Saturday, February 19, 2005

I'm here!

Well well well....whaddya know? It's the weekend already, and where have I been? I wish I had been off on some exotic holiday, but no, just been busy from work and feeling absolutely exhausted by the end of the work week, so I've just been chilling out and getting some rest. I was in Sydney on Wednesday and Thursday, and that really burnt me out for some reason. Not sure if I will be taking anymore business trips in the near future, but if they are going to happen on a regular basis, I will need to get used to them. I had to wake up really early on Wednesday to get to the airport for my morning flight, and when I arrived in Sydney, it was straight to the office. I pretty much had meetings non-stop the whole day, so when I finally got to my hotel room, I was so drained I just collapsed on the bed and got a bit of sleep before I woke up for dinner. After that, it was straight back to the hotel room, and I just watched a bit of TV before going to sleep. Next day, it was back to the office for meetings, and then straight to the airport from there, and I got back to Melbourne about 8 plus on Thursday night. I know it doesn't sound like much, but I was really really tired, and I was so glad the next day was Friday, cos that meant the weekend was coming up soon and I could get my rest! I know, I sound so weak, LOL, but yeah, I think cos I'm not a seasoned traveller, and together with the packed schedule, I was really travel-weary by the end of it. As tiring as my week has been, it has been a good one though, I got heaps of information, and I think I'm learning more and more everyday. I think the learning will never end throughout my career, but coming into the "official" Week 3, I definitely don't feel as green as I did back at the beginning. Still a newbie, but I guess an improved newbie, LOL.

As for stitching, uh, still no progress, but I definitely had a good stash day yesterday! My birthday present finally arrived, wooo hooo! For those who don't know or don't remember, my birthday was back in November, hee hee. I had ordered some stuff online as a birthday treat from my mom, and the order from Stitching Bits and Bobs got to me yesterday! It's not Bobbie's fault though, I had special ordered some frames, and those took a long time to get to her, so I had opted to just wait for everything to arrive before having them sent to me. Well, it was definitely worth the wait, I love my new floss, my new frames, and the Bent Creek knocker kit I got! Only one problem, I looked at the instructions for finishing the piece into a knocker, and it looked way too complicated for someone with no sewing talent whatsoever. Oh well, I will worry about it when I actually get it stitched up. Hopefully my new stash will give me the inspiration to organise my time better and fit some stitching in, I can't wait to use these Mount Forest Frameworks frames, they're gorgeous!

Oh, and I also got my first paycheck, hee hee. We get paid on the 20th of each month, but cos 20th falls on a Sunday for this month, it arrives on the first working day before that, so all of us got our paychecks a little bit early for February. Unfortunately, most of it went to clearing my credit card debt, since I had to spend a fair bit of money on work stuff before I even started my job and some accumulated debt over the last couple of months, so no stash shopping for me yet. But next paycheck, oooooh....all the online stores, you better watch out for me! LOL. And it wasn't too bad, cos I did get some stash yesterday, although it has been a long time coming. I am giving myself a little treat this month though, I'm getting a new pair of spectacles, and while it's kinda practical, I think it's still a cool gift from myself to myself! *grin*

Alrighty, I haven't got much more to blog about, so I will stop here. Have a groovy weekend!

Monday, February 14, 2005

Happy Valentine's Day!

This is gonna be a short one, just want to wish everyone a HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY! :) Nothing happened much for me today, Terrence and I don't really treat this as a big day, so there were no huge romantic plans or getting each other gifts. We've been watching our expenses as well, since I only started work not so long ago, so maybe next year when we don't have to be so tight with our money, LOL. Anyways, even if you don't celebrate V-day, I hope that you will still have a great day!

Saturday, February 12, 2005

~~It's the weekend!~~

Thanks ladies for the comments and for visiting my blog!

Mercy, thank you, I do feel a little grown-up, LOL. But hey, enough about me, what about you? I really admire you for what you do, when I was younger and fascinated with biology/forensics, I thought I would become a medical examiner. Of course, I never continued with Science in university, but even if I did, I wonder if I would actually have the stomach for it. Sounds like you're learning so much, by participating and being hands-on, and yeah, it's probably morbid to bag and tag people, but hey, it's part of the job right, and I guess the sooner you get the experience, the better it is. And it's good to hear that you're getting stitching in, working on small projects sounds like a good idea! The next piece I want to start on is a big piece though, hmmmm....hopefully I don't get discouraged halfway, cos it is meant for a friend!

