I'm on call

I'm feeling good today...as today is the "Malaysia Day"

I'm not going to complain about "Malaysia Day" though....I'm not a politician and nor have good knowledge about the whole thing...

I'm off today!!! Kebetulan my beloved Sabah is on holiday as well....so, I guess all the Sabahans are enjoying their day off and some might have already gone home to kampung halaman from today onwards up to next Monday...

It sounds funny when my Manager asked me to be "on call" today as he's already on 8 days off since this Monday....I've always been "on call" even if he didn't ask for it so it really does not make any different at all...well, he phoned in last night to ask me another favour if I could cover his schedule on next Friday (he's supposed to supervise our juniors) I simply say...it's alright as I don't have plan on that day...

Right! Since i'm "On Call" today..I've been receiving couple of calls from colleagues for help and guidance since 10am (as that's the time the Manager had scheduled for others to call me..hehe..) I opened my webmail and there have loads of email from Oz customers...well, some of them just follow up emails...I don't really bother about those as they've already been dealt with...new issues have to be dealt soon as possible (within 2 hours based on urgency)...even developer had to call me for guidance on how to get connected with customer's server? Thankfully (thanked God) I have a good memory so I could remember the IPs for both VPN and RDP as well as their login credentials...and they've finally able to review/investigate those issues...good luck!

Have a great Malaysia Day chaps!

New Pattern

We have now started the new shift pattern...after discussion over discussion we decided to apply this new shift pattern...which I think quite productive in term of long term performance enhancement...

1. Evening-night (UK) shift continuously (3 months or more)
2. 4 days evening-night (UK) shift per week
3. 3 Patterns: A - Off day is Fri, B - Off day is Mon and C - Off day is Wed
4. No pay cut, instead evening-night allowance continues as normal

Right! I'm currently been allocated to Pattern A as I was off yesterday and I'm on to Pattern B next week which also means that I have 4 days off this week!!!

This week alone, it was a tiring week for me....I had and will be monitoring our 2 new colleagues.....the manager has told me that perhaps from next week onwards for a couple of weeks..I would need to stop supporting customers for awhile but guiding new colleagues to ensure they guided customers to do the right thing...

It's a relief but I don't really prefer to do this...we have a performance statistic report every week since July..it tells you how many calls have you dealt with, average duration on phone, how many calls have been resolved in 1/2/3/4/5 days, utilisation of hours work and lastly percentage of performance....I'm proud of myself!!! I beat the UK colleagues twice consecutively in July by becoming "Employee of the Week"...I'm hoping to continue my streak this week as well..hehe..fingers crossed :P

In UK, if you were the "Employee of the Week"...you'd be honoured with a bottle of champagne (not sure what type of champagne) I suppose I should have got 2 bottles of champagne by now...

Anyway, 4 days off!!! Timely for holiday or vacation huh...too bad as I have another obligation...teda orang mahu jaga ayam sama kambing nanti ba...haha...as usual, any day off would be a chance for me to do some house chores then followed by relaxation....relaxation would not feel good without DVDs!!!! I bought couple more DVDs and DVD holders yesterday...I've watched 4 out of 14 DVDs up 'till 2am today...

Above was taken whilst cleaning my room yesterday....some of my DVD collections and I'm happy to see how many I have collected and stored safely (currently over 800 DVDs.....RULE: No DVD can go out of my house...sorry kedekut sikit kama rather than getting mad when someone borrows but they don't take care of my precious nicely) I couldn't really remember when I started to be fussy about DVD's quality (picture, audio and subtitle) but since then I never buy DVD if the shop-owner-kinda-friend to me says it's not 100% (100% indicates it's a copy of an original DVD, more or less to that standard)

According to Welism....
1. Women for sex, love companion and satisfaction
2. DVDs for relaxation
3. Sleep for energy
4. Foods for nutrients, health and energy
5. Beers for fun and enjoyment (universal ba ni..hehe)
6. Love for happiness
7. Marriage for future generation and life companion
8. Shopping for self rewarding
9. Money for needs and exploration

Thought of the day...

Sometimes I think of myself as an individual who strives hard to be a man who I am now but at some other time I think striving hard is just an excuse for me to gain better living than the better of me…

Well..to be honest with you I don’t really care what would that make a different of me…and sometimes listening to people who’s more superior than me made me wonder if they really that superior than myself (they always does) and others to have a long story of people living their live to certain extend…I might be doing the same and…frankly speaking when I spoke about some one it reflects my own admiration towards these individuals…..it does not matter how much they earn and how vastly their knowledge were…their philosophy is the only item I look for….I try to understand what makes them speak about these individuals and I even try to relate that to the life I’m having (where applicable) yet at the end of the story..it always fail to stand out and outclass individuals who have always being generous and very calm in many way of their doing yet successful.…

Would you think he would make an impact locally and world wide with his effort of wearing this costumes?

