I encountered a useful new word when talking to one of the Indian trainers - in the context that she was trying to prevent her trainees from using it because it doesn't actually exist in British English. But it should, by all logical rules, be a word, and I think it could be quite useful.
If you delay something, or change the date to a later date, you postpone it.
So why, if you bring something forward from the original planned date, can't you prepone it?
Showing posts with label Work. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Work. Show all posts
Monday, December 18, 2006
Thursday, December 14, 2006
Last Day?
Today is my last full day in India. I've probably said that 3 times now, and so far I've been proved wrong each time. In Mumbai in June, I thought that there would be no more opportunities for me to come out. Last month in Delhi I really thought it was my last time, but as you can read, I was proved wrong at the 11th hour. This time, I feel I may not be wrong. The project is winding down and we have our official team "wrap" party next Wednesday. Never say never though, stranger things have happened.
I like coming out for short trips (although perhaps 2 1/2 days is pushing the "short" definition to its minimum limit), as I get a chance to experience the challenge and the variety and the different culture, but don't have to settle down to the long haul and deal with homesickness (much) or life moving on without me back home.
It's tough to stay in touch when there's a 5 1/2 hour time difference, without one person keeping extremely antisocial hours. And going away for short trips (longest so far has been 3 weeks) means that I don't need to worry too much about watering plants, sorting out "vacant property" buildings insurance or dealing with post that arrives and needs immediate action. Admittedly I have come home to water leaks from the flat upstairs the last two times I've been away, but that would surely have happened anyway, and wasn't particularly exacerbated by my absences.
So today I had to do an "early" shift. 9-5ish. Early? Not particularly, unless you convert it into GMT, which makes it 03.30 - 11.30 - which is just plain wrong. Normally, on a longer trip, I'd get onto IST pretty fast then the early time wouldn't bother me: this time, I'm trying not to get onto IST too much as I just have to get off it on Saturday (and go to the team night out in Edinburgh which will mean a late night). But having to set my (GMT) mobile alarm to 01.30am last night was rather disturbing. I made it though, and actually met one of my colleagues going to bed this morning (around 8.15am) as I was leaving for work. A contingent had gone to the Orchid Karaoke bar after the restaurant, with Hilarious Consequences, evidently.
Work was good - I got everything done I wanted to and I think that the delegates have demonstrated their new skills. They gave me presents when I left, which was lovely, and so did one of my previous delegates too (I'd trained her back in the UK in April). So I now have two nice new Indian bags to use.
Got back to the hotel, did a bit of admin and then wandered up to the Club Lounge to catch up with colleagues who had had the day off before their flights home tonight. I had commissioned one of them to pick up some XXXXXX for me, that I'd seen in Delhi and regretted not having bought. Can't disclose the purchase at this time as the recipient(s) may be reading! So I ordered a drink, had some canapes, had some nice chat with various co-workers (all female, oddly) and generally enjoyed my last evening in India. There are some lovely people here at the moment, and (unusually, compared to previous trips) a significant number of them are mature women, who can gossip and chat and generally have a good sociable evening on a range of topics. Lovely. Then we all headed back to our rooms to pack and generally prepare ourselves for the journey ahead.
I'll miss India, but I think I've had my fair share now and although I'm very sad not to have the prospect of seeing some of the friends I've made again, I think I can move on without regret and see what happens next. Novosibirsk?!!*
I like coming out for short trips (although perhaps 2 1/2 days is pushing the "short" definition to its minimum limit), as I get a chance to experience the challenge and the variety and the different culture, but don't have to settle down to the long haul and deal with homesickness (much) or life moving on without me back home.
It's tough to stay in touch when there's a 5 1/2 hour time difference, without one person keeping extremely antisocial hours. And going away for short trips (longest so far has been 3 weeks) means that I don't need to worry too much about watering plants, sorting out "vacant property" buildings insurance or dealing with post that arrives and needs immediate action. Admittedly I have come home to water leaks from the flat upstairs the last two times I've been away, but that would surely have happened anyway, and wasn't particularly exacerbated by my absences.
