WIND OF CHANGE
I was on three days' work leave earlier this week. My birthday falls on Tuesday and erh, there wasn't anything to mention about that day. Briefly, my small cake was literally on fire with ten candles blazing away, family teased me on my coming-of-age (to be married off) and the ridiculous $40-KFC for dinner. Last night, I received a sweet&sexy lingerie set from Trish for my birthday. Though it arrived a few days late, you'll be surprised that it's the first gift that came into my hands.
When I was enjoying my last flickering moment with Cliff, before he was about to board the coach, Marwan delivered shocking news: My PRC manager has been ousted. Her rival will become the only Unit Manager in my department. I can really imagine how her face will contort into indescribable rage and her curly hair sizzling away, transforming into snakes. She must have felt the awful defeat enveloping her, the shame flushing into her dark eyes and thinking that her subordinates are jumping with joy, dancing in circles, happy tears flowing unconditionally with eyes looking at the sky with gratitude.
Anyway, my instant thought went to Claudia. If she chose to stay on, this is the day she would have lived for. A release from the manager's mental clutches and an extraordinary chance for Claudia to laugh right in front of her face. Not only that, two of us will take a trip to Holland Village and enjoy an expensive lunch, top it up with red wine.. glasses clinking to celebrate our victory. Then back in office we will go around visiting those PRC programmers (who are her worshippers), talk to them, made snide remarks and tell them to better start worrying about their futures. HAHAHA.. that would be so wonderful!
But Claudia's long gone, not associated to us anymore. So I can only fantasize all these in my warped mind. However, it doesn't take a genius to know that my unit manager is discreetly holding her own celebration somewhere in a corner with her few followers. It may look like normal office politics to you, but between these two managers, it's a battle of the bitches and a survival of the fittest.
I gonna write about my navel piercing soon. Stay tuned (please?)
Friday, February 25, 2005
Tuesday, February 08, 2005
OF BOOKS AND DVDS
Here I am again, blabbering about books I had sucked up and dvds I had indulged myself in. Over the months, I had conquered Tony Parson's Man and Boy, Man and Wife, Hillary Rodham Clinton's Living History and Reader Digests.
Tony Parson's a true blue Brit. His novels are full of british humour and witty dialogues. His are mostly about how a man in thirties coping with divorce, single parenthood, second marriage, infidelities and a sparse view of men handling their mid-life crisis.
Enjoyable read during rides and night-caps.
Living History proved to be a challenge. 865 pages with photographs. It chronicles the life of ex-President's wife, her life as a carefree and studious child to adulthood, struggles in the White House and retiring as a public figure after eight years in Washington. But she rises up again as a New York senator, fighting for a place in the Republican skies.
At first I thought she's just a typical politician, a radical woman trying to gain publicity by publishing her story due to so many controversies (whitewater, lewinsky etc) that happened in her life. But well, after devouring the eight hundred odd pages, I have to say she's an admirable character. She has a persona that inspires women around the world to stand out and shine with the men. Of course, she might exaggerate in her novel but who doesn't? Media has the worst hits.
I spent my Sundays watching The LadyKillers (by Tom Hanks) and Spanglish (Adam Sandler, Tea Leoni, Paz Vegas).
Nothing much to yak about the former except I absolutely like the southern accent which most of the cast managed to pull it off. Tom Hanks is convincing in his role as a swindler cum artyfarty professional thief. This film was written, directed and produced by the Cohen brothers (O Brother, Where Art Thou).
As for Spanglish, it has succeeded in pulling a tiny tear off my eyes. Though whole film was a little draggy, Adam Sandler wins my vote. No lame jokes, no funny actions from him. So don't expect it to be a comedy. Story revolves around a young and gorgeous mexican mother, along with her daughter, hailed to America for a better future. Flor worked in a hispanic community until she was being offered as a part time housekeeper in one of those white suburban neighbourhoods. She met the Clasky family where Tea Leoni was the self-possessed and constantly depressed housewife whereas Adam Sandler was her loving husband and a widely recognized chef. Though Flor didn't want to be involved in Clasky's way of life she soon found herself embroiled in their conflicting issues and affairs. The scene where Flor and Mr Clasky found themselves alone at the beach was magical and the last night where both of them decided to get a little cosier in his restaurant struck a bittersweet chord in my heart.
Okie, back to my Reader Digest.. few more pages to go.
Happy New Year, peeps.
Here I am again, blabbering about books I had sucked up and dvds I had indulged myself in. Over the months, I had conquered Tony Parson's Man and Boy, Man and Wife, Hillary Rodham Clinton's Living History and Reader Digests.
Tony Parson's a true blue Brit. His novels are full of british humour and witty dialogues. His are mostly about how a man in thirties coping with divorce, single parenthood, second marriage, infidelities and a sparse view of men handling their mid-life crisis.
Enjoyable read during rides and night-caps.