I love to talk about life and living the life yet when an individual begins talking about their thoughts towards breaking through the outside world for an impressive achievement would make me wonder myself (I did this juga ba sometimes as a metaphore) Why think about making the better of the outside world or breaking into their world when even locally an individual couldn’t even make the best out of it (to be a successful individual you’ll have to be among a successful group) It has always been a token for me as non-superior individual to listen and know about the outside as a knowledge of motivation but praising the outside world for an achievement is just not quite right to build up the inner motivation….I sometimes (well, most of the time) observe these individuals and think wow! This individual is really something! And thinking about that I begin to wonder further..why is this individual still here and having a conversation with me when I couldn’t understand what this individual were trying to achieve or tell me….well, I might have an impression towards this kind of individual for being knowledgable and kind for sharing the stories…the rational is always seems to be something intereting for me…was the individual trying to tell me about his/her ambition of being a successful individual preferable the outside world or was the individual trying to tell me that he/she is far more superior than me/the lads…was it a remarks or was it just a chit-chat showing his/her interest of making friends…

I come with this….I might be a little off set but first impression really help to find it way to work things out….I ‘d prefer to think that this kind of individual is pretty much trying to make his/her territory among others…he/she wants others to think he/she is not someone who is just someone but he/she is someone with something….what does it means?It does not bother me and I’m happy for what I have and of course I will always strive to the best of me….to what extend? Be God to decide….sometimes God will work his way out of the unexpected and always the way we couldn’t even get it until a certain period of time (if you’re grateful enough) Being a superior individual does not require high profile or being a well known individual at workplace…if an individual could make good impression and impressive performance at workplace then it is not a crime to think about making an impact onto the outside world….if an individual is just playing plain stupid at workplace thinking that would put him/her at a right path to great achievement….then forget about achieving the outside world….it’s just not quite right….would you play plain stupid at workplace whilst dreaming of gaining more earning in future or getting promotion to higher position…or far more ambitious to achieve something in the outside world?? Isn’t that obvious?? we can be a low profile individual and feel save at our own safety net at workplace but would that make you happy to dream of breaking into the outside world when you’re not making any impression towards the particular??? There's always a right way of doing it rather than talking about not pushing yourself outside the boundry for extra responsibility than what your job description prescribed....take a risk and learn from the risk??? I salute you for being smarter to avoid wider range of responsibility though...

* Betul-betul saya pun macam inda paham ni thought o..haha...

Bila la mau menang jackpot ni...

Last couple of days..I've been discussing with my manager about rescheduling shift to accommodate every possible unattanded shift...

This idea come across to us...

Someone..a team perhaps to work continously on evening/night shift...sigh...I've always trying to be flexible with the time and working hours as I don't have any obligation at the moment (single)..although it has been 3 weeks continuosly working on evening/night shift...

We are going to implement a person/team to work evening/night shift the whole month or more...the only interesting part of this is that, you will only need to work 4 days out of 5 days a week...with 'extra' evening/night shift allowance..I'm sure anyone would be happy to collect extra money at the coming month (a month in area) There's no catch here though...I'm sure anyone would be happy to have an extra RM1000 or more allowance every month having to work hard covering evening/night shift....

Is this the kind of vacation I need????

As for me...I've been working pretty hard for couple of weeks trying be a 'nice' employer to our current lack of staff...accepting almost anything making other's life easier and making things more easier to be dealt with...well, if I say no..still, the management has something to say about it...being mature and an experienced staff is sometime very difficult...I found it ridiculous to know that new version is being released to customers yet so many fault/bugs that should have been resolved in previous release occur in the latest version...I've started making internal complaint myself as it doesn't help on improving customer base at all...I'm getting fedup of this!

In a couple of week more, new colleague will be joining me (after he has passed his training then another one is joining soon in a week time) and I will have to monitor his work as well as performance...In other word, it would affect my own performance...I don't know what to expect and I had warned my manager I would not tolerate any irresponsible habits from new colleagues...If I think they don't even try to make some effort to improve theirselves...I would have to make the first move....

Last couple of weeks ago, I spent a time with a friend Mr Gee (he came to Penang for a seminar) then last week with Mr Jew who returned to Penang in monthly basis....at least I have some kind of mind relaxation whilst I was with them....I've now spent more time at home resting and relaxing...some other time, I would go out for a ride or drive when I feel like doing it....I really need another vacation....or how I wish I could win a jackpot and enjoy what life has to offer...huhu...

The beginning of an era..

I (we) thought everything will be alright once the time has come for her to resume her job...apparently, it's another devastating news as if we were being betrayed....sigh

I felt like being betrayed again after all the hard work and sacrifices...6 weeks of unpaid leave...1 week prior to that then come another 1 week afterwards... 8 weeks and there seems to be no ending to this....

Sometimes I just couldn't accept why people to be lackadaisical of their other side of life when it effects people around you...I met her and her new hubby 2 weeks ago just to catch up things with her and she was certain if she...she will do it in a good way possible....but unfortunately the news came in a way that I wouldn't have expected....at least make some good of all the chances and understanding given by the management during these past 2 months....still I couldn't put the blame on her against her decision..it just that made me thinking why 'colleagues' are so self-centred...it's her right but couldn't it be far more better if she comes and discuss for resolution instead of making it as an excuse for that decision...a total pity towards the Manager who had tried to make things work out for her over the past 6 weeks or so....still she has to come to fulfill the t&c of a month notice although I have a gutsy felling that she might end up paying for a quick exit...

After almost 2 months working along side with the Manager, all seems to work pretty easy and managable (with pretty good response from HQ) The developer will resume her work after 2 months absence from maternity leave and new colleagues will be joining in next couple of days...after few years operation, the branch is looking towards to another beginning, start from scratch...training, monitoring and improving...to me, it's just another deja vu....

Me and myself...

It has been more than a month….many things had happened…be it good or bad…things happened and I could only thanked him for the experience…

It’s always hard to say sorry…especially when there’s no beer to soak a dry mouth or perhaps to fill up a hungry stomach….

Since my return from UK…bad things happened continuously…I’m not about penning them down here…just let it slip through the time...huhu…time heals everything? That’s not quite right to be honest….it doesn’t heal anything, instead it helps on delaying things to be dealt with….at the end we still have to deal with it...trust me....