So today I had to do an "early" shift. 9-5ish. Early? Not particularly, unless you convert it into GMT, which makes it 03.30 - 11.30 - which is just plain wrong. Normally, on a longer trip, I'd get onto IST pretty fast then the early time wouldn't bother me: this time, I'm trying not to get onto IST too much as I just have to get off it on Saturday (and go to the team night out in Edinburgh which will mean a late night). But having to set my (GMT) mobile alarm to 01.30am last night was rather disturbing. I made it though, and actually met one of my colleagues going to bed this morning (around 8.15am) as I was leaving for work. A contingent had gone to the Orchid Karaoke bar after the restaurant, with Hilarious Consequences, evidently.
Work was good - I got everything done I wanted to and I think that the delegates have demonstrated their new skills. They gave me presents when I left, which was lovely, and so did one of my previous delegates too (I'd trained her back in the UK in April). So I now have two nice new Indian bags to use.
Got back to the hotel, did a bit of admin and then wandered up to the Club Lounge to catch up with colleagues who had had the day off before their flights home tonight. I had commissioned one of them to pick up some XXXXXX for me, that I'd seen in Delhi and regretted not having bought. Can't disclose the purchase at this time as the recipient(s) may be reading! So I ordered a drink, had some canapes, had some nice chat with various co-workers (all female, oddly) and generally enjoyed my last evening in India. There are some lovely people here at the moment, and (unusually, compared to previous trips) a significant number of them are mature women, who can gossip and chat and generally have a good sociable evening on a range of topics. Lovely. Then we all headed back to our rooms to pack and generally prepare ourselves for the journey ahead.
I'll miss India, but I think I've had my fair share now and although I'm very sad not to have the prospect of seeing some of the friends I've made again, I think I can move on without regret and see what happens next. Novosibirsk?!!*
Actually quite busy
Lateish start today (Wednesday) - doing a 12-8 training shift. This means leaving at 11.15 to get there in time, but because there wasn't another car going at that time I left at 10.45 - arriving slightly early but that's No Bad Thing. I was a little concerned and distressed by the anti-Indian comments being made by my travelling companions - quite negative about their abilities and lifestyle - opinions not matched by their colleagues, which is a relief. Perhaps they were jaded and fed up of being here for weeks/months on end, but I felt it was very sad that they felt that way and were here to help the agents improve. Also they were making the comments in front of the Indian driver, which although his English probably doesn't meet any fluency standards, must have picked up a bit of what they were saying. "He who is without sin..." / "People in glass houses...". The UK isn't perfect either so don't pick on less developed countries. It's mean.
I had a good day training - my delegates were quick and keen to learn and we covered a lot. They had already had an introduction to the subject (designing e-learning packages) but this was a more advanced polishing course. So we had a good facilitation session rather than a boring didactic one. They had a nice big whiteboard and (oh I'm easily pleased) a board wiper which is magnetic and sticks to the board(!) so I had fun with that all day. I had lugged a company laptop for 4000 miles but in the end it wasn't needed. We buddied up and they all had a go at the system.
Most of the staff who have been out here long term are heading back early Friday morning, so they have Thursday off to shop/pack. So tonight was the last night in the office for many of them, at least for a few weeks. Hence the decision to head off to a local Indian restaurant for a team party. It was a dry restaurant (and therefore perhaps not as popular as it could have been), but we sat outside so the smokers amongst us were placated a little. We got there about 9.45pm and didn't start to order until about 10.30pm as other people were arriving still from later shifts. When we did get our food, it was all quite messed up as we were failing to comply with Indian rules of dining and just sharing everything, instead everyone wanted their Own Food. My starter didn't turn up, and then the main course that I got was different to someone else's version of the same dish. Odd. Rather tasty though, and excellent value at about Rs500 each (£5.50 ish?) for 2 courses and non-alcoholic drinks. Eventually we left at about 12.30pm, after singing Happy Birthday to Sheetal, (offshore manager) and then working out which car to get home.
Despite the late hour, the traffic was still horrible - really heavy for some parts of the trip (although practically empty elsewhere) so didn't get back to the hotel until 1am (posting this on Thursday with an edited time/date) and then I had to get up 5 hours later to get to work for 9am. Busy busy.
I had a good day training - my delegates were quick and keen to learn and we covered a lot. They had already had an introduction to the subject (designing e-learning packages) but this was a more advanced polishing course. So we had a good facilitation session rather than a boring didactic one. They had a nice big whiteboard and (oh I'm easily pleased) a board wiper which is magnetic and sticks to the board(!) so I had fun with that all day. I had lugged a company laptop for 4000 miles but in the end it wasn't needed. We buddied up and they all had a go at the system.