Living History proved to be a challenge. 865 pages with photographs. It chronicles the life of ex-President's wife, her life as a carefree and studious child to adulthood, struggles in the White House and retiring as a public figure after eight years in Washington. But she rises up again as a New York senator, fighting for a place in the Republican skies.
At first I thought she's just a typical politician, a radical woman trying to gain publicity by publishing her story due to so many controversies (whitewater, lewinsky etc) that happened in her life. But well, after devouring the eight hundred odd pages, I have to say she's an admirable character. She has a persona that inspires women around the world to stand out and shine with the men. Of course, she might exaggerate in her novel but who doesn't? Media has the worst hits.
I spent my Sundays watching The LadyKillers (by Tom Hanks) and Spanglish (Adam Sandler, Tea Leoni, Paz Vegas).
Nothing much to yak about the former except I absolutely like the southern accent which most of the cast managed to pull it off. Tom Hanks is convincing in his role as a swindler cum artyfarty professional thief. This film was written, directed and produced by the Cohen brothers (O Brother, Where Art Thou).
As for Spanglish, it has succeeded in pulling a tiny tear off my eyes. Though whole film was a little draggy, Adam Sandler wins my vote. No lame jokes, no funny actions from him. So don't expect it to be a comedy. Story revolves around a young and gorgeous mexican mother, along with her daughter, hailed to America for a better future. Flor worked in a hispanic community until she was being offered as a part time housekeeper in one of those white suburban neighbourhoods. She met the Clasky family where Tea Leoni was the self-possessed and constantly depressed housewife whereas Adam Sandler was her loving husband and a widely recognized chef. Though Flor didn't want to be involved in Clasky's way of life she soon found herself embroiled in their conflicting issues and affairs. The scene where Flor and Mr Clasky found themselves alone at the beach was magical and the last night where both of them decided to get a little cosier in his restaurant struck a bittersweet chord in my heart.
Okie, back to my Reader Digest.. few more pages to go.
Happy New Year, peeps.
Sunday, February 06, 2005
SETBACKS
On a fine working day in my cosy cubicle, I was trying to find the lyrics of a particular song in Bridget Jones soundtrack. After some intense searchings, I managed to find the website. Full of joy and anticipation, I clicked on anything that popped out from the website that prevented me from advancing into the lyric's page. Suddenly a series of installations took place by themselves, things happened so fast that when TrendOffice showed up with spot-on viruses, my mind was still focused on getting the lyrics. And that was the beginning of my struggle with spywares.
Let's not go to the part where panic started to take full control of my nerve system, the futile attempts in restoring my computer, the four-days' overtime in the office battling with the viruses alone and tens of email exchanges with computer centre's techs.
From the above sentence you would have agreed that these efforts should be given an A-Distinction in theory but pathetically, no positive results were produced. Finally my ego crumbled and I begged for the tech's help.
He came, inspected my ailing computer and ended my misery within an hour's time. He reformatted my C drive.
Please imagine my feelings.. all the nail-bitings and hair-pullings for the trouble a website had caused for the entire wipeout.
I HATE SPYWARES FOREVER AND EVER.
Not to forget, I am not going to find that worthless piece of lyrics anymore.
Anyway just for your information, I didn't ace the job interview. In fact, I screwed it. Maybe the word 'screw' shouldn't be used during that critical moment, which I did. Well, if they can't appreciate my admirable courage for being unpretentious, then SCREW THEM.
After such traumatic experience in being rejected without given any clear answer, I want to buffer off my bottled feelings by drafting up some Q&As that often occur in job interviews.
Here goes:
Q1. Tell me about yourself.
A1. My name is Agnes, born in 1977. My dad is a businessman, mom a housewife. Erh..wait. You're holding my resume, aren't you? Turn to page two. Yes there.. my introduction. You can refer from there, can't you? My my, you didn't do any preparation before meeting me?
Q2. Briefly describe your current jobscope.
A2. I wish I don't have to remind you again. It's all stated in my resume. If this is one of the sly tricks to test my consistencies, nice try. Resumes are submitted for employers' reference, so work on it, will ya?
Q3. Why do you want to leave your present job?
A3. I was advised not to speak ill of my boss, my colleagues and my company. But I feel that my grievances should be heard whenever someone ask for them. If you can just spare half an hour of your time for this answer...
Q4. In your current job, what is the greatest achievement you had accomplished?
A4. Well, over the years I have accumulated 50GB of songs and movies from Kazaa and stored them into a hard drive to serve as a database for my colleagues to download as and when they like.
Q5. What do you know about our company?
A5. I did my own read up before coming to this interview. But since interview happens between two individuals who have a common interest to know more about one another, isn't it right for you to answer your own question, instead of hammering me with so many oxymoranic questions?
Q6. Why do you think we should hire you?
