Well the ball is in play now. I showed up to work at 8am on the dot on Friday. Was a bit later than I wanted to be because I drove Marshall's car in and had to drop it at St Leonards and train the rest of the way in...but at any rate was there right on the mark of 8.
The boss was furious. With the LW in town from London he wanted to show how hard we all worked and had instructed us to essentially be at work no later than 7.45 and leave no earlier than 6.15. Anyway I figured if he made a scene I'd just give him my notice to save myself the hassle of getting a dressing down. He took me outside the office and had a go and I started telling him I thought it was slightly ridiculous getting worked up about a minute here or there, then thought bugger it and told him i was pulling the pin.
To his credit he took it very well. He said he understood and thought it was great that I was going to Haiti etc (I should point out that I've volunteered to work with a group called Hands On Disaster Response http://hodr.org/ for three months-found out they'd accepted my offer on Wednesday last week). He also said he'd pay me to the end of the month and I said I'd be happy to work if required, or at least hand over all my clients and pipeline etc. So in essence it was pretty amicable.
Then Angus McStaunchie, the company 2IC in Singapore stepped in and said I could get lost, take my notice period and shove it and no we aren't paying you any more mate. Basically, nothing I shouldn't have expected from a rancid firepouch based out of Singapore. So I thought about this for an hour and made a few phone calls and chatted about it with Scotty who also thought it was pretty rubbish. I also emailed myself all my work files, then deleted them all off my work computer.
I had a quick chat to Alex and basically explained that I was now unable to cooperate in any way with the handover. He seemed a bit put out that my attitude had changed since the morning, but was more put out when he found out I had nothing to hand over because I'd removed all my work files from the hard drive. Oh, and my blackberry is at home, sorry mate, forgot to bring it in today.
I also explained that as soon as I left the room, I was going to tell the other sales guys what the company policy was regarding notice periods and that it would therefore be in their best interests, if they were to quit, to not give any notice and just not show up, as they are in fact entitled to do. This all comes about by the way, because we don't have contracts, so we are relying on national awards.
So basically I got marched that afternoon and went to the pub with Babs, who told me he broke up with Jesse again the night before. Seems Babs and I have our drama schedule synchronised...it's good to have a mate like that because he always knows what your going through, because he's either had the same issue, is having it, or will have it very soon.
Long story short I was at the gym after four or five beers (bizarrely it actually seemed to help with my training) and Alex called saying he'd had a chat to Angus and they were going to pay me to the end of the month, which is a great outcome. They still owe me expenses but only $600-700 or so.
Next week I'll put together a list of things I need to sort out before I go. Top of the pile will be buying a new G-Shock, like the original dad bought me 20 years ago. There's some great looking watches out there and it'll be handy to have on in Haiti.
http://cgi.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?VISuperSize&item=140382036769
Sunday, February 14, 2010
Monday, February 8, 2010
Quit my job in 4 days
This blog is going to be more than just a travel dairy. Of course, I want to catalogue my experiences as I travel through Central America, because I have goldfish memory. I can't even remember what this post is about-oh yea-travel writing.
The main reason people travel is not to see the things, but to meet the people. The idea is to get a feel for the culture, language, history, the vibe, the mabo of the place. So I'd like to record not only my impressions of the people I meet, but also their impressions of where they live. Let's see what they think about their country, government, their place in the world and so on. Let's find out what they think of developed country debt, climate change and emerging China, because apart from the one day cricket against the Windies, these are the big issues in Australia at the moment.
At any rate I don't really know anything about the places I'm headed to so it'll be steep learning curve when I arrive.
I'm going to fly to Los Angeles on the 3rd of March, and from there trek down to Mexico. I haven't decided if I should fly straight to Mexico or get a bus and see a bit of the US West Coast. It sounds pretty easy-yea I'll just bus it down to Mexico City from LA-but on the map it's pretty big, more like going to Brisbane from Cairns. We'll see, some planning may be in order after I quit work.
From Mexico it'll be Nicaragua, El Salvador, Costa Rica, Honduras, Panama, Guatemala, then through Colombia to Venezuela. From there-Eastern Europe via Warsaw...I'm going wife hunting.
So it's Monday, February 8 2010, 4 days before I quit my job, or at least hand in my notice. The boss who is a testicle smasher is in Melbourne today and tomorrow so it's feet up till Wednesday. They never gave me a contract so I hope that they don't stiff me my two weeks notice period. They also owe me about $5,500 in expenses so to play it safe I'll wait till I've banked that cheque before I do anything inflammatory.
Starting to feel quite good about the whole venture. Working this job was slowly killing me. For a start, the boss is a tool. He isn't deliberately vindictive. He's just an impulsive, balding, hairy, skinny, retro, cafe latte, electronic music scene ethnic cool, Honda S2000 sorta guy who can cross his legs in economy on the plane (indicative of a testosterone deficit) but actually kind of a dick, rude and dismissive to the little people and a slimy, tongue on anus chummy groveller to people he can derive status/money from.
The office is small with just four of us and since we aren't supposed to joke with each other (because we could be cold calling instead) there isn't much of an atmosphere at work. And obviously cold calling to set up business meetings is just as cruddy as it sounds, and since I'm nearly 27 it's time to give that game away.
The two other people I work with are alright. Scotty was a couple of years above me at school and is a laid back character. He hasn't sold anything for about a year, and has been told that he's got till end of March to sell something or he gets the punt. Judging by the general lack of activity at his desk, and the strategic way he's tilted his computer screen so nobody can see what's on it, I don't think he's too stressed by his precarious tenure.
