Unethical

My boss found out that I had intended to take someone with me to my new job... someone whom I had worked with before in my previous posting. He said it was unethical of me. 

Wow!

Unethical... indeed... the late Michael Jackson would sing... Man In The Mirror... and I concur.

You call me unethical... didn't you do the same thing? And there are more unethical practices that are rampant in the company which made me quit and you dare say I am unethical?

Ethics aside... I am moving on to a 'David' company... you are 'Goliath'. This 'David' company offered me a good package... and for me they had to bend backward slightly. So, it already says that 'Goliath's' package isn't very good right? I stayed 11 years... and I assure you it was not for the money. Anyway, my offer to this person is still lower than what most other places offer for the same position yet it is attractive enough for the person to seriously consider it. So, what does that really say about 'Goliath's' package? And how many employees has 'Goliath' already lost due to this? But No... they will not admit it. It's ok.

It's like a woman who does not dress up or put on any make up while everyone else does and then wonders why she does not get laid while the rest do. So, why don't you just dress up and put some make up so you can get fucked instead of just whining and not doing anything!

There is a moral sense and there is an immoral sense. History shows that the moral sense enables us to see morality and how to avoid it, and that the immoral sense enables us to perceive immorality and how to enjoy it.

A man should not be without morals; it is better to have bad morals than none at all.

Moving On...

The die has been cast... the game is in play. There's no turning back now.

I tendered my resignation today. After exactly 11 years in service. My boss didn't take it well at all... he even threw his bag (with his tablet inside) onto the sofa in tantrum. I felt extremely sad that I had to do this to him. I'd like to stay and help him but I can't. He asked me to stay on and help him personally as a friend and in return he would find me a job later on in the international arena. The offer is good but I couldn't accept it.

Here's why... I am one of my boss' favourite's... I know it. Some say I am THE favourite but that, only he will know. In the past 11 years, no matter what my achievement and regardless of whether it was my effort or not it just gets brushed off as... "Oh, that's only because he's CK's boy... and he gets more support then he should and CK would 'cover' for him"...bla...bla...bla... never, ever am I recognised for my own merits. So if I accept that offer, essentially he would be pulling strings for me and I would end up being 'his boy' again.

I think it is time for me to try something else on my own. And if I fail, then I failed.

I am sure by tomorrow the news would have spread and there will be many, many happy people.

LUCKY BASTARD!!!

I guess I am indeed.

Fact... I was born before my parents registered their marriage. So, technically I am a bastard.

Now, there some people who say that my team's performance in the past year was LUCK... implying that I was lucky to have got such achievements. Also implying that I am worthless and that I have survived 11 years (well almost, 16 days to go) with LUCK.

Wow! Thank you GOD for bestowing an abundance of LUCK on me. Please GOD, don't ever take that LUCK away from me or I will fail...

Since I am so LUCKY, I should go buy the lottery later...

Y.E.S & Y.E.B

Malaysia is having the Y.E.S again... that's Year End Sale if you don't know. Everyone's busy shopping... which by the way reminds me... my apologies for being so rude... Compliments of the season a.k.a Season's Greetings to everyone. SO, while most are engaged with the Y.E.S I find myself trapped in the Y.E.B.... Year End Blues.

Yup, it's that time of the year again when I reminisce the year... ask myself what did I achieve? What did I not achieve and most importantly what would I like to achieve in the coming year. This year has been pretty hectic with many obstacles in my path and I guess I did pretty well... if I do say so myself. However, as I thought about it... I was reminded of the people around me... Malaysians. It made me sad as Malaysians in general are ugly people these days... not on the outside but deep inside them... that's why I said that I no longer like KL anymore coz this is where most of them are.

It's just so sad... 10 dead in a bus accident... yes, AGAIN... and the blaming starts yet AGAIN... such a bloody knee-jerk society... then all the supposed enforcement starts... then it will die a slow death yet AGAIN... until next year or the next festival or the next accident. Another dead child found in the sewer... then a dead infant found by a monsoon drain. It just makes me sick... angry... sigh...

