Morning temperture hovered around one degree celsius. Not too cold but with zero insulation in the apartment, it felt pretty cold. Got my long thermal underwear on and trying to stay warm as I bang out some blogs.
Let's hope the new year is much better for me and my family. Gotta work hard and study hard in 2010.
Just when I was excited about ordering Airborne from Drugstore.com and having it shipped to Japan, the website blocked my order. From complete excitement to utter disappointment. What gives? Is Airborne some type of controlled substance that can't be shipped to Japan? Is it on some list of dangerous goods? I cannot believe it. I know have to look for some other substitute product.
Hey Drugstore.com: can you help me out here?
Heading to tonight's business networking event in Tokyo. I passed on the word about the event to a few of my colleagues. Hopefully the gathering will be both productive and enjoyable. I'll get a chance to see some of my former colleagues and possibly meet up with some future ones as well.
I'll snap a few fotos of tonight and post them here and elsewhere. If you are in Tokyo tonight, drop on by.
Just read that the Japanese government plans to implement one of their election campaign promises: elimination of tax deductions for dependents and addition of child allowance payments. As of June 2010, I will love my tax deduction of $4,000 per year and gain a child allowance of $3,600 per year. Net loss of $400. I can live with this loss of take home cash. If my paying an additional $400 per year helps save the country, I'm all for it. But, if the extra $400 tax payment only pads the wallets of politicians, I am all against it.
I am so happy that the local Ito Yokado is offering $100 business suits. That is all I can afford now.
September has gone by very quickly. By the end of the month, I will have logged only 9 days in at the office. A couple of weeks I was abroad on business and for 5 of them I took an extended holiday break of 9 days. I just had to get away from the office. Too many long days and way too many projects were starting to drag me down. I really need to pace myself going foward. Too many long days are not good for my productivity. After putting in 12 hours in at the office, I found myself putting in another 2-3 hours a night at home. Just trying to keep on top of all my projects were wearing me down badly.
Christmas is just around the corner and I hope to use the year-end break to recharge my batteries fully for the 2010 business year. Next year will be like none other. Balls to the wall 24x7.
I hate to admit it but, I won't be happy with my 3-hour commutes starting from Monday morning. Summer break is over. I took two additional days off and combined it with two weekends and three company holidays to make a grand total of nine days off.
The trains will be very crowded in the morning. Luckily, I will catch the 04h45 train (first train) on Monday morning. I will find an open seat on the train and I can try to sleep for the first 35 minutes of my daily commute. Once the train rolls into Tokyo, the trains will be packed with late-night party-goers and evening/early morning entertainment industry workers.
I'll get into the office at 06h00 just in time to prep for the weekly morning meeting.
Two full weeks at the office and then, I am jumping on an airplane and heading out on a business trip for ten days. It has been a while since I last ventured overseas: last time was October 2007. So, I guess I should consider myself lucky that I have been able to see my son each night albeit most of the times, he was already asleep when I walked in the door.
Nevertheless, it will be nice to be working on another international project. With any luck, we'll make some good progress during the trip. I hope I can take in some of the city's/country's sights before I return to Tokyo.
Next long break: September 19th - 23rd. I'll try to add one personal day off at the end of the break to spend some quality time with my family.
I got an interesting email the other day from (another) headhunter. I honestly thought that with the global financial crisis and the rising unemployment rate worldwide, headhunters would be looking for jobs themselves. Well, much to my surprise I got an email for a request to contact by a headhunter in Tokyo.
I don't know whether the headhunter is trying to fill their quota to obtain CVs or if someone out there is interested in my services. I just don't know. If headhunters really want to know more about me, they should check out my linkedin profile page: I pretty much keep it up to date on all my current project work.
Yes, the temblor got me out of my chair very quickly. I ran and grabbed my son and headed towards the door. After having survived the Great Hanshin Earthquake that struck Kobe in 1995, I know that when the ground shakes head toward the front door and prop it open. Unless you want to get stuck inside your home and have no way out, you'd better get the front door open quickly.