For about a month…I’ve visited DH not more than 5 times….I had so many things to say but I found it hard to tell the world to what I’ve become…the biggest change is that I’ve lost more than 6 Kg since the Mount Kinabalu trip in Feb and UK trip in March….almost all my short/long pants including jeans have gone loose on my waist….shirt and t-shirt looks bigger than usual….small sized t-shirts look just right and comfortable ever since...yet underwear does not seem to be affected….the question now, what is my current weight? I’m about to enter 61 Kg in a couple more weeks perhaps if I keep on with my life style now….less beer, less food and less internet and more job…

Speaking about job/work…these couple of weeks since early April…things gone pretty bad in Malaysia….both new colleagues had resigned…a new colleague joined in…gone through the training phase with me…developer off for 2 month maternity leave…management busy with interviewing new colleagues….having said that, I and the manager have to sacrifice our time and work to ensure Penang office is still running up to standard….pressure from the HQ becoming tougher than usual…..worst, our 12 years Tech Director is about to leave the company in 3 months time…he’s the expert who had helped the company to grow from nothing to something bigger than expected these past 12 years….It’s not too much if I say almost 70% of our current system/procedures were designed and implemented by him when he first joined the company….so many other things…most of them P&C….shush…

Penang...in 2 weeks time, another colleague (my successor) is off for 3 weeks straight for her wedding ceremony and honeymoon…..thankfully the management willing to approve her 3 weeks leave or else I have to speak to the CEO and offer myself to work straight 1 month for UK shift (night) just to ensure that she will not have to resign and leave…there only me, her and the Manager has the capability to work UK shift right now….I can’t afford to lose another colleague…

Sometimes I wish I could turn back time…change several things that I wish I have never had said or done…well, it’s a fairy tale if one can turns back time…the most precious asset I have is my memories…it’s the beauty of a mind that a person could evolve to someone better than good….

Forgive my dear readers..

I'm taking a break..

Hi chaps....I think I haven't visited my blog as often as I should these past few days...frankly speaking I was tied up with works and I wasn't feeling like penning down anything yet...Chinese New Year...Chap Goh Mei...I had them celebrated with dear friends...hung out,chatting and drinking...not much though as I was trying to reduce the amount of alcohol consumption for a rare trip to Mount Kinabalu...yes, most of you might have heard it from other fellow bloggers, especially from Lumis's blog where she introduces most of the coming-to-be-newly-acquintance-friends....I'm about to have another trip back to Sabah today at around 10:15 am from Penang International Airport...I was in Sabah a month ago and again..I'm going back to Sabah for a short+packed schedule....I wouldn't dare to say that I've prepped myself for this trip as I had just finished packing my stuff into my bag..I have not had any special gears (glove, ski-mask, torch light and etc) ready or anything....I was supposed to get them ready last weekend but I wasn't feeling like doing it...it becomes habit to me now and then...sometimes, I might change my mind about any trip at the very last minute..it happened once although I had bought the flight ticket for that particular trip...be it scary or wasting...I just don't care if I don't feel like doing it...

Still, this trip to Mount Kinabalu..I really don't know if it was my heart who agreed to join or was it just a desire to once again to feel/live the beauty of nature...I know it's going to be a fun trip and I'm hoping a good weather during the whole trip...last year, I told myself that I'm going to use this particular moment at a particular location above the sea-level to re-evalute my life..re-evalute things that had happened...things that I should be looking at or needing more attention in my present life...I just don't know how would it be but I do know that I truly need a break from workplace...I have not had any of my-moment at workplace since my return in early January...I was continuesly busy and pressured....good thing was, I wasn't even once felt stressed like most people would have, my mind is just tired...it sounds to me that I'm complaining huh...that's this crap that I've been trying to tell to myself over and over again to not ever fall off the track and just keep it up to my best...

It's now 6:25am..I'm not planning to sleep until I boarded the plane back to Sabah..there, I'll have over 2 hours of rest if I may....will be arriving in KK around noon and heading back to Ranau...spending time with my parents before the actual trip on the 12th Feb...I might try to look for all the 'missing' gears later in Ranau...well, this is not my first trip to Mount Kinabalu and there was once (2nd trip) I went up to the highest peak in SEA without any proper gears (not even a torch light..I kind of used my friend as a torch to light our way up as he had his torch light and we ended up as the first two human to arrive at the peak at dawn that day..still, arriving early was not a very good idea as we had to wait for others before we could walk our way down...silap sikit mati kesejukan menunggu..haha)....have the management installed any lights along the track? How would that be like?Would it still be adventerous?

I believe most Sabahan have not climbed the Mount Kinabalu..understandable la if you have a health complication but for those who haven't done it and you don't have any health issue...I would highly recommend to not to miss the chance to conquer the highest peak in SEA...I told my Tech Director about this trip and he's interested to know more about Mount Kinabalu...he's an out-door type of guy...cycling, rock climbing, kayaking, jungle tracking and conquering mountains around Europe...and he was kind of shocked to know the height of Mount Kinabalu (he has never climbed as high as Mount Kinabalu..)

A'ight peeps..I'm going to take a bath now and get ready before Jew wakes up....later guys!

Another pain-in-the-ass "Roll-Out"

This project has been ongoing for the past 2 years...last year I had sacrificed much of my own time staying late (as late as 16 hours working straight with the help of cigarettes) and now it all started again...I was the one who wrote the entire test plans and now I'm using them against the "roll-out" release version that we had planned for this particular customer....still, we've not been given a full contract agreement although we had worked and fulfilled their requirements and this could worth possibly AUS$1.3 million to the company for at least 2 years of contract...

Today,I came in the office....bear in mind my manager is on 2 weeks leave and for that reason our Tech Director become so hyper tracing and reviewing all works performed by me, my manager and one particular senior developer in the UK....to my surprise, mistakes that were not meant to be mine become mine...."missed update" issue...I was pissed off but looking further at the issues, I realized there was no point to be mad at and as the only resident expert in Malaysia that they can rely on at this stage, I responded to the blame by making a phone call and explained the details professionally to the Tech Director...I'm left alone to deal and response to these issues to our Business Dev Manager in Aus, Tech Director and of course our CEO in the loop.....

