JUST ONE MORE DAY as a consultant

Days on the Bench

Ms. Lam — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 09:30:33 +0000

I’m finally back on the bench again after a hectic project experience with Project Amtereuorgk. For the last 6 weeks since I finished with that project, I have been working from home, helping out with all kinds of administrative work and offering the ex-client little pointers and advices for their new system. On the sideline, I’m also helping my manager on adhoc basis to get documents ready for an internal audit. While most things have been merry, preparing for audit sucks.

Right now, I’m trying to get my manager off my back so that I can go back home and prepare for my appointment at night, but the man doesn’t seem ready to let me off yet. I have Farmville running in one tab and WordPress on another while alternate tabbing my manager’s MSN window. Seriously, life can’t get any better.

On the side note, I have new assignment lining up already. If all goes “well”, Project Sumiietoe will commence next week. Keeping my fingers crossed.

Challenge

Ms. Lam — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 11:34:40 +0000

Everyone will like to have things in their way and different people have different ways of doing things. There is no perfect solution for everyone. We can only come out with our own perfect solution, stand by it and convince everyone that this has to be the way to do it.

Take it or tell me a better one.

Hiatus

Ms. Lam — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 18:25:18 +0000

What?! It has been 3 months since the last post? Frankly speaking, I don’t know what I had done for the past 3 months. They seemed to zoom past without me noticing. Let me recall…

To start off with, it was documentation initially which I had gotten rather bored of. Then it was festive season, and then, came the breaking news! Suddenly I was in training, testing, migration, deployment and finally, supporting. Still, I have to mention this again, I have no idea what had went on.

I attended training with the users, trying to grasp as much information as I could within that short span of time. Then I was present at the testing where I was telling users things which I thought should be the way and things which I learned merely 5 seconds ago. Though I felt drained from the input (output) overdosed, I got to learn many many business processes of the client and these were good stuff.

Then. came the grand migration where there were lots of waiting. I have to tell to users what to load and appease them when there was too much waiting. It doesn’t help when my set of data has to be loaded last due to dependency. The weekend before the live date was spent in office, waiting. There was delay due to some delays (plainly users’ wrong data input) and my set of data could only be loaded on the live date itself. This resulted in half a day delay of the projected live time (date).

I burnt 4 weekends in all in the past month. It’s fine cos working on weekend in such situation has a “team building” effect. We had our 3 meals together and lots of interaction among us. We gossiped, shared jokes and views, snacked, called for deliveries, discussed, argued, worked, and some (fortunately not me) even sleep, together. The record was working till 6am on a Sunday (Monday morning). It was all cool. I accumulated 5 off-in-lieu in all.

After the grand live date, it was supporting. I was banished sent to a location way beyond accessibility. Thank goodness I have the car to share my burden even though its significance was significantly reduced in an event of jam3. Imagine driving for an hour just to get to the location.. Bahhhhhh… I hate jams.

Basing me at the new site was as good as throwing me into the deep sea. Many problems which were never raised was faced. I OTed for the whole of my first week there. My second week there was much better after most doubts and flows were clarified.

Edited: I can barely recall that I had actually wrote and published this incomplete post. The time that this post was published probably explains. 2.25am, I could have been so tired after blogging that I just click publish instead of save.

Updates

Ms. Lam — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 05:06:41 +0000

It has been one full month since I joined the project. I’m still loving what I’m doing and seeing. I have the loveliest people working with me, it’s almost like an 180 degree change from Project Lenocdsoi. Though I’m still not doing what a consultant should be doing (still trying to learn the many new things which I am facing), I am pretty convinced that I am in the right field.

The design stage has officially ended for this project. The team is now doing the realizations and preparing for testing as well as putting together training materials (that’s what I have been doing). I hope things will be smooth as they move along, the guys are working real hard now, juggling work, deadlines and people.

I’m looking forward to the off peak period of the project which is during the festive weeks. Till then I update again.

To the West

Ms. Lam — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 03:32:37 +0000

It was another nice 2 weeks bench period before I headed west to where I am now. Another new start.