The quake measured a 3-4 on the Japanese scale where I live in western Tokyo. The ones closer to the epicenter felt it at the full 4-5. A couple of magnitudes higher can jolt your back fillings out.
My son is somewhat shaken by the experience; probably more afraid that I was afraid than with his fear of something he doesn't really quite comprehend just yet.
Maybe it's time to rethink this idea/experiment of living in Tokyo.
Finally got the new laptop up and running. I decided to stick a smaller laptop again. I want to wait until Apple brings out a new MacBook model in 2011 before I pick another Mac.
Had to order the Ultra Base and DVD Wrtier Bay. The store tells me I have to wait 3 weeks to get the items. Yikes. I cannot believe it. What kind of world do we live in?
Six months down. Another six months to go until we can celebrate a new year.
So much has happened in these past six months. The US witnessed the swearing in of President Obama. China marked its anniversary/no anniversary of Tin Sq. A couple of (fake) GOP senators shed some tears for their youthful transgressions. Jon Stewart still is a funny guy. And I am still working way too much overtime. I clocked in just undert 78 hours of OT this month. Great. This puts me at just over the 375-hour mark for the first six months of the year. Is there any law against this much OT?
Dear CN:
Now that you have cancelled the magazine, will you reimburse me for the remaining portion of my annual subscription? If 'no', why?
Unhapy ex-subscriber
Looks like PM Aso and his Merry Men are making good on their billion-dollar promise: My household will get a handful of money by the end of this month. With this money, I can save it if I so choose. I could spend it on a trip to Disney. I could spend it on Pizza Hut. Whatever I do with it is up to me. I just wanted to say 'thanks' to the government for letting me spend my own money.
Finally got around to setting up a twitter account. Now, if I could only get my darn cell phone (from JPN) to work, I could broadcast live to the world. Will spend time later trying to figure it out.
Time to look for a second job. With the way the economy is tanking, I need to work more and sock away as much cash as possible. I am considering, if I can find the work, going back to teaching English at the weekends. Perhaps, there are some or enough Japanese who want to improve their language skills or need some help working on their application essays for business school or term papers. Need to make money and need to make it now.
Left to catch the morning train at 04h45.
Walked in the door at 23h20.
How I really hate the first day of the business week. I would have stayed at the office tonight had it not been for my wearing a suit today. I had a couple of meetings today and decided it was best to dress up.
Well, my Wednesday wardrobe will definitely be blue jeans and whatever shirt I can find that is clean.
How I really hate the first day of the week. (Monday, January 12th was a national holiday).
Finally, I got around to visiting the neighbourhood shrine today. Let's hope that 2009 is a much better year for me.
Dear Santa Claus,
Hi. How are you doing? I guess you must be quite busy this time of year. And especially very busy during the current economic crisis. I don't mean to overload you with yet another letter but, just in case you have some spare time, here goes.
What I would like for Christmas is:
1) Healthy family and friends for the rest of the century and beyond,
2) Higher paying salary (I sure hate the paycuts I have been getting recently), and
3) All expenses-paid scholarship for law school,
Remember that is if you have some spare time and pocket change.
Strategist
I have been trying to refine my LinkedIn profile as best as I can. How does one try to explain 20+ years of professional experience in an online profile without sounding like an idiot?
I updated my profile by breaking out the key accomplishments for both Japan and Canada. Hopefully, I'll get some more people dropping by to have a look-see.
My investment portfolio has been kicked in the teeth. Losses. Losses. Losses. No signs of retiring at anytime soon. I sure hope the Japanese government is going to return some of our tax money and throw some coins our way soon as well. I sure could use the extra green (or brown in Japan) in my pockets. If the fat cats on Wall Street can blow up their own companies and walk away with billions in compensation, shouldn't the regular folks get something in return, too?? Just asking.
