Tag: work

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the otnaicus daily

Edition 243 – Sink… Or Swim… Your Choice…

How many times have we felt like just throwing in the towel when faced with an infavourable situation? How often do we feel like we’re carrying a load so heavy that we just to toss it to one side and give up? How about feeling so tired and demoralized?

Well, that just about sums up my entire week. And the thing that brought it on was a bout of miscommunication. Which moves me to another point -Communication. The thing that is most important thing in society and the thing that is most often put on the back-burner. I say “A” and you deduce “B”. I tell you “C” and you go do “A”. Sounds familiar?

I think in my entire life, I’ve not experienced such a bad case of miscommunication before. Here we are going into the last lap of this project. The systems integration test (SIT) is almost complete. And the lonely ol’ me that’s holding the fort here in Taipei while my PM is back in Singapore, finds out that a critical component of the system is NOT ready. My heart literally fell to the depths. To exaggerate, my heart has been to hell and back. And so, I’m going to be burning my third consecutive weekend in Taiwan.

But looking back at this week, I thank God that He has been there every single step of the way. I feel that the favour of God has been with me every step. The people from the client’s side hasn’t exactly blown up at me, although they show their disappointment. And overall, I think we have made a good impression of ourselves here that they tend to be slightly more forgiving. But most of all, I have to thank God for the strength. Late nights and early mornings. I’ve been averaging 5-6 hours of sleep per night. And I’ve been working from 9am all the way to 9pm everyday. Tiring? You bet. But God’s strength was always there. And because of Him, the towel hasn’t been tossed.

Next week the PM is back. So perhaps a little less heat will be directed towards me? Bad hor? It’s going to be another long week ahead. So do keep me in prayers. And pray that this will all be over soon.

Headed off to place a deposit into the sleep bank and to meet my dear old friend “Zhou Gong” for a game of chess. And I haven’t forgotten about the pictures. Please be patient yah… Until the next time, cheers… :Þ

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the otnaicus daily

Edition 242 – Another Week Gone By

Looks like I have to break a promise that I made during the last post. Yes, there are no pictures yet. I don’t know how I managed to get myself to be so busy the past two weeks. SIT (Systems Integration Test) is a killer and I’m burning my second weekend in a row to do work that I can’t do because of the SIT.

SIT is a very time consuming process of testing out almost every aspect of the system that has been developed. It doesn’t help to have a very “C” client who keeps on adding test cases by the day even as the tests are being conducted. In an ideal world, these test cases should have been reviewed and finalized even before the SIT phase began. But we don’t live in an ideal world. And so we have to face these kinds of situations in our daily lives.

I almost lost my cool with the client at the end of Friday. It was late, coming to 8pm. Hungry and tired, and since testing was winding down for the day, I was hoping to get out of the office by around 7pm to come home to rest. But that was not to be. The client came in, started looking through the test cases, and started typing on my computer the new test cases to be added in. Tried hard to convince her to get it done on her own time and then send it to us. We’ll be glad to add those test cases in. But she just kept on and on and on. Even my subtle actions of packing up didn’t deter her. Because of that I almost lost my cool with yet another person.

I really got to keep my patience in check. Half a day of waiting around doesn’t help the mood. God help me. And now that my PM is headed back to Singapore for a week, I just feel a nightmarish week coming on. Really need the strength of God to pull me through next week. Hopefully, I don’t have to burn another weekend next week finishing up work.

Going off to bed now. Another day of work awaits me tomorrow. I really hope that I’ll get the time to process the pictures from CNY. It’s getting way overdue for some airtime on this blog. So until the next time, cheers… :Þ

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the otnaicus daily

Edition 241 – Back!!

Yes, I’m back. But not for a post-CNY posting but just to rant. Still editing photos for the CNY post so I shall rant for now.

