I have a proud new father of a baby sitting next to me at work now. His baby was born sometime last week and he got back to work this week. All morning he has been proudly showing off his daughter’s pictures to anybody who is willing to see them. It’s rather sweet – I have never been exposed to a new father at work before – and it’s beautiful to see a whole new side of people.
This morning, he came up with “She’s rather advanced for her age” to his colleagues, all of whom I have to point out are men. I know its sweet but I can’t help thinking dude, she is 2-3 days old, how do you know? He has been proudly proclaiming that she sleeps through the night and my cynical self cant help think “Don’t say that aloud !!! Haven’t you heard of the lurking jinx monster?”
Another commented that his baby girl looked like a ‘real baby’. Hmm, so what did you expect her to look like? I obviously can’t say this aloud because I don’t know them well enough as yet, but it sure did bring a smile to my face.
Showing posts with label Work. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Work. Show all posts
Tuesday, 4 March 2008
Friday, 29 February 2008
Having a choice..
I started at my new workplace this week. I like the new place, work is interesting and my new manager is wonderful, which is a big welcome change from my old place. I particularly like the fact that I can search for Calculus’s name within my office email client for it to show up, because we both work for the same parent company now ( I know, I know am easy to please that way). We are in different buildings, but just down the road from each other.
I am surrounded by sales people though and you can tell instantly – they are overtly friendly, use cheesy, clichéd lines all the time and are gregarious, welcoming and are constantly on the phone talking revenues, license fees etc. It’s quite a big change for me from my old place which was development centric and will take a bit of getting used to.
After hearing cheesy lines all of yesterday, your ears get attuned to it and you hardly notice them any more. Yet this morning when one of the sales people jested with another that ‘Nothing’s perfect in this place, except you S’, I could not help but smile inwardly.
However, nothing of the work day prepared me for the way I felt when I went home. As soon as I got home, my tear ducts started working overtime and I just could not control myself. I never imagined for a second that I would miss my little one so much. The enormous sense of guilt, wondering if I did the right thing by changing a perfect routine that we had established, arguing back and forth within my own head about the merits of staying home vs. working. I have always been very career focussed and driven, so this came as a big shock to me. It was never this hard for me – probably just the fact that I don’t need to be at work all day made it pleasant, or maybe it was just the choice of going home when I pleased which made it worthwhile at my old place. Either way, I am hoping that this is just teething trouble, that it’s a phase which will pass and that I will be at peace with whatever decision I make.
I am surrounded by sales people though and you can tell instantly – they are overtly friendly, use cheesy, clichéd lines all the time and are gregarious, welcoming and are constantly on the phone talking revenues, license fees etc. It’s quite a big change for me from my old place which was development centric and will take a bit of getting used to.
After hearing cheesy lines all of yesterday, your ears get attuned to it and you hardly notice them any more. Yet this morning when one of the sales people jested with another that ‘Nothing’s perfect in this place, except you S’, I could not help but smile inwardly.
However, nothing of the work day prepared me for the way I felt when I went home. As soon as I got home, my tear ducts started working overtime and I just could not control myself. I never imagined for a second that I would miss my little one so much. The enormous sense of guilt, wondering if I did the right thing by changing a perfect routine that we had established, arguing back and forth within my own head about the merits of staying home vs. working. I have always been very career focussed and driven, so this came as a big shock to me. It was never this hard for me – probably just the fact that I don’t need to be at work all day made it pleasant, or maybe it was just the choice of going home when I pleased which made it worthwhile at my old place. Either way, I am hoping that this is just teething trouble, that it’s a phase which will pass and that I will be at peace with whatever decision I make.
Friday, 8 February 2008
How long is a month ?
How much is a month’s notice ? You would think a month is taken as from the 1st of January to 31st of January or from the 28th January to 27th February right ? Nnnoo noo, not in our office. Our HR calculates one month as 25th January to 25th February. WTF ?
