Just.

Things My Father Taught Me

There are two types of trouble…one is the trouble you knowingly walk into, the other is trouble that just happens…it’s important to know the difference.

Walk softly but carry a big stick.
If you have to use said stick, make sure who you use it on, doesn’t get up.

Foul language is a sign of a limited vocabulary.

Everyone is a friend until proven otherwise.

The phrases “I don’t know”, “I forgot”, or “I tried (and failed)” are excuses.

There is a difference between an excuse and a reason, know the difference.

The world can change everything about you, except your point of view…unless you allow it to.

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So we packed the kids off to swim/soccer camp. June and December are months where the equivalent amount of a third world country’s GDP is spent on camps, holiday activities and what nots for the children. This June we are not going away on a long holiday… as… we will be moving to a new place.

The.packing.and.moving.is.stressing.me.out.

I don’t know about you, but I hate moving. Sure, I love the moving to a bigger and nicer place part, but I dread the packing, wrapping, labelling, unpacking and sorting. It’s only with the finished unpacking and sorting out, and when everything is neat and organized again, that I breathe easier. Woe is the Type A personality.

Anyway, the new place is all spiffed up and chemically cleaned and all ready for new memories. What I love about the place is that it is a quiet, serene and scenic environment and most importantly, it is very child friendly. Lots of space and paths for the children to ride their bicycles and roller blade, three pools, BBQ pits, basketball court, tennis courts and a clean, cushioned playground. And for the claustrophobic me, there are only four families on each floor and our neighbours seem quiet and peaceful during the few times we went. Happyness is me.

And hmm, no, wedding bells are not ringing; we are happy the way we are now. I am not commitment phobic or anything like that. We have a healthy happy monogamous relationship together, and we don’t need a paper or a ring to seal the deal (I can hear him protesting already ). The real deal is, I am still having issues. Of course it is no fault of his at all, and there is nothing he can do more (already as it is, he is treating me like a Queen and Empress Dowager juxtaposed). But as it already is, I have done the move in together thing. So, a step at a time..

And I am happy. I guess it sounds very corny and disgusting even, but we are soulmates. Like, really. We can talk about anything and everything and most importantly, we agree in terms of values, principles and beliefs. In personality, we are different, but we complement each other in our difference. What is uncanny is that, he always seems to know what I am thinking. One expression, one gesture or one look, he can guess what I am thinking or what I am going to say. It’s quite freaky sometimes.

The parents approve of him too (and if I might say, my mum adores him *rolls eyes*) Even my aunt, who is a tough broad to win over, think he’s the bee’s knees, one of the reasons being that he gave me a very pretty bangle for Mother’s Day which made everyone go awwwww *rolls eyes again*. And everyone seems to think that I “bully” him (FALSE) and that he spoils me rotten (ok, true). I AM STATING FOR THE RECORD THAT I AM A VERY DOCILE WOMAN AND NEVER EVAR BULLY MY MAN. *glares* *smiles sweetly*

And so, since we have already established that I can’t go back to my “niang jia” should we ever have our first quarrel (I think my parents will call him and rat on me), I decided that my only comfort is to

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finally have my own walk in wardrobe!!! *happy dance*

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Yeah, totally unrelated, but there you go. Now you know why even I think I bully him sometimes I think he spoils me rotten. I think it started when we went for the Sex and the City movie and when Mr Big opened the door to Carrie’s new walk in wardrobe and my hand involuntarily flew to my mouth and my eyes even watered slightly, that he decided that, yes, one room in the new house shall be converted into my new walk in wardrobe.