The past week has been crazy. First day back at work in Taipei I stayed till 8pm. A lot of small little things to clean up and working hard to clean those things up. Why clean up? Because this week, we start what we in the profession call SIT. That stands for Systems Integration Testing. One of the last few stages of the project before the project closes. So that’s good news, being able to see the light at the end of the tunnel. However, there’s another tunnel at the end of this tunnel and it’s known as Phase 2. I shall rant about that when I get more details.

The whole of last week’s experiences made me wonder about why some people work the way they work. Why would someone want to make things difficult for himself, drag things out, and in the process also drag another party down together with him? Wouldn’t it be more beneficial for that person to cooperate and work to solve things ASAP? Well, that’s what I’ve been facing the whole of last week and to say it has been frustrating may be too little. And just because another project A is relying on project B doesn’t mean that project A has to do project B’s testing. But then again, this is the case and that’s another frustrating point. And the “best” part? Me getting “kan chiong” over their problem. Sigh…

What can I say? It’s all in a good learning experience huh? Meeting people, seeing the way they work, getting frustrated, learning how to work with them, getting over it and gleaning a lesson from the experience. And thanks be to God for the strength and perseverance.

Pray that this week will be better. Maybe I’ll get frustrated over other things but at least it’s a change in the things I get frustrated over. Haha. But whatever it is, the project is coming to an end. Well, at least this part of the project.

Enough ranting. Time for me to get back to work now. I promise to get the photos for the post-CNY post ready and hopefully, the next post will be about that. Until the next time, cheers… :Þ

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the otnaicus daily

Edition 239 – Home!

Feels great to be back. Touched down yesterday afternoon at around 11.45am and was home by around 1pm. Got a haircut to get ready for Chinese New Year, spent some time with Debbie and came home to, wait for it, WORK! Thought I could get some rest in but made the mistake of powering up my work laptop and checking the email. Ended up with a tonne of email that required my attention.

I’m looking forward to Chinese New Year. Headed back to Penang for about a week to spend time with my family and to get away from work for a while. Taiwan has their CNY holiday from 6 Feb till 11 Feb. So at least for those days, emails should be kept to a minimum. Work or no work, emails or no emails, I am determined get some rest in and to just relax in Penang.

If you’re wondering why I’m up so early in the morning blogging, trust me, I would rather be still sleeping at the moment, or be on my way to Expo for the rehearsal for a drama that’s happening this weekend. I’m up early trying to get some work in, to show our “commitment” (as my PM put it) and try to get problems solved. But here’s the catch. I have no clue as to what else I can do and I need to communicate with some engineers in Taiwan, whom might have a clue to what is happening, but we’re doing it via email which can get frustrating. Want to call them, but they don’t seem to want to give me a phone number. But to be fair, maybe I did send out the email yesterday night a tad late. Nevertheless, I shall wait around for a bit till around 1pm. Then I’ll just report back to my PM and go off to church. Hence I’m playing the waiting game.

I’m going to stop here for now. If I don’t blog again before Chinese New Year, here’s wishing everybody a Happy and Prosperous Chinese New Year!! Until the next time, cheers… :Þ

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the otnaicus daily

Edition 236 – Week Over!

I’m kinda glad that the week is over. It marks the end of my two weeks acting as PM for the project. Challenging but I feel that I’ve come out of it learning something and one step closer towards realizing my dream of being a project manager. At the end of the day, I think I can say that I’ve learnt to swim fast enough to keep me from drowning. While I thank God for the opportunity, I also thank God that it’s over. Heh…

Had a pretty good dinner earlier. It was the appreciation dinner for the local company that my company has partnered with for this project. So the vendors working on site were invited too. Felt very awkward in the beginning because nobody talked and was very quiet. Thank God that things loosened as the evening progressed. But even as we enjoyed ourselves talking to each other, I noticed that almost nobody talked to the boss. Made me wonder exactly how lonely can leadership be. Because in the eyes of most employees, the boss is just that, a boss. No matter how outgoing or friendly a boss can be, employees may think that the boss has ulterior motives somehow. Or maybe they’re scared of what the boss might think of them if they loosened up too much. Oh well….