I couldn't give better answer to the late update of the current "roll-out" version status although I had one particular reason where it was already been planned that another 'hot fix' will be deployed later on Monday (UK time which I was not in the office to confirm the fix) I explained what I've found and what I personally think needing further investigation..thankfully, the Tech Director was alright with my action...well, I'm doing what had been told and I didn't expect this would happened...today I've spent almost an hour documenting my findings and passed it over to them...then opened several more HITS issues as record of faults...the Tech Director has reviewed them and allocated me to work with the senior developer for another 'hot fix' ASAP...

Few minutes ago, I checked my web mail and read the emails received from the Tech Director...I'm a little relieved reading his response to my documented findings...still, there seems to have several HITS issues left not being updated and they are now becoming my next task, tomorrow to investigate then update them accordingly....noting down these tasks and time I might need to spend on investigation, I would not dare to say I would be able to complete them within 8 working hours.....I'm talking about a massive data as big as 9 G byte (SQL) needing investigation to why and where it went wrong to show wrong output..from where those extra outputs coming and to why they're not being output correctly...I provide the inputs and the senior developer would use these inputs for his fixes.....is this another re-play of last year? Challenge comes with prize and hopefully I can get that prize again if I could pull this off well although I now had 4 not-so-good-working-weeks......Thanked God though....

I think I've been complaining since my return.....forgive me....

Soul behind the faces...

These were several pictures taken during the recent visitation by our CEO on the 14th Jan 2009....I was going to post them yesterday but I've forgotten to copy them over to a memory stick yesterday night...

This was taken by me..gatal tangan nampak Tina's kamira di atas meja...I was speaking to him when I took this picture..wahaha...the clock was already 11:50am..presentation was about to start in 5 minutes...

This was also taken by me.......Bani was trying to help him setting up his laptop with the LCD Projector...

A small chat between me and the CEO...haha...kesian CEO inda kana layan..haha..I was busy looking at my to do list ba ni..sorry ah boss..he's a very nice CEO...the kind of person you would not hesitate to ask question although your question might sound stupid..haha...

Haha..then saya layan juga lawak jenaka dia..haha...the room on the right (behind me) is the Manager's room and the one on the left is the Server Room a.k.a my part-time room where I usually spend my time using both PCs inside to do my task...

I was just about to start my 1st round..they were on their 2nd round..huhu..food was nice and delicious but...Revolving Restaurant, Bayview City Hotel is a lot more better....plenty of choice plus the scenic view of Georgetown city...

What was I looking? well there's another restaurant on the 1st floor...I was checking up the atmosphere...surrounding la...

Me (Kadam), Bani (Developer), Azman (New Support) and Ian (New Support)

Team picture..Azman, CEO, Ian, Khatijah who is currently 3 months pregnant (Developer), Tina (Support), Bani and me...huhu..I couldn't hide the tiredness I had that day...

There you go...notice that we have a small office and team? That's why the Company is looking for another bigger office unit as there's a big budget plan for the company to expand further more...with the current office, I don't think it would fit 2 Senior Developers and another 2 Support Staffs in the coming future...

Pity Me - Part II

....the rambling continues...

Came back home from the workshop...I then rest for a couple of minutes with a cigarette in my hand...smoke coming in and out from my lung....made a call to the office to inform that I will be a slightly late..perhaps 10-20 minutes...took a shower, berdandan and left at around 11:21am...it was quite a rush...so riding my "old kapcai" to the max but safe was inevitable...it's normal to me though because it happened several other times..haha...like a "remp-it" wanna be...menyisip sana sini...corner baring..haha...with a standard speed of 80-120kph..I managed to arrive at the office building at 11:34....the distance between my house (Sg. Dua) and the office building (Georgetown) is about 14.7km...I notice this on my return home at night...I watch the meter on mileage of my dashboard...when I entered the office..it was already 11:41 (menunggu lift lah ni yang lama..haha) I saw the CEO was chatting with the father of our Penang Branch Manager who is currently in UK...thanked God...at least the CEO had something other than waiting for my arrival..haha.....waiting their conversation to finish, my colleague requested an assistance to her outstanding issue....I assisted her as requested but as per last week advice..I didn't give a complete answer..I guided her on how to get the answer...she listened and got what she was looking for...good girl...after 10 minutes in the office..the conversation between the CEO and the 'father' has not finished...one of the developer then took the chance to consult my opinion on his current task...I've reviewed his work and discussed the requirement on Monday....so, I just listened and responded with several short questions before I decide what he should do with that.....around 11:48am...the conversation ended..a hand shake to the 'father' (I've met him several times at his house and in our office) then another hand shake to our CEO....apologized to him for me being late....the CEO seemed happy to meet me and we had a small chat before we proceed to the Team Meeting...it was about 11:55am when we started the Team Meeting and lasted for approximately 1 hour and 5 minutes...done with the meeting, we went down to the neighbour hotel for a lunch that was booked since a month ago...whereas I was notified and confirmed (earlier this morning when I was surfing the internet) by the Restaurant Manager that we were going to have an International Buffet instead of Semi Buffet due to several other reservations made by others....unfortunately..I had to stay back in the office whilst the other went down to the restaurant...my colleague told me that one of our Senior Trainer in Aus wanted to speak to me...urgent matter! So, I asked my colleagues to accompany the CEO for a lunch then I made a call to Aus's office to speak to the Senior Trainer....he was worried about the schedule tomorrow...he's flying to another part of Aus to visit our new customer for a brand new installation and setting up their 100 workstations...we discussed the matter and let him know that he only needs to worry about setting up the workstation which is pretty simple and I will do the installation at their server via Remote Desktop tonight....he was OK with that and we were kind of late...this should have been completed before my 2 weeks holiday but for some reason...a colleague in the UK was not actively giving a good response to this issue...no worries though...So, I had another task lining up in my to do list today...I spent about 10m minutes speaking on the phone then went down joining my colleagues....

