Promise me?

I had a training day at work today. It was the 2nd day of a 2 day course. Essentially, it was a course to give people ideas of how to better manage their time and workload, so as to generally be a more effective person.

There were quite a lot of good parts in it, but the key thing I'm full on passionate about is the promise cycle. Essentially, before you agree to doing anything, understand the nature and scope of work required, negotiate the scope, agree on a deadline, and then commit. After commiting, stick to that commitment. Not doing so causes unnecessary stress on others and has a cascading effect.

I believe that principle is really core to a business. Having a profitable business relies on things getting done effectively, and if people can't keep to their word, significant time is wasted and a large amount of unnecessary stress is generated.

I believe this principle should be applied to daily life. I saw a Facebook status today that said, "How many times do you allow someone to cancel/postpone before you give up trying to be their friend?" Good question. Those that do that should realize they rapidly lose credibility and one day, we're not going to bother anymore. Call us when you want to maintain a relationship.

Of course, the world's not perfect and things will get in the way of keeping all promises. But to the best of our abilities, let's try and at least pretend we respect each other by keeping our word.

November 22, 2010

Happy birthday, "Yvonne"! Wishing you plenty of good things ahead :) When you're not too busy watching little kids swim or drawing cartoons, perhaps you would like to come over and drink all the weird drinks left in my place, and make a parma while you're at it =)

On other note, I am very, very tired. I was so tired this morning I decided to go to the drive through coffee place near my work. As soon as I bought it, I remembered why I don't generally buy from there. I really could not taste the coffee in it; it was like steamed milk. Unhappy. Fortunately had a decent coffee at lunch to make up for it. I must remember not to purchase from there again so as to prevent myself from supporting the proliferation of bad coffee in Melbourne.

November 17, 2010

I heard someone smile on the other end of the phone today. I couldn't help but think how we've come a long way. I remember the first time when we really had nothing to say to each other.

Jovial insults, a dozen inside jokes in a 5 minute conversation, the smiling voice - that's when you know you've built a relationship. I don't take this lightly, am greatly thankful for it, and consider it something to be looked after.

It really isn't that difficult to be friendly. Try it one day, you might even enjoy it.

Some duck egg on the side?

I had a slightly pricey meal tonight. Thought I would try some duck egg. Hadn't tried it before, so why not? Had Wagyu beef as well. Hadn't tried that either. I must say, a regular Porterhouse is probably sufficient for me.

Might as well have a few glasses of wine.

Had to have some dessert and coffee to make sure I could walk back home straight.

Doesn't matter it was pouring rain coming home. Doesn't matter my jeans got soaked. Doesn't matter there were others on Lygon street clearly not walking straight and uttering words that didn't make sense to even themselves let alone anyone else.

Doesn't matter becuase for a few hours, I could forget.

And that didn't feel too bad.

November 10, 2010

I've been reminded again today that life's better without you. The sun shines, the birds sing, and even the possums crack a smile when you are gone.

Thanks for not being here for me, it makes me happy.

November 3, 2010

I don't like it.

Head heavy
Pressure cooking
Sandbags on the shoulders

It's stressful, tiring
It disrupts my peace

Not a great week.

November 1, 2010

One of those days that I am getting frustrated at everyone and everything.

Grumble.

One of those days where you know it's better not to interact with others otherwise you may unfairly get upset at them.

Sigh.

On the positive, it's a public holiday tomorrow. No work.

Good night.

First night shift aftermath.

Thanks for the emails / SMS's / comments left encouraging me for my first night shift. Greatly, greatly appreciated.

For those that had the conversations with God, thanks for that too. While there were some minor upsets along the way (e.g. the one night shift turned out to be one night shift plus working all day Sat and Sun), the key issues/concerns I had was sorted out. It reinforced to me the importance of building relationships, spending time with people and understanding their concerns.

The most important things were sorted out. Sleepiness/tiredness is secondary; one can recover from this just by sleeping enough.

It took a few days to recover, but it was a great learning experience.

Thanks for your help.

First night shift tonight.

I tried sleeping throughout the day but only managed about an hour. I'm eating chocolate now and will get some coffee on the way to work, but a bit worried that I will not be able to last 5pm-7am on this little energy. For the praying types, if you could consider that one in your conversations with God, that would be greatly appreciated.

All other issues put on hold tonight, one issue at a time.

Later, all... will write/text/call again when I re-appear from the grave shift.

October 18, 2010

How are you?
The usual.
What's that supposed to mean? Aren't you young ones supposed to enthusiastic and excited?
The enthusiasm comes and goes.
___

You can swear if you need to.
Thanks, but I try not to, and generally if possible only in my head.
Very well.
___

How are you, anyway?
I'm ok.
What's wrong?
Let's talk about work. A neutral topic.

I know what is.
(Silence)
I hope it works out for you.
That means something.

It's supposed to be a good thing.

Others are telling me it is a good thing.

But I just don't feel it, there is no need. Apparently it's good if I feel there's no need, it would be a problem if there was a need. Apparently it's supposed to be an improvement. But things are good, why risk it? There's no need to add to the pile of bad memories.