I realised today that it’s 11 months exactly to Christmas. Not that I miss Christmas but it just simply means that January is OVER!!! My goodness, that’s just fast. Pretty soon, you’ll start the new Chinese year and February will be half gone before you know it. It’s scary how time flies.

One more week before I head back to Singapore. It’ll be great to be back in Singapore, even though it’s only for a few days before heading to Penang. I think the few days back will be a busy one for me. Gotta run around getting stuff and gotta meet up with a good friend because that’s the only chance I get. Can’t wait…

So I’m headed off to bed. It’s the weekend but I’m tired out from the week. Gotta get my beauty sleep. So until the next time, cheers… :Þ

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the otnaicus daily

Edition 234 – A Heck Of A Week

The title of the post kind of describes my week. The week holds both ups and downs and I shall try to recap in this post.

Last Sunday, I had my first meal in a Taiwanese’s home. It was a gathering of friends and we had steamboat. Even though a lot of faces were strange faces to me and a couple of friends, I still enjoyed the evening thoroughly. Took tonnes of pictures of friend’s baby. The baby is very brave. Let so many people carry and yet not a single sound from him. A very outgoing baby indeed. Haha.

Then Monday came. And I was alone. My PM wasn’t around, away for reservist training. So everything thing to do with the project came to me. Meetings, documentation, following up on things, emails, conferences, etc. So much so that I didn’t have time to do any development work that’s currently on my table. But in the end, I felt that I accomplished something. That something is what one cannot achieved if one is sheltered by another person above. True, you get all the “arrows” and “knives” that are being thrown around but that’s how we grow. I guess being thrown into the deep end of the pool has it’s merits. You either sink or learn to swim very very quickly. I’m glad that I’m coping. But since I didn’t really keep track of the project very closely from the beginning, a lot of things I still have to consult with my PM and so I guess this weekend may have a long conference all with him in store.

And so, Friday is here. I’m glad for the rest that the weekends bring. Next week is one more week without the PM around. Hopefully I can get most things sorted out with him during the weekend while he’s out from camp. And hope next week is not such a taxing week. Thank God for his guidance throughout the entire week. Tiring but I think, to a certain extent, quite fruitful.

Time to get back to work. Until the next time, cheers… :Þ

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Edition 232 – Long Overdue Edition

And so I’m back in Taipei. And plenty of things happened since my last entry and this one. Well, okay.. Not that many things. Just a couple worth mentioning and I shall mention them in this entry.

The CHCTV Expo Christmas Drama Team 2007

First and foremost, here’s the picture (above) of the Christmas drama team that I promised. Long overdue. I want to post more but then the fact that I’m in Taipei and the photos are not with me prevents me from posting more. Anyhow, there’s the fantastic Expo Christmas drama team, the one that I’m very proud of…

 CHCTV Appreciation 2007

On to the next event. The TV Ministry had it’s appreciation on 2 January 2008 at Settler’s Cafe, Holland Village. It’s a different kind of appreciation that the ones we’re used to. This time round, we gather, short speech and then it’s free and easy till the end. Lots of noise made as Settler’s Cafe, for the uninitiated, is a place where one can sit down and play various board and card games. One of the noisier games played that night: Taboo!!! Not many pictures taken. Just that one group photo I have and that group is not the TV Ministry’s full strength. We had a simple lucky draw at the end. 3rd prize was a $30 Takashimaya voucher, 2nd was $50 and 1st was $80. The amazing thing: all won by Saturday team members. It was pretty unbelievable though. But important thing was that we all had fun fellowshipping and making plenty of noise.

And that weekend, I flew back to Taipei. Week 1 of 4 is almost over and I’m looking forward to flying back for CNY. Productive week, I must say. And the next two weeks is going to be challenging because my PM will be away for In-Camp Training, a.k.a reservist. Hope nothing major crops up.

FL and WX in Taipei for the weekend. So going to hang out with them a bit while they’re here. It’s such a blessings to have friends coming up to Taipei while I’m here. Get to hang with them. Makes the time I spend here that much more bearable.

