I am pretty sure that right now I am real life busto (have no money in Japan). But luckly I have some money online to sustain me till payday.

In December I booked my ticket back home. I get 12 days of paid leave a year. That’s right, averages out to 1 day off a month. But wait for it. Those 12 days include sick leave …

Unfortunately for me I took about 5-6 days off last year nursing injuries and sicknesses. Oh well, nothing like losing half of your yearly holiday at home in your sick bed. I hadn’t looked at how many days I had left when I booked my ticket. I assumed it was like 3-4 or something like that.

So I booked my ticket and went up to the admin lady and explain that I am leaving the 14th and will be back next year when work starts.

The lady logged on to the staff intranet to log the days I am taking off only to uncover that I am taking 9 days off but only have 0.5 days of holiday left…

So yeah it worked out as me being absent from work for 8.5 days. To make it worse since it was the last month of the year and the last few days were holidays, it somehow resulted in me losing half of my wages…

I got back from London and went to the ATM only to find out that I got paid enough for my rent, gym membership and internet bill to be debited from my account leaving me with enough change for a couple of hamburgers.

Kinda pissed off about that. I am the person in control of the intranet in my company and have the ability to fudge the numbers of my paid leave. But in such a small company I would probably get caught straight away

And if things couldn’t get any lamer I now have the taxman up my arse for taxes I somehow forgot to pay last year. In Japan apart from the normal tax that they rape from your paycheck there is another tax that gets sent to your house you have to pay. From June till the end of the year you have to make 4 x 40,000yen payments to your ward or something. That’s 160,000yen (1,755USD/1074GBP) a year of extra taxes.

The allure of working in Japan might be starting to wear off…

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Email from work I recieved yesterday.

Subject: A little bit of advice…

Prometheus,

Although I hate to be the one to pick on you or the one to be bossy, I’d like to
play the “sempai” = senior card here. Please read the following as constructive
criticism. This is meant to be advice, which hopefully will help you to get by
in this company.

I believe 103 is pretty laid back and we’re getting along cool. That’s great,
but this only works because we all understand that this is a workplace, and we
should maintain a certain level of discipline. Now this is not something we
drill into each other, but yet I believe it is a rule that we naturally abide
by.

Recently, I’m getting the feeling that this professional awareness is becoming a
bit weak with you (it’s quite obvious when you fall asleep during work, or
you’re chatting via Skype or MSN Messenger, or checking your Keitai  = cell e-mail, or
checking your Facebook account or  whatever other pages you may be checking
out). Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for a certain amount of leeway and we all do
some of the above at some point during the day. That’s fine and cool, but it
must remain a secondary if not tertiary priority, which I can’t help feeling is
not true in your case recently (not that I have proof for that, but I think
giving that impression to your surroundings is enough of a reason to think about
it).

You’re a cool guy and I hate to be the one to yell, but I think it kind of looks
bad on you if you keep going with this attitude. The scary thing about this
company is that people are too nice to say anything, but they do take notice and
it does have an impact on your reputation as a workforce. And I don’t want you
to fall into that reputation.

So here are some ideas (my 2 cents if you will):

- Try to reduce the time spent on chatting and private webbrowsing. If you have
too much time, try to find something useful to do. I’m sure you can think of
something. If you absolutely can’t find anything, let me know, maybe I can help
you out.

- Try to keep an eye on what’s going on with the clients, what they are asking
for in the e-mails, how we are going by it etc. (Like John Doe’s case at Company X.
We’re talking about it in the office, but no one will come to you and give you
an extra report. Now let’s say The CEO comes in, and asks you about Company X’s status. How
cool would it look if you could recap the whole thing? …and how bad if you
have no idea?)

- Focus on the topic when others are talking about relevant issues you should
take part in. Don’t address your chat window or keitai=cell phone when people are talking
to you.

- Try to be a more active communicator.
If you get tasks to do from others and it spans across days or weeks, let them
know once in a while how far you got and what you’re up to (remember 104? They
didn’t know if you were still working on their requests and stuff…). Update
your teammates so they know where things are at. Check with them if anything is
unclear.
If the task you are working on is complex, confirm that you understand what you
are being asked to do (as opposed to just a simple “Yeah” followed by silence
until you’re done). Nothing is more comforting than knowing that someone you’re
asking understands your request.

Also, especially this month, you are doing the daily processes. Ask yourself:

- If Mr X and Mr Y were gone, would you be able to run the CD cut with full
confidence? Check the spots you don’t feel 100% comfortable with and check with
the guys. Your goal should be to be able to run all daily tasks and CD cuts, and
be able to take full responsibility for your output. Given your position (one of
the people running cuts and dailies), in an emergency situation you may be on
your own, and then people must be able to trust in your output.

