Shocking news! Although not so shocked to hear it coz it's kind of expected... all 3 QCs are leaving at the end of the month. I just uttered an "oh" when my TL told me so and that we were going to be QC-less. Well, that's exactly what the higher management intended for us anyway, isn't it?
We are planning a farewell lunch for the 3 of them at Swensen's Northpoint coz they have a lunch special. Yep, after that disastrous lunch at PastaMania, we ain't ever going back there. Waaa pay for 3 people sia, pocket gonna burn a hole!
N is going on 6 months' no-pay leave to go back to India to settle her father's matters after his demise. But she has also told me before (before I disappeared) that she wants to have a second baby and will seriously consider leaving after taking her maternity leave. Now that she has had her second son and consumed the maternity leave, the time seems ripe. I do not expect her to return after her no-pay leave. Who in the right mind will return anyway?
E, the newest QC of all, was recently due for contract renewal. She asked me for feedback about her performance and I gave her a positive one. It's not easy to master sending interface messages within a few months; few have succeeded so. She even has the courage to make variations to the messages! Well... on the other hand, she asks a lot of questions lor... sometimes too much for her own good. And likes to cc the PM in her emails. So many of her emails are so trivial that when I saw it, I will go YOU CC THE BOSS FOR FUQ?? It forces people to waste time on a properly worded and prompt explanation when maybe a phone call would suffice. I don't want to be seen as ignoring emails. And I pity the PM for having to read stuff that are not really worth her attention.
An incident that got on my nerves, was when she, the noob, does not want to use the template the expert provided and then wants the expert to explain the difference in system behavior (with the PM in cc, what's new), what other choice do I have apart from giving a full explanation that happened to be quite lengthy, on an aspect of the system that is not in the scope of the CR testing, and throw in a scathing suggestion that she sticks to the template to avoid further unnecessary unexpected behavior? And have the PM to reply that E should keep to testing the CR only. If the PM were not in cc, I would be happy to just explain briefly over a phonecall or just hint her to shutup and use my template. Since she likes email so much, I put everything in email lor! *peeved*
Viewed positively, it's called "eager to learn" and "keeping the boss abreast with developments"; Put badly, that's "act smart" and plain irritating. It did cross my mind to warn her to stop it, but... not sure if I'm the only one uncomfortable with this :(
As her luck would have it, the PM tasked her with writing the test scenarios for this huge CR that she has to test. A CR that I still don't fully understand myself, although I'm part of the team *paiseh* The PM, who seemed to be in a foul mood lately (天气不好, as an ex-colleague-now-friend calls it), berated E for the poor standard of the test scenarios and it didn't help that she was late in submitting it. This makes a perfect "YOU ONLY HAD ONE JOB" meme... I guess that's why the PM decided not to renew her contract. Still, I was quite surprised, given the steep learning curve for this project. *shrug*
Recently, I heard that the PM gave J such a huge dressing down that she broke down. That was probably the straw that broke the camel's back. Throwing letter is the next logical reaction, don't you think so?
Life is indeed difficult in my project. Gonna be more difficult with 3 people less.
I was the only one in the Some People Died transport, so I requested the driver to drop me at Northpoint instead. After thinking it over, he agreed, since he's going to Yishun anyway. Yay! I was the first to arrive - rare! Too early lah, so I just loitered around, checking my phone for the restaurant's location. TL asked me to go in first just in case they were late and had to forfeit the reservations. I park myself at the leftmost corner seat to avoid being surrounded by people :P Still as anti-social as ever.
They guys arrived! E sat opposite me and N sat beside me. J sat quite far from me. The PM didn't come. Not because of what she has done I guess, but just that she very rarely attends team gatherings, I noticed.
Hmm didn't expect E to be so old. She looks to be in her late 30s. Or just that I associate the name with a youthful and pretty face - a friend of mine :)
I (actually) commented to her that our first meeting happened to be the last. She said that the PM's decision caught her off-guard too. She has asked many colleagues for feedback regarding her performance and they have all praised her. What to do... people bad mood these days :(
To my surprise, she said she's interested in meeting up with me for a chat in the future.