So I wrote to HR asking how they arrived at such a date. The HR lady respond saying that in our office, a month is taken as a month and not 4 weeks ! Who can fault that logic ? So I patiently explained to her that even if I take a month as 31 days from 28th January, it works out to 27th February and not 28th February. I told her how I had arrived at 31 days – considering there are 366 days this year (being a leap year), I divide that by 12, which gives me 30.5. Even after being generous and rounding that off to 31 days, it works out to be 27th February.
I thought she would certainly buy that logic of mine, but no. She responds with this email
“There is no calculation for this, we work on the basis of a months notice, and so we apply the same day in the following month as the last day. If this causes issues for you, your last day of employment can be the 27th February”.
Of course it causes issues for me, you moron. Why do I even have to explain this simple piece of logic to you ? Possibly nobody has raised this issue before, but that’s not my freaking problem is it ? And just because nobody has raised this in the past, it does not make it right. Also please don’t make it sound as if you are doing me a favour, because you are freaking not. I just want what is rightfully mine.
Sorry for being so pedantic, but it’s a matter of principle more than anything else. Working one extra day here is certainly not going to kill me. But why should I work an extra day just because you are incompetent and not doing your job properly ?
So I wrote to HR asking how they arrived at such a date. The HR lady respond saying that in our office, a month is taken as a month and not 4 weeks ! Who can fault that logic ? So I patiently explained to her that even if I take a month as 31 days from 28th January, it works out to 27th February and not 28th February. I told her how I had arrived at 31 days – considering there are 366 days this year (being a leap year), I divide that by 12, which gives me 30.5. Even after being generous and rounding that off to 31 days, it works out to be 27th February.
I thought she would certainly buy that logic of mine, but no. She responds with this email
“There is no calculation for this, we work on the basis of a months notice, and so we apply the same day in the following month as the last day. If this causes issues for you, your last day of employment can be the 27th February”.
Of course it causes issues for me, you moron. Why do I even have to explain this simple piece of logic to you ? Possibly nobody has raised this issue before, but that’s not my freaking problem is it ? And just because nobody has raised this in the past, it does not make it right. Also please don’t make it sound as if you are doing me a favour, because you are freaking not. I just want what is rightfully mine.
Sorry for being so pedantic, but it’s a matter of principle more than anything else. Working one extra day here is certainly not going to kill me. But why should I work an extra day just because you are incompetent and not doing your job properly ?
Tuesday, 8 January 2008
Work Bungles..
I have never been much of a talker and am more of a listener. I say something only when I think it adds some value to the conversation. I am inherently quite a shy person and talking does not come naturally to me. (I can almost see a couple of people rolling their eyes as they read this, but its true). Maybe I should qualify my last statement a bit more – talking about me does not come naturally to me at all and yet I talk much more now than I ever used to. Before I say anything, I will mentally weigh the merit of saying it and many a times I don’t say anything for fear of coming across as silly and ill-informed.
It’s the same at work – I have a select few whom I am quite close to and will talk to about stuff. On the whole though, I like to come in, keep my head down and get on with my work. I have never faced a problem because of it though because for the large part, my work has held me in good stead. Recently though, something happened at work which made me sit up and reconsider my stance on office behaviour.
There have been a lot of organisational changes in my workplace recently. They have combined a couple of business units (including mine) to form bigger departments or segments as they like to call it. My reporting structure has been changed too and I now have to report to a colleague (lets call him HD) who is on the same level as me. Normally I don’t have any qualms about whom I report to, because of the way things function round here. We are given a fairly free hand with respect to how we deliver our work so long as we deliver it. There is not too much of micro-management and people normally just get on with what’s to be done. So it does not really make much difference about whom you report to.
Yet this time it is very different. HD is so so limited in his repertoire of knowledge and he certainly cannot mentor or guide me in my sphere of work at all because he knows absolutely nothing about it. This is not a secret either and most people know this, and so I guess even the powers that be are aware of it. Now here’s the thing. I think HD was considered for that position only because he talks a lot. He makes his presence felt, talks a lot – not about work most times, always goes out for drinks with everybody (which believe me is a big part of socialising here), does some consultancy too (which helps because our team is only called for consulting if there is a critical problem on-site and if you can fix that, then you get noticed more) – the last two of which I have not been able to do because of the baby. Not that I regret not doing any of those for even a minute, it’s just that it does mean that I tend to get noticed less.