Most of the staff who have been out here long term are heading back early Friday morning, so they have Thursday off to shop/pack. So tonight was the last night in the office for many of them, at least for a few weeks. Hence the decision to head off to a local Indian restaurant for a team party. It was a dry restaurant (and therefore perhaps not as popular as it could have been), but we sat outside so the smokers amongst us were placated a little. We got there about 9.45pm and didn't start to order until about 10.30pm as other people were arriving still from later shifts. When we did get our food, it was all quite messed up as we were failing to comply with Indian rules of dining and just sharing everything, instead everyone wanted their Own Food. My starter didn't turn up, and then the main course that I got was different to someone else's version of the same dish. Odd. Rather tasty though, and excellent value at about Rs500 each (£5.50 ish?) for 2 courses and non-alcoholic drinks. Eventually we left at about 12.30pm, after singing Happy Birthday to Sheetal, (offshore manager) and then working out which car to get home.
Despite the late hour, the traffic was still horrible - really heavy for some parts of the trip (although practically empty elsewhere) so didn't get back to the hotel until 1am (posting this on Thursday with an edited time/date) and then I had to get up 5 hours later to get to work for 9am. Busy busy.
Wednesday, November 29, 2006
InDemand
The last two days at work have been quite satisfying - actually doing some proper training to some proper delegates, rather than just keeping an eye on other people training. I was told to expect a group of delegates who had already had a week's worth of training in our e-learning developer, but instead was told that they'd all moved on to new roles so I had some fresh raw recruits. Wonderful. So instead of a 2-day refresher I had to do the full "start from the beginning" version. It went fine and the delegates seemed delighted with me and the system (warm fuzzy feeling inside now) and once they get it up and running on their live IDs rather than just the training one we used this week, I hope it all goes smoothly for them.
After work I've managed to do a bit of shopping, en route back to the hotel each night. Janpath yesterday to pick up the Choli (Sari blouse) that I'd given to a tailor to make up, tonight I went to Haldiram's for Indian sweets (yummy) for the RTO concert and others, plus a brief stop in Connaught Place - THE big hub of New Delhi. India Gate may be the "landscape" hub, but CP is the shopping hub. Last time I was in Delhi we stopped briefly in CP to find lunch and look at shops, but it seemed horrendously busy as the whole centre (actually quite open) was being dug up for some reason, and all the traffic was massively crammed in. It just looked shabby and dusty and not very impressive. This time, I've been to CP twice, both times at night, and it is much improved. Not busy, lots of shops which look worth a visit (although no time for them this trip, really) and not too many panhandlers. Hanna and I did make impulse-purchases of plastic Auto Rickshaw cars with pull-back action. Yippee!
The final minutes of my Internet access are counting down, so anything more I write will be from home.
Goodbye again India!
PS - on my way back to the hotel from work tonight I got a call from my manager - would I be able to do another short trip to Mumbai before the end of December? Decision time.
After work I've managed to do a bit of shopping, en route back to the hotel each night. Janpath yesterday to pick up the Choli (Sari blouse) that I'd given to a tailor to make up, tonight I went to Haldiram's for Indian sweets (yummy) for the RTO concert and others, plus a brief stop in Connaught Place - THE big hub of New Delhi. India Gate may be the "landscape" hub, but CP is the shopping hub. Last time I was in Delhi we stopped briefly in CP to find lunch and look at shops, but it seemed horrendously busy as the whole centre (actually quite open) was being dug up for some reason, and all the traffic was massively crammed in. It just looked shabby and dusty and not very impressive. This time, I've been to CP twice, both times at night, and it is much improved. Not busy, lots of shops which look worth a visit (although no time for them this trip, really) and not too many panhandlers. Hanna and I did make impulse-purchases of plastic Auto Rickshaw cars with pull-back action. Yippee!
The final minutes of my Internet access are counting down, so anything more I write will be from home.
Goodbye again India!
PS - on my way back to the hotel from work tonight I got a call from my manager - would I be able to do another short trip to Mumbai before the end of December? Decision time.
