A one-live cat’s life

After starting with a 12KM race at Central coast’s Bay to Bay Run, I agrevated a building cough.  So on Sunday evening I waasn’t feeling well already, and I knew I’m sick by Monday.

Monday I was coughing, dry, asthmatic cough.  I did take a day off not because I was sick but to offset a sick leave on Friday.  I was actually sick.  ANyway, Cough progressed badly and I wasnt feeling too well Wednesday but I just can’t afford not to go to work as there has been lots of mix of things to finish!  One of the periods where everyone wants things to get done.  Even though Nishant is back, I am still overwhelmed and drowned from work which doesnt really help in my conditions.  I wish I could just stay home, I just could not! Embarassingly coughing at the work area and I am afraid they might take it as Swine flu! I am glad it is not just me who is coughing at the work place.

At last Friday, we almost get thing resolved by the end of the week.  It is good to end the week with the company’s “well-being/Work-life balance” Friday Night Drinks which happens every last Friday of the Month.

Views from work's Rooftop friday drinks - new park in Pyrmont

We get a share of the bridge view too

Soon to be International Ferry Terminal :(

However, I really did not get to finish working until 1230 that midnight and continued on till Saturday morning.  That is I wasn’t on call, so with my colleagues Sissi and Paulus. Yet we still tried our best to accomodate the customer’s call!  Got email and was told work continues on Monday.  I got my weekend back.

Just yesterday when I realized I already have been working with the company i am with for four years last Feb 1!  I was not even aware not until I saw what date it is yesterday.

Funny huh.  Yes I once forgot my birthday that was my 22nd I think.  Now I forgot my job anniversary.  Congratulations to me, this is the longest i made it through a job :)!

I’ve had 4 jobs after this, this is my fifth in my almost nine years of my career.  It was usual that when i reach the 2nd year i get bored and i wanted to find better work.  Never did I feel that way with this job.  I am also thankful I still belong with them.  two and a half years from the mother company and a year and a half with the merger, two sites, stayed on the same team ever since i joined.

Not long enough, last Tuesday, they announced that they will soon start the downsizing again of the company because of the “global economic crisis”.  But they told us (i was not in that meeting i was out working for a project) that Oz office will be least affected.  Well still who knows.

Do you know the feeling when you are so toxic with work that you don’t know where to start you tend to slack? Well I think that’s what I am trying to avoid right now.

Since last week, I have been ignoring email requesting updates from me on issues at work.  not that I am deliberately ignoring it, but i am procrastinating it over some project i need to prioritize.  This project has been neglected and de-prioritized weeks before, because of the issues that they are now coming back with!

Sitting here, typing this blog, I am taking my break in cleaning and semi-organizing the emails in my inbox so i can prioritize and respond the the emails.  Wow, I did not imagine, time flies!  I am full on a month and a half of unread emails!

And this I missed or found interesting:

1. Boss was telling me to attend a course - good thing he still signed me up!
2. An HR email about Insurance at work! - the orientation dates are over
3. Some IT related stuff i need to do with my system and laptop which i haven’t done until now
4. Two letters I was needing to pick up from HR, incentive letter and the re-alignment of staff letter
5. Town Hall meetings (staff meeting, i was even a nominee for an award) - dates are over before I even opened the mail!
6. Ex-colleague, Jeff, email from Philippines of hello’s - 1 month no reply!
7. Ex-colleague, Reigner, asking me copies of the photos from Singapore last September - I havent replied yet!
8. Ex-Colleague, Jun sent me an email he already left Canada and took me a while to reply back!
9. Internal Photo Contest voting - i think i already missed it suppose to vote pics made by my Filo colleagues at Makati
10. reminder to complete my Time record! Its been 2 weeks - at least ive done it not knowing i was one of the staff who has not completed it AGAIN! (this administrative stuff, shuld be done b someone:-( )
11. I cant even believe i got 3 emails reminding us about WORK LIFE BALANCE!! omg! I should but this as email as template as my out of office reply until i cleaned up my inbox!
12.  Missed a team building because i was told to stay and work comes first! - and yea do you think point 11 affirms point 12?
13. Learned that i can not claim cash on all the work, sleep deprivation  and sacrifice on not goin on point 12! i was de-moivated!
14. 2 global meeting on where the company is (each month! Sept and October) - missed again
15. Swarmed that I did not have time to followup quality of service of the cal-center that’s handling our IT services!
16.Missed paying my Tax because i was prioritizing work!! i had my filing extended till December! - yes here in Oz, you do it yourself, we are so spoiled in Pinas!
17. Melbourne cup - when most of sydney slack to watch the horse racing eld in Melbourne.  Colleagues at work watched it at the telly, had some wine/beer and cocktails and i was at the customer lab testing!

I have no complaints or regrets moving to Oz office BUT is this because manpower/services is so dear that it just seem that there is not enough people to do work.  I was told initially to do a programming work on a project but looks like without any notice they are importing a colleague in Jakarta to do work.  Programming needs focus, im glad they realized that.  I can’t program if id be every now and then puled out to do other jobs!  I reckon some of my colleagues somewhere can choose and complain if they are given jobs to work on.  Pardon me I don’t have the right to say but, I do not know what are they still doing working for the company, and the company is wasting their time on them.

Its been annoying me as well when the customer calls me straight to do work as if they are my PM! They bypass the PM and they give commands as if they own me.

You’d think I’m alright, you see me still able to do my weekend races.  But hell! it is a juggle! Plus when my cousins were here, I think i have been a bad host since i was coming home late from work.

Its not surprising that even after a break from work, to just take days in lieu or off to re-energize, a week’s relaxation off get’s depleted in 2 days!  I am glad that the day light is extended as late until 8pmish that i can do my outdoor runs after work! (Lucky if i don’t get told to work late!)

It’s either, we do lack manpower, or resource management.  Okey im going back to cleaning up my mailbox!

* If you are an Asian from 3rd world country, and you work in a western country, they always expect you to do more work because you always say yes. You always say yes, because you get paid better, even if you don’t realize that push you around too much.

* If you work in a customer-third party-vendor kind of set up, you will get to realize it is better to work as the customer, you always try to get what you want, tell the vendor what to do, you do less work and stress, you get more money

* Having my cousin her husband and a kid in my apartment, I am grateful to have my first visitors in Oz and who are my 1st degree relatives, but this made me think if i am sure i would like to have a kid, having had pressuring work, working late at nights till morning, being sent to travel to work i don’t think a husband and a kid would survive in the situation unless they will ever be very supportive, otherwise it is better to be selfish and think am I going to have a kid? or work? … and how would I balance it with my running, my travels …

* People magnify my mistakes, yes again i did another mistake in the customer’s production server but what do they expect? I’ve been juggling number of projects, and working by myself which was very different when i was working for support in Philippines/Asia project we always work by two’s to check the work done of the main engineer, management should admit and realize cutting costs on manpower do have risks, well i am glad I am not working on airlines just like what has been happening on Qantas and Spainair that involves lives!

* when you get used to living by yourself it gets lonely at some point, but then you tend to prefer living alone by yourself anyway … it does get to a point that you think you don’t need anyone because you can almost all things just by yourself.

* men are all the same, just of different color, shape, age and nationality :p

* Runners are very likely to be an Obsessive Compulsive personality or do have a very addictive behavior. They run even if its raining, running is their lifestyle, they have running gear more than their normal clothes and accessories, some would have any other addictions in their life aside from running in the past (smoking, alcohol, drugs) or some still do have other addictions aside from running.