Erm... ok, maybe.
She asked me about my condition and I told her. She said she found me courageous for being independent and she thought she would have a lot we could talk about (do we?) She could come over to my house to talk over lunch.
Uh what? Did she just invite herself to my house? No! I don't fancy visitors and having to dress up for her. Mother's going to get cranky. What do we have to talk about?? Flabbergasted! And doesn't she need to work? She might be jobless soon, but how is she so sure that her new workplace will be near? Or does she mean the weekend? NO! My precious weekend is for sleeping in!
"We can meet outside, it's ok."
"No, I can just bring my food over to your place. You don't have to prepare anything."
Prepare things for her? Eh... honestly, that never crossed my mind. *sheepish* Some instant drink at most. Why is she hell bent on coming to my house? I will have to eat in the kitchen and I don't like it there. More importantly, I dread the interrogation. There are only a few privileged few that I am chatty with and she is not one of them. Seriously, what is there to chat about my disease? She could go google if she wants. She's not a social worker, she's not interviewing me for some motivational program, I have no desire to get to know her. I'm not ready for a one-on-one. I'm beginning to suspect that she's really wanted to sell me insurance, MLM and/or religion.
"No, I prefer to meet outside." Kind of weird to be negotiating the meeting venue now, but I feel it's imperative that she knows that we are NOT meeting at my house, in case that's her real motive.
"O, I don't want to trouble you with going out since I'm the one who suggested meeting."
Nope, there's some trouble I'm willing to take. I also get to go out for some vitamin D, air, aircon and some other kind of food. O, why do we need to bargain over a meeting place?
"Haha, take it an a chance to go out also!"
"Are you sure?"
YES BLOODY HELL SURE. I think I won't like her already. How do you talk to people who can't understand what you just said? I wonder if she caught me rolling my eyes.
"Then let's meet near your place?"
"We can meet at AMK Hub."
"Are you sure? How about a coffeeshop next to your block?"
How does she know there's a coffeeshop next to my block?? She's knows where I live already??
Enough with the paranoia. That hopeless coffeeshop? I never expected her to suggest "coffeeshop near my house". I thought people normally meet at some mall or Mc? Somewhere with aircon? Since she knows that she's never ever coming to my house, coming near my house is an acceptable compromise? What's with that obsession over where I live! I can just tell her if she asked, but just don't come!
"Yes, but the food sucks. Actually, I don't even know what they have in the afternoon. I never go there."
"I see. Yeah I think AMK Hub is better. I'll call you!"
"Sure!"
What a conversation filled with negativity from me. But I try not to commit to things that I dislike and make compromises to soften the blow. So the deal here is, fine, I will meet you, but preferably at AMK Hub.
Turning my attention to N, I asked N if it was really going to take so long to settle her father's affairs. She said with the speed that Indian courts work, yes. She wished she didn't have to go as her husband wouldn't be coming along and she has to handle 2 babies on the flight on her own :S Good luck!
Unfortunate it may seem, it's also an opportunity to exit gracefully. How regrettable that she didn't tell me the truth, like how I didn't tell her about my intention to go for surgery initially. Looks like we will never meet again. Best wishes.
I ordered a baked rice, chicken, I think. Comes with a nice cheesy top, but that's all. It's basically plain rice with chicken chunks with cheesy top. The juices from the top only managed to seep 1cm in, the the bottom of the bowl was tasteless. Bleah. If this is what Swensen's is serving customers to punish them for being cheapo, it has only succeeded in making me condemn their baked rice. I'll try something else next time.
There's an option for sundaes, but I didn't get it coz I don't fancy banana boat. Forgot what other sundaes are eligible, but I think I like none of them. Spoiled rotten by Haagen Daz. Only the more fanciful sundaes that cost as much as a main will catch my eye. Opted for iced lemon tea instead.
Their fries are still fantastic.
The guys tried to make the 3 QCs give a speech. But they were all speaking so softly that I could hardly hear despite sitting near 2 of them.
Went home to continue with work. Yawn.
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