What is wrong? Why hasn't Jerry Yang called me? I mean, doesn't he think he needs any help at Yahoo? Is the ship back on the right heading? C'mon, let's all ping Jerry at Yahoo and let him know that my patience is not forever. He needs to call me and send me some first-class air tickets one-way from Tokyo to SF. I'll make my own way from SFO to Sunnyvale.
I spent my holiday working. Huh? Yup. You read it right. I worked on my day off. Not that it should come as a shock to anyone who works in Japan. National holidays are actually created so corporate staff can put in a day of work at home. Instead of spending time with my son or going out to play with him, I was stuck behind my computer and a mess load of .xls files.
I was given yet another report to complete for the current work week. I decided to put in the extra hours at home on the national holiday instead of working a 'boat load' of overtime this week. You have to remember that in Japan, overtime is a way of life. I put in on average 80 hours a month of OT. Last week, I had lunch with someone from the data marketing team and I know that he works about 100 hours of OT a month. When I asked about his private life (with his wife) he just shrugged his shoulders. I know that shrug well. For a Japanese corporate warrior, work comes first. Home life comes last. A distant last.
I figure with the 5 hours of 'work at home' I put in today, I am only 8 hours behind in my weekly work log. I have got to make up those lost 8 hours over the next four business days. Or lest, my head is going to get cut off my the HR department.
Well, at least next week, with our plane-load of VIP guests flying in my one of our US offices, I am assured of working lots of OT (unpaid, of course). I have already warned my wife of my late night returns and my early morning departures. I figure that if I can get at least 3 hours of sleep a night, I am going to do well. I might even sleep at the office in order to get an extra 3 hours a sleep a day.
(PS. Note to myself - BUY MORE LOTTERY TICKETS, FOR CHRISSAKES!!!)
I have been reassigned to another department effective 7 July 2008. Actually, the reassignment is something I am looking forward to doing. My current assignment is very rewarding but, the career prospects are quite limited. With my new, or shall I say, reassignment, I have a new opportunity to put my career back on track.
For the past several years, I have been stuck on the proverbial treadmill. Never going forward but, always running as fast as I could just to stay in the same place. The new/shared posting will ensure that I work even longer hours. I have been currently working over 80 hours of overtime per month for the past 2 years. From next Monday, the amount of overtime will go up considerably. I forsee over 100 hours of OT per month for the next 6-12 months. Yup, life sure sucks.
I have been told that I am going to be doing 2 jobs for the salary of 1. So, you got to figure over 14 hours days now. Lunch? Forget about it. No way. Lunch is going to be a pack of cookies and a bottle of H20. I only wish that the cafeteria could deliver. And what the heck is happening with Google and their new position of concierge? I wish my company offered the same level of services. Gee, life sure would be much better if someone could run some errands for me from time to time.
I checked my email box and did not see the email I have been waiting for. (Actually, I wake up every morning hoping, no - praying, to get that Email to end all emails. What email? An email from someone telling me they are going to give me (with no strings attached) a million dollars. And why would someone just give me a million dollars? Well, for starters - I make one great martini. Actually, I hope I get the million bucks because I am a super-duper nice guy. And to boot - I am a Canuck.
I know you are out there and you are trying to find me to give me some money. Well, my email address is <[email protected]. Thanks and God bless you!
Don't get me wrong. Fourteen hours is not too long to be at the office working. I was ready to leave the office at 18h00 today (I started work at 05h30) but, just when I was ready to turn off my PC, I got yet another project assignment. I like doing special assignments where I can put my grad studies to good use. Not very often do I get a chance to use my financial economics training. So, at 18h01 I began pulling data figures off various websites like BIS, FRB of NY, Goldman Sachs, EU.org, etc. I have 48 hours to put together a complete study of some global economic issue for the guys upstairs. I wish I could spend more time on the project/study but I have to push out the deliverable by close of play Wednesday.
An old and dear friend called me today to wish me 'HB'. Although we don't speak by telephone on a regular basis (two years since we last spoke), it seems like only yesterday that we will throwing down a few Freddy Heinekens at the Keg together. WG is really enjoying his life with his wife 'B' in BC. I hope I can make it back to Canada for a visit soon. WG & B have got to meet my son. Another birthday is about to come and I don't know if I am any closer to reaching my goal in life: SA.
