always bring id

only the photo id matters on a night out (for girls)

everything else is not important

Just days after I mentioned that I haven't been on site since February, I received email at 11.17pm asking me to go on site. Kinda jinxed myself this time. 

Site work right before the start of a long weekend and a night out. 

Tell me about right timing. Gahhhhhhhhh.

Knowing that it's gonna be rainy, I had to dress 'properly' for the weather. 

So I put on my site pants and shirt in the morning. 

Such UNGLAMOROUS outfit.

For the first time I doubted my decision of becoming an engineer - because 'gorgeous' and 'site engineer' don't come in parallel. Hahaha.

Engineer's outfit is shabby, ugly, waterproof, and comes in only 3 colours: navy, florescent yellow, and florescent orange. 

Mine are already in ladies' cutting and I still look like a rapper in baggy clothes. 

The footwear is black, heavy, bulky, and hard as anything. Even double-socks won't help in comforting my poor feet.

The hat is ugly too!

The only thing that looks 'cool' is perhaps the protective sunglasses. At least one thing. Hehe.

Because I can't stand looking so unglamorous, I decided to heck the weather and change into my skinny pants and smart-looking shirt - for site. 

Sacrifices are required in order to look good. Lol.

View like this is the cause for my love-hate relationship with this profession.
There are always two sides to everything isn't it?

The weather was kind for most of the day. 

It only rained after 85% of the work was completed. 

Thankfully I didn't come in full-on engineer gears, I'd be so depressed looking ugly for nothing. Lol.

Bad news is we have to return to complete the remaining 15%. Bummer.

Got back to the office, washed and changed, then went to the city.

Only realised at 9pm that I left my photo ID in the site bag, in the office. 

And the office swipe card has gone travelling in the housemate's car for the weekend. 

Great.

From the unexpected site work to how the swipe card got carried away for the weekend, it's telling me that I should stay sober over the weekends. Lol.

Unless I carry my passport around but I'm not that desperate yet.

I transferred 2 credit cards, 2 debit cards, and 2 medical cards from the site bag. But not the ID. 

Like seriously? 

Could of leave all the money cards behind and still be able to get (free) drinks with just an ID.

No ID = no drinks.

Went home and started the weekend with toilet-cleaning. Lol.

The rest of the weekend went like any ordinary weekend. 

Spent 200 bucks eating out (even without alcohol), unbelievable. 

As usual, the first question you get at work on the morning after a weekend is How was your weekend?

My reply was Great. And sober. 

Haha. Lesson learnt. 

three weeks

so much can happen

We don't normally notice the changes in and around us because they happen gradually that they're unnoticeable.

The same street,
The same tree,
The same people,
The nails,
The pimples,
All look the same every day.

But if you were to recall, a couple of weeks ago...perhaps...

The new restaurant wasn't there,
The tree was green but now it's orange,
A different barista made your coffee,
Your nails were 3mm shorter,
The bloody pimples weren't there.

These are the little changes we fail to notice on a daily basis until they become apparent or until we lose them for good.

Come to think of it, what difference can three weeks make?
And how much can you discover or learn in three weeks?

DAMN A LOT.

In three weeks...

- You spend 70% less time on texting than before.
- Some people left the company and you won't see them any more.
- Banana somewhat causes minor allergic reaction.
- Spicy food must now be taken in moderation.
- You no longer stay up past 12am.
- A friend left the country for good. You'll soon be 7400 miles apart.
- Your music playlist went through an overhaul.
- Half bottle of wine won't affect your ability to walk in a straight line.
- Merlot is a better preference than Shiraz when it comes to red.
- You kinda know now why you never liked kissing.
- You (kinda) saw what you truly want out of a man.
- Loving what you do is rather important especially if you're not doing what you love.
- It's important to look good for yourself and the people you surround yourself with.
- The F-word is contagious. Use with caution.
- The taste of whiskey-coke brings back memories of when you were 18, when Chivas started becoming part of your life dictionary.
- Good scotch brings back memories of when your Dad woke up one morning to find his bottle of Blue Label empty and Grandma's response was 'you didn't share it with me'.
- Be a person who will be missed, who brings positive impact to people's lives, and whose absence will make the heart grow fonder.
- Never get mad at people and point fingers before understanding what's happening on their side of the world.
- Know what you're worth and settle for nothing less than what your deserve.

Three weeks...

...so short yet so long.

For all that happened and didn't happen, there are greater reasons behind them, I believe.

redundancy

cruel truth - only the good ones are allowed to stay

Last Friday, my team leader requested to have a chat with me.
Gahhhhhh.......shoot me please! I dislike talking to him in person.

He broke the news to me that he has been made redundant.

Not that I was expecting this to happen, but it didn't came as a surprise to me either.
Perhaps I was too caught up emotionally with the fact that Derek's leaving, I don't know.

I could only manage, 'Oh okay.'
I know it sounds emotionless and uncompassionate, just couldn't help it Lol.
My heart has turned cold for him.

He asked me to provide feedback on how he could improve for his future roles.
He said in his TWENTY years of career, he hasn't come across a work-relationship as strained as ours - he wants to know what and where went wrong.

Well, in my SEVEN years of career experience, I haven't come across someone who's so difficult to work with and at the same time incompetent. Usually, people are difficult because they know too much but he is the total opposite.

With 20 years of experience, he should be Principal or Manager and be telling people what and how to do things. Not just sit around and give excuses like 'I haven't done this before' and 'I'm new to this'.
It feels like he hibernated for 10 years in between those years.

I really hope he can improve but I do need to maintain professionalism hence I can't be too blunt with my words.