I also want to clarify that I am not interested in his new position either. To be honest, I don’t envy him at all because they are setting him up to fail. They have given him a project, which is so complex with stringent deadlines that there is no way on earth that the project will be successfully completed. He knows it and probably the middle management know it too but the project sponsor and senior management don’t have a clue. To be fair to HD, he is a nice guy and I get along well with him, just don’t think he is suitable in the role of my boss..
So I am in a quandary now. Do I start talking more only because I want to get noticed ? As soon as the managers arrive (many of the senior management are in the US), do I make more of an effort ? That sounds so shallow and so unlike me. And it would be hypocritical.
This episode affected me quite a lot over the Christmas period and dampened my spirits considerably. Now I do have alternate plans in mind because I am not one to take things lying down, specially if I think its an injustice. I have also been chanting a lot about this situation because it has made me deeply unhappy. Today I came to the office and my old boss casually mentions that the plan to promote HD is on hold. Apparently, they made an announcement rather quickly before the big boss had formally approved the decision !!! I know, I know such things can only happen at my workplace. The plan to promote HD is still there, but doesn’t come into effect until 6 months and that too only if the big man is convinced that HD is the right man for the job. I have to say I feel a teenie-weenie bit sorry for HD, but I am so so relieved that things are back to how they were.
It’s the same at work – I have a select few whom I am quite close to and will talk to about stuff. On the whole though, I like to come in, keep my head down and get on with my work. I have never faced a problem because of it though because for the large part, my work has held me in good stead. Recently though, something happened at work which made me sit up and reconsider my stance on office behaviour.
There have been a lot of organisational changes in my workplace recently. They have combined a couple of business units (including mine) to form bigger departments or segments as they like to call it. My reporting structure has been changed too and I now have to report to a colleague (lets call him HD) who is on the same level as me. Normally I don’t have any qualms about whom I report to, because of the way things function round here. We are given a fairly free hand with respect to how we deliver our work so long as we deliver it. There is not too much of micro-management and people normally just get on with what’s to be done. So it does not really make much difference about whom you report to.
Yet this time it is very different. HD is so so limited in his repertoire of knowledge and he certainly cannot mentor or guide me in my sphere of work at all because he knows absolutely nothing about it. This is not a secret either and most people know this, and so I guess even the powers that be are aware of it. Now here’s the thing. I think HD was considered for that position only because he talks a lot. He makes his presence felt, talks a lot – not about work most times, always goes out for drinks with everybody (which believe me is a big part of socialising here), does some consultancy too (which helps because our team is only called for consulting if there is a critical problem on-site and if you can fix that, then you get noticed more) – the last two of which I have not been able to do because of the baby. Not that I regret not doing any of those for even a minute, it’s just that it does mean that I tend to get noticed less.
I also want to clarify that I am not interested in his new position either. To be honest, I don’t envy him at all because they are setting him up to fail. They have given him a project, which is so complex with stringent deadlines that there is no way on earth that the project will be successfully completed. He knows it and probably the middle management know it too but the project sponsor and senior management don’t have a clue. To be fair to HD, he is a nice guy and I get along well with him, just don’t think he is suitable in the role of my boss..
So I am in a quandary now. Do I start talking more only because I want to get noticed ? As soon as the managers arrive (many of the senior management are in the US), do I make more of an effort ? That sounds so shallow and so unlike me. And it would be hypocritical.
This episode affected me quite a lot over the Christmas period and dampened my spirits considerably. Now I do have alternate plans in mind because I am not one to take things lying down, specially if I think its an injustice. I have also been chanting a lot about this situation because it has made me deeply unhappy. Today I came to the office and my old boss casually mentions that the plan to promote HD is on hold. Apparently, they made an announcement rather quickly before the big boss had formally approved the decision !!! I know, I know such things can only happen at my workplace. The plan to promote HD is still there, but doesn’t come into effect until 6 months and that too only if the big man is convinced that HD is the right man for the job. I have to say I feel a teenie-weenie bit sorry for HD, but I am so so relieved that things are back to how they were.