Anyway, guess what I did for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day? Well... for the eve I watched Sherlock Holmes... I caught the 9:40pm show and by the time I left the cinema it was just before midnight and then I got caught in a slight traffic jam at the Jalan Imbi-Sultan Ismail junction. Obviously it was jammed like crazy on Sultan Ismail itself.... you'd be a dork if you didn't know it... yet... people still want to try their luck... idiots... no, I was not one of them... I have better things to do then to get caught in such madness. I was merely making my way to the junction to make a U-turn to get back on the highway to go to Jalan Tun Razak.    It is at times like this when I really, really hate Malaysians. I shall not elaborate any further or I may get agitated just writing about it. To make it short... it was idiocy at it's prime. I got home in good time though.

Christmas day... I went to the zoo! Yes, again... I thought I'd try to get a few better pictures compared to my last visit on my birthday. I went in the afternoon. Oh boy... it was packed.... and the animals... they were lazy... they were all sleeping away... so I didn't get many good shots but I got a winning shot of a white hibiscus. Yup... hibiscus in the zoo... you read that right. I managed to catch the 3:30pm animal show.

It was okaylah... it was super-duper packed... and here you see ugly Malaysians again. The zoo is mainly about children... so, naturally parents take children there. If you don't want to surrender your seat to parents who have to carry their children, I am okay with it. I may not like it but I guess it is your prerogative. But I think you're a FUCKER when you start making remarks about children who end up standing too close to you or slightly nudging into you when they try to get a better view. I had children who were pushed right up next to me. They were sticky with sweat and they smelt bad but I kept quiet.... they just want to watch the show. And of course there are parents who are equally as bad who just push their way through the crowd as though it is their right. Hey, just because you have a child in your arms does not mean you can be rude! I don't know... we're so self-centered these days. F-ugly people... I hate all of you!

Maybe that's why I blog less these days as I don't have many nice things to relate to. I prefer to spend more time on Flickr with my photos. At least I get satisfaction there... I'd prefer sextification but satisfication will suffice... hahaha...

I really hope 2010 will be a better year for me. I know that in January I will end up having a very big fight with my boss... it will be about bonus. The team did very well this year and if they do not get a better bonus than last year then I will have to fight it out with my boss.

I also hope by next week I'll be better. I am so disoriented lately. Not focused at work. Don't feel like doing anything at all...

Messed Up...

The past few days have been pretty messy. There was frustration. There was hurt... lots of it... I wished I could just take my heart out but alas I can't. There was anger. Some people just love to report half facts and get others worked up... really spoilt my days.

Anyway, thankfully I had planned to spoil myself last night and that kinda made up for everything for the time being. I bought myself tickets for Avatar-3D on Monday for last night, midnight. My last 3D movie was Jaws 3D... and I think I was about thirteen then. I decided on 3D for Avatar as I read somewhere that this would be a good movie to watch on 3D. To cut a long story short... I was happy as shit. Damn! It was so cool! Really cool... nowhere near what I remembered it to be. I was literally fascinated... switching views to see the difference... trying to touch certain things... and here comes the best part.... there was a scene with an explosion and  the debris flew towards the audience... I actually ducked! It was a good experience. Go try it... you won't regret.

This is a view that I should be seeing daily soon. I've always dreamed of having a beach-side house but I guess a beach-side workplace will have to suffice for now... really looking forward to it... get away from this place... away from everyone. Maybe I'll find peace there... maybe I'll just decide to sever all ties and start life all over again... maybe that's the best way since people can't move on... they just have to haunt you.

If the weather is good I'll go out for some photography tomorrow...

Been Busy...

First and foremost, sorry to those who actually check back on my blog for updates. There are a few of you to my surprise. Google Analytics say so. Whoever you are, sorry and thank you.