Project Amtereuorgk is located far west on the little red dot. The project had just started for 2 months and now its finishing the design stage. Lots of catching up to do since I missed all the workshop sessions. Nice folks as what I have gathered from the past 36 hours but the working hours is… put it this way, I left home at 6.15am yesterday and reached home at 9pm. Just enough time for dinner and shower. I could have reach home later if my kind colleague didn’t offer to give me a lift back. Normal working hours for a consultant? I hope not.

Back to more reading up and waiting for access to be granted. Catch up later.

Pick up the bloody phone

Ms. Lam — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 10:39:31 +0000

Some people just love share their phone conversation with the whole office. The handset isn’t very heavy, you don’t need to be on speaker when it is just you listening to the conversation.

C’mon dude, phone booths and meeting rooms are built into the office for a reason.

Speaking in foreign language just make the whole setting even more irritating.

People, be considerate.


-----------------------------

On a separate note, I am still busy with Project Nollottop. These days, I just sit in front of my laptop trying to dig out some fanciful words from my limited range of vocabury. Reading 150+ pages of words over and over again is no joke.

I have words swimming around my head now.

BAH………..

Something new

Ms. Lam — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 07:51:32 +0000

3rd day on this new project and being my first time working on a proposal, I’m still trying to get use to the kind of work involved.

Going through the client’s requirements, making sure that the proposal has covered all aspects, make sure things are not too fluffy. Though there are many documentations to go through, they have not bore me down yet. In fact I find them rather enjoyable to read. That’s really something new considering how much I hate reading documentations.

As much as I have gathered, this is quite an interesting and challenging project. I do hope we will win and I will be involved when doing the implementation.

Hello stranger

Ms. Lam — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 08:17:46 +0000

I finally got the call at 12pm asking me to meet the project manager of my next assignment. Immediately I changed into my working clothes and flagged a cab down to the main office.

Enthusiasm? Haha, I’m really bored can?

Met the PM, got introduced to another guy, have a quick chat then BWANG! Work landed on my desk. Cool!

This new assignment will just last me 2 weeks before I get sweep offf to another assignment. That will be another story to be covered at a later time.

Say hi to Project Nollottop. That’s all for now.

Sitting on bench

Ms. Lam — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 06:11:38 +0000

After a week of being paid to wait, I am still at home, waiting.

Bahhhh. This waiting game is getting boring.

Last Friday I got a call from my resource manager asking if I am alright with overseas project. I told him that I prefer not to due to personal commitments. Then he told me that according to company’s policy, as a consultant, I have no choice to be where my company wants me to be. This is like the silliest phone call I have ever received.

So now, I am still waiting for updates.

Yes, I am still being paid to wait so continue to envy me.

Moving up or down?

Ms. Lam — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 14:49:06 +0000

It has been a while since I update. Many had happened.

After my last post, I was given the luxury of working from home since someone* was on leave. I had initially worked from the office but when my boss came up to me and asked what I was doing in the office, I got the hint and worked from home for the next 2 weeks.

After 2 weeks of working from home, I went on a week vacation with my loved ones. It was a nice break from work.

Back to the office after 3 long weeks of absence, I was informed that I had been further extended on this project for another month, pushing my official roll off date to mid-November. It was truly a demoralizing news. On a brighter note, I had a new trainee on board. It’s always nice to have some young, female companionship.

The new trainee made the following 2 weeks more enjoyable. Gone were the odd lonely twosome lunch sessions, threesome was nice and enjoyable with plenty to talk about. I like the new girl.

Good times rarely last. Last Friday my boss broke the news to me.

“Congratulations
you can finally roll off end of today
please work with Somebody* to handover your work to the team
and I would like to request that if we need you in future, the team will contact you.. so please support if really needed… thanks”

The news came bitter sweet. It was tag too sudden. Though, it was something which I had wanted very badly for the past few months but I am getting a little too comfortable with the current stage of the project. The “flexible” working hours, the easy and steady workload, the company I am having in the office. The news thrown me back to uncertainty and I don’t like it.

Like it or not about the decision, I have to go.

Today is my second day sitting on bench, waiting for new assignment.

I’m paid to wait. Envy me.


(*name has not been used to protect identity)