Mary Clare is a crackerjack. Never have I met someone with such a good heart and such a timid soul. She is a completely ineffective sales person though, and has been here a year without selling a SINGLE FUCKING THING! She works very hard, doing the same wrong things day in day out and I don't see her ever selling anything except by accident. She is lovely though, and it's impossible to get her to say anything bad about anyone. And she's marrying an Italian guy with a Skyline GTR, among other cars so we have a good time rubbishing her for marrying such a rampant wog, and she takes it all very well.
Today I can't go to the toilet. Somebody vomited on the floor in there over the weekend and the puke smell has solidified to an offensive wall of reek. That's right, somebody has puked on the floor in my work toilet. You can't walk in without gagging, and it hasn't been cleaned up yet. If I'm being completely honest, it's possible I know who left that stinky pile of chunder on the floor, but discretion dictates I will keep his identity under wraps.
It was the Super Bowl today, and even though I've just started following it I'm glad that New Orleans got up. I snuck out of the office to watch a bit of it but missed most of the game.
And finally, it seems as if my marriage of convenience to Mike's British friend, who lives in Abu Dhabi and needs to marry an Aussie to get an Australian visa, has fallen through. Turns out the lady in question would rather marry someone she actually loves, or at least has met before. Reneging on an agreement like this is disgraceful and hurtful and I am contemplating suing her for breach of contract, because I was really counting on the $10k she was going to pay me to help fund this holiday.
The main reason people travel is not to see the things, but to meet the people. The idea is to get a feel for the culture, language, history, the vibe, the mabo of the place. So I'd like to record not only my impressions of the people I meet, but also their impressions of where they live. Let's see what they think about their country, government, their place in the world and so on. Let's find out what they think of developed country debt, climate change and emerging China, because apart from the one day cricket against the Windies, these are the big issues in Australia at the moment.
At any rate I don't really know anything about the places I'm headed to so it'll be steep learning curve when I arrive.
I'm going to fly to Los Angeles on the 3rd of March, and from there trek down to Mexico. I haven't decided if I should fly straight to Mexico or get a bus and see a bit of the US West Coast. It sounds pretty easy-yea I'll just bus it down to Mexico City from LA-but on the map it's pretty big, more like going to Brisbane from Cairns. We'll see, some planning may be in order after I quit work.
From Mexico it'll be Nicaragua, El Salvador, Costa Rica, Honduras, Panama, Guatemala, then through Colombia to Venezuela. From there-Eastern Europe via Warsaw...I'm going wife hunting.
So it's Monday, February 8 2010, 4 days before I quit my job, or at least hand in my notice. The boss who is a testicle smasher is in Melbourne today and tomorrow so it's feet up till Wednesday. They never gave me a contract so I hope that they don't stiff me my two weeks notice period. They also owe me about $5,500 in expenses so to play it safe I'll wait till I've banked that cheque before I do anything inflammatory.
Starting to feel quite good about the whole venture. Working this job was slowly killing me. For a start, the boss is a tool. He isn't deliberately vindictive. He's just an impulsive, balding, hairy, skinny, retro, cafe latte, electronic music scene ethnic cool, Honda S2000 sorta guy who can cross his legs in economy on the plane (indicative of a testosterone deficit) but actually kind of a dick, rude and dismissive to the little people and a slimy, tongue on anus chummy groveller to people he can derive status/money from.
The office is small with just four of us and since we aren't supposed to joke with each other (because we could be cold calling instead) there isn't much of an atmosphere at work. And obviously cold calling to set up business meetings is just as cruddy as it sounds, and since I'm nearly 27 it's time to give that game away.
The two other people I work with are alright. Scotty was a couple of years above me at school and is a laid back character. He hasn't sold anything for about a year, and has been told that he's got till end of March to sell something or he gets the punt. Judging by the general lack of activity at his desk, and the strategic way he's tilted his computer screen so nobody can see what's on it, I don't think he's too stressed by his precarious tenure.
Mary Clare is a crackerjack. Never have I met someone with such a good heart and such a timid soul. She is a completely ineffective sales person though, and has been here a year without selling a SINGLE FUCKING THING! She works very hard, doing the same wrong things day in day out and I don't see her ever selling anything except by accident. She is lovely though, and it's impossible to get her to say anything bad about anyone. And she's marrying an Italian guy with a Skyline GTR, among other cars so we have a good time rubbishing her for marrying such a rampant wog, and she takes it all very well.
Today I can't go to the toilet. Somebody vomited on the floor in there over the weekend and the puke smell has solidified to an offensive wall of reek. That's right, somebody has puked on the floor in my work toilet. You can't walk in without gagging, and it hasn't been cleaned up yet. If I'm being completely honest, it's possible I know who left that stinky pile of chunder on the floor, but discretion dictates I will keep his identity under wraps.
It was the Super Bowl today, and even though I've just started following it I'm glad that New Orleans got up. I snuck out of the office to watch a bit of it but missed most of the game.
And finally, it seems as if my marriage of convenience to Mike's British friend, who lives in Abu Dhabi and needs to marry an Aussie to get an Australian visa, has fallen through. Turns out the lady in question would rather marry someone she actually loves, or at least has met before. Reneging on an agreement like this is disgraceful and hurtful and I am contemplating suing her for breach of contract, because I was really counting on the $10k she was going to pay me to help fund this holiday.
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