I'm back and hopefully I will try and manage my time better. I have been very busy and I'll try to summarize everything that's happened in the past weeks in this post.

Last month, during the holidays I took leave and went on a short holiday too and I also went to see my potential new work place and here's a picture of it. Please click on the picture to get the full panoramic version.

It looks very much in line with the artist's impression. I'm sure things will look much, much better after the landscaping is completed. The rooms are so-so... hard to comment when it isn't fully furnished.

On the way back from my holiday I got caught in my worst traffic jam ever in my entire life. I left Kangar at 5:00pm on Sunday evening. The journey from Kuala Lumpur took just over 5 hours. The journey back took 13 FUCKING hours! Excuse the language but I was really, really pissed. Something I'll never forget and hopefully never ever get caught in again.

I got myself Tekken 6 and on the first day played it till my thumb was numb... and flat too. I couldn't feel my thumb the next day. They did a damn good job with the graphics. The movements are good... to the point when the female characters fell or moved, their boobs moved in sync with everything.... cool!

Hmmm... what else... Wada seems to have stopped blogging. I guess having a partner now has been keeping her busy.

Oh, yes... the ex has tied the knot. I sent them flowers to congratulate them. Bought them online. The exchange is a killer... cost me almost RM400. Oh, well... it's a one-time affair so what the heck.

I have been very, very busy with my Flickr page. I deleted a shit load of pictures and added a lot of potraits. I have been revisiting a lot of my photos and been re-editing them to get better results. I'm going to be more active there now and I need to do a lot of housekeeping there with the sets and tags. So, do drop by there and pen down some comments to help me improve with my hobby.

I've had a lot of trouble focusing on my current job as my heart seems to be in Langkawi already. You know... being a KL boy I thought I would suffer in Kuantan... which I did for a very short while but then when I got used to it I started to dislike KL and now after being in Langkawi again I think I really hate KL now... I really am looking forward to the move.

Last week I attended the Joint Council... a meeting where we senior management meet with the owner and his representatives (board of directors). The owner shared his views on the company's expansion plans and how it intended to place all of us under REIT and how he intended to expand after that. In return he needed us to commit our performance to to meet the REIT rentals. He went on and on telling us how he was so excited with it... sure... I'd be excited too if I had in excess of RM400 million to play with. And then he asked all of us if we were excited.... well... ALL OF US tried to look excited but here is the truth. How can any of us be excited? He asks us to commit our performance in blood so to speak... but  he does not commit anything to us. Come on... if we commit and don't meet the goal there was threat of asking us to look for a new job... but if we do meet the goal, what's in it for us? If you want us to be as excited as you are, then hang a fucking carrot in front of us! Even a baby carrot is better than nothing!

Anyway...  I haven't changed my mind... Langkawi, here I come...

Another Sleepless Night

I thought that I'd sleep like a baby since I didn't sleep a wink at all on Sunday night but I was wrong. My mind was active again. I think I got about 2 hours of sleep. I am still very, very excited about my upcoming new job. I just finished and sent my assignment over.

Another view of Phase 1.

Sleepless Night

I had a sleepless night last night and I am so, so sleepy today. This excited botak's mind was on overdrive last night. I was thinking of the candidates for my core team, finance, policies, benefits, salary structure, etc. I am really, really excited about this. Need to find the time to do my assignment today. Here's an artist impression of what I'm all excited about.

This is Phase 1.

My Interview

I met my friend Pam today.... the one who is going to be my new boss. It was an interview cum chit-chat session. We have not met in quite awhile. She looked pretty much the same. She was a hot hoochymama 15 years ago... really hot. Now... hmmm... not so hot lah.... but bolehlah. Hahaha...

Anyway we met in Bangsar Village 2's Coffee Bean. She wanted to know if I was serious in accepting her offer. She proceeded to tell me more of the project. It sounded very good. I am interested... very interested.