And so, it sounds really disgusting but I am really happy (I know I’ve said this a thousand times, but I really am!) The children are healthy, well-adjusted and good kids. My own health has improved by leaps and bounds, thanks to a better job, investing in food supplements and dancing (and of course, with Big being a big help). On the job front, it’s not as crazy as before and they are fully sponsoring me for my studies (which means more online shopping I have more liquidity). It is not as stressful as before, and yet the package is much better, and for that I feel very blessed and thankful. I have the financial freedom to do whatever I want, and to give my children whatever I think is good for them. I have fun during the weekends doing bellydance (and if I might quote my coach, am pretty sinuous and graceful at it! ) The shop is also doing very well, and I had even been featured in Vanilla. I am still as fat as ever and I can’t complain or whine about it as I stuff my face merrily as they come.. But I think I don’t look half bad and am proud that I am well groomed and carry myself well. Of course it helps that despite the fat face (and everything else, hah!) the man still thinks I am this Venus or Aphrodite or something. He is, of course deeply prejudiced, but tis a good thing for me.

So really, it’s all good in my life. Of course, it helps that I choose not to think about the small little things that make me angry or upset, and sweep those out of my mind as fast as I can. People or things that are toxic to our lives, or who try to ruin the happiness we work so hard for, I mentally eliminate them swiftly and completely. It is rather ruthless to a certain extent, but hey, life is short you know. And God knows I have been through enough unhappiness and hardship to last me several lifetimes.

So. Make a choice. BE HAPPY.

**

PS: We went to Ikea just now to shop for new furniture, and as usual, we did our ogle and share act. He tells me when he spots a gorgeous or busty babe, and I do so similarly. And of course we giggle a little (ok, I giggled a little) at those whose fashion sense are hmm a little skewed (I am being very kind here). Something along the lines of this. And then we popped over to Anchorpoint where I picked up a superly gorgeous Banana Republic eyelet wrap blouse at freaking S$25 (!!!!!!!) which retail price is S$189 (!!!!!!!) and which size tag reads XS (!!!!!) you can imagine my shallow euphoria. LOL. Don’t get me started about my spoils at Flea.Fly.Flo.Fun on Saturday, shopping from Target, Victoria’s Secret, Silk Naturals, TSS, Lumiere, La Senza ..ok I should really shaddap.. (next post, I promise).

And of course we had to go to the Hong Kong Cafe on the first floor to pig out on sinful comfort food and drinks like Egg Noodles with Luncheon Meat and Fried Egg, Iced Macau Coffee and Iced “Yuan Yang”. I think I laughed a little too much by acting out my “please don’t leave me, I really want to have this baby” act. Yes, we I have sadistic fun by acting out impossibly drama situations and laughing till we tear.

Don’t ask.

And hor, someone was very thick skinned ok.. We applied for the Hong Kong Cafe card which cost $30, and which came with $25 worth of vouchers, 10% discount with every visit, a one for one coupon and a free drink (Hahaha, very auntie right?! LOL) Then this someone went and filled in “married with kids” wor..

Ahem. AHEM.

Ruok linked this article on nomads and I found it very interesting. I do it all the time but I did not even know the term was so fashionable known as being nomadic. I have my books, videos and music in my iphone. My documents are stored online. My business is online; the records, reports and correspondences are online. I am technophobic but now I am officially “nomadic”. What an irony.

Big had been headhunted to join another company in a senior management role. He will also be free to adapt the nomadic workstyle as part of his work freedom. How quaint.

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I started 2008 thinking it would be another challenging year with my “Rachel can do it” boss and even set my mind towards conquering his son’s ginormous Bar Mitzvah. In fact, the most exhausting tasks of gathering all the Jewish and non Jewish people from all over the world, getting their mobile numbers, email addresses and land addresses, smsing them, emailing them compiling replies, gathering different travel routes, flight times, fares, upgrades, hotel booking with the agent, booking all the air tickets and doing upgrades had all been done. I have only to follow through each timeline as we move along.

But every day while I experience a sense of victory and achievement at work, I return home mentally and physically exhausted and drained. My head pounding and my mind unable to focus, I could not even have the energy to 1. blog 2. talk to my girls 3. relax completely 4. lubba lubba with Big.

God is trying to drum some sense into my thick skull I think. The final clincher is when I could not, for the hell of me, get out of bed yesterday morning. My whole body felt as if a sledgehammer had merrily nested itself in the small of my back and my head had been stuffed with steel wool. My body only felt less tension and pain after my virgin hatha yoga lesson on Tuesday night.