Whilst taking my food..suddenly a guy came and greeted me...walawei....it was Izwan a.k.a born (the PAKU's vocalist)....he's having a 1 week seminar in that hotel (he's working at Intel in R&D) we chatted and upon returning to our table...his group was just sitting next to my colleagues..hahaha..we adjourned right before 2:00pm because I had scheduled for another appointment for the CEO to meet up with the office unit's owner...we're requesting for a permission for a renovation to be made.... we're expanding and hiring when most companies are sacking their staff or minimizing the cost...that's one of the interesting point he presented in the Team Meeting...the owner was punctual (I've met him) where he came few minutes before 2:15pm...that's what we call attitude! Whilst they were in meeting..I then took the chance to chase several others that I had scheduled to meet our CEO...appointments: 3:00 with a Space Conceptualist for a renovation work, 3:30pm with a representative from a company dealing with Door System Security, 4:15pm with a Support Specialist Candidate which was interviewed in Nov 2008 (the CEO was keen on meeting her for future opportunity) 5:00pm with a Recruitment Company - Kelly's Services (where I met a pretty-beautiful woman...hehe...second time meeting her..I can't stop looking at her...huhu...she's Chinese but looks like Eurasian....her face is a version of Kristin Kreuk except that she's a little more shorter (petite) and whiter..hehe..)

Latest picture of Kristin Kreuk for her role in Street Fighter: The Legend Of Chun Li

All the appointment went well except the appointment at 4:15pm due to 20 minutes late....I just don't know why some people "too-confident" they can reach one place within their predicted time...it's always better to take several matters into consideration before hand....budget your time for the whole journey as well as your unexpected journey...i.e. normal duration from A to B as per experience is 20 minutes...then you should have began your journey 40 -50 minutes earlier instead of 30 minutes earlier...you would have plenty of time to relax if you able to arrive in 20 minutes but in case you can't then you have an extra 20 minutes to cover up your ass....I honestly dislike to wait and queuing!!!!!

There you go....the CEO stayed in the office for a couple more hours...earlier when he was in a meeting with the Kelly's Recruitment company...I had to setup the phone for the next event for him ; a tele-conference between the Tech Director-Penang Manager-Aus Business Dev Manager-CEO......That's pretty easy, I just need to ensure the phone is properly working and run several tele-conferences call...when the CEO was on the phone, me and the new staff were already working in our shift....I knew he's going to monitor the conversation between support and customers, so I advised the new staff to take this chances to show his good performance...well I had to do the same thing la...except that my other task is to monitor the new staff's conversation as well...I'll be his guidance either whilst he's on the phone or off the phone.....the most important thing is I need to ensure he provides correct information...Items on my list: Installation for Aus..Dialing In (UK) for Data Investigation...Dialing In (UK) for Data Migration...Dialing In (Aus) for Data Migration...Test on 2 New Versions...QA on 3 Custom Reports....Supporting Customers...Monitoring and Helping (New Staff) and reply emails...That's pretty pack to me....I couldn't just ignore incoming calls and nor my list....I juggle up between each of them...I've been using 2 or sometimes 3 machines (desktop pcs and laptop) for almost a year.....so last night I used 2 machines to do all these Dialing In stuff still with the slow connection MY-UK...it takes about 2 minutes at least to fully view each page screen...

About 30 minutes before 1:00am..I still have 3 custom reports and Installation for Aus in my list....at 1:00am, my call list has already reached 18 calls.....So it was time for me to wrap up and right after 1:15am, I then spent over an hours doing these items....still I couldn't finish the QA on the 3rd custom report...I decided to blog (my previous post) and went home afterwards..as I found my mind already tired and I was not able to think properly....My Manager called me around 1:30am to inquire the updates in the office with the CEO....noticing my voice and words were getting weaker he apologized for my situation and shared his experience when he was dealing a lot of stuffs years ago where he had to deal almost everything in Penang which I'm currently doing....he then advised me to go home and rest...I said, I will stay a little while until 2:00am but I ended up leaving the office at about 2:45am then reach home at about 3:10am....surfing the internet then sleep....zzZzzZzzZzzZzzZ....

The day before I was planning on coming to office at 9:30am to ensure all the things that had been planned/scheduled going as per planned.....unfortunately, the plan was ruined by the problem I had with my bike....I don't know what would happen if I were to come to the office at 9:30am then stayed there until 1:00am....I might have to sleep in the office due to tiredness...I thought about this though last night..because I really dislike to postpone my work...if there's work to be finished I will try to do it rather than postponing and the next time you realise..there's pile of work lining up to be completed...I've been complaining pula kan since my return...I guess I am...there's another thing that made me smile during the Team Meeting, it was...when the CEO told us that I've been scheduled to come to UK somewhere in March/April 2009...how long? Not pretty sure but in the recent budget meeting, it could be a week or more..according to him la...that sounded pretty good huh but I've heard this kind of talk before...except that this time..it came from the CEO and the word "scheduled" sounds promising..I would be more than happy to come although I already knew the pressure I will be facing working at the HQ during the whole period of my visit.....it is always interesting though to face a new challenge...

Pity Me....

Wel…you really need to improve your time management skill!!