Debbi, I've been "keeping track" of your illness on your blog, and I hope you are feeling a little bit better by now! I do know the feeling, it absolutely sucks to be sick, and just getting back the energy after being sick for a long time is hard. Get lots of rest, drink lots of water, keep warm, and a personal remedy that works for me, well, it makes me feel better anyway, is a hot honey and lemon drink! I hope you get well soon, and I will keep checking at your blog.

Petra, LOL. Hmmm....you know, I didn't even think to check on the company's network to see if the job has been advertised internally, if it is, wouldn't it be funny if I put in an application?! Hee hee....I wonder how many people would do that just for amusement. But yeah, that was quite a huge change for me, I heard so much about Carly during my induction week, and suddenly, she's not there anymore! Well, we were told to expect change at all times, and they have certainly proved it! Oh well, it's a highly competitive industry, and I guess the company needs to keep the momentum going.

As for me, the first official week went alright! I do think I'm starting out in the right direction, and I hope as the weeks progress, I will be more comfortable with my job role and feel confident enough to take on real projects with some real responsibilities. I guess the only way to really gain experience is to get my hands dirty, and I am looking forward to that, just maybe don't throw the million-dollar projects my way at the beginning, LOL.

Well, I'm off to bum for the rest of the night (oh, how I miss that), and hopefully I will be able to check in here before I head for Sydney. It's going to be a hectic two days there, my first business trip ever, let's see how that goes! Enjoy the rest of your weekend, and I will see you next week!

Tuesday, February 08, 2005

The start of the week

Hmmm...I'm sad, no one has left me any comments!

Anyways, enough of my whinging! :p I just wanted to share how the start of my week has been. Monday wasn't super scary as I thought it would be, but still scary enough for me, LOL. It was comforting for me though, to hear that my manager/supervisor does have realistic expectations of me, so I don't have to be Superwoman from Day 1. However, I do know that I am expected to add value and contribute as much as I can, which of course is a goal of mine as well, so I'm hoping to cover as much ground as possible, to understand my job function, and start being useful ASAP! Monday was relatively slow for me, not that I don't have lots of things to do, but I had to do a lot of start-up stuff on the first day, like setting up my laptop, working round my way around the HP tools and so on.

Today was much busier for me, and already, my to-do list is piling up! LOL. My manager/supervisor would like me to meet with the other Business Development Managers (BDMs), just so that I can gain a better understanding of the HP's Technology Services portfolio, which in turn help me to better understand my own role within the team, and how I can contribute, add value and assist in the business development with my marketing skills. So yeah, I spent most of today setting up meetings with the various people, I met with a couple today, have some set up for the rest of the week, and next week, I will be flying up to Sydney to meet with the BDM leads who are based there. And at the end of all of this, I will need to do a presentation for my manager/supervisor and the rest of the team. WEEEEEEEEE, SCARY! LOL. Actually, I don't mind this so much, cos it's a specific goal I can work towards and I can see visible results at the end of it. My manager/supervisor did go through some of the job projects he would like me to take on, and while I can see that it will add to my learning experience and also allow for me to demonstrate my capabilities, I feel I won't be able to take on those responsibilities until I'm more comfortable with my job role. So yeah, at least with this little task, I can feel that I've achieved something during the early stages, and can help to fast-track my knowledge about the services portfolio.

There are still lots of things that I have to get done, some administration stuff like order my docking station, my screen to be connected to my laptop, my mobile phone and a new number with HP, an iPaq, and what have you. Unfortunately, the admin assistant is on leave, so I need to learn how to go through these processes! Which in a way is good I suppose, better to learn sooner than later! I will also need to book my flight to Sydney, organise accommodation, and MAYBE a corporate credit card, depends if it's easier to get that or claim back expenses, I really don't know what I should do! LOL. Oh, and of course, heaps of training that needs to be done online, which I had planned to do today, but somehow just never got time to get through. And all the material which I really need to spend some quality time to read through and understand them well. Corporate life is fun huh? Hee hee... *grin*

Anyways, I've gotta go now. I've been trying to sleep by 11 pm latest, so I'm gonna get cracking on some things before I head to bed. Please do drop in and say hello, I love reading comments, so if you've been here, don't be shy! Well, hope everyone will have a good week, Her Drama-ness will be back in Blogger Land at the end of the week. In the meantime, take care! *kisses*

Saturday, February 05, 2005

It's the weekend! (^o^)

WOW. It's been a huge week, and I'm glad it's the weekend. Not that the week was bad, but it was a full-on week and very tiring, and I really need the rest to recharge and get ready for the new week ahead! I actually know the feeling of looking forward to a weekend, I'm such an adult! LOL.