Just go to work and do work, drink coffee, eat good breakfast, exercise, drink coffee, go to work, do work, drink coffee, exercise.

!#

It's already starting to cause trouble.

Scrap the idea.

October 12, 2010

It'd be really good to have some ice cream tonight. Honeycomb ice cream. Or a Mars Bar.

Flash flood warnings tonight, though. Doesn't provide great incentive to walk to Safeway to purchase any of those items.

I guess I'll just have to watch Two and a Half Men and eat an apple.

___

PS. It was great having you in Melbourne, matey!! Have a safe flight, see you soon!

There's a party, and you're not invited.

I don't understand how it can be so difficult for some people to stick to something they've already agreed to. I really, really don't understand. If you know you're not going to follow through, then don't agree to it in the first place. If you genuinely thought you might, well, then you're alone on that one.

I am fed up and am not interested in apologies.

If you don't have your phone on, no one will call you. If you always say you'll turn up and but you don't, people start to see the trend. If you cry wolf enough... you know the story.

Don't expect to be invited to the next party.

____

I don't dare touch my phone for fear of losing my temper. It is great to be able to communicate to the virtual world where the rules are a bit different.

October 4, 2010

Grumble time again. Sick. Been coughing my way through Sat and Sun. Decided to stay at home today mainly because I was feeling fairly dizzy and didn't feel I could drive safely. Hope to get better soon. Really grateful that I have really thoughtful housemates during this sick thing though =)

Asides from that, the weekend was pretty good. I had a guest arrive, in style, as expected. After one night, though, she decided to do accommodation elsewhere for the rest of her stay as I apparently live too far away from the city =) Rephrase, when she has finished partying it 3am in the morning, it is much more convenient to not have to walk/taxi home since trams will have finished then. Haha...

Great weather, once again. Time to do stuff outdoors! Yay.

Grr... @# pager!

11:44pm, happily sleeping away.
11:45pm, "beep-beep-beep, beep-beep, beep-beep-beep, beep-beep".
11:46pm, grumble grumble, call into work.

00:00am, time to go back to sleep.
00:57am, still unable to fall back asleep, decide to complain to the virtual world.

There's a new drive-through coffee place in Altona. Perhaps I will be visiting it tomorrow.

Grumble grumble.

September 26, 2010

Today's probably the first day this year I would say it was truly spring. Sun shining, cool breeze, temperature fairly perfect... =)

I did attempt to cycle yesterday - feeling fairly lethargic yesterday morning so thought I would try to overcome it by getting on the bike. Having not exercised in a few weeks, it was a struggle - there are some slight hills in Ascot Vale. It is difficult cycling by yourself sometimes (for me at least) because without pressure, I tend to choose to give myself lots of breaks.

The Grand Final was a good learning experience for me. I knew the city was really into it, but I was just surprised at how dejected everyone (including the fans) were when they drew. I reckon the Saints fans should've been cheering - they were that close to losing so many times... a fantastic game though, I couldn't believe I was actually into it.

Spring is here, Melbourne! Any moment spent indoors when the sun is out and the birds are singing is a waste. If only there was no work tomorrow...

Another really good weekend.

Thanks for the generosity.

September 20, 2010

Some things really aren't that hard.

To say good morning
To recognize good efforts
To make a quick phone call and say hi
To crack a smile... even if only a small one

It's really not that hard, but it just isn't done enough. It really surprises me when it happens - it's terrific.

Thanks for taking a pro-active approach, for being helpful before being asked, for making things easy.

A mess on top of a mess.

Most of me is saying that it really isn't wise to jump into a heap of mess when the previous heap hasn't been completely cleared up yet. Perhaps I'm just imagining things and the mess isn't there. Head's a bit full to clearly work it out, time will tell, but it's better to be mentally prepared.

I'm getting caught up / distracted by things that are not important, not life changing / life shattering. I need to get my act together and forget about these small roadblocks and work strategies to achieve the same end goal. I'm just a bit tired so not thinking clearly, really looking forward to weekend again and it's only Tuesday.

The sun is shining but today, it looks like rain.

Praying that I get my act together overnight, clear this head, and see and feel the sun shine tomorrow.

Sunny Saturday.

I had a terrific Saturday. It wasn't expected. Not that I thought it would be awful, but sometimes things just fall in place.

It was the first day in a few months I was out of the house without a jacket. It was a beautiful spring day. I walked around Princes Park for the first time in a long time. The grass was green, the skies were blue, the dogs were wagging their tails.

Of course, it could've been better. Like if my laptop charger was working. Like if I didn't get paged by work. Life if you hadn't been brought up in conversation I had. How is it that you can ruin my perfectly good mood even when you're not here?

But energy levels are rising. There are some great people to spend time with. Spring is here.

Still injured.

I can't believe it - I still have this rib issue.

It has to be something internal as I can't see any bruising. I'm just more amazed by it than anything. I thought it would've gotten better by now. I am semi-worried, but not worried enough to take time off work to go get it checked out.

It's funny because I wake up in the morning and forget about it, stretch to get up and it's like.. ouch, yes, it hurts.

Looks like I won't be able to play tennis this weekend. It's apparently going to rain cats, dogs and possums anyway.

Zzz...