Well to be honest, I’m doing good so far...it just that since my return….my work load has increased tremendously…..I would say double than I had the year before….I know what may seems the reason…that’s part of the company’s plan for my future in Penang Office…Branch Manager perhaps…haha..that’s not possible with the work load I’ve been assigned to at the moment…at this vary moment...I’m still in the office although after 14 hours…typing this royal ramble...huhu..

Today..I woke up at 7:58am due to the company's mobile phone..looking at the name on the display screen..it was our CEO…to my surprise, he called to ask the office building...hahaha...he was at the wrong building for some silly reason..haha..he had forgotten the building….the lmost recent time he came down to Penang to visit us was in Dec 2007, when he was looking for an office unit to be rented and he found this office unit that is suitable for the future of Penang Office…no wonder he was at the wrong building….I then continued my “tidur-tidur ayam” until 9:15am....I picked up my mobile phone (masih baring baring) then made a call to my colleague to check up things in the office…

I had rented a LCD Projector and requested the item to be sent into our office for a Team Meeting Presentation later that noon…It was requested by our CEO. yesterday evening actually when all the offices were already closed...thankfully I managed to get a hold to a guy from our main office appliances supplier....my colleague told me that it had not been delivered yet..no worries because we will only use the LCD Projector later around 11:30am….I then woke up and spent some of my time surfing the internet visiting several blogs for update posts as well as emails….

Around 10:05am I went to a nearby workshop…the night before...my bike had a major problem….it loses power whenever I rev up to increase its speed…worst, there seemed to have a leakage in the engine based on the smoke coming out of the exhaust….perhaps the oil seal has broken but when I arrived at the workshop…the mechanic told me that it was due to my exhaust..it was full of dried-burnt-carbon…well, the last time the exhaust was sent for service was a year ago….the mechanic was nice enough to clean it as a temporarily resolution for me...it actually need to be sent to an oven..they need to cut the exhaust then burn it in an oven to get rid of the pile of carbon inside....also because of the pile of carbon in the exhaust..it then affected the carburetor…I had no choice so I asked the mechanic to service the carburetor as well...it took about 30 minutes for all this to happen…by the time I reach home..it was almost 11:00am..we were going to have a Team Meeting later at 11:30am with the CEO doing the presentation….whilst waiting for the bike..I made several calls to ensure the LCD Projector and appointment are going as planned…to my surprise, the Accountant Director that was supposed to meet up with our CEO didn’t turn up and no news neither from her nor her company…..I called and spoke to her assistant and I was told that she was no where available for contact….I was a little mad as I had scheduled the meeting at 10:00am yet after 15 minutes there was no news from her….and according to my colleague our CEO was not very happy with this…I warned her assistance to reach her Director and give me a reason why after 15 minutes we had not heard anything from her….after about 10 minutes, he called me and apology that the Director had an emergency meeting that she had to attend…what?!!! She’s the director of a Management Company but how could she treat our CEO to wait (now already past 20 minutes) without any news!!! That was utterly stupid! I then asked him to call to the office and speak to our CEO for an apology..he did and tried to re-arrange another appointment at 11:30am at their office……I had made the appointment 2 weeks ago and reconfirmed the appointment again last Friday…I’ve also notified to let me know of in case of inevitable time reschedule…..what an attitude! Our CEO rejected the time reschedule proposal...

To be continued…..

Not a smooth week..

Officially, it has been a week after my long holiday trip back to Sabah….

I’ve been very weak this past few days….I just don’t know why and I’ve never really felt this way…Monday to Friday..I woke up early in the morning to go to work…I ended up sleepy and my eyes were like ‘bengkak’ (not enough sleep or perhaps overslept) although I had at least 4-6 hours sleep every night...with the moody feeling and tiredness returning from Sabah…I have to ignore all these to perform to my best the whole week...

Monday Morning…I knew there were plenty of emails to read and follow up but I didn’t expect I would be really busy to catch up so many things….I came in and gone through all the emails…list down what I need to do, follow up and work on….I was shocked to know that there were several issues reported 2 weeks ago had not been resolved yet….what had happened this past 2 weeks whilst I was away? This was affecting my time to catch up things up….this shouldn’t be my responsibility to follow up issue when they should had been resolved before my return!!! My manager called and I took the chance to seek his explanation to why some of these issues were not quickly resolved! Yeah I was kind of pissed…I have the rights to ask why my colleague didn’t resolve them within 2 weeks! Upon hearing my dissatisfaction...my manager then expressed his dissatisfaction towards my colleagues' performance…..Support as well as the Development Team….what the hell they were doing? He then told me that there seems to have lack of responsibility going on whilst I was away…several easy tasks given to Developers gone way beyond delay…issues in Support Department left outstanding due to lack of efforts in problem-solving process…..the Manager then requested if I could follow up and resolve them ASAP….well I couldn’t say NO to that, right?...so I just gave him a simple “I will certainly do…” So there you go….my first day of my returns…gone through emails understanding their issues…progress been made and etc…there were 3 issues left outstanding for 2 weeks to be exact…..I managed to get 1 of the issue resolved on Monday…then the other one on Wednesday and the last one on Thursday….