Thursday, 20 December 2007
Update on Christmas party..
The Christmas party went off well. My dress was a big hit – there were a lot of people who came up to me and complimented me. Then there were some who said that they did not recognise me. I am not sure if that was meant as a compliment or an insult, but since it is the season of festivity and cheer, I am going to take it as a compliment.
The party itself was great or rubbish, depending on whom you asked. There was a free bar and loads of alcohol flowing around, but no proper food. Just canapés and finger food. That’s good if you can eat whatever’s on offer – but for somebody like me who is a vegetarian, it can only mean one thing – disaster. It wasn’t even a buffet – just pretty, svelte, nimble, young little girls walking around with platters of food. So of course, if you were not lucky enough to sit anywhere near where the waitresses chose to walk, you were left high and dry. In my case, an additional layer of complexity of those platters having to be vegetarian meant that my chances were even slimmer. Suffice to say that there were a lot of hungry, angry people out there that night.
I don’t know what it is about alcohol which makes people start behaving in a really strange and rather foolish way. There was a lady from the restaurant whose job that evening it was to walk on stilts dressed like an angel. Of course I don’t know what the point of that was, but that’s another story. My colleagues were dishing out one crude joke after another, standing next to the stilt lady and all she could do was smile. It was not just their jokes, their whole behaviour, mannerisms, attitude was wrong. I could not stand there after a while – I so wanted to puke.
It was another colleague’s last day at work that day. I have worked with him for a long time and he is one of the oldest surviving few in my department. He was rather drunk too by the time I left. He walked up to me and said something which bordered on inappropriate but I decided to give him the benefit of doubt and walked away as quickly as I possibly could. I don’t know what it is about alcohol which makes it ok for people to take such liberties with people. I don’t have anything with people drinking at all, far from the contrary. But I think its so crucial to know your limits and know when to stop.
Then there was this other senior guy B who had so much to drink that he could not remember where he lived !!! We hailed a cab for him on a crowded, busy road and B had a vacant, blank look on his face. The taxi driver was a good man and so he waited till B finally managed to blurt out where he wanted to go. Of course I don’t know if that was home and frankly I don’t want to know either.
Have a great Christmas everybody and see you on the other side of it.
The party itself was great or rubbish, depending on whom you asked. There was a free bar and loads of alcohol flowing around, but no proper food. Just canapés and finger food. That’s good if you can eat whatever’s on offer – but for somebody like me who is a vegetarian, it can only mean one thing – disaster. It wasn’t even a buffet – just pretty, svelte, nimble, young little girls walking around with platters of food. So of course, if you were not lucky enough to sit anywhere near where the waitresses chose to walk, you were left high and dry. In my case, an additional layer of complexity of those platters having to be vegetarian meant that my chances were even slimmer. Suffice to say that there were a lot of hungry, angry people out there that night.
I don’t know what it is about alcohol which makes people start behaving in a really strange and rather foolish way. There was a lady from the restaurant whose job that evening it was to walk on stilts dressed like an angel. Of course I don’t know what the point of that was, but that’s another story. My colleagues were dishing out one crude joke after another, standing next to the stilt lady and all she could do was smile. It was not just their jokes, their whole behaviour, mannerisms, attitude was wrong. I could not stand there after a while – I so wanted to puke.
It was another colleague’s last day at work that day. I have worked with him for a long time and he is one of the oldest surviving few in my department. He was rather drunk too by the time I left. He walked up to me and said something which bordered on inappropriate but I decided to give him the benefit of doubt and walked away as quickly as I possibly could. I don’t know what it is about alcohol which makes it ok for people to take such liberties with people. I don’t have anything with people drinking at all, far from the contrary. But I think its so crucial to know your limits and know when to stop.
Then there was this other senior guy B who had so much to drink that he could not remember where he lived !!! We hailed a cab for him on a crowded, busy road and B had a vacant, blank look on his face. The taxi driver was a good man and so he waited till B finally managed to blurt out where he wanted to go. Of course I don’t know if that was home and frankly I don’t want to know either.
