I don't normally write about my thoughts when I'm still thinking (about something in particular). I usually wait. Most of the time, by the time I finish thinking I dont feel like writing anymore. But this time, I feel like writing my rather jumbled up thoughts.
What happened was, the boss came with the bigger boss to my office today. And what they want to 'discuss' was our next assignment should we not win the next tender. You see, our contract with the client has expired last october. We're now running on a 3-month extension. And this extension period too is ending at the end of the month. And the chances of us winning it for the 3rd time in a row looks somewhat slim this time. So, just in case we don't win it, the 3 of us (yes, there are only 3 of us in the team) will be relocated.
I've been thinking about it too and had in fact discuss it informally with the boss. I was hoping to be transferred to KLIA. Distance wise is not much different from Kajang-Subang, but traffic and toll wise, it's superb! Work wise.. Ok-lah kot. But I thought that was the best bet.
But apparently the bigger boss had a different plan for me. He told me he has 2 positions to offer.. and both are going to be in our HQ in WangsaMaju. Now, I am very fond of WangsaMaju for some reason..but working there is not something I'm looking forward to. The first position he mentioned is something I KNOW I dont want to be doing. I tried that for about a year before joining this company 5 years ago, and that was probably the most miserable year of my life! But the 2nd positon he was offering sounds a lot more interesting. It will be a totally new thing for me and he realized that, but nonetheless, interesting. (At least that's what I think for now after doing a bit of a research).
I'm feeling a little apprehensive right now. I must have been in my comfort zone far too long than I thought. Five years ago, I was hired specially for this system we're maintaining now. The company had won the tender for the first time, and they were in a desperate need for an engineer. I was to join the team of only 3 people led by a very experienced (expat) senior engineer. And I was told to learn as much as I could from him. I know I haven't learnt it all, but I've learnt sooo much from him. And he is, without a doubt the best boss I've ever worked with. I have now (of course -after 5 years) understood the system almost inside out. The system and the end users (harder to understand and work with of course - them human). And I've been happy.
It is as if I'm living my dream life. The work is exciting. When there is a problem, we work like the world is crashing on us! But when everything is going smoothly, there's very minimal paper work to be done. And I could be writing blog entry one after another and no one cares! There are times when I had to go to sites at 3 am in the morning and found out that the 'real' problem is solved by just rebooting the workstation (which the user didn't want to do on their own and insist that I should come, otherwise some flights might be delayed - that's exaggerating, but just a little, trust me.) Or there were weekends when I cannot be out of KL/Selangor area because my boss is not in town and somebody has to be on stand by at all times. But really, it's too small to compare to the luxury of the (non-existent) workload.
I'm a little nervous thinking about working in a 'real' office environment. Sitting in cubicles... having your notebook screen exposed for the rest of the world to see, should they want to! Oh my! You guys cannot imagine how fun going to work has been for me is, really!
I go to work wearing T-shirt (provided by the company) on most days. When I feel like wearing something a little formal, I'll wear the corporate uniform. We don't have punch card or anything equivalent to that these days. My work starts at 8.. and on days that I'm running late (not often of course, I AM after all very particular about punctuality), all I have to do is sms my boss and say that I'll be a lil late because bla bla bla.. and he'll answer (without fail everytime) with an sms saying 'k'. :). If I need to go home earlier than 5.30... I just have to tell him, and off I go. In my 'office' which is actually a server room, we sit in a line... and nobody can read from behind my shoulder. And in front of me, there are 3 workstations and a very old and almost obsolete tandem server. It's freezing cold in here sometimes, but the company provided us with a jacket each, which the people at the HQ don't get. As I said earlier, there are only 3 of us in the team, so I've never felt 'rimas' here. And I like (for no reason at all) being the only girl here. I do.It makes me feel special. And nobody cares if my tudung does not suit my baju.
But on the other hand, career wise.. I do know that it's time for a change.
But who knows kan.. kalau ada rezeki we might just WIN the tender! (I prayyyyy so) That means another 3 years here. We're getting 2 new ppl to join us (this is if we win), there'll be shifts, and NO driving thru MRR2 to get to WangsaMaju. Hehe.Oh and the best part if we win is that, I can still wear t-shirt to work!
Oh well.... Que Sera Sera...
What happened was, the boss came with the bigger boss to my office today. And what they want to 'discuss' was our next assignment should we not win the next tender. You see, our contract with the client has expired last october. We're now running on a 3-month extension. And this extension period too is ending at the end of the month. And the chances of us winning it for the 3rd time in a row looks somewhat slim this time. So, just in case we don't win it, the 3 of us (yes, there are only 3 of us in the team) will be relocated.
