Sigh. I brought work home last night and spent the whole evening at it, and am going to have to do some more this morning. And probably tonight, too. Will write properly when the dust has settled.
Archive for November, 2005
It’s not a good sign that it’s only Wednesday and I’m feeling like something Baubles the Cat has regurgitated (an extreme Fridayitis, but on Wednesday. Do any of you get Fridayitis too?). I have two deadlines this week - one tomorrow, the other on Friday - and it doesn’t help that people keep giving me things to do. Of course I can put them aside until later but it just keeps adding up.
The Boss was a bit taken aback yesterday when he came up to my desk and before he could say anything I blurted out “Please don’t ask me to do anything else! Not right now!” I just couldn’t help myself, and The Boss does have this habit of coming and perching on your desk and thinking out loud about things we could/should investigate. Luckily he also has a sense of humour and when I told him I just have so much on my plate right now, assured me that he just wanted to ask a question. Of course the question meant CW will have to do something about the issue The Boss’s question was about, sometime soon, but I did feel better after expressing my angst.
CW’s fantasy: Once this week is over.
Categories: work-life-balance, Fridayitis
Last Friday I took a bus to work. This is a rare occurence these days as I normally go in with M, but on that particular day I’m going to our city campus, and M’s going to the main campus, so we go our own ways. I don’t particularly mind the bus as I get to reacquaint myself with my iPod (I either listen to podcasts or play music on shuffle - interesting listening). Sometimes I even read.
Anyway on this morning, I’m standing there scanning the street for the bus while listening to 甜蜜蜜Tián Mì Mì Your Sweet Smiles (lit. “Sweet as honey”) by é‚“ä¸½å› Dèng LìjÅ«n, Teresa Teng*. (I have mentioned before that I like schmaltzy stuff when it comes to Mandarin songs, right? It’s weird because I ordinarily can’t stand that sort of thing in English.)
A bus appears, but I don’t flag it down because it is an ‘express’ bus that isn’t meant to stop until it gets to the city. Strangely enough, the bus stops, and the driver beckons me on board, with a great big welcoming smile on his face. It is a bit surreal, because bus drivers don’t normally do such things (smile and welcome you on), but I thank him and get on.
Several stops later, he stops again, to let more people on. Again with the same welcome. Some of them look a bit confused too, because it is an express bus (Perth people are so well trained), but hey, who’s complaining if you can get to your destination more quickly?
When we finally pull into the bus station in the city, the driver stops to let us off, but before he opens the doors he turns to all the passengers and says, in a booming voice, “Jeeeee-sus is Lord! Have a great day everybody, and a wonderful, wonderful weekend. God bless you!”
It’s quite funny to see people’s reactions - half of them just sort of shudder and look at the door hoping the driver opens it now so they can get off, while the other half smile and wave at the driver. Some of them even make it a point to head to the front of the bus, where the driver has finally opened both doors. He smiles and makes it a point to shake the hand of every person who exits through the front door, thanking them, and telling them “God bless you!”
I’m one of the passengers who smiles at the driver, and because I’m closer to the front door, end up shaking his hand as I leave. He seems genuine enough, even though that sort of over the top Born Again behaviour usually puts me off. I’ve just never seen such a happy bus driver.
I do wonder though, does this driver always ignore the rules when he is driving an express bus, and pick people up all along the route, even when he is not supposed to? Is he really doing his job properly, if he ignores some of the rules, even if he does it with such joy? Does he justify it by saying that he sticks to the rules that matter? Is he really doing the right thing? Which rules matter, and who decides?
*Pinyin and Chinese characters from the Wikipedia entry on Teresa Teng.
technorati tags: rules, meaning-of-life
