India … it’s a sure thing.

1 02 2008

Well, for all of you who were wondering … 1 sleep to go for Conrad (which means by the time you’re reading this, it’s the day he’s leaving or he’s already enroute to London)!

And on a mixed-emotional note, I will not be going home with him at the end of our holiday. I’ll be going home shortly thereafter, to be sure … but not directly. First, I’ve made a deal with the woman I’m standing in for that I will accompany our exec to the leadership conference in Bangalore, India. … So I’m ready to go home, but C & I figure we made it through 4 months, we can handle 4 more days … and the pro’s of the experience of travelling to India, seeing life there, seeing HAL there, being a part of the event — well, it’s another great learning opportunity, plus it’s a great capstone to end the experience on.

So, there you have it. C & I will spend a little time together in Asia, then on the 15th, we’ll fly home to NYC … only my flight will include a 5 day layover in India. :-)


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Last full week!!

27 01 2008

The countdown to the end is officially on! This week coming up is my last full week on the job here in Singapore. It looks to be a busy week too — the boss has decided to do a huge event in India on 15 Feb, so I need to work with his team to get him ready, plus there are about 5 other new start-of-the-year irons in the fire … isn’t it supposed to ramp *down* when you’re about to leave!?

Simone (new mom I’m filling in for) is due to be back in the office on 4 Feb … help me hope / pray she sticks to that plan!!

Conrad’s booked his flight to … he’s leaving for England this Friday and arrives in Singapore on the 5th or 6th. Then we have a few days here together for Chinese New Year … all signs point to a memorable Valentine’s Day!!! :-D


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How do you measure personal success?

7 01 2008

2 sales guys just walked by me in the office, overheard snippet of conversation:

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“So hey, he’s now doing XYZ  … but he’s still got a Ferrari.”

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Just made me think that having a <fancy car> isn’t my measure of personal success.  I guess knowing what isn’t gets you closer to knowing what is.


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I try to write about the positives, but it’s not all positives

17 12 2007

… it’s 1:30 am and I just finished necessary late-night chats with the US team. Not complaining — it’s partially my own fault it’s so late as I had temporary amnesia when I got home after the work holiday dinner and forgot to log in & do my homework. Thank goodness for that last few minutes when you lay in bed and you let your brain catch up with you and roll back over final thoughts of the day. Shot out like a cork and remembered I’m not done working. Sad part is, I wasn’t done working. I don’t know how people here for a long time cope … I’d be seriously drained having to do this for a few years… but it’s necessary.

A developer here told me an anecdote that they had sent an e-mail to the US team to sign off on something (their tone said something silly that shouldn’t have required sign-off). Only, the recipient in the US sat on the e-mail for a day. So by the time they had approval, it was 3 days later. Their response? “No wonder people in the US think Asians are either slow or pushy. If they’re not pushy, it would take Asia 3 years to accomplish what the US can do in 1.” It’s not a statement of capability — it’s a statement of proximity. Namely, the US team is closer to the decision makers, so even if negotiation or correction is required, it can all be hammered out on a much shorter runway.

So that’s a bit from the work front. Signing off (I’m beat)!


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