1. The 40% and the increment when phase 2 opens still stands.

2. Accommodation thrown in. My beloved mom gets to come visit for free. This is a benefit she insisted on. I guess she wanted to emphasise on this coz she just lost her mom last year.

3. She's buying a Murano and I can drive that Murano when she is not there as she is based in KL. Wow! Finally, a company car... sort of....

4. After this resort there will be two other resorts and if I do my job well here then I will head the project for the next two with profit sharing options. That sealed the deal actually.

5. I report to her and no one else and during the conversation we established that she and I both have the same goals. That's important.

6. I am fully in-charge. I am to treat it like my own business. I get to pick my all my managers. She only needs to interview the Financial Controller and choose the Financial Controller. Ok... I have no problems with that.

Finally... a chance to build something of my own... mould it the way I see it should be moulded into and not DICKtated by some idiots... and if things go well I might be there for at least 5 years as all the projects are in Langkawi. And if that's the case then... I may finally get to buy my dream car... duty free... hence affordable to a poor man like me.

I am so inspired now. Pam asked me if I wanted an appointment letter now. I laughed at her and said... What the fuck for? Even with the letter, you can still sack me on the spot and I can also NOT turn up for work right? She laughed and agreed... she said that most people would want to have something in writing to 'feel' more secure. I trust her I said... I'll need the letter much later. Not now.

And I already got my first assignment. Proposed manning for Phase 1 and Phase 2.

Damn... the last time I was so excited was when I lost my virginity! By the look of it... I think I should be at my new job by my next birthday.

The Appointment

My potential employer wants to see me. Looks like after over 10 years of complacency, I am taking that bold move after all. The appointment is set for 12:30 pm tomorrow.

Cash Cow and Problem Child.

Thinking back... I have been blessed in my career. Thank you God. I have been fortunate enough to be able to work well with most people I have known in my career. I say most as there are always exceptions. And in my many years of work I have been leading for over 15 years. And in that 15 years there were a handful of people who are an absolute pain where the sun don't shine.

Today someone Skyped me... he was feeling demotivated... all over a terminology. J was really down. J works in Kuantan.

Yesterday, or was it the day before... someone else Skyped me confessing her boo-boo of not checking a document properly before sending it out to a group of people and that document had performance scores of that group. L works in Kuantan too... L felt bad as she had not checked the document properly. She didn't create the document, someone else did. The company had got someone to propose a system of grading its employees to determine their worth and growth capacity with the company in the coming years. A succession plan as it is generally called. This guy chooses the word 'Cash Cow' for a consistent and performing employee with great potential while the employee who had great potential but inconsistent was termed a 'Problem Child'. J was classified as a Problem Child... which he is. He can perform... just choosy with whom he performs for.

So, he told me how he felt about it and I eventually gave him my honest 2 sen... and by the end of it, he accepted what I had told him.... which was essentially the truth and that he was indeed a Problem Child so to speak as he was inconsistent. I reminded him that he has an obligation and responsibility to his team and he cannot just think of himself and he has to disengage his feelings as he always allows his emotions to get the better of him at work. And I also told him, personally... I'd rather someone call me a Child then a Cow... don't you think so? So what is you're a CASH Cow... you're still a COW. I may be a Problem CHILD but at least I am a CHILD and children make mistakes and are always learning. A cow? Moo...

So, like I said in the beginning... all over a terminology. J says he likes talking to me as I do not take sides as opposed to his peers over there. Well, yes... I don't take sides but I am very blunt in my counsel too. So, if you can't stomach the truth then don't ask.

A Fruitful Friday

Yesterday, my Outlook suddenly failed on me. It just refused to start and I kept getting the following message. It was working fine till 2:00 pm then I did a shut down and took it for my meeting and when I restarted it just happened.

