Friday rant. Again.

So. I raised my voice at an officer today. Obviously, he is ranked higher than me. This is the second time I’ve done this, and both for the same reason. I was asked to do the same task twice.
And both times I had to spend quite a chunk of my time going through words and sentences, looking at the structure, spelling and grammar.

I hate proofreading, but somehow I have a knack for it. It is a tedious job that requires patience and more patience.

So today, after I have spent almost five hours last night and the early hours of this morning, the officer came to me and asked if I could look at a three-pager document which turned out to be the first chapter of what I had already reviewed. He said it was a ‘revised version’. Hah. The revised part was minimal, barely there. What made me angry was how it was 90% still the same chapter and the writer did not bother to make the corrections I have notated! This officer, while just the messenger, should have read through revised version and compared it to the one I have send to him this morning.

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Aku rasa nak maki je dia. And this happened while my ALL officers were in the room. Diorang rilek je biar aku tinggikan suara. Siap bakar lagi. Haha.

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Apa yang aku paling tak puas hati, dia boleh duduk sebelah and cakap “don’t mind me, I just want to see how you work.” Konon impressed dengan hasil kerja aku la. Tapi kerja yang sepatutnya dia buat, dia tak buat. Aku tanya soalan pasal fakta yang berkaitan undang-undang yang ada dalam penulisan tu, dia boleh senang je buat keputusan walhal dia tak tahu. Seriously, dude!

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Aku hormat pangkat dan perjawatan seseorang pegawai dan aku boleh terima kalau dia mintak aku betulkan benda yang aku terlepas pandang atau penulisan yang memang banyak perubahan daripada yang asal. Tapi dia bagi tanpa baca dulu, tak tahu apa yang dia bagi aku.

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I started working in a newsroom, quite a democratic one at that. A junior writer can argue her story with the editor and get her way, or maybe find a compromise if the story that comes out is better that way. And you argue about the headline, and the words to be used. You get asked about the facts that you wrote, the figures, the slant and bias. You admit mistakes, you correct them and you send the story back. When your story comes out the next day, you read it and see how it ended up after going though a number of filters. Sometimes you argue because the last para was removed and it ended on a ‘blaarghh’ note. Sometimes you just don’t bother because it was not vital but it still annoys you.

Kenapa aku masih bernostalgia pasal newsroom? Because I still feel that it was the best training I have received, being a business journalist. Such a steep learning curve, those three years. Kinda defined my writing and editing habits, and later refined by experience of these past 15 years.

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OK dah.

I feel like swearing

Bapak aku nak kawin lagi.  My sisters told me about it earlier, but I’m not too bothered about it.  And I’ll be away for work on his wedding day so didn’t think much of it.

However, I’m quite pissed off right now after finding out how he had asked the girls to get my mum’s copy of their divorce certificate because he doesn’t have his.  Bloody hell.  For a PhD candidate, you’re pretty stupid, aren’t you?

Insensitive prick.  Excuse my language, but I felt that was appropriate for the man who has continued to disappoint whenever he attempts to get us involved in his life.  Or maybe it’s just me.  I don’t think so.

I am okay with him out of the picture.  I just don’t like it when he causes problems for my sisters, who still maintain some sort of communication with him, or my mum, who doesn’t.  I thought I’m done caring about what he does.  I think I am but it rankles me when he hurts my mum or my sisters.  Aku cakap ramai lelaki bangang, marah.

Work fatigue

You have the secretary general who refuses to take down minutes of meeting when his deputy is not around.  “Tak pa, biar setiausaha eksekutif yang ambil minit.” So I have to do YOUR job on top of mine?  Really, dude.

You get the annoying clown who says he’ll do everything but don’t, who only reads the top most message on a thread and then ask what’s it about, who asks repeatedly for a document to be re-sent because the attachment is corrupted when everyone else had not problem opening it.

You get people from another association asking you to do work for them.  Banyak la cantik.

You get the smarty pants who will ask all the so-called smart questions, which have been addressed long before.  Orang penat buat minit, kau tak baca.

When you work with PEOPLE, you get all sorts.  I think I have OD’ed on people this year.  Need. to. escape.

I have informed the boss that I won’t be renewing my (non-existent) contract when it ends in December.  Dah tak larat.

 

As long as I’m laughing with you

You can’t choose the family you’re born into… the past week has been a constant reminder of that saying. I saw the good and the bad (as well as the hideous!!) sides to being around the extended family and I guess it just goes to show (yet again) that no one’s perfect and that you really can’t guess what’s inside one’s heart and mind based on external appearance.

Pakailah minyak wangi mahal-mahal pun, dengan beg tangan buatan Itali dan kereta mewah dari Jerman. Kalau hati tu busuk, mesti ada terlepas jugak bau tu!

Urghhh

I have a feeling that it’s gonna be a long, BLEARGHHH Monday.