Tuesday, November 21, 2006
Pillow Cinema
Work, work, work. Actually we’re on an overtime freeze so we can’t work very long hours. We left work promptly at 6.30pm and headed straight for the nearest cinema, Spice PVR, which has a gloriously luxurious Gold Class screen. For Rs350 (about GPB4) we got tickets for Casino Royale (we missed the first bit – but the later show [after some supper] wouldn’t have been in Gold Class so we didn’t mind). They don’t start off with ads and trailers like at home, it appears. Or if they do, they must be before the published start time.
Anyway, the seats in this cinema were like pillows. Soft and cuddly and they recline to 180degrees, if you’re so minded. They also provide blankets and pillows too (alas we didn’t know about this until the end when the lights went up – it was actually a bit chilly in there and I was glad of my pashmina). We’d been told by longer-term colleagues that the price included food & drink at your seat, so we accepted the offer of popcorn and pop – only realized later that a bill was involved!
Half way through, the film stopped, the lights came up and a message was shown on the screen “take a break” – a chance for the waiters to come round with the menus and for people to nip to the loo. Very useful.
At the end, we had a short wander around the shopping centre, although it was starting to close down so many shops were closing. I found a branch of Haldiram’s, which is useful as I plan to buy some Indian sweets before returning (perhaps some for the RTO Christmas Party buffet?) and the only other shop of this I know is a bit out of the way. This place is about a 5 minute detour from our route home, so I can get them on my final evening.
We got home about 10pm and I had a pleasant couple of hours multi-tasking with phone calls and google-chats. As I can wander around with my Bluetooth headset on when making skype calls I don’t need to sit at the computer. So when I got back to it when about to end the call, I saw all the messages that Max had been sending me on google-chat while I’d been busy. One particularly amused me, telling how his water dispenser at work which dispenses ice both crushed and cubed, has been customised by some worker who has added a label “hopes” below the “crushed” button. I laughed. What could they put below the “cubed” button?
Final note of the night is about the hotel Lifts. Lifts? What is there possibly to say about lifts? They drive us mad. I’m convinced they’ve been made by Sirius Cybernetics. They arrive to pick us up at floor 8, and then ignore our request to go to the Lobby by ALWAYS doing a detour up to floor 10 – the penthouse floor. And they’ve decided that carrying any more than 6 people is more than their job’s worth (despite having the volume to accommodate twice that number). And recently one of the lifts has decided to rename floor 8 as floor 9 – so you are never quite sure that you are where you’re meant to be. Any day now they’ll take to sulking in basements. At least they don’t talk.
Anyway, the seats in this cinema were like pillows. Soft and cuddly and they recline to 180degrees, if you’re so minded. They also provide blankets and pillows too (alas we didn’t know about this until the end when the lights went up – it was actually a bit chilly in there and I was glad of my pashmina). We’d been told by longer-term colleagues that the price included food & drink at your seat, so we accepted the offer of popcorn and pop – only realized later that a bill was involved!
Half way through, the film stopped, the lights came up and a message was shown on the screen “take a break” – a chance for the waiters to come round with the menus and for people to nip to the loo. Very useful.
At the end, we had a short wander around the shopping centre, although it was starting to close down so many shops were closing. I found a branch of Haldiram’s, which is useful as I plan to buy some Indian sweets before returning (perhaps some for the RTO Christmas Party buffet?) and the only other shop of this I know is a bit out of the way. This place is about a 5 minute detour from our route home, so I can get them on my final evening.
We got home about 10pm and I had a pleasant couple of hours multi-tasking with phone calls and google-chats. As I can wander around with my Bluetooth headset on when making skype calls I don’t need to sit at the computer. So when I got back to it when about to end the call, I saw all the messages that Max had been sending me on google-chat while I’d been busy. One particularly amused me, telling how his water dispenser at work which dispenses ice both crushed and cubed, has been customised by some worker who has added a label “hopes” below the “crushed” button. I laughed. What could they put below the “cubed” button?
Final note of the night is about the hotel Lifts. Lifts? What is there possibly to say about lifts? They drive us mad. I’m convinced they’ve been made by Sirius Cybernetics. They arrive to pick us up at floor 8, and then ignore our request to go to the Lobby by ALWAYS doing a detour up to floor 10 – the penthouse floor. And they’ve decided that carrying any more than 6 people is more than their job’s worth (despite having the volume to accommodate twice that number). And recently one of the lifts has decided to rename floor 8 as floor 9 – so you are never quite sure that you are where you’re meant to be. Any day now they’ll take to sulking in basements. At least they don’t talk.
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