I tried everything. Repair didn't work. Add or remove features didn't work. System restore didn't work. I ran out of time last night as I had a date with Megan Fox. So, this morning I tried again. Still no progress. Finally I had no choice but to uninstall everything. Then reinstalled from the CD. Thankfully, it worked.... just troublesome as I had to reinstall Service Pack 1 and then Service Pack 2. Then install the other updates as well.

The boss came today and after the meeting he wanted to check the property. So, I took him wherever he wanted to check. Wow! We aced the check today... no negative comments at all. He was happy... while I was proud of my team's effort. By the time I touch one year here, they're going to be the de facto standard.

9 Months

Today, I was looking back at the progress I've made at work.

Well... the team did extremely well although no one from senior management uttered even a word of encouragement to them. In July we recorded the highest revenue turnover EVER (just above RM1.8 mil) on this property along with the highest PROFIT (57.2%). Last month we were just under July by RM16k but we made another record... the highest F&B Revenue EVER.

I did say I would turn this place around didn't I? Well... here you go... the numbers speak for themselves though no one from the board acknowledged these achievements. Nevertheless, I'm going to give recognition to the team tomorrow in our meeting and of course, I'm going to record this in my resume.

As I write this it is just one day over 39 weeks.... 9 months... that's the same time required to develop a fetus. And we have conceived a 'baby'. Now... to nurture it to maturity.

And I guarantee you at least one more record... or dare I two more? How about highest revenue and highest profit in year?

Penang - Day 2

Last night was not very different. I still haven't gotten used to the bed. Another sleepless night. Sigh...

The rest of the training was fine... right until the end. I knew that there would be some play with emotions at the end and I was prepared. Or, at least I thought I was...

The facilitator shared a story about a boy who wanted so much to tell his dad that he loved his dad but somehow couldn't bring himself to do it but instead said "Goodnight" to his dad only to lose his dad to an accident the following day. And that was all it took to have me sobbing away like a big baby. I was definitely the first to get all teary-eyed and I think I was the only male who did. I couldn't help it... it seems like yesterday that I lost my dad.

Anyway, Nancy the facilitator gave me a big hug after that. She knew... I've known Nancy for over 10 years now. In fact she was the one who interviewed me during the buy-over back then.

I decided to leave tomorrow as I didn't want to get caught in the jam at the bridge and also because I wanted to catch my 9:00 pm TV3 drama. That also meant it was best not to venture out for dinner. So, I took a quick walk to the nearby shopping center and bought my dinner.

My dinner... a dinner plate. I actually prefer the 'Original' but somehow today I thought I'd try this instead.

Ha, ha, ha... and this is my dessert of course...

Penang - Day 1

Day one in Penang. Had a sleepless night. It's usual for me due to the new bed and environment. In the little sleep that I got I dreamt of a centipede. I never did finish the dream as it was interrupted by an SMS at 0223 hours by someone who wanted to tell me how efficient I was. At that hour? Aiyoh... I didn't get a sound sleep after that. I tossed and turned all night and the next thing I know it was time to wake up.

The training was okay. I've been through many similar trainings. This one helped refresh my memory and also put things in perspective on how to apply things differently with the new generation of employees.

For dinner, the host took us to Northam Beach Café. It was a food court actually but it sure had a wide selection of cuisines. Japanese, Italian, Chinese, etc. There was halal food but mostly non-halal. We ordered all kinds of food and everyone wanted to pay.

This is the ABC with ice cream. This is the only thing I managed to pay for. It cost RM32.00 for 6 of these... 4 with ice cream and 2 without. Not cheap actually but it was good.

Then I ordered a betul-betul ho liao... prawn noodles. It was damn good. I was so tempted to order another bowl for myself but when I saw what the rest had ordered, I changed my mind. There was so much food and it would all have gone to waste.

The Idols...

I received this from my ex-colleague today. This picture is called 'Hawaiian and Malaysian Idol' by the sender. This was taken in November 2007 during the staff party. That's my boss on the left and that's me on the right..... if it wasn't already obvious.

