Random Thoughts

Been wanting to write something but there’s really nothing extraordinary that I can write about. Let me see what’s going on…

Last week has been hectic with so much pressure at work and sleepless nights. At the end of the work week, I decided to go to the saloon to have a pedicure and hot oil but the saloon attendants are busy so I just went home.  It’s not so bad though, because I was able able to book a home-service massage from my favorite therapist on Friday morning.  My therapist is gay and what I like about him is that, even if I don’t tell him, he knows exactly which part of my body hurts.  And being trapped in a man’s body, he could put on a lot more pressure when needed.  The massage was really good! 

Lately, I’ve been researching about managing personal finances, preparing for retirement, good investments, mutual funds and other similar topics.  Ironically, after hours of searching the net on saving and investing, I went to the mall - supposedly to buy a facial serum (one week na kasi since naubos yong serum ko and my face is so dry na, even if I am using a moiturizer).  Then, something happened next….Hehehehe….Well, aside from the serum, I ended up buying other things.  I suddenly remembered Becky Bloomwood!  Hmmm….But wait, unlike Becky, atleast I am using what I bought.  They are really good and also "hiyang" to my face.  So I guess, it’s worth naman!

I am extremely busy this week because of a project dealine set at the end of COB, Thursday; but, I cannot let this one pass.  I am working with another person in this project who supposedly got a Master’s degree from a United States so I was really expecting a lot from him.  Being the project lead, I delegated some tasks to him and one of which is to write a Project Description for the project we were working on.  With limited documentation available, we relied on a power presentation about the project and some design basis documents.  I gave him sufficient time to complete the task but I was damn disappointed when I got it.  He literally converted the power point slides into sections with the same heading and the bullet-point items are connected by conjunctions to make sentences and paragraphs. Gosh, I was expecting that at least, he will give something that is outlined as a report starting from background or introduction, etc, etc.  I am sure you know what I mean.  Do I need to tell him exactly how his report should appear?

I was so stressed yesterday trying to fix the document but my husband told me that I should give it back to him and let him be stressed instead.  After all, he’s got an American Education and a much bigger salary than I do so why should I stressed myself?!  Medyo natauhan ako dun so I followed my husband’s advice.  Good riddance, but I wonder what will be the outcome of the Project Description after the revision.  I am hoping it’s a lot better considering the fact that I worked until midnight last night in order to finalize the section headings para lalagyan na lang ng write-up.  In fairness, hindi masyadong sumakit ang ulo ko sa grammar pero hindi pa rin ganun kaganda ang pagkakasulat.  I am not saying I’m better kaya lang hindi ko talaga matanggap na ang binigay nyang document, parang cut and paste ng power point.  Grrrrr… Hindi ko lang talaga maintindihan how can he deserve a much higher salary.  Duuuuh?!!!! Tapos nung kinakausap ko sya about revising the document and what he should  do, he told me, he only showed me the document to know if he is on the right track and it’s not done yet.  Frankly, I am not really sure if he starts his work on the right track.  Kakabaliw! Basta na-stressed ako kahapon!

The other week, I drafted a blog but I lost it.  At the time I wrote it, I was at the height of my emotions - disappointed, depressed and discouraged.  That blog was full of  sentiments.  I had a very low self-esteem.  The hard part is even if I had a choice, the circumstances are not in my favor.  Well, I decided to stay put for a while until right time comes.  I hate to be in a situation like this but I have to sacrifice so that I’ll have better options in the future.  For now, my negative emotions have already subsided but a part of me still feel bad about it.  The good thing though is that it gave me more determination to reach my long-term goal at a shorter timeframe.

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The 44-hour work week is now official!  I decided that after my current project, I will work strictly 44-hours per week as much as possible.  There’s really no point working so late, exhausting myself and spending all my energy at work.  I think it’s just fair being to myself and my husband.

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Yesterday, as I discussed with my boss, the travel arrangements for our meeting at the oil and gas complex, I realized that my absent-minded brain completely forgot to get a gatepass.  I lost my annual pass that is valid until July 2007 (It was in my wallet, which I lost in Paris).  It’s very difficult to get a replacement so I just request a daily pass wehenever I needed one.  It could have been a real problem but I was lucky enough that my boss also forgot that his gatepass was expired already - atleast, I am not alone.  After making a call, his friend, who can get us a gatepass the following morning (normally, request for gatepass should be done atleast one day before the intended visit) agreed to meet us at the security gate at 645 AM.  We had no choice even if our appointment is still at 9 AM.  Not too bad, atleast I only need to kill 1 hour!!!

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645 AM at the security gate means I need to leave home at 545 AM to make sure I won’t be late.  The oil and gas complex is about 80 Km one-way and during the morning rush hour, there’s a considerable number of vehicles that travel to Ras Laffan.  I left home at 545 AM but I had to stop-by the Office to get some documents.  I left the Office at bout 6:03 AM.  I was able to get out of Doha by 6:12 AM. 

Perhaps, you were thinking I am crazy to be timing every minute of my travel.  I have never drove to Ras Laffan in less than 1 hour because I always drive below 120 Kph, which is the speed limit.  I’m already running late and I won’t be able to make it on time if I keep driving at 120 Kph. I tried to speed up so I can drive on the fastlane.  This is how it works here - drivers drive more than the speed limit then they will suddenly step on the break, if there is a speed camera.  This is a bad practice and I normally don’t do it for safety reasons plus I find automatic cars difficult to control as compared a stick-shift ones.  By 630 AM, I reached Al-Khor Municipality.  I turned right at the fish roudabout by 639 AM.  After three minutes, I can already see the nearest flare to the security gate.  By 645 AM, I was only a few meters away.  At this point, vehicles are slowly moving because of the security checks.  It’s not bad, I was able to park at about 649 AM.  My boss arrived at about the same time. Whew!  This is quite an achievement!!!