Have a great Christmas everybody and see you on the other side of it.
Saturday, 6 October 2007
Perceptions
A colleague (B) of mine said that I was intimidating last week ! I did not see that one coming at all. He did not think I was but he said he could understand why newcomers would say that. I was quite shocked because I do not think I am intimidating at all.
This whole talk started because we have a new girl in our team, who started working here recently. I have been trying to get a girl to join for absolutely months now and have been actively campaigning for this for ages mainly because there is no other girl in my team. I get along well with all my team but its just nice to have some girly talk occasionally. So I was really excited when this girl joined. She is an Indian but is so not my type. I know I am being very very nasty and judgemental when I say this but I don't have any patience for people who cannot string together a sentence in English properly. In spite of that, I tried speaking to her for a few days but it has seemed so tedious because they were like question and answer sessions each time I spoke to her. Also she got on a really wrong foot on the very second day when our conversation went something like this. (am paraphrasing her bits..)
She – How long does it take you to commute to work ?
Me – About 30 minutes door to door.
She – That’s good. I take an hour and a half.
Me – Oh, that’s quite long
She – Where do you live ?
Me – So I mention the place.
She – Do you own your place ?
Me – No
She – How big is your place and how much rent do you pay ?
Me – {shocked} – blurt out something and make a quick exit
I don’t know what it is about us Indians (am generalising again, but hey this is my blog) who think it is ok to ask such details, so soon after meeting someone. I mean, if she was genuinely interested in moving closer to work and hence considering the option of where we live, surely there are better ways of approaching the issue. Why do people launch straight into asking about figures and not even consider for a minute that it’s rude ? I don’t ask my close friends such questions. Also if you wanted to find out such information, the internet is a treasure-house of knowledge. There are multiple websites which indicate how much a property has sold for, if there are houses available for rent in the area etc. So use them instead of asking people you have met so recently, because its not ok to do that. I digress though.
Anyway what B said got me thinking and I can easily see (in hindsight) why people would think that I am intimidating. I sometimes chair our weekly team meetings and these meetings are simply not the most exciting of meetings to attend. My aim, therefore, is to keep them as short as possible and in doing so, many a times, I might have come across as quite matter-of-fact and stern. B tells me that some of the team are really scared and say yes to any action that I assign to them !! Of course, he is exaggerating but even so… I just like to assign an owner, decide a date before which it can be sorted and move on. Now if that’s being stern and intimidating, then maybe I am. But its so much about perception. You never know how people perceive you and this was quite an eye-opener for me.
This whole talk started because we have a new girl in our team, who started working here recently. I have been trying to get a girl to join for absolutely months now and have been actively campaigning for this for ages mainly because there is no other girl in my team. I get along well with all my team but its just nice to have some girly talk occasionally. So I was really excited when this girl joined. She is an Indian but is so not my type. I know I am being very very nasty and judgemental when I say this but I don't have any patience for people who cannot string together a sentence in English properly. In spite of that, I tried speaking to her for a few days but it has seemed so tedious because they were like question and answer sessions each time I spoke to her. Also she got on a really wrong foot on the very second day when our conversation went something like this. (am paraphrasing her bits..)
She – How long does it take you to commute to work ?
Me – About 30 minutes door to door.
She – That’s good. I take an hour and a half.
Me – Oh, that’s quite long
She – Where do you live ?
Me – So I mention the place.
She – Do you own your place ?
Me – No
She – How big is your place and how much rent do you pay ?
Me – {shocked} – blurt out something and make a quick exit
I don’t know what it is about us Indians (am generalising again, but hey this is my blog) who think it is ok to ask such details, so soon after meeting someone. I mean, if she was genuinely interested in moving closer to work and hence considering the option of where we live, surely there are better ways of approaching the issue. Why do people launch straight into asking about figures and not even consider for a minute that it’s rude ? I don’t ask my close friends such questions. Also if you wanted to find out such information, the internet is a treasure-house of knowledge. There are multiple websites which indicate how much a property has sold for, if there are houses available for rent in the area etc. So use them instead of asking people you have met so recently, because its not ok to do that. I digress though.