I had a bad experience with the last one…the one was resolved on Thursday….what would you do if….A says the output should show A…but B says, it (custom module) is not showing output A…then C says it needs to output A but it doesn’t……B and C are customers....I purposely created 2 systems in order to rectify this doubted theory….my finding were; system A supports the theory given by B and system B supports the theory given by A….current issue was as what C had escalated to us….I had to save A, agreed with B and resolve the issue raised by C…I wrote a simple test plan for C and asked a favour to run a quick test on it…C was correct…so I gave C the resolution to the issue and it was resolved…happy? Yes I was but...suddenly, I received another email from the Project Manager (she was included in the email loop) requesting to halt any communication with Support until further notice…the Project Manager then requested my explanation to why it does not output as what C was hoping…why A says it should show A as what C was hoping but it doesn’t (incorrect information from A)…why I need to have 2 systems to rectify this…and lastly what is my next step to this issue…..reading at the email…I quickly felt bad about it…I couldn’t say A was wrong and the custom module was faulty neither…furthermore, the Project Manager was complaining on why I need C to run a quick test for me….I had this kind of experience 3 years ago when I recently joined the company….So, without further a due..I responded with an apology for A as well as myself for all the trouble caused in solving this issue…I could be pissed off when I responded to the email by saying...I would not hesitate to stop my support towards you/your team if I’ve made your confidence and satisfaction at risk....frankly speaking, I was the one putting myself at risk taking over this issue from A (my manager) and whatever A had responded to them earlier was then used by the Project Manager against my finding….the Project Manager then replied by telling me, they’re always happy towards my commitment and support, also wish to continue but the process I’ve took to solve this problem seemed to raise an alarm….huhu...solving a problem would require co-operation between 2 or more sides…if they didn’t work nor co-operate…there could be no end to this matter unless I escalate the issue to our Project Manager who was dealing with this custom module back in early 2008….which would then cause me a trouble for not able to work independently and solve this quite ‘simple but pain in the ass’ issue…with the promise I gave to the Project Manager, I then seek help from our Senior Developer in UK to re-check the coding for this custom module and forwarded the feedback to the Project Manager….and that was it…. The custom module was built not to show A...B was correct!!!! My resolution had saved their ass for submitting their claim report of funding (Government)

That was almost some of the issues I had been dealing with this 1st week of 2009…..how about the Development Team? I spoke and discussed several matters with them and reconfirmed with them that all the time they were ‘missing in action’ was due to the networking problem the Penang office was having….according to them, they were unable to access to the shared network to transfer files…unable to access outlook email and unable to access the CRM/WO database either….worse, the phones connecting UK-MY-OZ were also down several times a day…shared couple of experience I had dealing with this kind of down time and advice to work hard in 2009 as there have plenty of big plan in line for the Penang Office…confidential so I can’t tell..hehe….whilst speaking with them..I was reviewing their Developer Time Sheet report to ensure they were telling the truth...I then discussed the matter with my manager the next morning..he agreed that there have issue with the connection...and wanted me to help my other colleague who should have dealt those support issues....what kind of help he was requesting? I've been kind enough to my colleague...she can call me anytime in any reasonable time to consult my help in any issue she's having..and I've always gave her answers or guidance to her questions...so...the manager was asking me to stop doing that...he advised me to start changing the way I help her by telling her how she can get the information and answer instead of getting it directly from me without any effort via testing or rectification in our software...

Overall, my first week was so full of work load…full of shit from customers…full of shit from colleagues...full of disappointment from the new colleague (the other new colleague is performing well though but not the other guy) Sounded bad for a new year huh….apart from dealing with the Support and Development Team..I was also busy making several appointments for our CEO who’s coming on 14th Jan 2009….we’re going to have a simple but pleasant luncheon that day at our neighbor hotel, Northam Hotel…earlier, I was planning to make a reservation at the Revolving Restaurant, Bayview City Hotel but due to time constraint….I had to cancel that plan and opted for Northam Hotel (we shared the same building) I don’t know what to expect but I’m sure there will be some issues I will need to discuss personally with the CEO…especially about our office, colleague performances and my personal review of current communication between UK-MY……

A slipper that cost me RM190

I’m off today…that’s the bottom line…hehe.…a’ight, perhaps I was really tired yesterday causing me to wake up a little late today (around 11am) where I slept at about 3am..I didn’t even dream of anything...it was so plain and once I woke up, I was rushing to check my email if there were any urgent matter/emails needing my attention…none…great god!

Surfed the internet awhile, took a shower then straight to the office…reached at the office at around 12:20pm…sent several emails (as well as reply)…a short discussion with developers on their current works…updated the customer of their issue’s progress then a small chat with new staffs….

Left the office at around 2:45 heading to one of the shopping complex nearby my house (Kompleks Bukit Jambul) I was planning to buy a slipper (selipar jepun) because the one I have at home already tenggelam-timbul (sebab si aguk yg melebihi had muatan..haha) and almost putus due to some small slash then pandai jadi besar…haha…

Guess what happened? I ended up with RM190 deficit!!! How the hell that happened? Blame me and blame the shops...huhu…walked around trying to look for a decent slipper then I saw this nice simple loafer….I bought it…jalan-jalan lagi and saw the DVD shop…went there…bought couple of DVDs….then went down to the shop selling original DVD/VCD where I can find lots of anime…found the Wangan Midnight DVD..I bought it…haha…then jalan-jalan lagi…saw this shop selling t-shirts…bought 2 of them…by the time I bought the t-shirts...I noticed that I have spent more than I should for a slipper…..still I’m happy because I found the Wangan Midnight anime..I sent a text message to my bro…asked him the prize for his DVD and how many DVDs were there…the one he bought has 3 DVDs (complete 1-26 End) with a Soundtrack CD for RM37...the one I saw and bought is RM28 for a single DVD (complete 1-26 End)…another one was 4 DVD s+ Soundtrack CD at RM29..wahaha..dengan gembira aku membeli RM28…then RM10 jimat sudah pakai untuk beli Dunhill big pack..haha..efficient betul!
What’s going to happen to me later once I reach KK…don’t be surprised to find me at Kg Air ah….muda-mudi yang berminat..ada diskaun k..hahaha…..damn it! I’m planning to jimat tapi bukan pula jimat...haha…OK la ba…the last time I spent money for shopping other than DVD was 4 months ago…it was not me though….a favour from my friend who went to Bali…so I gave him money to buy me a Hard Rock Café t-shirt…I was kind of regret last time when I went to Pattaya’s Hard Rock Café and I didn’t buy any t-shirt…would you buy a t-shirt for USD$70?!! This time, I gave my friend RM100 and he bought me a very nice t-shirt...love the design very much….even though the size is macam body fit…haha..nasib lagi badan ku ada ketulan even not as good as si 300..haha…

I felt guilty...

