For the good cause...

Thursday I was rescheduled to work for a half day shift…I left the office at around 9:30 pm where I was supposed to leave at 8:00 pm….due to some request I then stayed in for another 1 hours plus…well I wouldn’t leave the office if there’s still unsolved task...

Friday morning…8:26 am, I received a text from one of our developer who is married saying that she’s sorry that she has to bring her daughter to the office today….obviously I can’t reply “No, you can’t” to her after she mentioned that something happened early in the morning...I wondered what had happened but rather than troubling her...I ignored the text message and continued my sleep… then at around 9am something I received another text message...it was from my mum saying my dad was sick last night and she had to send him to a hospital right away…he’s 63 to be exact and he has high blood pressure and a lung problem….he complained a chest pain last night and my mum then sent him to a nearby hospital (Ranau)…he was given some medicine...thank god he is OK...his annual health review is on 29^th July then another one is on 27^th August….nothing could I do other than sending some money to pay the expenses….pokai lagi but this is our responsibility as a child…I don’t mind to fork out some of my pocket money or my saving if it would do good to some people especially my parents…I love them…but my mum said, she would hope that I could contribute some for his second review as he is going to be reviewed in one of the private hospital in Kota Kinabalu….replied to her that I will and I will reserve some fund for that…

Today, in-conjunction of a conference call between UK-Malaysia-Oz at 3:00 pm local time (5pm in Oz and 8am in UK)….I was rescheduled to work half day Oz and half day UK…in case there were things needing clarification/guidance from me...there was one actually…a customer said there’s a glitch in our software...I then accessed to their server and found out it was due to human error…the software works great it just that someone had setting up things wrongly…took all details and forwarded to my Technical Director…I came in to work at 12:00 noon and left the office at 9:30 pm...again it should have been 8pm..

I was a little rude today to one of my developer…he was given a task to develop a customized report 2 weeks ago and the due date is on 25^th July…that was yesterday…it is my job to ensure our developers to complete they task in the time scale given…but it is not my job to teach them how to do this and that….he had received all the requirements as requested by customer and all the explanation had been given straight away when I allocated the task to him…I was pissed last week whilst I was working for day shift (Oz shift) and he wasted 2 days due to injury….his ankle was swollen after a football match…what am I supposed to do?! He went to see a doctor and was given 2 days medical leave…if that didn’t occur he might have extra 2 days to ask for my guidance or any vague requirements…most of the requirements have been fulfilled except one…this whole week alone he tried...I don’t know hard or what…but he failed to deliver…before he left the office at 6pm today...I asked him to write a formal email to me to explain his reason of failure…told him that this is needed as I would forward the email to my manager as well as our Technical Director in UK...he did what I asked for but not really as what I would expected…he only explained the fault on the report and nothing more.....well to be honest with you...as a team leader I should have covered up our weaknesses, I’ve spent around RM300 since last month providing them 2 books which were ordered via internet…I went to couple of the book shops around major shopping complexes for these books but to no avail…I was hoping that they can benefit from these books and there would be no more excuses for failure in future time…again, I was a little disappointed with his attitude these couple of days...probably he has some personal problem that I didn’t know of…he is due to get married this coming 10^th August and obviously that is bugging his mind all this time...making sure the ceremony would go as planned…I can’t really get involve into that and the best thing I could only do is giving him a lesson that any task given must be completed as requested…books and guidance have been provided (he has problem in communication...he’s the typical type of Malay that doesn’t really know how to communicate in English (sorry for any Malay readers)...and I wonder how he got this job where English is a major requirement….)I’ve been trying to compromise with him….but this must be done…hopefully he wouldn’t take this too personal…if he does then he’s not mature enough to get married…..not enough with that...I was really pissed due to the baby presence in the office….I can’t concentrate on my job due the baby’s noisy screaming…crying and shouting…I wanted to warn the mum (the developer) but I just couldn’t…she told me that early in the morning...the baby fell down….although the baby didn’t cry but it was weird that the baby was so quiet and weak...she was worried then decided not to send to a kindergarten where she would usually do…unfortunately due to that…she and I can’t function well…she had to take care of the baby….accompanied the baby...played with the baby when the baby was crying……since my job still requires me to consult our customers via phone….I had to ignore several calls…. Unfortunately (wrong timing la ni..), my manager (in UK) was monitoring the calls that went to our office and found out couple of calls were not answered…he then called me and asked why I didn’t answer the phone….I told him that I was with the other developer trying to help him…and at some of the time...I can’t really answer the phone when the baby was crying in her mum’s arm…the ending of the conversation was not really good….I tell you…I knew this guy for almost 3 years...and he is a jerk when it comes to this matter…I think she (the developer) understood my situation and said sorry to me….she’s mature enough to stay in the office until 9pm to finish her task….he husband came in to the office to fetch the baby and said sorry to me at around 5pm that evening…..couple of hours later...my manager sent an email expressing his compliment after he overheard several of the staffs in the UK office gave out their compliment towards me that they received some good feedback from our customer saying my consultation to their problems were good and friendly….well, I’m currently the resident expert in Malaysia…I shall perform up to my standard…before leaving the office...I spoke to my Technical Director and we decided to allocate the task to our new developer in UK as a test hoping that he could crack the report and provide the final fixed report…

At home…I had a drink session with my housemate...Mr. Jew and Mr. Jab...just a couple of bottles and a small chat….we just finished 1 hour ago and now I want to get a rest….mentioned to Mr. Jew that I’m planning to have a small drink and karaoke session tomorrow...I missed singing….I can’t remember when was the last time I sang a song….if things go as planned then we might have a crate of beer...some chicken wings for a small BBQ as well as karaoke…..where’s all my karaoke CDs??!!!! May you all have a good weekend and do not drink in drive…..