Anyway what B said got me thinking and I can easily see (in hindsight) why people would think that I am intimidating. I sometimes chair our weekly team meetings and these meetings are simply not the most exciting of meetings to attend. My aim, therefore, is to keep them as short as possible and in doing so, many a times, I might have come across as quite matter-of-fact and stern. B tells me that some of the team are really scared and say yes to any action that I assign to them !! Of course, he is exaggerating but even so… I just like to assign an owner, decide a date before which it can be sorted and move on. Now if that’s being stern and intimidating, then maybe I am. But its so much about perception. You never know how people perceive you and this was quite an eye-opener for me.
Thursday, 20 September 2007
Wardrobe Attitudes
I was speaking to our admin lady in office today. During our conversation, I complimented her on her new outfits since she has been sporting smart, new outfits all week. We then got chatting about shopping habits and she was telling me about how she goes and revamps her wardrobe once every couple of months. She buys new clothes and gives away her old ones each time, unlike me who will only discard something in my wardrobe after a good couple of years, even though I may never worn that blouse or trouser for the last year !! Also, she was saying she always buys a lot of outfits and wears them all new one after the other, which again is very different from my style. If I buy something new today, I have to wear it tomorrow, if I haven’t already worn it today. I can never save new clothes – I just have to wear them immediately.
Our office doesn’t have a dress code. Till last year, we could wear torn jeans, shorts, mini-skirts, spaghetti tops – whatever you wanted and nobody cared. Things have changed slightly on that front this year, in that you cannot wear torn jeans or shorts anymore but normal jeans are just fine. Our team can still wear jeans as we don’t deal with clients but the client services team have to wear business formals now, all thanks to a new manager in their team. Our admin lady was saying how she disapproves with people wearing jeans to work and that people should dress smartly. I disagreed with her completely – I wear jeans to work all the time (except when I am meeting clients, when of course, I have to wear suits) and going back to wearing business formals sounds very tiresome to me. Admin lady was saying that she doesn’t like wearing jeans to work because she doesn’t feel any different during the weekend then. In her head, she has associated jeans with weekends and business formals with weekdays and the two don’t mix. I find that a strange concept and just could not get my head around it. For me, clothes are just that – and my weekends will always be different to my weekdays. I don’t need any external indications to identify a weekend – I just feel different.
Also, I don’t think clothes make any difference to the way you work – so I cannot understand why you have to wear a business suit to meet a client. Why doesn’t the entire world relax their dress code and wear something which is utilitarian, yet smart. None of this tight collar-hugging ties, no more suits, no more pencil skirts with heels. We attach far too much importance to what we wear (I am guilty of this at times too) and somewhere along the road, I think we are losing the plot.
Our office doesn’t have a dress code. Till last year, we could wear torn jeans, shorts, mini-skirts, spaghetti tops – whatever you wanted and nobody cared. Things have changed slightly on that front this year, in that you cannot wear torn jeans or shorts anymore but normal jeans are just fine. Our team can still wear jeans as we don’t deal with clients but the client services team have to wear business formals now, all thanks to a new manager in their team. Our admin lady was saying how she disapproves with people wearing jeans to work and that people should dress smartly. I disagreed with her completely – I wear jeans to work all the time (except when I am meeting clients, when of course, I have to wear suits) and going back to wearing business formals sounds very tiresome to me. Admin lady was saying that she doesn’t like wearing jeans to work because she doesn’t feel any different during the weekend then. In her head, she has associated jeans with weekends and business formals with weekdays and the two don’t mix. I find that a strange concept and just could not get my head around it. For me, clothes are just that – and my weekends will always be different to my weekdays. I don’t need any external indications to identify a weekend – I just feel different.
Also, I don’t think clothes make any difference to the way you work – so I cannot understand why you have to wear a business suit to meet a client. Why doesn’t the entire world relax their dress code and wear something which is utilitarian, yet smart. None of this tight collar-hugging ties, no more suits, no more pencil skirts with heels. We attach far too much importance to what we wear (I am guilty of this at times too) and somewhere along the road, I think we are losing the plot.