Aww... Shucks...

It looked like it was going to pour this morning and since I had to vacate my apartment by the end of the month I decided I'd catch the gloomy morning scene before I lost the chance.

The phone rang at 8:33 am to the theme of Ironside. Only one person in my phone book with that ringtone... my boss. Alamak... not again... last week's argument was enough. I don't need another one. I've been having too many arguments with him in the last 8 months. Come to think of it, we've had more arguments in the past 8 months than over the last 10 years. I take the call and he asks if I am at work yet. Yes, I am... he's here too. Aiyoyoh... karavale, karavale... this is so unusual. I go to meet him and he asks that we adjourn to my office. That's even more strange. This is the first time he's been to my office.

Something's not right. He closes the door after he gets in. It was an hour session. He apologised for not guiding me properly since I took this challenge 8 months back. He must have heard or felt that I was serious when I said I was going to leave though he never touched on that topic. He explained many things which had to stay within the four walls of my office. There were emotional moments... him holding back his tears when I told him how shitty it is to be a senior management and to get your 10-year service cheque and letter from your own HR manager and the letter signed by the HR manager and not from the owner himself or Council. Of course he assumed responsibility for that failure. As usual... Well... to cut a long story short, he's managed to make me feel guilty. I tell you... this one man is the only thing binding me with this company.

Anyway... I have NOT changed my mind. He's got me mixed with my feelings and I MAY stay on but that certainly remains to be seen. I am still going ahead to recce the resort next month during Raya Haji and I called Mahmoud yesterday to ask him for leads on international postings. I'll be sending him my resume tomorrow.

Oh, by the way... in that discussion... I was told I now don't have to move from the apartment... damn... he sure knows how to go for the moral ground. His Sun Tzu is WAY superior to mine.

The Ugly Mutthafucker

Met an ex-colleague today and had coffee together while exchanging stories. In fact, too much coffee. I had 3 cups of brewed coffee on top of my daily cup early in the morning. The consequence.... was hyper all afternoon and didn't feel hungry till the late afternoon by which time it was no longer convenient to eat.

Back to the stories... Lembu punya susu, sapi punya nama... I had predicted this while I was in Kuantan. I knew without a doubt that I would not be there long enough to see the fruits of my labour. Somehow, I just knew it and I was right. Anyway, apparently my successor is a person who seems to like to bask in attention and is one who looks for personal glory. So this is a stark contrast compared to me who shies away from attention and personal glories.

It was rather amusing listening to all this come from someone who used to bitch about me and how I was supposedly 'indecisive'... just because I changed my mind about something. Well... as the saying goes... you never appreciate what you have until you've lost it.

I'll make a prediction here... I will turn this place around. The results will show and be very apparent but the credit will go to someone else... the story of my life. As long as the team gets the credit as well, I'm fine with it. As of last month, I am RM158K behind last year's PROFIT. So, by this month I would have exceeded last year by about RM500k and whatever we make in the next two months will be all extra.... and I think we will close RM1.5 million higher than last year in profits.

What did I do? Seriously, Jack Schitt... I merely played the role of Morpheus in The Matrix. I freed their minds... the minds of the team here and I got rid of their restraints. That's all I did. By the way... people say I look like Morpheus and some say I look like Yao Ming. Now I know how truly ugly I am... reminds me of Predator.. with Arnie saying, "You're one ugly mutthafucker!" No wonder I have no  luck with girls. Oh, well...

I got home close to prime time news... feeling absolutely famished. I wanted something fast to cook and good to eat... Maggi instant noodles. My usual 2 packets... double-whammy. My all-time favourite....

Happy Deepavali

It's Deepavali today and I'd like to wish all the Hindus a very Happy Deepavali.