And so.

I have tendered my resignation on Wednesday morning.

I have mused, angst-ed, mulled over it and I felt very torn. On one hand, my boss treats me very well. He never ever yells at me even though he has the tendency of chewing other people out. Nice dressing allowance, fabulous pay, fun industry, insider fashion shows, insider sales (as you can see, I am very shallow ) and the lot. On the other hand, my health is slowly but surely giving out. After a lengthy talk with Shelly and Big and getting lots of encouragement from them, I have decided to be a taitai (wannabe) for now. No turning back now, I have already spoken to Boss about it.

That is another story. I felt so sad, so reluctant, so bad when I spoke to him about it. He came into my room in the morning and the first time he asked was not about his schedule or about work but, how was my back. I gathered all my willpower to tell him that I needed to have a talk with him about it. And spilled the news to him that I have decided to leave.

He looked rather sad and told me that he really enjoyed working with me and that good PAs are hard to come by.

I think I will have a tough time working off the notice period. Sigh.

.. despite having MC till next Monday. The smses, emails and calls coming in were driving me crazy I guess. Sometimes, I feel that this is not a job anymore. It’s like a chain and balls around my legs, shackling me to salaried locks.

I want to rest at home till next Monday, almost rebelliously, but strangely I still find myself dragging myself out of bed, showering with an aching body and prepare to go to work.

If only you could see me today, you would have been shocked. None of my usual “glam glam” get ups but a boring simple black Dorothy Perkins blouse and my indigo jeans. Low heels. Almost non existent makeup. I looked dreadful.

My back felt as if a sledgehammer had been swung repeatedly onto it but that is nothing compared to my brain. An absence of 2 days and my mail box was exploding with urgent requests, meeting requests, taitai whinings and show invites. To say that I had a raging and persistent headache from all these would be an understatement. IN times like this, I thank Starbucks. But in a month’s time we will be moving to a godforsaken place where Starbucks is not even on the horizons and the only coffee available is Olio Dome *grimaces*

Sigh, the medicine that is supposed to make me feel less pain is giving me more “pain” in another area. It made me woozy and stupid the whole day. When Miranda asked me a question, I told him straight that I can’t think. He looked taken aback. Normally I have a quick retort or reply…I am officially indisposed and stupid now. *sobs*

Hehe. As a joke, my colleague bought this HUGE ASS ring for me from Paris. It’s a HUGE paperweight ring. He made a joke that it must be the biggest ring that anyone had bought and will have bought for me in my life. Yes indeed… Must be at least 100 carats. *chuckles*

The sweet man bought it for me because I assisted him with his travel arrangements. Don’t ask me why he did not ask the secretary who was supposed to do so to do it…  Indeed I would never think of asking any of my colleagues or even my boss to buy any things for me as a reward. I might ask it as a favour but I would surely make sure that I’ll return the money. None of that nonsensical manipulative bullshit. It makes me shudder to think of greedy or manipulative people who go all sickly sweet on people to score a few free gifts.

Yucks. In the words of a colleague, “Macham club girl liddat…..”  and the other said, “Don’t insult club girls lor..”

LOL.

I am so pissed off at work today I feel the NEED to list out some of the blessings that I should be grateful for, namely:

• My Boss. He’s a tough nut to crack, works my fingers to the grind, makes me jump hoops to get his things done, but he’s always fair to me and he takes good care of me at work. He does not allow me to get overwhelmed at work (eg. unreasonably loaded with an impossible portfolio). I am handling his and his family’s personal issues and our house brand’s entire team travel arrangements. When another brand got thrown to me because someone else just couldn’t handle it anymore, suddenly my world was turned topsy turvy. But ONE WORD to him settled all that. No false promises, no waiting. He even reminded me to drop him the email detailing my overwhelming responsibilities. He also knows I am NOT the type to bull falsely about how much I am doing/ teh and cry with my boss to get my way *yucks!*/ or pretend to work late so that I can “show” how “hard working” I am. Gee, I just can’t do it. Come on, I have two daughters waiting for me at home!! I will always put my family first, then my work, though I know of people who have their priorities messed up.