The only thing I told him was to not contradict himself.
Be sure of the information he is giving out. Don't say one thing today and another tomorrow. If unsure, just don't say anything, so that people don't get confused (and f**ked up) because of his contradicting words. It's hard to progress if he keeps changing his mind (reason why I can't work with you because uncertainties drive me MAD haha) while nothing's fixed  - it's a waste of time and effort (and after all the wasted time, don't fking send emails and cc everyone above reminding me of deadlines; indirectly holding me responsible for the missed deadline - such a cowardly behaviour for a team leader).

Thanks to my EQ, I didn't utter the sentences in brackets above. Lol.
They were already at the end of my tongue.

I guess it all goes back to the fact that he doesn't know his stuff.
How can one be sure of anything if he knows nothing?

I hope he finds himself a job which can relate to his 20 years' experience and be a more 'useful' engineer.
All the best to him (and his future colleagues too of course).

farewell

a hard goodbye deserves a smile because it happened, 

not because it ended

Got to the office at 10am yesterday.
Had a quick breakfast, checked emails, and calendar.
There was a meeting invitation for 'Derek's farewell presentation' at 11am.

His reaction to the invitation was Do we really need this? Are you people trying to embarrass me on my last day? Wanna see me tear up?

Ann told him to bring a box of tissues with him. Lol. How supportive is that?

I thought he was joking about tearing.
He has always been the rational, calm, and no-worries kinda person. The last thing I'd expect from him is being emotional.

By the time I sent out two emails, it's 11am. Time for the presentation. He went into the boardroom with a box of tissues. Lol.

screen showing how he looks like in review meetings - where engineers get grilled

He's leaving Sydney for good and also resigned from the company he has worked for for 30 years.

All for the sake of his passion in engineering - to make things happen. He's going to work on a project to put a $2 billion pounds tunnel under the renown Stonehenge site.

He said if not because of the project, he would not have made the decision to leave Sydney. The last 1 year had been the best 1 year of his life. And he'll definitely be back in the future.

And he started tearing...........omg!
Haha.

Only so far written by half the office and it's already 80% filled.

The A3 farewell card. Not the typical 'All the best and good luck' wishes. The long messages show just how much he means to us :(

After the presentation, he spent a few mins on his own in the boardroom to straighten up. Haha.

At 2pm, he decided to go for drinks as he couldn't concentrate while being emotional.
He told me to join him if I want to, whenever.
I couldn't concentrate either. There's always Monday to do all the works isn't it? Lol.
So I went down to join him and Ann.

He told me when he first decided to come to Sydney, his brother-in-law warned him that Sydney is the place on earth where once you step foot on, it's hard for you to leave.
He didn't believe him.
Now that he needs to leave, he couldn't agree more.
The weather, the city, the people, the neighbourhood, the blue skies, the culture, the simplicity, and so much more...
He is leaving with a heavy heart.

He was the person who interviewed me for my role, hence was the first person I met from the company.
He taught me to love what I do and do it well.
He told me to be great at what we do and be proud of it.
He bought me a plant to 'green' up my desk.

When I left the farewell party that night, his last words for me were, 'You be good' in which I replied, 'I will.'

It was a short 12 months encounter but a very memorable one.

Thanks for being a part of my career journey. You will be missed.

quiet day at work

aura - flows from within and radiates outwards

Yesterday...

Admin: I'm leaving now. Are you okay, missy? You seem quiet today. 
Me: Did I?
Admin: Yea. You haven't spoken a word today.
Me: Haha. Cos you told me not to talk to you today, right? So you can get your work done.
Admin: Oh ya. Okay. 
Director: Are you sure it's because of that? She hasn't been singing all day either. She was singing for the last 3 days. 

For someone who is insensitive and pays no attention to details, my silence must be very obvious for him to notice.
I did find the songs on my playlist crappy yesterday. Not sure why I did not sing though. Didn't realise until he mentioned. Lol.
As for not talking, that's true too. Not because she told me not to. I just didn't feel like it.
Wasn't expecting them to feel the aura, it must be too strong to ignore. Haha.

A couple of days ago, out of randomness...

Admin: You know, when I get old, I'm just gonna be like an owl.
Me: Owl?
Admin: Ya owl.
Me: Why's that?
Admin: Well, don't you realise they just sit on a branch all day and not make a noise? I guess I'm just gonna be like that.
Me: .....Okay.....good on you. (*can you be more random*)
Director: So, are you gonna be able to turn your head 360 degrees like an owl too?

LOL!!!!

Admin: Ohh! That's not the point! You're always here to spoil everything!

From wanting to be a quiet owl, the conversation ended with her on top of her lungs and the director laughing happily because he successfully annoyed her.

Such is a typical day at work with Derek around.

A dramatic and loud blonde admin.
A sarcastic, humorous, and wise old man.
A calm and quiet me.
Not sure how the dynamic works with this combo...but it worked out well.

When Derek leaves, I'm so gonna miss the random conversations and dramas three of us had in the cubicle we share.

instafeel

friends who are connected by heart

Miss Petite texted me out of the blue today because of the photo above which I posted on instagram.

We don't normally text each other but she asked a random question which kinda caught me off-guard and by surprise - her 6th sense is creepy. Hahaha. The question was triggered by the photo but was unrelated to the photo at all. Wonder how that happens...

Hopefully she's the first and last to ask this, for now. Haha.

Months ago when I posted this, she texted me too.

Funny how her senses are connected to mine through photos. She does 'feel' me well. Haha. Ladies and their 6th sense are no joke.