:: Tears of the Moon ::

:: Saturday, September 15, 2007 ::

Yay! My visa got approved! I must say it's harder than it looks, since I saw the consul reject a couple of guys already. He asked me a couple of questions, maintained a steely eye and gruff voice. I passed! They're sending my passport back to the office by courier either on Tuesday or Wednesday.

Since then I've been packing up my stuff in boxes and passing on a lot of my old files to Trisha. I'm a fast packer, so I got my stuff boxed and most of my desk cleaned out within the day. Amazing how much crap you accumulate after three years, and how much of that is stuff you can give for recycling, or you only keep for memorabilia. Like, I still have old post-its from people I've worked for, and with. Little notes of Hello, or appreciation that they leave on my desk. Little invitation cards for all the small parties we've had, games and activities we've put together over the years.

What I didn't anticipate was the real physical reaction I had while I was putting these things away. My heart was pounding and constricting at the same time, I was taking shallow breaths. So this is what leaving feels like. Every time in the past, every growth and promotion I've had, only meant that I'd be moving desks, but still in the same team. Still dealing with the same people. Now, I'm actually leaving my team and doing something else. I'm still with the same company, but I'm relocating to a different site, working for a different department, and dealing with different people (some of whom are ex-cons of the Idiot Program run by Tabatina).

It's not going to be easy, but I think I can make it. I'm sure the Ops people are viewing the move with wariness, since most of the Support team came from my team and I've had good relationships with some of the key players in the new place. It doesn't help that I think the folks heading Operations there are stupid, overpaid idiots who don't know what to do. I'm glad I don't report to Ops now. I'm an entirely different department.

Our Reports Analyst, Mytch, I will miss the most. We've been seatmates for close to two years. She's worked with me since I was an assistant manager, and she was one of the first I've told (after I told all my bosses, my client services person, and Trish). She cried.

I finally got to tell the team last week. It was funny coz none of them imagined this coming. I'm glad Trish and I kept it under wraps this whole time, because I have the smartest team. They can think and overthink all these scenarios, and a lot of them are very creative situations. Next week is my last week at the office, then I fly to the States. When I get back to Manila, I'll be reporting to the other site.

Other than this, What I'll miss.
I'll miss the camaraderie we've created with all the managers in RC. We've been working together for two years, and seen each other grow and mature. For most of those two years, we've never had a constant site VP - what kept us together is that we were each other's support group. We collaborated, and bounced ideas around.

Now with Shapirs back, and his Number Two having been hired, I think they want to put together a regime that the RC team isn't going to accept. Number Two wants to throw her weight around. She rules by fear. And Shapirs lets her. *rolleyes*

Let's also see (and cross our fingers!) if I can pull my IT connections and borrow a laptop before I leave for the US..

At the home front.
I'll need my travel bag back. Will talk to Ace about that this week.

Cousins and relatives who live back East have contacted me (how's that for a family connection?) to ask how long I'll be there and if I can extend (I dunno). I'll have two weekends in the States. My cousin in San Francisco asked me if I could come over - I probably could (LAMMY!). I'll see if my aunts/uncles in LA will get back to Mom. Maybe on my last weekend there, I can go home from the West Coast.

I'll probably spend my Christmas in Singapore with Chi, since her birthday is on the 22nd, and it's her first Christmas there. I hope I can stretch it to the New Year. She finally has an apartment to live in, and in an area close to where she works.

:: D said @ 1:02 PM [+] ::
...

Drive!

Okay, I broke down and paid for driving school.

I mean, I love my dad and all - he's my first driving instructor - but he has bad driving habits. I suspect that I'm driving the wrong way: gas guzzling, clutch riding, shooting at the hip. Chi tells me I'm an idiot for paying (she could've just enlisted JR for me), but really. I can pay for it, and I want a third party to show me the right driving habits.

Day 1 of five yesterday. Twas good. Basic difference from how I drive and how it should be: I don't know how to half-clutch/half-gas. And my braking is jerky. Not radically different, but it means that when I needed to round a u-turn, or driving in sort-of-heavy traffic, I had to un-learn my basic instinct and try it the instructor's way.

I will get my 'real license' sometime early October. SO excited ;) I can finally use the car!

Change of Pace.

I'm changing departments at the end of the month. After months of annoyance, indecision and generally being pissed off about work hierarchy, I'm moving. What I'm most worried about is how to tell my team. I've been with this team for three years, and I've had a hand in almost all of the promotions, movement and growth in the program. I've been involved with the appraisals of about six quarterly performance seasons. I love this team.

I'll probably be in New York by late September (if I get my paperwork done and apply for/get approved for a US Visa) or most of October (maybe through my birthday, or Halloween). SOooo, Kimbles - are you still in New York? Punz? I'll be in Amherst - the same place I was last year.

Christmas out of the Country.

Speaking of traveling, I'll be in Singapore for three holidays: 1)my sister's birthday, 2)Christmas and 3)New Year's. This is the first time anyone in the family's celebrating Christmas away from home, so I'm taking my unused leaves (of which there are many) and heading to Singapore to celebrate with my sister. She finally got herself an apartment near where she works.

After I tell the Team, I'll tell my new boss that I'll be taking a leave over Christmas.

..Hey well now if I had a laptop and VPN access, it might not be so bad, right? Let's see if I can get me a laptop. ;)

iTouch iPod!
YUMMY.

I know what I want for Christmas!!! :)

Kit: Early Adopter, and I don't care! :)

:: D said @ 1:57 PM [+] ::
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