- If The Ceo came in and wanted a recap of todays issue with the CAFs, would you be
able to explain everything? To be honest, I missed some of the things that were
going on this morning myself, since I was busy with other tasks. So what I
did is ask the guys what was going on. You know, just to have an understanding
of the issue. Afterall, you never know when that knowledge becomes important. It
was a bit disappointing to see you sleeping while we were talking (and I wasn’t
the only one to notice…). Try to be aware of what’s going on, especially if it
is something that involves your scope of work (PRICES are part of the database
you are creating today!)

OK, that was a lot of “yelling” which again I’d like to emphasize is meant as
constructive criticism. All of what I wrote is based on what I can perceive from
my desk or when I wander around in the office (I’m not spying on you, it’s just
noticeable). Some of the things I pointed out about you may not apply 100%, or
it may be things that you are already aware of. But I decided to write based on
the impression I get from you, since this may be the impression others may be
perceiving too.

I’m not telling you to be perfect. But you may want to show a bit more proactive
participation. This is me trying to nudge you into the right direction (”right”
as in “the way that is probably expected from you in this office”), before you
get hit by a harder wave in form of a CEO or other influential people around
here. No one knows I’m sending this to you. If this were Mission Impossible,
you’d be now hearing a voice saying “This message will self destruct in 5
seconds.”

Hopefully my message is coming across.
Let me know if I can be of help.

Best,
My T

Meh, it is pretty hard to put any effort in or try hard when the work you do is boring and soul crushing. So thoughts? My tank is on empty lol, not sure if I have the energy or desire to change..

Quit or wait for the sack?

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Woah, that was close. It completely slipped my mind. My memory must be getting hazy in my old age.

I woke up early with plans to knock out a few episodes of Gossip Girl before going to work. As I sat there I felt a shock go through my body. I like to call it memory shock. You know, when  a surge run through your body and then boom all of a sudden you remember something that you had forgotten.

It is a good thing I remembered when I did. An hour or two later and I would have found myself in a spot of bother. Today is my day. Right after a national holiday as well… The worst thing about it is that I was supposed to do it last week but it got pushed forward one week.

I guess it is just one of the perils of working for a small company.

There are 6 of us in our room. We do a rotation and once a week someone gets to come to work 1 hour early to let the cleaner lady in…

It made me reminisce of my stretch at NEC a few years back and made me start wondering if big company life is better than small..

In a small company you have to become part of an interchangeable unit. If somebody can’t come in you need to be ready to pick up their slack for them. You normally need to go the extra mile, do tasks you don’t really want to do (picking up the phone..), and once in a while go above the line of duty. At a bigger company you only need to worry about covering your own arse and getting your own work done. Screw the company and everybody else ;P

I think the thing I liked best about a big company is your lack of presence. In a small company if you spend too long in the toilet eyebrows start getting raised about where you have disappeared to. You can’t really keep leaving your desk or just start wandering around. Anything and everything you do is more or less under a microscope.

But when I was at NEC I was on some Spiderman shit. Once the folks got rid of the, “OMG there is a black man in the building” syndrome and stopped starring at me all day I was free to run loose through the building. Heck, there were days were you might not see me for like 2 hours straight. But what could they really do? I might have been in a meeting, on another floor or another part of the building carrying out a task.

Another good thing about big companies is that they have extensive resources. I remember the floor I was on had two big toilets with lots of cubicles. The first time I entered one of the cubicles a light bulb appeared above my head.

Since the buildings are so big the cleaners would just leave 5-6 rolls in each cubicle instead of leaving one and coming back every hour. Do you understand why the light bulb went off? Well let’s just say that, “Toilet Roll” did not appear on my shopping receipt for the next 6 months.

So what type of companies are you guys working in? Which do you prefer big or small? Do you have any interesting perceptions of either?

What is your poision? Are you a paper clip theif, a pen pocketer, or like me a toilet roll bandit.  Or are you big time and steal desks, chairs, printers and anything that is not nailed down.

Oh and here is a curve ball that I just thought off. An ethical question.

I go to work and steal 10  1-2 rolls of toilet roll.

Some kid runs into a store and steals a pack of toilet roll of the shelf.

Is there any difference? Is one more ok than the other?

Would be interested on thoughts on that.

Lastly, this link made me laugh a bit:
http://www.itsatarp.com/

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Today is the worst day of my life….

Wait, what is this feeling. The feeling of a moment relived. Like when you see two black cats. I remember now, they call it Déjà vu aka a glitch in the Matrix.

