So I’m back at a familiar place, one that has tons of memories that i left behind…not just memories made there but also all the significant ones that happened outside the walls of the white and blue building. The all so familiar pond i cross over to get to my office everyday, the staircase, the cubical I once occupied, the familiar people I know that have never failed to bring on the sense of warmth on me and most of all the yellow light secret corner. This time I met quite a number of people that I never really got acquainted to the last time I was there, who remembered me and even one who thought i never left. But…is it all the same as before?

2009

Well, not exactly. Most of all it’s because some of my friends ain’t there anymore, ‘Disneyland’ has gotten a minor makeover and the fab is much more in order in terms of 5S. Coincidentally I’m also using the pedestal and car sticker of my former colleagues. Work wise it’s getting a bit more serious that what i encountered before, no more extreme slacking around and sitting in the office surfing the net for the whole afternoon. Anyway, I’m glad I retained quite a lot of the things that I’ve learned the last time around, that I have a kick-ass boss and for having the rest of my colleagues I know that are still there.

2288

It’s still too early to tell how crazy work will get, good or bad I’m still determined and looking forward to what is ahead. Bottom line is that, I’m satisfied with where i am with my work now. Of course we can always complain about work, about the pay but we often overlook the good and what we have currently. Everyone wants a higher pay but how much is enough? We often feel that we’ll be satisfied with ‘this amount’ of salary but when we’ve reached that point, dissatisfaction can still surely take over if we don’t learn to appreciate the basics or what we had in the first place.

2010

Also at the same time I’m gonna have to channel every possible extra juice that i have left to finishing my studies. Thankful for my latest results as it was a better than i had expected so now I’m on my final year, my final stretch to crossing the finishing line and i do hope i make it!

:)

My last day at work is on the 25th of February.

9 months ago i joined the company for what would be my first real job and nothing could have prepared me for what i have came across in a real work environment…not with what i studied in uni or even not with the personal accounts of my fellow friends who have already joined the workforce. I must admit that at first i was naive because i expected for things that i could never get in a real work environment and that really got me struggling with the whole ‘work-life’ thing. For one, i couldn’t really understand and accept the fact that backstabbing, people taking credit for other people’s work and stubborn people boasting as if they are Einstein happens quite often at work. I allowed these issues to bother me emotionally and so i got very unhappy and dissatisfied at work…i was ready to walk away.

My last post was a bit more than 5 weeks ago and i think it’s been the longest i went without writing something here. Anyway, it’s my blog and it’s never too late to write so here are some of the major events then happened during this period…

Semester 2 exam
I had my exam one day after my last post. I hate the fact that the exam time is never enough for those exams that require lots of writing (essay/short answers). It’s writing all the way from start to end and sometimes it feels like if i pause to think, i’ll be losing my marks from not having enough time to finish answering. My right hand always feels abused after ever non-calculation exam. Anyhow, i felt a bit better about this sem’s final and although i knew that i was only 1 mark away from the next best grade when my results came out 3 weeks later i was still overall satisfied. Classes for my third sem started even before my results were out and because it’s sort of a short/summer semester, everything is squeezed into a much tighter packed semester. Bad news is that i have less time in between assignments and my up coming final exam is a week before chinese new year. cock!

Penang
I was over at Penang in one of the weekends after the long wait (I bought the ticket in July this year). To be honest there aint a whole lot more places to shop there compared to Kuching so most of the time i was just going places, looking for food. My top priority was the cendol (mission accomplished!) but other than that i got to try the indian ox tail soup, super delicious dim sum, prawn mee, loh mee, curry mee, lok-lok, some roti-canai look alike wrap with hot-dog and cheese, J. Co baby donuts, Winter Warmer afternoon tea, Char Siew Puff and Paddington HOP Pancakes!

Cendol

No, not the terminator. If my stupid sinuses could talk, im sure that’s what it said three weeks ago when i was feeling better…because, it’s back.

Remember this?

In life, there are only a few things that doesn’t change. I mean, we go through difference phases, we study in different schools, we fall in and out of love with different things and people, we get to wear different clothes, we work with different companies and no doubt that we meet different types of people.

People mountain, people sea

We are each unique in our own ways, because that’s how God created us. But once in a while, we come across people that we just cant stand. Be it whether the person is rude, inconsiderate, selfish or just plainly, an ASS.

"Hee-ho!"

The past weeks at my new workplace were about meeting new people and getting to know them. Unfortunately though not surprisingly, there are people that sucks, and they suck bad. I try to tell myself that’s life, and that i cant like everyone i meet. On the other hand, i just can’t seem to understand why people do the things they do that pisses other people off. I ignore them most of the time although it is one thing, whether to allow them get to my nerves and another all together for them to just annoy me beyond my control, even if i ignore them.

24 hours x 14 days…has been insane, busy filling my brain with operation manuals, working instructions, operating instructions, work procedures, some practical training…filling my brain with more statistics, decision theories, business forecasting, information systems management and also filling my body with so many doses of pain killers.

Just like any other company, it’s a routine for new staff to get trained and mine lasted almost for more than a week of classroom training and all of it then comes down to a test that i need to sit for tomorrow. In which failing will result in a re-training >.< If i pass, then it’s on to 4 x 2 day/night shift that im so not looking forward to, despite the extra few $$$ that i’ll be getting from that. Im still trying to get used to the new environment and i have to admit that although im starting to get the hang of things, i still feel…out of place. It feels way way different than my previous posting, i feel lost.

Still lost

Timing has also been ‘perfect’. Having to start work in May and therefore not have any annual leave for my post-grad finals sucks. Because that means i need to apply for unpaid leave, that means i don’t get paid, that means i get a less than satisfactory score for my attendance in which will affect my increment, bonus, appraisal. There’s also more fuss in applying for ‘unpaids’ as im required to explain to my bosses, show exam schedule, write formal letter. Im not trying to challenge company’s policies or complain but all these could have been avoided if the ‘timing’ was slightly better. Furthermore, my classroom training just had to start on the same week as my final exam. As if i didn’t have enough things to read and remember. So for the whole week, my schedule was 8am – 5pm training, 7pm-11pm study and 11pm-6am…too tired to sleep. I was becoming a zombie.

Not just any unpaid. Late for work unpaid

Anyway, the zombies we watch on telly usually have superhuman strength and they can never be shot dead right? Like immortal or something. Well, i felt totally the opposite. My head started to hurt all the time everyday, i started to get fevers, feeling hot then cold, i lost my sense of smell so everything i ate tasted pale (try eating while pinching your nose, you’ll get what i mean). I also had a toothache so i went to my dentist to check one day after work and guess what, he found nothing wrong with my tooth. It was agonizing every fcking day having someone pounding my brain with a hammer, drilling on my tooth and fooling around with my ‘internal temperature sensor’ everyday. I felt so shaken up like my organs are all misplaced and have gone crazy. It’s like i get an error pop up message “Sorry, your liver has encountered an error while trying to do it’s job and needs to shut down.” with no close or restart button. My only solution was painkillers which helped slightly and everyday i took at least 3, at the same time help fill my office’s waste basket with panadol wrappers.

I couldn’t see a doctor as 1) I didn’t have enough time to finish revising for finals 2) I had to see a specialist and they’re usually closed at night 3) I couldn’t afford to take sick leave because im missing 2 mornings of training for my finals already and taking sick leave means worst appraisal, bad impression, bad increment…blah blah blah…so this went on and on until last Saturday when the specialist said…