Lifesaver

Dude,

I'm one of the "silent copied". Do appreciate my workload doesn't allow me to get directly involved in this but by my reckoning, I think you have it spot on.

Keep up the excellent work, and apologies if we (as in my Dept) have unnecessarily slowed down your work in any inadvertent way.

If we had more guys like you in this bank, we'd cream the competition.

Have a great workday
T

That e-mail (copied word by word, only censoring out his name) made my day. It has been a very crappy day, and that's the only shining light to talk about. Thanks man, though I don't even know you and I doubt that you know me, that really helps to ease the pain.

I should really stop blogging about work, but lately work is taking precedence over my life. Do I need a new job, or a new life?

G To The Rescue!

He's a tough man to love. Everytime he passes by any of us, we'll get a tight knot in our stomaches. Whenever he calls and summons us to his place, our minds will be racing trying to guess what's on his mind. No matter how perfect you thought your business paper was, or how holistic your presentation material was, he'll find some simple questions to shoot you and you'll be left thinking "why didn't I think of that?".

I've been working for him close to 3 years now, and many times I've been made to feel inadequate. It's a common feeling shared by even Senior Managers. He's very demanding, thrives on compliance and control and cost-effectiveness. He is a machine when it comes to work. The smartest and scariest banker I've ever known. He's my Director.

But today I can safely say with all my heart, I love that guy.

Remember the stuff about some idiots I mention in the last post, well we had another meeting with the same idiots who this time decided to call in their Directors as well. So my Director thought enough is enough so he joined us for the meeting. Upon entering the meeting room, I saw quickly enough I'm the most junior person in the room and fully expected to be made the black sheep yet again. 30 minutes later, he has slapped them up down left right for being inconsistent, not giving clear information, incoherent between themselves etc. Yes, that includes those 2 other Directors too. He also defended what I had been doing as correct as per their request. He then turned the tables on them and asked them to provide us with the relevant documentation by tomorrow and we'll respond by next Monday, and that's that. The look on those idiots' face was priceless!

Just for that, all these years of being tortured by him felt worth it. I heart you Mr G!

Would You Care For Some Whine, Sir?

It's been over a month since I last saw daylight upon leaving the office. Return home mostly in a daze, driving automatically and before I know it I'm plonked down in front of the telly and dozed off there. I miss my bed.

It's the head-cracking, expletive-ridden, migraine-inducing, blood-boiling kind of stress at work. Not made easier by idiots who by some stroke of luck made it to Senior Manager level, yet still spoke like a true idiot. Let's not go there, I'll be out of a job before I can shut my gob on that case.

Anyway, I always turn to retail theraphy to help grease the grind a little. You know, the drug to keep me coming to work and behave like a good natured boy should. So I bought meself a little something something from Cerruti. Alas, it's not enough! So I bought another something something from freaking Mont Blanc. Who said happiness can't be bought?

Well, they're freaking right. I've burnt a huge hole in my (spanking new) wallet, whoever said that would help in alleviating stress???

Hey, whining about it actually helped a little! And it's free too, bugger.

Life Cubed

I hate cubicles. I hate cubicles. I hate cubicles.

I want an office so that at times like this I can lock the door and lie down on the fugly mauve carpet and convulse in beautiful solitude.

Then of course, I'd still have to get up and resume my unending work afterwards.

Rubber Story

Politics both thrill and bore me at the same time. Let's talk about something else, before the new cabinet is announced and I might have more things to rant which ultimately no one gives a shit about. OMG, I could be a damn politician!

I realized I've been telling a lot of stories recently. Well, here's another one =P

There's this chinese fella back in uni who we are chummy with. Let's call him Eric. He was housemates with some of my buds, so that's how I got to know him.

Anyway, the story goes that one night Eric was going to get lucky with the girlfriend. Since they are smart, he goes out to a 7-Eleven to get some rubbers.

So he walks in and browsed the racks for what he needed. Turned out, he can't find it. So he walked to the counter and casually asked the sales assistant "Durex ada ka?". The kid looked about for a second and told him they probably have more in the store room. So Eric waited while the kid went in back to look for his Durex.

After a few minutes the kid came back out and told him:

"Bang, Durex takde la. Eveready je ada"

Epilogue: Though I find the kid's naivety cute, I bet Eric thought otherwise, heh.

Folly

Tun Jeanne, are you freaking kidding me?

I thought it's the only title where one has to serve the nation at the highest level. As far as I know, only former PMs and former CJs are the only people almost assured (if not assured) of the title. So now it seems being a wife of a former PM is another surefire way. At least Tun Siti Hasmah was a patron for badminton for a long time, what have you done Tun Jeanne?

Some Kind Of Fool

When I was younger, I never really had female friends. I was in an all-boys school ever since coming back from the UK and then went on to another all-boys boarding school for the next five years, what do you expect?

But when I was 14, a friendship developed with this girl I shall refer to as D. How? Long story. We started sending letters to and fro, and an awkward beginning soon bloomed into a very cherished friendship. She was the only girl I would call during the weekends and school holidays. So much so that even her mom knows about me and would sometimes chat with me before letting me speak to her. Safe to say my eyes were on the credit indicator on those public phones while the mom was talking!

But anyway, it was a cherished friendship for she was articulate, funny, and knowledgeable. Didn't hurt that she was cute as a button too =P

Met her for the first time when I took the bus to see her in her hometown. It's not that far though, only a 30mins bus ride away. Then met her a few times more after that.
Yes, I had a crush on her by then.

This friendship lasted for several years until one fateful day (chewah!). I hope I'm wrong since it's corny as heck but I called her on one Valentine's Day just to chat as usual and she rejected the call. Thinking nothing of it, I resumed watching TV. Then an SMS came.
"Sorry I can't talk to you anymore, I'm married".

She went incommunicado from there on and I made no more effort to contact her. Truth be said, I guess I was heartbroken. Not just because I had a crush, but because I felt I deserved better.

That was the story of my lost penpal, crush, bestie.

Until now.

She found me on FB a few weeks back. She messaged me and asked if I still remember her. She's got a common name, so it took a while for me to connect the dots. Then it hit me. It was D. So I asked her to be sure, is she who I think she is. She said yes.

She told me that throughout all these years she has been looking for news of me. Only now did she found me. She apologized.

To me, it's all water under the bridge. It hurt then, but the wound has scabbed and peeled. She's now a mother to a little boy, and is working not far from where I am. Funny that.

Anyway D, if you are reading this you know who you are. Thanks for making the effort to find me and apologize. I really appreciate that. Say hi to that little boy of yours yeah?

T,M,D, (ha, I bet you don't remember these now!)
Me.