I've been thinking about it too and had in fact discuss it informally with the boss. I was hoping to be transferred to KLIA. Distance wise is not much different from Kajang-Subang, but traffic and toll wise, it's superb! Work wise.. Ok-lah kot. But I thought that was the best bet.
But apparently the bigger boss had a different plan for me. He told me he has 2 positions to offer.. and both are going to be in our HQ in WangsaMaju. Now, I am very fond of WangsaMaju for some reason..but working there is not something I'm looking forward to. The first position he mentioned is something I KNOW I dont want to be doing. I tried that for about a year before joining this company 5 years ago, and that was probably the most miserable year of my life! But the 2nd positon he was offering sounds a lot more interesting. It will be a totally new thing for me and he realized that, but nonetheless, interesting. (At least that's what I think for now after doing a bit of a research).
I'm feeling a little apprehensive right now. I must have been in my comfort zone far too long than I thought. Five years ago, I was hired specially for this system we're maintaining now. The company had won the tender for the first time, and they were in a desperate need for an engineer. I was to join the team of only 3 people led by a very experienced (expat) senior engineer. And I was told to learn as much as I could from him. I know I haven't learnt it all, but I've learnt sooo much from him. And he is, without a doubt the best boss I've ever worked with. I have now (of course -after 5 years) understood the system almost inside out. The system and the end users (harder to understand and work with of course - them human). And I've been happy.
It is as if I'm living my dream life. The work is exciting. When there is a problem, we work like the world is crashing on us! But when everything is going smoothly, there's very minimal paper work to be done. And I could be writing blog entry one after another and no one cares! There are times when I had to go to sites at 3 am in the morning and found out that the 'real' problem is solved by just rebooting the workstation (which the user didn't want to do on their own and insist that I should come, otherwise some flights might be delayed - that's exaggerating, but just a little, trust me.) Or there were weekends when I cannot be out of KL/Selangor area because my boss is not in town and somebody has to be on stand by at all times. But really, it's too small to compare to the luxury of the (non-existent) workload.
I'm a little nervous thinking about working in a 'real' office environment. Sitting in cubicles... having your notebook screen exposed for the rest of the world to see, should they want to! Oh my! You guys cannot imagine how fun going to work has been for me is, really!
I go to work wearing T-shirt (provided by the company) on most days. When I feel like wearing something a little formal, I'll wear the corporate uniform. We don't have punch card or anything equivalent to that these days. My work starts at 8.. and on days that I'm running late (not often of course, I AM after all very particular about punctuality), all I have to do is sms my boss and say that I'll be a lil late because bla bla bla.. and he'll answer (without fail everytime) with an sms saying 'k'. :). If I need to go home earlier than 5.30... I just have to tell him, and off I go. In my 'office' which is actually a server room, we sit in a line... and nobody can read from behind my shoulder. And in front of me, there are 3 workstations and a very old and almost obsolete tandem server. It's freezing cold in here sometimes, but the company provided us with a jacket each, which the people at the HQ don't get. As I said earlier, there are only 3 of us in the team, so I've never felt 'rimas' here. And I like (for no reason at all) being the only girl here. I do.It makes me feel special. And nobody cares if my tudung does not suit my baju.
But on the other hand, career wise.. I do know that it's time for a change.
But who knows kan.. kalau ada rezeki we might just WIN the tender! (I prayyyyy so) That means another 3 years here. We're getting 2 new ppl to join us (this is if we win), there'll be shifts, and NO driving thru MRR2 to get to WangsaMaju. Hehe.Oh and the best part if we win is that, I can still wear t-shirt to work!
Oh well.... Que Sera Sera...
The concept of having 'contractors' is to have someone to do all the work for.
Still, consider this scenario:
Client: Server hang la. Dah try buat itu-ini, tak jadi.
Contractor: Dah reset server?
Client: Belum.
Contractor: Reset server dulu.
Client: OK.
(presses whatever buttons)
Client: Server tak boleh start.
Contractor: U tekan apa?
Client: .. explains.
Contractor: Kenapa u buat macam tu..
I would rather do the troubleshooting myself, and save me more complex issues caused by my clients :)
And Wangsa Maju is one pretty fine place to be in actually. Sri Lojing is just a few meters up the hill :D
Well, if it's a server I think I'd rather reset it myself too. But if it's just a normal PC? Ok, so maybe EComStation does not look like Windows but shutting it down is exactly the same.
And on top of that, having to ask how to shut it down after TWO years of working with the system?
Like I said, tu lah.. memang Wangsa Maju is nice maaa.. but travelling from Kajang to WM is not something to look forward to, kan? Kalau nak bagi duduk kat Sri Lojing boleh jugak, hehe. Can jog to work some more, boleh kurus! Hihihi.