No Hindu homes to go to this year. Strangely I got an SMS inviting me for Hari Raya open house today. But I didn't feel up to it. I was awake by 8:00am. I decided to watch Transformers again on Blu-ray. Then I cooked some sausages, burgers and chicken drummets for breakfast. Had to clear my perishables before I move at the end of this month. After that I did some cleaning and had leftovers for lunch.

After lunch I lazed around a bit, fooled with my camera and played or rather tried playing some games on PS3. I  don't think I'm any good at PS3. Then I felt like watching Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen so off I went to buy some DVDs. Didn't get to watch any DVD when I got home as I had a dinner to attend at the Shangri-La Hotel.

I took the monorail there. Walking into the hotel brought back memories. Just as I walked in I was startled by someone calling my name. Looked around and I saw a familiar face but for the life of me, as usual I couldn't remember the person's name. She's asked me what I was doing now... I replied...

Coolie...

Yeah, right... come on... Director of what now?

Director of Garbage

Seriously, Director of what now?

Nolah... not even a Director... just a Manager...

Ala... you ni poyo lah...

I guess I am... nice to see you again.

Off I went... I wasn't in the mood for chit-chat. She must have been there for... let's see... 12 years at least as I have left that place for the same number of years. Frankly, she looked horrible. I guess it's true when they say that GENERALLY women don't age as well as men. I proceeded to have dinner with my colleagues at Lemon Garden. Dinner was okay... nothing spectacular. Food was just so-so.

I saw a few familiar faces and they too recognized me despite my lack of hair now. Two of those I met have been there for over 20 years! Geesh... that's a long time.... and does not seem like they have progressed much with their career.

This got me to think... I have been with this company for over 10 years. Next March it will be 11 years. At my 10th year I received one month's salary as ex-gratia for my long service which was fine. But... to a person like me, that's not important. I hold a senior position in this company. The least for me was for the owner or his number two at the least to call me and thank me for my long service and if they could not accomplish that then a letter from either one of them would have sufficed. But NO... I got a letter signed by my Human Resources Manager. I have made it a point that all the long service employees got their letters from me and not the team leaders. I felt this was important to recognize employees. My bosses harp about taking care of employees but they don't seem to walk the talk.

So, if this is the way I am appreciated then it only compounds that I really should move on. A great Deepavali thought. The festival of lights probably gave me light...

The Meeting

Met up with ET and my boss today to go through my 'overspending'.. it was done over two sessions. 1st session started at noon and ended at 2:30pm. It resumed at 5:45pm and ended at 7:30pm. The main area in discussion was my labour costs which was at RM53k. I justified RM50k of it and it was accepted. As far as I am concerned it is good enough. But they thought otherwise... so I told them in not a very polite way. You allowed me to have 35 people in this department. But then you imposed a hiring freeze. I ended up with 22 people and I had to compensate with part time labour. Replacing with 13 part timers does not give you the same efficiency as 13 full time hence your RM3k extra.

These people will never admit their mistakes. My boss says he didn't stop me from re-hiring to the 35 which is true. However, someone else did and said that I had to get approval which I also managed to get after a couple of weeks. And even after I got the approval, people don't just appear at the snap of the finger, ok? I am pretty sure I am still sane. I'd have to be insane to not want to hire IF there were no restrictions. My boss calls the person to clarify and judging from the conversation there was denial or some kind of denial. Ok, as usual... I am the liar... it's ok... my conscience is clear... and I have my team as witnesses.

After the meeting, my boss asked me what was different with my meeting with ET on Monday and now? I said... you're here... she has to follow your pace and you allowed me to present my case and justify unlike her. So, he suggests that he be present for the next meeting as well. Up to you... I'm fine.

Throughout the meeting, I was not as nice as I have been in my 10 years here. I was... feisty? I can tell my boss knew I was not in a mood to be messed around with. I guess after 10 years of working together we both know each others' temperament. He was very accommodating and extra nice throughout.

But... I'm still sticking to my decision... the countdown has started...