A6. Because you and I are spending an hour or more here, not doing anything that's constructive which means, wasting our time trying to know each other in a so-called professional way, checking each other's facial expressions, clothings, mannerisms discreetly. I'm sure you'll agree this is time-wasting. So let's cut the crap and hire me right now.
Q7. Where do you see yourself in five years' time?
A7. Simple. I'll be your replacement in a year or so, kick the director's arse when it came to the fifth year. What follows on will be attending countless interviews like the one we're having now.
Q8. Briefly tell me some of your strengths and weaknesses.
A8. I'm as good as an interviewer asking difficult questions and I'm as bad as an interviewee lying throughout the session just to make herself look good in all aspects.
Q9. Do you have any hobbies?
A9. Yes, bitching with fellow colleagues on our boss.
Q10. What is your expected salary?
A10. It's stated in my cover letter, so you can take a moment and read it again, well, that is if you have ever read it before. By the way, though I had stated it is negotiable, I wouldn't expect you to cut half a dough off and give excuses like I don't have the experience or skillsets for the job. If you want me, the money is worth it. No pain no gain. No guts no glory.
On a fine working day in my cosy cubicle, I was trying to find the lyrics of a particular song in Bridget Jones soundtrack. After some intense searchings, I managed to find the website. Full of joy and anticipation, I clicked on anything that popped out from the website that prevented me from advancing into the lyric's page. Suddenly a series of installations took place by themselves, things happened so fast that when TrendOffice showed up with spot-on viruses, my mind was still focused on getting the lyrics. And that was the beginning of my struggle with spywares.
Let's not go to the part where panic started to take full control of my nerve system, the futile attempts in restoring my computer, the four-days' overtime in the office battling with the viruses alone and tens of email exchanges with computer centre's techs.
From the above sentence you would have agreed that these efforts should be given an A-Distinction in theory but pathetically, no positive results were produced. Finally my ego crumbled and I begged for the tech's help.
He came, inspected my ailing computer and ended my misery within an hour's time. He reformatted my C drive.
Please imagine my feelings.. all the nail-bitings and hair-pullings for the trouble a website had caused for the entire wipeout.
I HATE SPYWARES FOREVER AND EVER.
Not to forget, I am not going to find that worthless piece of lyrics anymore.
Anyway just for your information, I didn't ace the job interview. In fact, I screwed it. Maybe the word 'screw' shouldn't be used during that critical moment, which I did. Well, if they can't appreciate my admirable courage for being unpretentious, then SCREW THEM.
After such traumatic experience in being rejected without given any clear answer, I want to buffer off my bottled feelings by drafting up some Q&As that often occur in job interviews.
Here goes:
Q1. Tell me about yourself.
A1. My name is Agnes, born in 1977. My dad is a businessman, mom a housewife. Erh..wait. You're holding my resume, aren't you? Turn to page two. Yes there.. my introduction. You can refer from there, can't you? My my, you didn't do any preparation before meeting me?
Q2. Briefly describe your current jobscope.
A2. I wish I don't have to remind you again. It's all stated in my resume. If this is one of the sly tricks to test my consistencies, nice try. Resumes are submitted for employers' reference, so work on it, will ya?
Q3. Why do you want to leave your present job?
A3. I was advised not to speak ill of my boss, my colleagues and my company. But I feel that my grievances should be heard whenever someone ask for them. If you can just spare half an hour of your time for this answer...
Q4. In your current job, what is the greatest achievement you had accomplished?
A4. Well, over the years I have accumulated 50GB of songs and movies from Kazaa and stored them into a hard drive to serve as a database for my colleagues to download as and when they like.
Q5. What do you know about our company?
A5. I did my own read up before coming to this interview. But since interview happens between two individuals who have a common interest to know more about one another, isn't it right for you to answer your own question, instead of hammering me with so many oxymoranic questions?
Q6. Why do you think we should hire you?
A6. Because you and I are spending an hour or more here, not doing anything that's constructive which means, wasting our time trying to know each other in a so-called professional way, checking each other's facial expressions, clothings, mannerisms discreetly. I'm sure you'll agree this is time-wasting. So let's cut the crap and hire me right now.
Q7. Where do you see yourself in five years' time?
A7. Simple. I'll be your replacement in a year or so, kick the director's arse when it came to the fifth year. What follows on will be attending countless interviews like the one we're having now.
Q8. Briefly tell me some of your strengths and weaknesses.
A8. I'm as good as an interviewer asking difficult questions and I'm as bad as an interviewee lying throughout the session just to make herself look good in all aspects.
Q9. Do you have any hobbies?
A9. Yes, bitching with fellow colleagues on our boss.
Q10. What is your expected salary?
A10. It's stated in my cover letter, so you can take a moment and read it again, well, that is if you have ever read it before. By the way, though I had stated it is negotiable, I wouldn't expect you to cut half a dough off and give excuses like I don't have the experience or skillsets for the job. If you want me, the money is worth it. No pain no gain. No guts no glory.
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