Saturday, 8 September 2007
Work Attitudes
I have recently moved from one team to another within the same department. My old role was client facing and involved a lot of travel. A lot of the travel was last-minute to fire-fight client problems. I am not sure if this is how it is done in other offices, but travelling was always haphazard when it came to our office. No confirmation of plans till the night before, just a few hours to book flights, accommodation and take care of other travel arrangements. At the time, it suited me just fine and I have undertaken many a travels in this fashion. Often the excitement of going to a new country and sometimes a new continent (for instance South Africa) sustained me and in fact, I thrived on it.
I moved team in the early stages of my pregnancy. I had planned to move team around the end of my pregnancy, but things turned out quite differently. I was asked to work on a long-term project across the pond (for those not familiar with this terminology - I mean USA), which involved regular travel. I checked with my doctor about travelling in the first trimester and she told that its advisable to not travel. So I had to tell my immediate boss about why I did not want to work on that project and asked to work on a local UK project. Around the same time, I decided to move team and actively started working on that, because a lot of our projects were in the US. So I have not travelled on work for over an year now. Frankly, I dont miss it either.
The reason I am reminded about all of this is because a colleague of mine has been constantly asking me why I dont travel anymore. Its not as if he doesnt know about my daughter either. I have told him umpteen times that I have a good enough reason and I am not interested in travelling, yet he asks me about twice a week !! On Friday, I had to explicitly tell him yet again that I am not interested in travelling to the US on Sunday. I cant quite understand why he asks me so often - its not as if he asks me 10 times, I am going to get fed up and say yes the 11th time, am I ? He says he doesnt want to travel and so I should go ?? I dont get it - I have decided to just ignore him and put it to down to drinking too much over the week..
I moved team in the early stages of my pregnancy. I had planned to move team around the end of my pregnancy, but things turned out quite differently. I was asked to work on a long-term project across the pond (for those not familiar with this terminology - I mean USA), which involved regular travel. I checked with my doctor about travelling in the first trimester and she told that its advisable to not travel. So I had to tell my immediate boss about why I did not want to work on that project and asked to work on a local UK project. Around the same time, I decided to move team and actively started working on that, because a lot of our projects were in the US. So I have not travelled on work for over an year now. Frankly, I dont miss it either.
The reason I am reminded about all of this is because a colleague of mine has been constantly asking me why I dont travel anymore. Its not as if he doesnt know about my daughter either. I have told him umpteen times that I have a good enough reason and I am not interested in travelling, yet he asks me about twice a week !! On Friday, I had to explicitly tell him yet again that I am not interested in travelling to the US on Sunday. I cant quite understand why he asks me so often - its not as if he asks me 10 times, I am going to get fed up and say yes the 11th time, am I ? He says he doesnt want to travel and so I should go ?? I dont get it - I have decided to just ignore him and put it to down to drinking too much over the week..
Thursday, 2 August 2007
Work Delights
I had a rather wonderful day at work today !! A team member of mine had child care problems for his son. His nanny bailed out this morning and the nursery was full. So he had to bring his son into work. Our initial thoughts were that he would just come in to the office, equip his laptop with all the stuff that he needed and work from home for the rest of the day. His son, though had other plans !
He settled in rather well in our office in his own chair, keeping himself amused by watching Pingu , complete with headphones. He fed himself, doodled a bit, coloured for a while, talked to some of us for well over 3 hours, which I thought was incredible. He was really well behaved, though he would ask his daddy questions once in a while. One of my other colleagues asked his dad how old he is, to which his dad replied 3.5 years. The little boy though had other ideas and literally screamed "no daddy, I am nine !!!!"..What joy !!
He settled in rather well in our office in his own chair, keeping himself amused by watching Pingu , complete with headphones. He fed himself, doodled a bit, coloured for a while, talked to some of us for well over 3 hours, which I thought was incredible. He was really well behaved, though he would ask his daddy questions once in a while. One of my other colleagues asked his dad how old he is, to which his dad replied 3.5 years. The little boy though had other ideas and literally screamed "no daddy, I am nine !!!!"..What joy !!
