My hectic life

Been going through my Google Reader list the other day, when I stumble upon Bro Shy’s entry. He surely doesn’t write for such a very long time. Then my heart ticks. It is the same thing that happened to me too. Then I started to feel the same thing too – I miss my blog so much.

Sorry for not writing for so long. I’ve been stressed out with work since the middle of Ramadhan

• 2 of my staffs away for 1 week training. Really hell of the time jumbling up the workload handled by both of them to the other people. I got to get my hands dirty also doing some of their work
• 1 of my staff resigning. Another trouble of arranging the workload passed over to another person.
• Most of my staffs will be away for 1 week Hari Raya holiday (including me). How about the work handled by them?
• Preparing the 1 week training course on Dimensions IOM, TOM and data cleaning, plus I have to be the trainer. My boss just can’t wait
• Getting ready for my 2 weeks Chicago trip while I was conducting training – this is cracz

I was scheduled to visit the Chicago office 1 1/2 weeks before hari raya, which I so reluctant. I told my boss earlier that please keep Ramadhan away from sending me anywhere. I’m glad that this didn’t happened, and will happen after raya. That’s a relief.

After the raya, there’s another crazy idea from her, asking me to conduct the training for Asia Pacific delegates for Dimensions IOM, TOM and data cleaning training. At the same time, had discussion with Chicago office on when will be the best time for me to visit. Since the thanks giving is just around the corner, and most of the people will be away at that time, there are 2 options

• 5th Nov until 16th Nov
• 26th Nov until 7th Dec

My boss ask me which one I prefer. I prefer the later (for the reasons that I will write later) but she insisted on 5th Nov. So, why ask me to choose at the first place?

Why I prefer the later?

• I will be conducting the training from 29th Oct until 2nd Nov. And I still haven’t applied the visa to US. That will take a bit amount of time. I just can’t concentrate much on that training thinking about all those things that I need to prepare for the trip.
• To be there at Chicago on 5th Nov, that mean I have to fly as early at 3rd Nov. That’s my birthday for god sake. I don’t want to spend it on the flight
• The period is the last week of Syawal, meaning I will miss lots of my friend’s Hari Raya open house
• I’m just too exhausted. At least, I need some rest first after the tiring week of handling the training

But all those nightmares came to reality. I did actually ask my colleage to take over the training for 1/2 a day since I have to be at US Embassy for my US Visa application. Alhamdulliah, my visa is approved without much trouble. The interview went really smooth and quick. I don’t look like terrorist after all I guess. Believe me. If you ever to look at me live, you’ll meet the ‘geek’est look person ever. Hahaha.

Talking about US Visa application, believe me, it’s quite complicated. The application can only be done online. And there a non-refundable fee of RM367 that you have to pay. Meaning, if your visa is not approved, it’s gone. Luckily I can reimbursed this amount from my company. There are quite lenghty forms that you need to fill, and if you are male, there is an additional form that you need to fill that asks questions like – have you received military training, have you ever handle fireams, have you been arrested and jailed before etc.

The interview is not that long, but waiting for your turn is pretty long. I had to wait for nearly 3 hours before my turn. As I said earlier, my interview went really smooth. 5 mins duration I think (around that). There are people that had a longer interview.

Anyway, it happened also that I have to travel on my birthday. That really sucks. I left my home as early as 6am ON MY BIRTHDAY to catch the flight. And it’s a tiring one, 26 hours in total. 17 hours flight to Los Angeles, stop there for several hours, then 5 hours flight to Chicago. Once I reached Chicago, I just can’t wait to reach the hotel. I really need a good sleep. This is my room. Who can resist jump into this comfy king size bed.