• My resourcefulness. There are many a times when my boss is crazily vague about things and I had to brainstorm ways to decipher his brain or his intentions. Or things are just not available the conventional way and I had to work snake charms/ fib/ tell tall stories/ use my little girl sweet voice etc etc to get things to happen.

• My willingness to learn. I don’t know everything in this business. I don’t know anything in this business. Proto samples, development, research, mood boards, etc. I learned and learned and am still learning. I don’t pull rank in the process of knowledge and I roll up my sleeves and get down to the stocks like the rest of them when needed to. Also I love myself for taking thumbtacks gamely in the journey of learning. I didn’t know how to do upgrades before. Over here, I had to do a number of upgrades for staff who had to go economy but wanted to travel business, and for my boss’ family’s personal trips. It didn’t bother me that I did not know how to do it. It bothered me that people who knew how to and knew it well showed me the way .. the way around the mulberry bushes. No matter, I still managed to feel my way around and ……. lately managed to secure business class upgrades both ways for my boss’ wife. *proud*

• Getting beautiful clothes and accessories for myself, my girls, family and friends at fabulous staff discounts.

• The great camaderie I have with most of my colleagues.

• The respect I get from peers in the industry and recruiters when they find out I work for my boss.

OK it’s the weekend and I am so gonna chill and have fun with my girls!!

• When new staff lower ranked than you are demonstrates how stupidly stupid she is by saying you “may tell her something”. Yes you may talk to my hand too. You pull rank when I haven’t even started?? I wouldn’t dream of speaking so condescendingly or in such a gauche manner to even my peers or our driver. This is the same person who lied blatantly that I “was not able to help her” when I had in actual fact, given her a list of hotel names, contact persons, numbers AND price range. Thank God I got to know about this when she emailed one of the managers claiming that I refused to help her find a hotel and the manager replied but also copied me. What can I say? No integrity at all. She is also rude, often not having the basic courtesy to address me in office emails. When one is rude, stupid and unprofessional, please evaporate from my radar.. She’s lucky she doesn’t work with my boss; he has a low tolerance for stupidity and a lack of resourcefulness, and they are all crazily impatient people. And yes, he is so not impressed with her. I mean, we are talking about someone who’s too dumb to do an online search.

• When meetings are impossible to schedule because incompetent people simply do not understand how to list out unavailable dates and times or to suggest workable ones. To be fair, some of my colleagues are quite efficient. They inform me when they are unable to get a confirmation at that point in time or they try their best and soonest to accede to my suggested dates. Those that I have a big problem with, are faithfully mute… until you start the initiative and then they will merrily shoot down your dates. Without suggesting any alternatives of course. At this point, I am wondering how on earth did they survive in the company. By ass kissing? Luck? I don’t know.

• People whom I definitely will refuse point blank to work for. Just because you are so and so does not mean you can throw a cute little prissy fit! Thank GOD for my fair albeit very tough and impatient boss.  I can only go the extra mile for people I respect and like.

• Speaking of going the extra mile, I cannot believe it when said new staff tells me that she cannot find a suitable hotel for one of our colleagues in Paris, two days before the staff’s departure! And then she informs me that she is booking a hotel that is 600 euros a night for said colleague. Come on!! MY BOSS don’t even stay at hotel that rate! Someone needs a new light bulb up there. And not resourceful at all. Don’t have means don’t have. It would cost her an arm and a leg to try calling the staff in Paris for other hotel recommendations. It would maybe kill her to check around online too. I had to step in and book a room (140 euros) for colleague before she either gets no room or gets stuffed with a hefty bill that will NOT be approved. I could have sat back and not given a shit of course, but that’s not me. And of course the new staff was not only not grateful at all. she lied to her boss that I had saddled her with calls and emails pertaining to another brand when I had only tasked her with ONE email (this was agreed that it was within her job scope) to arrange travel for this colleague which she could not even fulfill for the hotel reservation. I am then struck that I am not only dealing with an extremely stupid and lazy person, she is also vindictive. Be careful, Rachel. Thank God again I got to know when her boss emailed mine copying me on the email so that I could clear up the misunderstanding by stating the truth and explaining my position.

at how stupid, incompetent and unprofessional some people can be.