So, where do I start? There is so much to blog about, I'm not sure where to begin. In fact, there's so much to blog about, I just feel like doing a summary, LOL. Well, let me start by saying, the last 5 days have been incredible. I'm really glad that I got to meet all of the graduates joining HP, and while I didn't have the chance to really get to know every single person well, it was still amazing to have the opportunity to interact with my peers. I don't think I will be working with all of them in the future, but I'm sure I will be doing so with some of them, and it will be interesting to track our progress as we begin our careers with HP.

As for the company, it's great. I know it may be a very naive view at the moment, considering that I have been there for all of one week (without doing any real work), but I think I did get a genuine feel for the place, and the people are fabulous. Senior managers made time to give us presentations and join us for dinners, and there was absolute no air about them, and these were really senior senior managers. Graduates from 2001/2002 also came to speak to us and they felt the same way. Of course, they could have been lying through their teeth, but I seriously don't think so, I think they were very honest with us, and they genuinely love their work and being part of HP. I'm really looking forward to my next "first" day, I'm still scared, but I am eager to learn, and I'm just gonna keep trying to do my best and see how it goes from there. Welcome to corporate life!

Oh, my "lovely" boys destroyed my stitching armchair last night, booo hooo. They have been very good throughout the week, I actually thought they were coping well without me being there during the day, so yesterday, after work, together with Terrence, I had gone to Big W and splurged on almost $100 worth of doggie treats to keep them happy during the day while I'm not there. What do u know, when we got home, we were treated to a white Christmas, and I mean that literally. The armchair we bought at Ikea during a clearance sale and didn't come with a cover. Instead we just used a flat bedsheet as some sort of a makeshift cover which has been working very well. I'm sure I have mentioned plenty of times before, Banzai (when he was still by himself) loves it and enjoys sleeping on it and all other comfortable places like the couch, bed, etc. Not really sure what happened yesterday (we assume both dogs were guilty), but the bedsheet was ripped off, and the backing cushion which you lean on was torn to bits and all the stuffing/fluff inside was ALL OVER the living room floor, it was covered with this stuff completely. I didn't know if I should cry or laugh, actually, I must admit I was kinda amused, but also very sad at the fate of my armchair. I wasn't too horribly mad, cos I know it's hard for them to be alone, and I can only hope it gets a bit easier for them in time. Apart from that one incident, they really have been very good, much better than I had hoped for. Well, just need to find a replacement cushion somehow......

And before I finish, just to answer some questions. Debbi, I put the smileys up on my blog by linking from my own server where I uploaded them to. I didn't want to steal bandwidth by linking directly (some don't like that), and also, if they were hosted on geocities, it wouldn't work in the first place. Some do let you link directly though, like how Tracey has been doing it, so do a google search, and hunt down those cute kao-ani! Hope this information helps! :) And Mercy, nah, I have not stitched at all this week, not even today, there was a fair bit of other stuff for me to catch up on, so I haven't even thought of stitching yet, although I would love to. This week was crazy though, and not a normal work week, so I'm hoping after the next 2 weeks I will be able to settle into a routine and work in some stitching as well as a bit of my other usual activities, hee hee. And last but not least, HAPPY BIRTHDAY PETRA! Sorry for not wishing you a happy birthday earlier, it has been a real hectic week over here! I hope you will have or had a great day, and all the best!

Well, that's it from me for now. I'm going to try to do some bumming around here and recapture some memories from my bummer lifestyle, LOL. Definitely going to rest as much as I can over the weekend, otherwise I'm gonna end up like this:
Hee hee....alrighty, have a good weekend everyone!

About me

  • I'm Leeny
  • From Melbourne, Australia
  • This is where I dazzle you with my wit and fascinate you with my interesting self....but no, it ain't happening. I'm just a normal person, who can be a little nutty at times, but otherwise lead a regular life. Oh, and I LOVE cross-sitching, but I'm not 80 years old :p
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What I'm Stitching

  • Little House Needleworks - Spot of Coffee
  • Monsterbubbles - Home (freebie)

What I'm Reading