quote for the day:
There's a diffrence between a failure and a fiasco. A failure is merely the absence of success.
Any fool can achieve failure. But a fiasco, a fiasco is a disaster of epic propotions.
A fiasco is a folk tale told to other's to make other people feel more alive because it didn't happen to them.
YEAH.
19 June 2008
18 June 2008
so much to say.
2 of them arrived in 3rd week of May -- the big boss and the traffic survey analyst. the boss is old, literally and figuratively while the traffic survey analyst is young and new -- or at least compared to most of the consultants in the team. the boss also came with a lighter disposition. i surmised he and the analyst are friends or at least close acquaintances. they are both taller than the average Filipinos. One is skinny with a hair, body and posture like Palito. the other has a healthy build with ear-length gray-streaked hair and much taller. i look like a little girl with these two if not for the Palito body type of the big boss.
the next day the new PI expert came. i knew her from way back but only from afar. she is also big. and old. but imposing. i think her eyeliner was tattooed and so was her eyebrows because the liner is already showing its greenish tint while the brow's end fades to light brown. she knits her brows all the time and talks, or should i say, explains a lot. she is afraid of the big skinny boss.
the big boss hands her the tasks for the next 4-5 weeks. she panics and ushers me to the corner asking me to explain what has just transpired between her and the big boss and what is on the paper. i had to eavesdrop all the time and sometimes butt in in conversations that did not include me because of the language barrier. somehow the big boss welcomes my unintentional interruptions. i think he feels even thankful.
then i tell him about the schedule of the expert. to note, we are already a week without wi-fi. the other expert is in afghanistan, in kabul. or maybe japan. or maybe cairo. big skinny boss then tells me to send a message ---fast!! -- because the expert has to be here at this day and not the next day because that was what has been agreed in the headquarters in tokyo and that was what has been approved and said and noted and documented and disseminated ---- !!
s0.
i rush to the internet station a block away.
it took him 2 days to reply. he said he just got back from Cotabato and he visited his parents in tokyo or some city in japan. now that's settled. our traffic management expert will come on timeas instructed.
back to translating.
after a few days the analyst asked me for some clarifications about the project. i shifted from secretary mode to historian mode. i told him of the story of our project. how it began, the ocnflicts that arose, the rebellions and mutiny, and why up to now past issues can't seem to come to end. the conversation ended with a more confused analyst and a sorry me.
2 weeks after. with the analyst. inside the car roaming around the rainy Iloilo City. we shuttled from the arilines booking office, which unfortunately we found close and to the renowed Botica China of Iloilo City. He has been telling us about his plan to go to a chinese medicine pharmacy for the past 2 days. Botica China looks like a rundown old chinese store forn the outside. Like Melly's Store 5 or 10 years ago. i dunno what it looks like from the inside because i have never been there. he went inside alone bringing his Nikon D100 DSLR with him. it took him more than 30 minutes to come back. i thought maybe Botica China is like a portal that brings you straight to China. when he got back to the car, he told me the sales lady were not chinese. i guess he was disappointed. we passed by the congested intersection in the city center ont he way to his hotel. he opens the window and took several quick shots. he closed it again with a grin on his face. "it's congested now," he says. I said, "yeah," and he tells me of the big boss. said skinny big boss does not share much information, which is a somewhat bad. said big skinny boss keeps all information to himself, like a selfish little kid leaving everybody clueless about everything. Before he goes down he tells me it's no big matter to him really, if the big skinny boss is like that, it's just that he thinks it's not so good at all for the project and for the rest of the team. Then off he goes.
I tell Manong Cesar to drive me straight home.
everyday PI expert would nag me about little matters which i try patiently to explain or provide her with. after all, it is my task to be the superhero here.
