Chronicle 79 - Reality

One month into 2015 and it's already been a tiring one.

A few weeks ago, I woke up slightly later than usual and was rushing to work. After putting on my socks, I jumped up (literally) and managed to crash my head into the edge of a window (yes, the sharp point at the end). I clutched my head in pain and collapsed. My mum was beside me and asked if I was bleeding. I slowly put my hand in front of my face, only to see that I was bleeding real bad. When I looked into the mirror, the blood was slowly streaming down my face. It seems that movies' portrayal of people bleeding from the head is surprisingly accurate - on hindsight, I should have taken a picture; it looked pretty cool after the initial fright!

Anyway, I washed off the blood off my hair and hands, and while pressing against the wound with a tissue paper, I continued to rush off to work. On the train, I received quite a few stares. Not sure if they were of concern or simply being freaked out. By the time I reached the office, I thought that the wound had more or less clotted and asked SO to verify. That was a mistake! The whole office forced me to go to the doctor and had the wound taken care of. CF accompanied to ensure I went. The doctor asked if I would like to have the wound stitched to minimize any scar. I told him nobody cares about a scar on the scalp. Back at office, the big boss told me to go home, or at least work from home, to which I realized that I had to oblige.

Sometime earlier this month, SO and I went for a drink after work to unwind. We were chatting and it was pretty interesting to see her try to dish out advice while she was high. I didn't go through with her advice though. I have been dismissing her advice as being "words of a drunkard" although I know that I agree with her in reality... In movies, bartenders usually like to give advice to the customers. Turns out this portrayal is accurate too, as the cheeky bartender who served us our drinks suddenly chipped in and agreed with SO.

The intern that I mentioned in Chronicle 77 had left and returned back to school. Since her graduation is but a few months away, there is much speculation about whether she will return to join us. The team had certainly conveyed to her that we are keen for her to join us. I personally find her quite capable and fun too. A colleague will also be returning to the London office after helping to set up the Singapore office for nearly 4 years. He is practically the joker in the office so it's too bad that he's leaving.

The office is now adjusting to having two new consultants in our midst. Both are very good hires in my opinion and should bring the business to a much healthier state. Of course, we analysts need to be mentally prepared for more work. I suppose that with new colleagues, some awkward situations are bound to arise, which I unfortunately had to experience. I originally planned to claim an off-in-lieu due to expire in January on a Monday. But as CF requested for my help to put some things together for a meeting in Tuesday (he honestly didn't know about my scheduled off), I offered to reschedule that off-in-lieu to Friday instead. The big boss got wind of it and signalled for me to meet her in the conference room. She told me that it is not fair for me to reschedule my off and that I am working hard enough. I explained that I really didn't mind since I had nothing planned on Monday. Back at my desk, I was double-checking the calendar to see if it was clear for me to take Friday off. The big boss saw me staring at the calendar, came over to look at the calendar herself, turned to the rest of the team, and told them: "Adwin is taking Friday off on my orders. If anyone needs help for the OCBC or CDL meetings, he will not be available to help. Let this be a warning to all." Wow! I mean I really appreciate her looking out for me (Gold bless her), but then again, that approach might just make me public enemy number 1.

Overall, work is piling up as usual and it's still as busy as ever. I can no longer be under the delusion that my body is as fit and strong as it used to be. I decided to not sleep for a night during the weekend, and I am now stricken with a runny house, a fever and am coughing my lungs out. I feel terrible to say the least. I'm really getting old and it's not a figure of speech. That, and I am no longer trying to keep fit in any sense. I've realized it takes utmost discipline to commit to an exercise regime when you're bogged down by work.

A management representative from the London office is in town again. She seems nice and it's expected and we'll have to work with her on some projects moving forward. It's really nice to see the exchanges coming through, so we at least know the people at the London office are well... people. My trip to London has also been confirmed. I'll be in the office from 16 March to 02 April, and then will be on leave till 12 April. I've never been to the UK nor do I know anyone there. Will need to ask around for itinerary suggestions. I'm seriously playing with the idea of spending my week of leave in Rome.

I know I said I'll compose a poem to start off the new year, but I'm kind of experiencing a mind block at the moment, so the project is delayed (indefinitely).

[Quotes]
"If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together." - Robin Jones Gunn

"I am incapable of conceiving infinity, and yet I do not accept finity. I want this adventure that is the context of my life to go on without end." - Simone de Beauvoir

"暗事好做，明事难成。" - 丁连山