The last day of the year is here. I never thought I would survive this past year. I spent too much time at work, worrying about work, thinking about work, and travelling to and from work. I spent very little time with my family and especially with my son.
Before I predict what the new year has in store for me and my family, I need to reflect on the past year.
The year 2007 brought in many changes and new challenges in my professional career. New colleagues joined. Some colleagues left. And other colleagues transferred far away. I did not the same amount of travelling as in 2006 or in 2005. Lucky for me, I was chained to my desk for the better part of the year. I did however, make one trip to the US (NYC/Boston) and another to Europe.
The trip to the US was nice. Had a chance to see many colleagues but sad in that I will probably never have a chance to see them again. Over the past 6 months, I have been given a whole new set of tasks which does not include the USA. So, while I enjoy being in the US on business, I don't think I will be there again in the near future - unless it is on my own dime.
I spent a bullk of my time doing market research and running various country and market models. Although it is very tedious and boring work, I did enjoy doing something and contributing to our team's efforts. And I got to put into use some of my macroeconomics training and microeconomics during the modeling phases.
Toward the end of the year, I got to return to Europe. It has been some time since I was last there. To me, Europe is a great place to visit and to live. One day I may get my chance.
The next year will be filled with the same amount, if not more, office overtime. I will consider myself fortunate if I do not have to put in the same number of hours as many others. As I write this blog, many of my colleagues are working. There will be no O-shogatsu holidays for them. I pray that their families will forgive them and our company for separating loved ones during this special time of year. I know that very soon, work will separate me from my family for extended periods of time. I only hope I can save enough money to fly back and forth on my own dime and on my own schedule.
And finally, I must declare my New Year's Resolutions for 2008:
1.) Begin graduate studies for another master's degree.
2.) Take lots of photographs of my son growing up.
3.) Help others regardless of how rude they are or how poorly they treat me.
4.) Save money.
5.) Stop drinking. Or at the very least, keep it in moderation: one beer per week.
May the Lord be with you - pax vobiscum.
Strategist
I had a great time at lunch today with two colleagues from the office. These two invited me out to lunch so, I decided to treat them at Roppongi Hard Rock Cafe. We had a wonderful time at the restaurant and talked about Japanese television dramas. I think they were surprised that I watch Japanese television. My favourite drama is Mito Komon. A close second is Okane ga nai. I hope we can 'do lunch' again soon.
Wonderful. Here are some of the places I have visited over the years. My goal is to visit a few more countries every 2-3 years. Next stop - Europe.
create your own visited country map
or write about it on the open travel guide
You are 49% geek | You are a geek liaison, which means you go both ways. You can hang out with normal people or you can hang out with geeks which means you often have geeks as friends and/or have a job where you have to mediate between geeks and normal people. This is an important role and one of which you should be proud. In fact, you can make a good deal of money as a translator.
Normal: Tell our geek we need him to work this weekend. |
Take the Polygeek Quiz at Thudfactor.com
I don't know if this is a 'good score' or not. Perhaps, I need to work on my 'geek skills' some more.
Yesterday was a tough day at the office. Got in at 05:57 and worked straight through until 22:45. I finally dragged my tired body into my apartment at 00:15. Gee, I hate a world where I have to work so many hours. I wonder if this is how my parents felt when they arrived in Canada? As a foreigner in Japan, I sometimes wonder if I am treated any differently than the Japanese??
Oh, I guess I am lucky to be a foreigner here in Japan. When I left the office last night there must have been at least one hundred people still slugging away at their desks and computers. Many of the people in my group left the office after 00:30.
This morning I treated myself to an extra hour of sleep and arrived at 08:30. Normally, I need to be here at 07:00. I wonder if anyone noticed my tardiness today.
specialist: mergers & acquisitions, global business development
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