2nd week of june. which is now. we cancelled the rest of our plans to go around the project areas because the big skinny boss is crazy. he flooded us with gazillion of tasks with impossible deadlines and so we are stuck to the office. 3 days ago the aircon gave up on us. the PMO will fix it but we know help will come in 2 months. we are virtually working inside a 4X6 oven. traffic management expert's blood pressure is rising. he said when he is finished with the translation he would die because his blood pressure just rose from the email big skinny boss just sent and it is made by our lack of fresh air and the oven-like temperature inside our office. traffic management expert said we just pray to god that we will survive the week. he had a silly smile on his face when he said that.
it's 14:53. if i move a bit i'll be drenched in sweat. what can we do...what can we do...
the next day the new PI expert came. i knew her from way back but only from afar. she is also big. and old. but imposing. i think her eyeliner was tattooed and so was her eyebrows because the liner is already showing its greenish tint while the brow's end fades to light brown. she knits her brows all the time and talks, or should i say, explains a lot. she is afraid of the big skinny boss.
the big boss hands her the tasks for the next 4-5 weeks. she panics and ushers me to the corner asking me to explain what has just transpired between her and the big boss and what is on the paper. i had to eavesdrop all the time and sometimes butt in in conversations that did not include me because of the language barrier. somehow the big boss welcomes my unintentional interruptions. i think he feels even thankful.
then i tell him about the schedule of the expert. to note, we are already a week without wi-fi. the other expert is in afghanistan, in kabul. or maybe japan. or maybe cairo. big skinny boss then tells me to send a message ---fast!! -- because the expert has to be here at this day and not the next day because that was what has been agreed in the headquarters in tokyo and that was what has been approved and said and noted and documented and disseminated ---- !!
s0.
i rush to the internet station a block away.
it took him 2 days to reply. he said he just got back from Cotabato and he visited his parents in tokyo or some city in japan. now that's settled. our traffic management expert will come on timeas instructed.
back to translating.
after a few days the analyst asked me for some clarifications about the project. i shifted from secretary mode to historian mode. i told him of the story of our project. how it began, the ocnflicts that arose, the rebellions and mutiny, and why up to now past issues can't seem to come to end. the conversation ended with a more confused analyst and a sorry me.
2 weeks after. with the analyst. inside the car roaming around the rainy Iloilo City. we shuttled from the arilines booking office, which unfortunately we found close and to the renowed Botica China of Iloilo City. He has been telling us about his plan to go to a chinese medicine pharmacy for the past 2 days. Botica China looks like a rundown old chinese store forn the outside. Like Melly's Store 5 or 10 years ago. i dunno what it looks like from the inside because i have never been there. he went inside alone bringing his Nikon D100 DSLR with him. it took him more than 30 minutes to come back. i thought maybe Botica China is like a portal that brings you straight to China. when he got back to the car, he told me the sales lady were not chinese. i guess he was disappointed. we passed by the congested intersection in the city center ont he way to his hotel. he opens the window and took several quick shots. he closed it again with a grin on his face. "it's congested now," he says. I said, "yeah," and he tells me of the big boss. said skinny big boss does not share much information, which is a somewhat bad. said big skinny boss keeps all information to himself, like a selfish little kid leaving everybody clueless about everything. Before he goes down he tells me it's no big matter to him really, if the big skinny boss is like that, it's just that he thinks it's not so good at all for the project and for the rest of the team. Then off he goes.
I tell Manong Cesar to drive me straight home.
everyday PI expert would nag me about little matters which i try patiently to explain or provide her with. after all, it is my task to be the superhero here.
2nd week of june. which is now. we cancelled the rest of our plans to go around the project areas because the big skinny boss is crazy. he flooded us with gazillion of tasks with impossible deadlines and so we are stuck to the office. 3 days ago the aircon gave up on us. the PMO will fix it but we know help will come in 2 months. we are virtually working inside a 4X6 oven. traffic management expert's blood pressure is rising. he said when he is finished with the translation he would die because his blood pressure just rose from the email big skinny boss just sent and it is made by our lack of fresh air and the oven-like temperature inside our office. traffic management expert said we just pray to god that we will survive the week. he had a silly smile on his face when he said that.
it's 14:53. if i move a bit i'll be drenched in sweat. what can we do...what can we do...
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