More later, after my stomach has stopped churning from being so furious.

I HATE STUPID PEOPLE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 

Boy, it’s certainly been a very interesting week. Too interesting and exciting for my liking.

First exciting incident was with our dear national airline: Singapore Airline.

Now, I have to be honest and say that although the service staff is highly lauded for their excellent service and their professionalism (think being professional at all times even though you might not like your colleague or your customer), the ground staff is another story altogether.

Just a few days before my boss’ family was due to fly, I had to book an upgrade seat for one of them with Krisflyer services. This was a last minute thing due to various reasons, and all the time constraint drama might have been avoided if I had done this at the moment I booked her flight. But well, it’s nobody’s fault and could only be put down to one of those things. Nevertheless, I took up the challenge to secure an upgrade seat (given the lack of time, almost impossible) and I told my boss accordingly but also that I will try my very best.

I made the reservation for upgrade with a female ground staff and I felt it in my bones; it’s not good. You see, normally when I get the guys on the line, I put on my helpless and demure voice and they will feel so very compelled to help. (Note: I don’t flirt with them ah, only act demure. Flirting on the job is a little gross in my opinion) Damn. Never mind, time is of essence here and so I went ahead and placed my request very sweetly and nicely. She confirmed the reservation on waitlist (as expected) and I made a mental note to call back and check.

To cut a long story short, this girl screwed up my reservation. Instead of putting up a request for the flight I wanted, she made a mistake and requested for the earlier flight. When the confirmation came through, it was for the earlier flight, despite her email to me stating that the reservation was for the correct flight I wanted. This is the mother of all screw ups. And my boss was so pleased with me when I told him that I had confirmed the upgrade on normal points, not double points!

At this point in time, I had this sick feeling in my stomach and I literally felt like throwing up. Began immediate fire fighting and it is a gross understatement to say that I absolutely HATE the Singapore Girl marketing jingle, after listening to it like 5283 times when I am on the hold. “Singapore Girl….. what a greaaaat way to flyyyyyyyyyyyy……” They looped it over and over and over again… And over again.

To add insult to injury, the incompetent staff called me later to say that she “did not make a mistake” and that they are doing me a favour by trying their best to assist!

At this point, I dropped all niceties and told her coldly that a letter will be going directly to her immediate superior, the top man and the press and will be signed off by my boss, a CEO and somebody in the business community if I do not get any matters rectified immediately. I then spoke to her immediate boss and asked him to listen to the recording (these calls are recorded) if he required verification that she did make a mistake. Most importantly I was not concerned about pointing fingers, but as the fault lies in their staff’s incompetence, some rectification should surely be put in place!

Obviously being a hard (and fluently so!) bitch worked in this case as I got my upgrade AND no double point billing.

***

Another work associate that I have a very huge problem with is our corporate travel agent. These people (in my colleague’s words) are total monkeys. They don’t advise us of special visa requirements, they don’t always ask when they issue the tickets, and the worst is, they sometimes forget to change the dates of my flight bookings when requested!

This, of course, happened the last weekend amidst all the “excitement” of the upgrade ticket.

Sigh. Whatever my complaint, I can’t complain that my life is dull.

Attending a Fashion Awards cocktail party and fashion show tomorrow night for which my boss passed me the VIP tickets. Hope it’ll be fun. Usual hobnobbing and airkissing, I suppose. And feeling like a whale in the mass of size zeros would come with the package too. Same old same old…

Today marks the start of the Jewish New Year: Rosh Hashanah. I’ve been busy coordinating flowers, cards, finding out addresses, sending gifts, flowers and cards and finally it was all wrapped up yesterday.

Phew. As usual, I feel great when I have accomplished a big task with no glitches.

I think I should be able to breathe today. I’ve put on a pot of chai tea from Gryphon and some orange essential oil on the burner to start off the day right. The usual expense reports, travel arrangements and the killer of the day: finding a way to upgrade his whole family to Business to London, even though they do not have enough points and the upgrade seats are all taken for now.