My rough agenda pada hari ini yang membuatkan saya berasa 11 jam menjadi 4 jam....but it was fun though..I love my job and work..hehe..

*time has been rounded up based on actual events

5:45 AM - Arrived at the office
6:00 AM - Checked and Replied e-mails..e-mails..e-mails
6:50 AM - New staffs arrived at the office
7:00 AM - Consulting Customer (remote in and spoke to customers)
8:00 AM - Resumed Training
9:00 AM - Development Work (discussion)
10:00 AM - Training Exercises
11:00 AM - Consulting Customer (e-mails) and Development Work (discussion)
12:00 PM - New staffs off to lunch break
12:05 PM - Development Work (Chasing progress and Unit Testing)
12:45 AM - New staffs came back from lunch break
01:00 PM - Resumed Training
02:00 PM - Training Exercises
03:15 PM - New staffs left the office
03:00 PM - Consulting Customer (e-mails) and Development Work (discussion)
04:00 PM - Development Work (Unit testing and discussion)
04:30 PM - E-mailing...e-mailing..e-mailing
5:15 PM - I left the office

* I'm grateful that I'm used to the habit of not having lunch (I had breakfast) but pity me for not having a moment for a cigarette the whole day...huhu..

I felt guilt....I have 2 works orders and 3 issues tracking (software life cycle procedure; fault-fix-test-released) allocated to my team, 1 customer's issue that require investigation...new staffs require guidance and monitoring.....

I told my team (developers) that I might come to office tomorrow...around noon perhaps...to catch up with the above matters...

This is going to be the last part of my periodic holidays of the year 2008...I will be on annual leave again tomorrow and next Monday (12th and 15th)....

As usual, the manager called and he always had the sense to know that I was still in the office, working...we discussed about the current pace of the new staffs...I told him that I can't really speak at that moment (internal matters) so suggested that I will email him details, later once I have time..thankfully, he understood that I've been really busy....juggling between training, support and development works...so he told me to email him once I have time to do it....I will, I said to him and then I told him that I'm going to participate in the Penang Starwalk 2008 this Sunday...he was laughing and jokingly asked me to share the experience with everyone in the company later once I got back (seeking sponsorship..hehe..)...we both laugh...then suddenly the 2 developers and my successor who were there heard the news, they were also laughing....huhu..

On the week after next week...that's the real holiday..I will be in Sabah for 2 consecutive weeks....in case any of you see me and recognize me..do not hesitate to say "hi wel..[smiling]" and I will certainly reply with a simple "hi.. [smilling]"...

Disruption...

What's more to do when most of your works require an internet connection but your internet connection is down?

That was what happened last night in the office...for some reason, I don't know what was the reason la....perhaps due to the heavy rain in Penang or flood somewhere in Penang....the internet was down since my return from my dinner....I didn't actually have my dinner...I just had a glass of hot milk and couple of cigarettes....I tried once restarting the modem and router but it didn't help at all....I was thinking of restarting the server but I thought..it will be risky as the server had just been repaired due to memory crash last month...so thinking of not taking any risk at all..I sent a fax message to the UK team telling them the situation...there were 2 attempts from the UK to reply me but both faxes didn't get through to me...so I was left with nothing...I decided to check our Developers Time Sheet report for last week...F.Y.I - developers are required to fill up the spreadsheet listing down all their works and hours spent for the whole week, weekly recurrence...they also need to send a Daily Work Summary to me to update what they've done and the progress....so it is part of my responsibility as the Team Leader..I need to ensure the Daily Work Summary and Developer Time Sheet report are telly....the hours in the spreadsheet then must telly with the hours they entered into the Works Orders Database...once these are done..then I'll forward the spreadsheet to our Tech Director for evaluation at his end...he will then send an email of hours performance review for that commencing week...due to the fact that I can't access the Works Orders Database..the work is left outstanding until my shift was finished...I was doing nothing for almost 2 hours!!!!!

Today, my manager is on his way to UK..his flight to KLIA was 7am....he left the company's mobile phone again to me...this morning alone, I received 3 calls wanted to speak to him...again, explained that he's not in M'sia...and will be available later in January 2009...apart from that 3 calls, I received a call from my colleague as well...it was regards to one of a query from Oz's customer...it was an email and my colleague does not know how to response and I think she's not very sure of her knowledge on that particular area in our software...so she called me and ask me to check my email and advice..yes I did..I woke up and accessed to the company web mail....read the email and gave her a call back explaining what she needs to do...but at the end..I was the one who replied the email..it's OK and I don't mind doing it as long as it would not cause any problem later if she were to reply that query..whilst I was on the phone I then asked if the internet was OK when she came in to the office earlier...she told me it was down for 3 hours and when she spoke to the Tm.Net support...suddenly it worked as if nothing had happened....

So..I really hope that I can resume most of my work today...no more internet issue please...I have plenty of things to catch up now due to the internet..darn it!!!

p/s - Tm.Net...why you never improve the service huh..I read a lot about your services being improved and revenue is up couple of percents...still, there seems to be no changes with the services...please provide a better service...no 24 hours technical support? What? Is that how you call a good service?