Tuesday, April 24, 2012

Success from Failure

I slept fitfully, thinking about my current assignment. Well, to tell you the truth, I slept okay, but I was laying in bed before sleep enveloped me stressing big time about the mess I had to pull together. Was I going to manage it? Was I going to fail? Was this going to be the first company, so early in my return to (company name) that was going to ask to have me replaced? You know, essentially, their incompetence doesn’t figure in their relationship with my employer, one of the problems with the type of work I do, especially when I am new and haven’t built a positive profile with my employer as yet. It is only my skill that is on trial here.

It was raining as I headed to work this morning. Did I think this was ominous? Maybe? What did it mean? The tears of hell raining failure down upon me. I pulled the umbrella, which Sam gave me, (which I have suspected for a long time was a waste of time carrying around in my brief case) from my brief case and popped it open above my head. I buttoned up my suit jacket and pulled it tight around me. I weaved between the heavy traffic and the raindrops and the puddles on the ground. I felt damp just being out in it even if the rain wasn’t, actually, hitting me, it was just that kind of morning.

I got to the front door of my office and took a big breath. People say that I am negative, people close to me. Actually, they don’t have to tell me, I know it myself. Too negative – some where along the line I have become a glass half empty person. I’m trying to change it. I exhaled and said to myself, I am going to pull this off. I know what I am doing. I am good at what I do. 
I was in the office at 8.26, the others were still to arrive. Oh, how long do I have to wait? How much time am I going to waste sitting here drinking coffee, waiting to be signed in. Fortunately, Person Number 1 arrived a short time later.
Person Number 2 was later than yesterday, something about families and children and husbands, you know the usual story.

Okay, straight into it. I sorted everything and got stuck into it. Less thinking, more action. Just get on with it, stop worrying about every little detail. The trouble is, that I hate making mistakes. Everything proceeds more smoothly if it is done right the first time. Life is easier this way.
Oh yes, did I mention that I am accessing the information remotely, as it is something they have only just taken over and it is all still located in the other office. So, I have to save everything as a PDF file to Finance drive and then I have to access the Finance drive and print it from there.
Shane told me later that they didn’t have their printer set up properly and that it didn’t have to be that way with remote access.

Remarkably, despite everything, I was finished by midday. I had a deadline today.
Person Number 1 and I checked it off and that process went smoothly.
We had it all finished by 15.00. 
The idiot who normally does this work has called all her finance files Bob, so when I saved them they saved over each other. Why would you name your files the same name and why would you name them Bob?
Of course, nothing would load into the banking system, as it was all feared to the other Office.

I created the creditor files, which I had never done before, but I decided to make no admissions and just wing it. They, of course, didn’t work, so I had to call (my company) and sort that out, which I did.

I was walking out the door with Person Number 1 at 16.30 and she turned to me and said, “I don’t know how we would have completed all of that with out you?”
That was nice to hear.
So, victory was snatched from the jaws of victory. An assignment where I suspected that I might have failed had been turned into a positive. My reputation was saved and I have built upon it. I don’t give myself enough credit. No, I don’t.
After all, I do know what I am doing. I am good at what I do. It is just the other idiots that I can’t speak for.

I met Sam after work. I was in the city by 17.00 hungry. I realised I had miss lunch altogether. In fact, I’d given them half an hour for free by not taking lunch. Bugger.
Sam promised he’d be finished by 17.30 sharp.
Sharp! I messaged back.
Yes, he messaged back.
It was wet and cold. The rain was making all the seating in the city unusable. So, I bought dim sims, fried of course, and headed to Sam’s office. I quite like my Miki card. It’s good. Touch on. Touch off. Touch on. Touch off.
I sat in the foyer of Sam’s office and read the MX. It was like a journey back, I hadn’t read the MX for ages.
We got on the 96 instead of the 86. I wanted to get off at Spring Street but Sam dug his heals in and refused.
“No!” And wouldn’t budge.
“But there is no shelter at the Gertrude Street corner and there is shelter at Spring Street.
“No!”
“I don’t know why you can’t understand that?”
“No! No pissing around here. Let’s go as far as we can on this tram.”
We bought Indian on the way home.
I lit a fire.
We watched The Voice, Big Bang Theory and Top Gear.
We went to bed and watched Kitchen Nightmares, much to Sam’s protests.

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