Sheesh, I make it sound as if I’m dying here. But I really am praying and hoping that it’s really going to end soon. I want to be back in SG permanently for a while and not just one month. I miss home. I miss church. I miss Debbie. I’m missing my friends’ weddings. And this time round, I’m missing my anniversary with Debbie. Argh!!!!

Okay, I shall stop complaining. It’s getting late and I shall head off to bed. Until the next time in the near near future, cheers… :Þ

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Edition 228 – Christmas

Somehow, it doesn’t feel like Christmas this year again. But the fact is that Christmas is just around the corner. Next Tuesday to be exact. And I just don’t have that Christmas feeling. Busyness of work? Perhaps. I hope that feeling rolls around soon. Maybe it’s a choice to make to have that Christmas feeling. Oh well….

This year’s Christmas production is pretty good. Been through 2 rehearsals already and it’s shaping up to be pretty good. Getting a bit nervous though as I’d need to start directing come Thursday. It struck me that I haven’t directed a drama in ages. I pray that God will guide me and everything turns out well. I want to play my part to make this year’s production the best yet. It’s going to be a long Thursday and Friday as the drama team moves in to Expo. There’ll be lots of tech runs and full-dress runs and definitely a lot of waiting time in between. But like every drama, I’m looking forward to the fellowship and the fun the drama crew will have together.

Went for a jog yesterday night after ages of not jogging. Now my legs hurt. Well, not hurt until I can’t walk, but still I can feel the pain when I walk. But it was good. Felt very refreshed after that jog although I couldn’t jog as far or keep up my previous pace for obvious reasons. Going to try to get in some more sessions before I start flying to Taiwan again.

Going to head back to work now. Will update again when I have the chance. I will try to get a post in or two in between runs at Expo. It’s going to be like camping there. Haha… Until then, cheers… :Þ

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Edition 227 – God Is Good!!

The day is finally here. I’m going back to Singapore tomorrow morning. Have been looking forward to this day since the day I arrived here. Praise the Lord that the day has finally arrived.

But…. God’s blessings doesn’t end there. This afternoon, my PM informed me that there is a change to the traveling schedule for us and that we would be back in Singapore for Christmas and New Year. Hey, that is good news indeed. But then in my heart I was thinking, I will still miss being involved in the Christmas production this year. Oh well, something is better than nothing, or so the saying goes.

Then I received the schedule on paper. My heart leapt. I would’ve jumped up and down if I was not in the office. The even better news? That I would not have to come back to Taipei until early next year!! Which means that I get to spend some time back in Singapore with my dearest, at church, with my cell group, etc. And also, I can get involved in Christmas Drama!! WOOT!!! You just can’t imagine how happy I am right now.

And after some shifting of flight bookings here and there, I managed to convince my boss to allow me and a colleague to purchase a promotional two-to-fly ticket from SIA. So when I come back to Taiwan next year, it’ll be on SIA. This is so exciting. After getting the news, not much mood left to work.

All I can say is: PRAISE THE LORD!!!! Until the next time, cheers… :Þ

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Edition 226 – Frustrations

Going to unload a bit in this post, so pardon me.

It was a pretty decent day today except for one conversation over Skype that kind of drove me almost over the edge of losing my temper.

So here’s the situation. I was asked to make changes to a program that is used to submit a SMS or MMS for sending. And so I made the changes, tested the program out and it all worked fine and dandy. So I called my fellow developers who are going to use the program. And after a brief discussion, a comment was made that the changes did not meet what he had in mind. I was like can I read your mind? You never even tell me what you had in mind in the first place and I’m expected to know? And it’s not like this is the only thing I’m working on now. I don’t mind making changes, just let me know what is expected and I’ll try my best to work to what is expected. Argh….

Anyway, it’s all behind me now. Just wanted to rant a bit. Friday is fast approaching and I don’t want anything to spoil the mood. Looking forward to boarding that plane on Friday morning and zooming back to Singapore.

Until next time, cheers… :Þ