Wenjie’s Ramblings

.. have been busy handling two projects at the same time. Going home drained, and no matter how much I sleep on the weekends, there seems to be a huge sleep debt that I just cannot clear.

We did extremely well on the first session of Karazhan on Friday night, breezing through the whole instance and nine bosses within 4 1/2 hours. One shotting every boss, even manage to down two new bosses Nightbane and Illhoof. It was a very major achievement and I personally do not think it might be repeatable again. Anyway it gave me time for the whole of Saturday and Sunday to do other things. The guild started another session of Karazhan with alternates and players that could not get into Karazhan in the first place.

It seems like managing the guild is even harder than managing in workplace. So I was not surprised to see the research paper from IBM that says the future business leaders will come from the online worlds. The research paper is a fascinating read. 

The possibility of working overseas next year is getting more and more real, and I might have a choice of the place where I want to be. I will see how the events develop in the next few months.

I have been really busy for the past few weeks. Being involved in 2 projects at the same time caused me to have limited bandwidth for everything else.

And managing people comes with its own headaches. I guess I just have to grit my teeth and ignore the emotions involved.

I found out today that one of the newer recruits of our guild in World of Warcraft is from the country Belarussia or the Republic of Belarus. He was recruited by our Supreme Being Guild Leader to keep the only Russian player in our guild company.

I did not even know that the country Republic of Belarus even existed. With the Russians, Canadians, Americans, Asians, Australians etc in our guild, our guild is fast becoming United Nations. What a wonderful way to understand other cultures!

I realised that PUB has the shortest payment terms. Taking this month’s bill as an example, the bill was dated 8th July, but I only received it on 11th July. The bill is due on 20th July. Ignoring the date that I received the bill, from 8th July to 20th July, the payment terms is only 12 days!

 Which other bill has payment terms of only 12 days? Less than 2 weeks?

I came across this very famous letter written by Union soldier Major Sullvian Ballou to his wife, just 1 week before being killed in the war. It is a very touching letter.

Some of the lines from the letter that I find especially touching:

Forgive my many faults, and the many pains I have caused you. How thoughtless and foolish I have oftentimes been! How gladly would I wash out with my tears every little spot upon your happiness, and struggle with all the misfortune of this world, to shield you and my children from harm. But I cannot. I must watch you from the spirit land and hover near you, while you buffet the storms with your precious little freight, and wait with sad patience till we meet to part no more.

But, O Sarah! If the dead can come back to this earth and flit unseen around those they loved, I shall always be near you; in the garish day and in the darkest night — amidst your happiest scenes and gloomiest hours — always, always; and if there be a soft breeze upon your cheek, it shall be my breath; or the cool air fans your throbbing temple, it shall be my spirit passing by.

The full letter can be found here : My very dear Sarah.

Have not been back to office for almost 2 years on a daily basis. When the project ended, it was time to go back to office on a daily basis, at least for around 2 to 3 months before going back to the client’s place again.

Yet people complained that we are noisy, people complained that we take too much drinks from the fridge. Right, given a choice, I rather work at home. But no, they had to reject our work from home application.

So much for being one of the groups who are not the costs centre of the company. Instead the people who complains so much are those who leaves on the dot, does nothing whole day but gossip, and works from home on most days.

There is something seriously wrong here.

To be wise, the only thing you really need to know is when to say “I don’t know.”

Sleep Deprived. Overworked. Stressed. Tired.