Shout out from the top

After a week of sleepless nights and intense work stress, I received a pleasant surprise today when our CEO called to tell me that I got a special mention/award thingy at our company's monthly meeting (which I was unable to attend since I'm the only-the-lonely loser working from Wellington while everyone else is in Auckland - but that's another story).




Not the award I got

 So I stand up here on the stage to receive my Oscar Geek award, and would like to give thanks to all those that have helped me achieve my goal of being Geek of the month.

1. God
The source of all my geekiness blessings. Thank you for providing an awesome job and boss, for always being faithful in answering prayer and for such favour at work.

2. Mum and Dad
For the genes. Sure, you also gave me thunder thighs, a flat head and hairy fingers, but the brain genes didn't turn out too bad. And thanks for paying my school fees at RLSS because I was too much of a wussy kid to survive public school.

3. Pati
The Duran to my Duran. For clearing Lyla out of my path when I'm at my most stressed, shouting me nice lunches when I need to get out of the office and understanding about me spending some nights with the laptop instead him.

4. My boss
Chances are if he read my blog I would not have received this award. So thankfully he has more important things to do, like running a great company that hires awesome fobs...actually, one fob.


Oh my goodness, I'm so overwhelmed...who else do I need to thank...

5. UPY science labs
By spending 9 hours every week sitting in labs, while the Arts and Commerce kids lounged and laughed at the canteen just outside the window, I was put off any career involving labs and stumbled blindly towards IT (because I was told they were paid well).

6. Angie
The lovely Malaysian lady that runs the Malaysian restaurant Sri Pinang on K'Road. Where I spent hours of bonding time with workmates while chowing on the best roti ever, and copious amounts of curry. Friday lunch at work has never been the same since I left Auckland. Thank you Angie, for filling me up so much with scrumptiousness, that I was able to handle the Friday afternoon brain haze by sleeping-with-eyes-open at my desk.

Ok, the music is playing really loud now...the ushers are dragging me off...but thank you last but definitely not least to my blog readers and the blogs I read, for the bucketloads of laughter in the wee hours of the morning that helped me to make it through to where I am today *tear*

How to survive work stress

One word - denial. Pretend that you are not under the workload more suitable for 5 people. It doesn't cure it and it sure doesn't help the work get done, but it reminds you of what sanity feels like,  what the fresh air on the other side of the tunnel smells like, and fuels you to keep going.

Ways to implement denial mode:

1. Blog - See, I'm doing it now, and it's working. Nuff said.

2. Bake - This has the double benefit of providing therapy as well as having something delicious to indulge on at the end.

3. Housework - If you're a slob like me, housework is the perfect getaway from work craziness because there is always plenty to be done. I purposely leave it there to help me in stressful times (uh-huh...there was a plan to my laziness).

4. Watch State of Origin - Yep, even if you're a NSW supporter and your team is getting SLAUGHTERED. Or you've never watched rugby league before. Because the alternative is working. So reach for that remote control right now.

5. Spend time with your kid(s) - What a notion. Even if your kid finds it a bit suspicious (like mine is) don't let it stop you.


And after doing all that, you'll be too exhausted to work any more, so go to bed straight away. Ok, so maybe the next day it will all come back to you...the mountain of work you were supposed to do the night before but chose to ignore, how pissed off your boss will be, how you might miss out on a pay rise in the next review cycle, how crap the day will be, how much coffee you will have to consume to make it through the day, and how much Neurofen you will need to counter the caffeine-induced migraine. But wasn't that moment of ignorance just bliss?


This is how I survive. Please seek professional consultation before implementing this approach. I accept no liability for unsuccessful implementations and ensuing consequences. For a limited time only. Only available in participating stores. Full lending and credit criteria apply. Each piece sold separately. Batteries not included. Refer to website for full terms and conditions.

What DO I do?

Just recently while the in-laws were over from Samoa for a visit, my MIL (mother-in-law) saw how I was up most nights working after the toddler was put to bed. This was after the usual full day at the office.

Curious, she asked (in Samoan) "So what do you do at your job?"

EEK! I'm sure she saw the look of helplessness on my face. I am not a teacher, laywer, mechanic, engineer, dentist or doctor. I don't work at the bank. I don't drive a bus or a taxi. I don't work in retail. Those are pretty much the only jobs I can describe accurately in Samoan. (I know, how sad). As it was, I struggled to get people to understand what I did while conversing in English.

I am an IT Consultant of sorts, primarily in Business Intelligence. Huh, you say? I work in Information Technology. Ooohh, can you fix my computer? I think that's my least favourite question. As far as anything to do with a home computer setup goes, I know as much as anyone out there who can read a manual. And I can understand how that confuses people. I mean, I'm in IT right? Like the IT department that you call to come fix your computer when it does something unexpected or undesirable. Right?

Wrong. Ok, attempt no. 3. I write programs that load data from different sources to a central location, and transform it into a format that the business owners can use to make business decisions. At this point (if the poor listener was patient enough to hang around) I get a look of "get better work stories". Ok, it is not thrilling, creative stuff. But I ... like it. If I had to work (and believe me, I do, and I will have to for quite a while yet), then this is what I want to do.

So back to my MIL. Looking at me. Expectant. I took a deep breath, and out came a jumble of words ... actually, every second word was "computer" (and that isn't even Samoan!). I can't even remember what I said, and if I did, I would never repeat it. I looked at MIL. Yep, there it was. The "okay...so you have a boring job that involves computers" look. Bingo. I think I could sign that off as a success!

Note: I actually am a competent BI Consultant...if anyone is looking for one...