What’s new.

At this point of time I don’t know how to go about the upgrade tickets but I am going to take it slowly else I might go the way of the lunatic.

Remember the fun challenge on Monday? So, I managed to get him and the Mrs confirmed in the crazily elitist and high security dinner with the PM by going through some Ministry people. I am once again reminded of how horrifyingly stupid and one-tracked mind some of these people are. Everything must “follow law” and “go by the book”. Dealing with them requires more than a certain amount of ingenuity (ok, fibbing) and creativity (ok, manipulation of the situation).

But anyway, he and the Mrs glided in to the dinner like the model couple that they are in their couture glory, and everyone is happy.

***

The guy whose name he isn’t sure, starting with Da- something and whose company name he doesn’t know?

I sieved through my memory the people he had seen for the last four weeks. Any names starting or even has “da” in it… nope.

No worries. I took out my Aloe Blossom tea and made a nice hot pot of tea. Ah… the fragrance and taste… my blood pressure immediately started to go down.

Pulled out his name cards and started to flip briskly through D first, hoping that it does start with Da as he said. *Note that he might say it starts with da-something but it would turn out that it is Badari or something like that.

If it doesn’t appear in D, then I would split the alphabets and get the temp staff to help sieve through. Have a million and one things to do; sitting and flipping through namecards would make me so bad.

OK narrowed down to five names and one in particular I could remember that he had met in the last few months from a big fashion brand. Bingo!

I smsed him to be sure if that is the contact and his reply: “Yes!!! Thanks!!!!!!!!!!!!”

I tell you…

***

As for the other group of people whom I have to find addresses for and whose telephone number were not given to me.

I found them.

All of their names sounded Jewish so I called the synagogue’s secretary whom I established rapport with, and got all the addresses and telephone numbers from her.

***

Actually, not to sound falsely modest or smug, I think it is all rather simple csi work just that one would bother to go and think about solving it or not. After all, I don’t believe in saying no or impossible without trying first.

I am mighty pleased with myself *pats on own back* and I think I really deserve a Bodum tea set.

I saw them in Takashimaya and they are so going to be mine. MINE!!! MINE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Let’s see how did my first day of the week went. 

He ”lost” the tickets and cash I passed him last week for his flight at 10am this morning and called me on Sunday night to ask if I has seen it in my room, which I did not. I had to come in at 8am today to see if he left it in his room. He did, and in an obscure area behind his desk. Sigh. I called him to inform him no worries, I found the file, and he does, “Aiyo, why did you go to the office so early? I thought I told you I will go and check it myself?” (He didn’t)

OK, crisis resolved. Bought myself a double shot latte and their low fat mango cheesecake (heaven!!) from Starbucks and thought, fine, nice start to a day.

Then I heard the voice messages and emails the Mr and Mrs left me for me to handle whilst they are away.

***

I think my boss feels that my days are too humdrum and mundune. Hence he thoughfully fills my days with challenges of a… hmmm….. challenging nature.

Last week, it was “I don’t care how you do it but get me a seat (and a good one)” in a overbooked flight within the day, and getting him invites and confirmations to a dinner with the Prime Minister himself.

This week, it is searching for a someone, whose name he does not really remember, in a company which name he cannot recall, family name being Da-something.

Finding addresses for people whom I do not know, and whose telephone numbers I do not possess.

See how fun my days are. Oh, and don’t forget the reading of magazines, net surfing and blogging.

So, it’s been a really productive day so far, and hey I even managed to blog a little! 

So I bought some MAC cosmetics and 2 shrugs during lunch to reward myself.

So I managed to cajole a First Class seat for him in a full beyond full and overbooked flight back from Jakarta. Our friend is pleased of course. First Class leh.

Can die, man.