Last week Monday at 9AM I was thinking the exact same thing as I sat at my desk starring into the abyss. I was also thinking the same thing the Monday before that, and the Monday before that also.

It is never ending. It is an infinite cycle. Kind of like a while loop that contains no breakpoint in sight (programmer jargon).

Every Monday is the worst day of my life (does this make sense?)!!!!

Well, ok no more complaining. It is time to fix things.

Question:

Why do I 9-5?

Answer:

To pay the rent…

Hmm, I guess seeing that is the only reason I work all I really need to do is find an alternate means to pay my rent. With my overflowing talents it should be as easy as pie.

So let’s think, what can I do…:

l  Freelance Programming

l  Online Poker

l  Rob and Steal

l  Chef

l  Artist

Ok so lets look at the talents that I listed above.

Programming is self explanatory. It is what I do every day. I guess the only problems would be getting contracts and having the discipline to get stuff done. Starting projects is easy but finishing is pretty hard. The push to get the last 10% done is always pretty intense.

Online Poker is something I don’t talk to many people about. They probably think it is just some reckless gambling like Pachinko or slots. Well it is actually a skill game. And I just so happen to have the skillz to pay the billz.

The main problem is the volatile nature of the game. Because of short term luck, no matter how good you are you will experience patches where you lose a decent chunk of money even though you played well. Losing $500+ in less than 1 hour can, ahem, spoil your day.. I suppose I am immune to losing retarded amounts of money now but it can still be pretty stressful.

Rob and Stealing is something I would only do if my back was against the wall. I think that I would be pretty darn good at it. After all, I did learn from the best:

Cooking is something that I used to like doing, but I haven’t really done much lately. I could do some catering or work as a freelance chef for special occasions. I guess it would be easier to show you my skills rather than explain them with words:

The above dish is called, “Spaghetti with a T”. It was made using high quality spaghetti only found in the mountains of the North Pole. The bolognaise was cooked at a low temperature using the on and off method where you cook for 5 minutes and then leave it to cool for 2. The sauce contains fire tomatoes, garlic, basil and high quality mince meat.

How do you like it? It is to die for right! I am sorry if the picture made your mouth water or made you hungry

With my food presentation skills and vast knowledge of rare cooking ingridients (North Pole spaghetti) finding a gig shouldnt be too hard, right?

Lastly is Art. Oh you never knew I drew? I actually had one of my pieces in a magazine. I was walking though Harajuku a few years back and a magazine editor asked me to draw a piece for the magazine. It was one of my finest hours. 

The theme was, “Draw a childhood cartoon character“. The editor was amazed. She had never seen such a drawing that I showed her

So, thoughts? Am I the next [Insert famous artist] or should I bury my sketchbook and never pick up a paint brush again?

So that is it. Which route would you recommend I take?

I am not too sure. The only thing I do know is. Prometheus is talented, Prometheus is tender… Prometheus is beautiful… Prometheus is a mystery.

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Ok a quick test to make sure that you guys are awake. Can you see what’s wrong with this picture?

If not then LOL don’t worry. If you can, how long did it take for you to realize what was wrong with it?

Ok, so you are awake now huh? Good.

The weather in Tokyo today is beautiful. Not a cloud in sight. Ladies and gentleman, today is a good day to kill people go to the beach.

However, I am sitting in this shitty office at work with a splitting headache. I tried to login to a website today only to find out I didn’t know my password. I tried using the forgot password feature to retrieve the password only to find out that it sent the password to an email address that I didn’t know the password to either (I have about 6 email accounts) ..

This whole internet thing is all messed up now. It’s like I have got at least 20 passwords now. I am paranoid about using the same password and username combos for multiple sites so I started making up different ones. Now I am in a pickle and have to keep retrieving passwords. When you retrieve it they give you some junk password like “sdklfjs;dlfkj” and then you have to go through the hassle of changing the junk back into something you want.

Being the lazy bastard procrastinator that I am I never actually change the junk password. Meaning 3 months down the line I have to search through 3 months of emails trying to find the forgot password email so that I can copy and paste the junk and login to the site. It is all very annoying.

I am slightly pissed off agitated about a few other things too. The company that I am slaving away for working for doesn’t even give us dual monitor setups (PC with two monitors). The two people in the room with a dual monitor setup are not even doing anything techinical .. Single monitors suck so hard!

On top of that there is some faggot dude on my left who can see my screen. It’s annoying because I can see from the corner of my eye that he periodically looks at my screen. He has sublime timing, he always happens to look when I am using MSN and Facebook not doing any work (90% of the time). I really want to fuck him up move desk.

I just looked at the clock and it is 12PM. At least 5 more hours left until I can go home.

Somebody kill me please. 

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