FeistyCat

January came and went, and I’ve just moved to a brand new office in the town area. It’s in line with the company’s direction to change its image to a more corporate organization. The renovation is about 90 percent completed and the smell of glue is still very strong. I’ve been busy clearing out junk in the old office, packing and unpacking my stuff at the new office. The carpet is still very dusty and my hands and pants got very dirty after bending under the desk to plug in the computer cables. It really sucked that I had to do it all by myself. Although it was an easy task, I hated it because of the dust and the freaking air-con wasn’t working that morning. I got so hot and bothered but at least the computer was still working.

I’ve just had a very bad day. The thing about me is that, I tend to withdraw and as far as possible refrain from sharing my thoughts or feelings with anyone. I hate it when this happens because I can’t fully focus on anything right now. My mind kept drifting and wondering what I had done wrong to deserve such a lousy outcome.

I’ve just received an email to attend a meeting with the division GM and HOD together with 11 other colleagues from various branches. We’ve been selected to manage a new section in Prinsep. It’ll be quite fun to work in town area again. There will be major restructuring within the department and we’ll get more details next week. I’m of course interested to know the changes in our pay package.

Mr D was a hardworking man who managed to meet his sales target despite suffering from stage three nose cancer. He went through chemotherapy and because the cancer was spreading to his bones, he had difficulty moving around. It was painful watching him drag his feet when he came to meet me to submit some cases he had closed. His condition worsened two weeks after the chemo treatment. By then, he was no longer able to work.

I went down to visit Mr D, who was at that time living with his mother and elder brother. What I saw shocked me because he was obviously in great pain, but yet he was propped up on a wooden chair with a pillow behind his back. His medicine bottles were lying around all over the kitchen table. His brother didn’t seem too happy to have visitors in his home. Later that day, I learned from one of my staff that his marriage was on the rocks. His wife and two kids were living separately.

Two weeks later, Mr D succumbed to his illness and passed away in the hospital. His wife called me almost everyday to talk about the dispute between Mr D’s brother and her. According to the wife, she wanted to put him in the hospice where he would get proper medical care rather than being stuck in his brother’s home where he had to remember to take his own medicine. His brother objected violently despite the fact that Mr D had breathing difficulty and needed an oxygen tank. They only took him to the hospital when his condition became critical. During the funeral, the brother approached me to complain about the wife. I simply nodded my head and walked away.

It was very sad for Mr D to leave the world with family members bickering around him. Over the next few weeks after the funeral, I settled all the insurance claims and outstanding commission to be given to his wife. His wife had the habit of coming to my office without prior appointment to check on outstanding claims. Just about a month ago, I cleared the last commission cheque and told the wife that her lawyer has to write officially to the company if he needs more information about Mr D’s insurance coverage. On my part, I had done my job to settle the insurance claims and commission.

Half the day was spent on and off the phone tackling a sticky issue with one of my colleagues. It didn’t help that I was having a bad cramp due to you-know-what time of the month. The phone almost didn’t stop ringing and every now and then I received work related SMS from my team members. At the same time, my boss was bugging me about some sales figures. A colleague from another department claimed that one of my staff, Ms Y was rude and hung the phone up on her. I tried to contact Ms Y but she refused to answer my call. I’m just glad that the day is over and I think that’s my TV calling me. Here’s to another episode of Grey’s Anatomy.

The good news is, I passed my exams with grades that are better than I expected. The bad news is, something happened at work which made my morale crash right to the bottom of the pit. I can’t elaborate about it here because as you know, big brother is keeping close watch of our blogs. Meanwhile, have a great long weekend ahead, my friends!

One of the subjects I’m doing now requires the students to post their views in the discussion board twice a week. To pass this course, I’ve got to abide by the rules and make sure that I dilligently post in the board.

That’s not all, I’ve also got a target to meet for my company’s forum. Oh, yes, I’ve got to post five entries or more each month. Failing which, the names of the employees will be listed in an email broadcast and their boss will have to “counsel” them. Though it’s a good way for employees to share their ideas and views, I just dislike the idea of being forced to post in the forum. To fulfill their monthly target, some of my collegues would simply post short, single sentence comments like “That’s a good idea.” and “Well, done, congratulations!”. I guess, it defeats the purpose. Oh, well…

The company’s Human Resource department decided to put it’s foot down on fellow bloggers within the organisation. An email broadcast was sent to all employees stating the rules and regulations of blogging. The main point is not to talk negatively about work or the company. Secondly, the blog or website should not be profitable. If it does make money, the employee has to make a declaration to the HR department. Well, what can I say? Big Brother is watching… (waves to Big Brother)

I’m not sure how to describe the mood within the organisation. It’s not quite the same after the CEO (Chief Executive Officer) announced his early retirement or “departure” as he calls it now. There’s a lot of speculation going on, but I believe it’s best to leave it to the top management to decide the future of the company. Meanwhile, work goes on as usual amidst all the excitement, apprehension and what-have-you going around.