• He throws a fit at other people and tells me to cancel ALL his travel arrangements and hotel bookings immediately. If I didn’t know him any better, I would have. Not only would I have incurred penalty charges and reissuing fees, I would not be able to book him back on the same flights as they are all fully booked.
• He now wants to change his return flight when ALL the return flights are full. And he texted me “Please ensure I get it.” Sure. How about I throw in a magic pony as a companion too.
• Not enough Solitaire points but I must ensure that he gets the Solitaire re-qualification. Sure. I will throw in the magic pony club membership too.

I just got a call from a headhunter/ recruiter from one of the consulting firms. Apparently this lady knows I have been working at my current place for almost a year supporting the CEO. And surprise surprise, she knows of his famous “Italian temperament and temper” and therefore “has a very suitable and attractive offer” for me.

The outline of the deal is, there is this Italian director who has apparently terrorized many executive secretaries to their resignation. That’s why they are creating a new position of PA to look for someone with minimum 10 years experience serving senior management and expatriates. He is famous in the industry for his temper and demanding work style. And they are looking for someone who can handle a very difficult boss, quick on her feet, resourceful and up to the challenge. Sounds familiar… Sounds like what the HR from this current company told me too! hmmm.. is this some kind of standard HR spiel?

She asked me about the sensitivities of supporting an attractive man in high society. Nothing about it, I told her, as long as you have your head in the right place. I am definitely not one to flirt with the boss (YIKES!) so I never had a problem with professionalism.

Anyway, I asked her where she got my contact from, since I did not give her agency my resume.

She said she heard of me from her LVMH contact, whom she declined to name.

LVMH!!!

I must say I am very flattered.

They are offering me at least 10% above my current package (negotiable) and the usual perks of the fashion industry (free mags, Starbucks on the tab, dressing allowance, brand discounts etc) so I am thinking about it.

But I would miss the privileges I enjoy here (right hand woman to the CEO, as opposed to PA to one of the directors) and I would definitely miss the boss. After all, I have learnt how to handle his eccentricities and quirkiness and to manage his moods…

I’ll see how this develops.

After checking with him several time last week to cancel the booking for his wife, Miranda merrily informed me today “don’t be crazy”, they have to attend the party together. Problem is, I have to reinstate hotel and flight bookings… and of course they are all fully booked.

My hands were itching to strangle someone when he announced in a really relaxed manner, “I know you can do it.”

KILL KILL KILL!!!!!!!!!!!!

I need more retail therapy.

People, guess what I did today? Let’s see, I went to the Gap sample sale today. Bought some seriously gorgeous merchandise at seriously cheap prices. Then I had ribeye steak at Pepper Lunch and went to starbucks to get some low fat latte for myself and the lady boss, all on company tab of course. After that it was some lingerie shopping at St Mikes where I picked up a nosebleed inducing lingerie set and a few lacy thongs. Then I swung by Bobbi Brown at Isetan Scotts and had my favourite makeup guy Charles “retouch my palette” with his wonderfully light fingers. Then it was back to office to take dictation from the boss, a few light hearted jokes with him and to “do him a favour by making a cup of coffee for him”.

Hate me already?

Don’t.

It’s all perspectives, my dear. I merely left out the juicy bits.

The real deal is, apart to the above little distractions, I worked my fingers off typing 80 wpm to his relentless dictation, listen to his rant and whine, pacify him, pacify her, mua mua with a few taitais, made and changed and re-made travel arrangements, did expense sheets, tune out the toxic office bitch’s bragging about this and that, putting out fires created by someone who had just upped and left the company, refuting Amex charges, refuting late payment charges, refuting interest charges, refuting all that can be refuted.

Yes, it can and may seem perfect, but look beneath the glossy facade. It’s all running on adrenaline and Starbucks caffeine.

Damn, I am getting a headache as I type. And the reason why I am still here?

Doing a powerpoint presentation for his pet charity.

I love my job, but sometimes, it gets a little too much. That’s when I need a little self reminder, a little self prep talk as follows.

But.

BUT.

I am so very proud of where I am now and how I got here (through integrity, hard work and a little street smarts). Independence.

The sweetness of having the power to buy something for him just because I can. The sweetness of him footing the bill because I can and not because I have to.

Sweet.