Friday, 6 July 2007
I so agree....
Men 'no less chatty than women'.
I work in a department where women are in a minority. We are largely under-represented and I am the only woman in the financial modelling side of things. The other women belong within the domain of project management. Since they are in a separate part of the office, I have to fight my corner all alone on gender-related arguments. We have spoken about this topic lots of times and I always get shouted down by their sheer numbers. This article should shut them up.
I work in a department where women are in a minority. We are largely under-represented and I am the only woman in the financial modelling side of things. The other women belong within the domain of project management. Since they are in a separate part of the office, I have to fight my corner all alone on gender-related arguments. We have spoken about this topic lots of times and I always get shouted down by their sheer numbers. This article should shut them up.
Wednesday, 4 July 2007
Back to Work..
I started work last week. After six whole months of not going to work, it felt really strange to walk into the office. We have a huge shortage of desk space in our department, so I was half-expecting to come in and scout for an empty one. I was quite pleasantly surprised to see that they had kept it empty for me.. It was quite a shock though to see that things were progressing smoothly in the office, almost as if I was expecting them not to !! The first day was a real challenge and the only thing which kept me going was the fact that I was meeting some lovely lady bloggers for lunch plus the fact that I could leave for home after that.
I miss the little one a lot during the day. The day seems so much bleaker without her smile to start the day. Since I start work early, there are many days when she doesn't wake up before I leave. But I guess I should not really complain, for I am home by about 3ish..
As time has gone by, going to work itself has got easier. I am slowly getting back into different projects and time passes by in a flash. But it is a real luxury coming back by 3 - probably a career change to have that permanently is something I should explore more closely.
I miss the little one a lot during the day. The day seems so much bleaker without her smile to start the day. Since I start work early, there are many days when she doesn't wake up before I leave. But I guess I should not really complain, for I am home by about 3ish..
As time has gone by, going to work itself has got easier. I am slowly getting back into different projects and time passes by in a flash. But it is a real luxury coming back by 3 - probably a career change to have that permanently is something I should explore more closely.
Thursday, 22 March 2007
Workplace Woes
There is this person in my office, lets call him Mr H, who doesn't have much of a clue about most work-related things. He is a consultant, so he goes to various different sites across the UK and abroad, representing our company. The company obviously makes a LOTTT of money when he is away on-site. Once away from office, his best friends are his phone and blackberry - phoning the office when the clients want an urgent answer and using his blackberry for other non-urgent questions. Of course since the company reputation is at stake, we had to rescue him..He has survived very well with this approach and to top it all, rumour has it that he has the best negotiated salary package and bonus structure among all the consultants. So when he resigned a few weeks ago, all of us in the office heaved a huge sigh of relief at the fact that we don't have to answer his questions any more.
We just heard that he has joined a partner company of ours in the Middle East and we have to continue to support him. Our MD has made it clear to all of us (it is not a hidden fact at all that he is no good) that we have to support him because none of the other consultants want to work in the Middle East and this is a valuable contract for us. So while we answer his stupid questions (and often repeat ones) sitting here in London, this guy is making a killing in the Middle East because he has negotiated a better deal now - working on a MEGA daily rate !!!!! Life is unfair !!!!!!
I had to rant about this post-lunch as it has just infuriated me......AAAAAARRRRRRRGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHH...
We just heard that he has joined a partner company of ours in the Middle East and we have to continue to support him. Our MD has made it clear to all of us (it is not a hidden fact at all that he is no good) that we have to support him because none of the other consultants want to work in the Middle East and this is a valuable contract for us. So while we answer his stupid questions (and often repeat ones) sitting here in London, this guy is making a killing in the Middle East because he has negotiated a better deal now - working on a MEGA daily rate !!!!! Life is unfair !!!!!!
I had to rant about this post-lunch as it has just infuriated me......AAAAAARRRRRRRGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHH...
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