoot a Cheers equivalent, I am a recognized regular at the Empire on Tuesday nights. There’s a certain comfort and stability knowing where you’ll be at 6pm Tuesday evening. No extensive planning is required and you know there will be a good mix of friendly people you know (mostly IEP staff along with a handful of individuals like myself that set up temporary permanent base in Auckland) and the constant inflow in interesting backpackers most of who will slip back into the realm of the unknown after the quiz.
Our streak of 4th place finishes is maddening! After all that I’ve spent on food and drinks I’d really like
SKM Office #2
I am located on the top floor.to win a bar tab, even the $25 tab, which divided between the group would mean my ROI would be $3 (not too shabby)! Fortunately, I’m not coming for the prize money, but rather the camaraderie found in a motley crew of travelers.
Wait for it…..
The days prior to Thursday found me organizing a group to go out to dinner at a popular burger joint (Burgerfuel) in Ponsonby. Burgerfuel is know for its quality meats (and meat substitutes), the variety of burger choices, and the size of the burgers. New people to show up to this event included Bex (Rebecca) a NZ resident that worked at the YHA hostel, and Marcos and his girlfriend, Jen. I had the “Burn” (Grilled Chicken, avocado, and all the fixings) and a side of sweet potato fries.
After Burgerfuel, Marcos and Jen volunteered that they had a $30 bar tab at a local pub ($6 for each of us going on to the pub). I ordered a $7 Heineken (bottled import) and tossed a dollar into the pot. I guess the last time Marcos was at the Pub he was kicked out for dancing (?); this time we got to finish our drinks. We all went our separate ways, Jen and Marcos were very generous to offer me a ride back to my place which was quite a distance away.
….Whoomp there it is!
Without further ado, the following is the first of what I expect to be many updates on my new “most excellent” job.
The following is a conglomeration of SKM marketing information and my own observations. SKM (Sinclair Knight Merz), “has developed into one of the most successful design and delivery consultancy firms in the world.” With more than 5000 professionals with expertise in a broad range of disciplines, SKM can be found globally in Australia, Europe, NZ, the Pacific Rim, South America, Middle East, and South East Asia. Industry sectors served include: Water & Environment, Infrastructure, Buildings & Property, Power & Industry, and Resources. NZ has four different offices with Auckland being the largest (300+ people in the office). The office is located in fashion conscious Newmarket.
Finding such an ideal position was easier and came quicker than what I had expected. I started working in my fourth week in NZ, a full month earlier than the drop dead deadline that I had set for myself to find a career related position.
I work in the Building and Property division. We provided quantity surveying services (both in house and for clients), consulting and project review (pre, during, and post construction), and project management services.
I’ve got a nice workstation near a band of windows on the fifth floor. I have two expats seated near me. Martin moved to NZ from the UK last year and Trupti, an Indian that moved here three years ago. My immediate supervisor has been with the company for nearly 15 years and now is director of the department.
My first day on the job I reviewed a contractors pay application for the month and compared their request to receipts and actual work performed on site. I questioned them about a $50K+ bill for stored materials which didn’t jive with what I had seen. Turns out the contractor had been a little optimistic about what they would have by the time the bill was reviewed. Needles to say their not getting paid for those materials this month😞
Tuesday I showed up at 7:35am and very nearly set off the security alarm. No one was at work early and as I’ve learned over the last week most don’t show up until 8 or 8:15 despite an 8 start time. Fortunately the receptionist was on the lift right behind me and was able to enter the security code before the alarm went off (I do now have the code so this won’t be an issue in the future). That afternoon I went to a meeting on an extensive sewer system upgrade in north Auckland that the firm is working on. We are to advise what the optimal route for a new four km pipe will run through a dense urban neighborhood.
Wednesday I was given a tender request (bid request for design and construction management services) for a three station upgrade for the local commuter rail service. The team has until next Wednesday to submit requested tender doc’s including schedule, plan, bid, etc…. I spent Thursday phoning and meeting train wash suppliers and diesel fuel pumping system design builders. If awarded the project it will keep me busy for the next year.
Wednesday I was given a company car and told to go to the local building safety supply store to purchase myself hardhat, reflective orange vest, and boots. My first time driving on an NZ road and it had to be in a company car. I kept repeating to myself keep left, oh god just keep left and everything will be ok. I went down to the garage where the cars are parked and found that I’d been given the largest vehicle in the fleet to maneuver thru traffic. Why couldn’t I have that small two door ride (so much easier to maneuver in traffic)? I familiarized myself with the location of all possible buttons, levers, switches and lights that I might need to use during my road war, started the ignition and pulled up to the coiling garage door. The door rolled up and the bright sunlight shown into the car and into my eyes. This was another one of those no turning back moments (see bungy blog). I rolled over the invisible life of safety offered by the sidewalk and into the crazy world of Auckland drivers, stay left…. stay left.
With the exception of the roundabout from hell I made it to the safety shop in one piece. This was no ordinary roundabout that I’ve maneuvered before. This was more like a Y intersection on crack, no real reason for anyone to slow down (especially if they don’t value their life). The rule with roundabouts is that you are to yield to traffic to your right. As I approached the intersection I felt good about traffic coming from my right, there was none, however the traffic to my left was a stream of cars that didn’t bother slowing down for the intersection. I was so worried that even if I tried to go thru the intersection the traffic would be able to slow down in time to allow me through. I had to make a decision, I didn’t have the stomach to proceed thru but I knew I couldn’t stop for fear the I would be rear ended by the glut of drivers behind me. What to do? And then there it was in my left hand side mirror, a large cargo truck (similar to a large U-haul). This guy was rapidly catching up to me on the left and based on his velocity he had no plans to stop for traffic. As he passed me I quickly accelerated to match his speed. We were going to go thru the intersection together and I would use him as a shield. The mass of the truck obviously dissuaded those drivers coming from the left from proceeding; no one wants to tangle with a vehicle that large!
On the way back to the office the only real incident of any interest worth mentioning is my confusion between the turn signal lever (right side of the steering column) and the window wiper control (left side of the column). It was misty on the way back so I needed to use the intermittent option for the wipers. I was constantly reaching for the wiper control but actually signaling that I wanted to turn right. Drivers behind me must of thought that I was looking for a right hand turn that just never came.
Friday I went to lunch with a half dozen coworkers and was astonished by their laid back attitude. My flatmates had warned me that very little work would be completed Friday afternoon, and suggested I watch how early the office emptied out with such nice afternoon weather. At lunch they ordered beers, this was too much for me I couldn’t order beer with work still to do in the afternoon, I stuck with a Coke. After chillin’ out for nearly an hour they got the harebrained idea that we had time to play a game of pool. I imagine that if money was at stake the game would have wrapped up quickly, but with no such wagers on the line the game seemed to take longer than most to finish. I’m in need of a lot of attitude adjustment, we do things differently here and I need to learn to go with the flow. That’s going to be tough.
I’ve arrived at the right time in NZ. Lots of work and not enough skilled people to fill the positions. What I’ve seen of SKM and the work they do I really like. I expect to stay in NZ for at least two years. Once I reach that magic number I think the world is my pearl. I shouldn’t have a problem locating a job in the States or British Colonies (current or former). I guess that means more travel blogs to come.
“And that’s all I’ve got to say about that”….. for now anyway!
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Marcos
non-member comment
Solid Update
Great post! Thanks for coming over on Sunday and hope you had a great time.