Today I finally got the spectacles I’ve been waiting for, and they seem to work according to the first couple of hours. I went to the office to sort out the heaps of mail that had accumulated during the past seven weeks, just to find the minutes of the meeting I wrote about last week.

The TL had seen necessary to list every single absence of mine since I came here, just to “sum them up”. After the list there was an “input from TL” section, mostly like so:

We got a lot of comments for our work and it seems that not all the necessary elements have been there. We haven’t had enough support from you.

You have had a lot of absences and haven’t been in Bangalore enough.

…and so on.

Needless to say, the TL didn’t have the balls to admit what he was after with these comments. According to him, it’s only “stating what has happened”, but anyone with half a brain can see what he’s trying to achieve with his bullshit. I wasn’t going to feel guilty earlier, and I’m not going to start now. It’s just a bit difficult to stand my ground when accusations come from the person who assigns my tasks and evaluates my work performance. I am tempted to bring the issue up with upper management, but I’m not sure if I have enough grounds to raise a proper complaint.

So tell me: what the hell should i do with this situation?

Tags: let me know, morale, oh bugger, stress, what?, why I wanted a change, work

Malapascua was just fantastic, but unfortunately my health wasn’t. During the first flight I caught a cold of some sort and spent the rest of the trip more or less moving by ibuprofen ja adrenaline. I couldn’t just let the opportunity pass and skip the diving while there, so I chose medical CPR instead and did 17 dives during the past seven days.

I’m writing this in one of the pay lounges of Hong Kong international airport since our trip arrangements are a bit less than efficient: the flight from Philippines landed at 15:10, while the connecting flight leaves around 22:20 – more than seven hours later. Not having to spend all that time on the benches near gates was well worth that 500 Hong Kong dollars (around 40 euros). Nice armchairs, electricity outlets, free internet access, drinks, food, showers and massages should make the wait much less painful.

I’ll post some photos later, but here’s a teaser:

I think it’s a sweetlips, but I may be completely wrong. Please let me know if you can identify the species

Edit: my second guess would be striped dogface pufferfish, but still not sure. I’m not exactly brilliant in biology, so help me out.

Tags: diving, flu, holiday, let me know, natural beauty, oh bugger, photos, travel, waiting

My stuff & things are now on their way towards Helsinki and should arrive somewhere around early June. Luckily I have my new laptop for surfing, blogging and storage of photos, plus my 20 kilograms of luggage allowance for establishing a life in the jungle. Before that I have a bit more than two weeks to kill in Oulu, but I’m in luck: Wappu is coming! Maybe a couple of days off, a few cold drinks on the patio, driving around in Wesibussi and some well-deserved time off. We’ll see.

This actually isn’t the first homeless Wappu for me: some years back I gave up my apartment before the celebrations and moved in to the new one after all the parties and other mandatory ceremonies. This year I’ll take it easy and just relax – I’ve already seen all the wild  stuff of it.

Now I’ll try to clean up this place, make it ready for the next occupant and find myself a place to stay. Does anyone need a digital TV box for cable network?

Tags: celebration, holiday, let me know, moving, parties, practical stuff, transportation, wappu

Yesterday I faced a surprising situation that escalated into a real moral dilemma for me. Writing down all the aspects of the story can be difficult, but I’ll try.

I had just returned to the apartment from a walk when the doorbell rang. It was the man who introduced me to the maid on my first day here, so I presume he is working for the company that rented this place to me. He asked to come in and sat to the table right in front of me. He was carrying some motorcycle brochures, so I thought he might have had something to do with my humble request of getting to ride a Bullet. When he opened his mouth, it turned out to be something completely different.

What I understood of his bad English was that he was aging (yes, around 55 maybe) and was having prostate problems. This of course would require medical attention, but less surprisingly he was short on money and wanted me to help him.  He didn’t have anything specific to offer in return, so it would be pure charity from me. The whole time he was smiling widely, like he was telling me about a newborn baby or asking something from an old friend. I turned him down and walked him to the door, giving him a vague promise to not bring the whole incident to public. He left without any drama and left me puzzled with my thoughts.

On the other hand it would be humane to forget it all, but my sense of justice says something else. I have always tried to be honest, open and dignified, so I am tempted to let the manager of the company know what his employees are doing behind his back. I think it would be beneficial for everyone to try and reduce corruption from this country, bit by bit. Also it would give a better image to the outworld and encourage future expats to come here if these kinds of things were addressed properly.

It is easy to see the motives of the guy – bad financial situation, easy access wealthy western people, not much to lose – but there is still one fundamental difference I find disturbing. I am fine with beggars facing me on the street and asking for money, since that’s all they have. I can easily ignore them knowing that I don’t have to have anything to do with them if I don’t want to. With an employee of the housing company things are a little different: he has access to my apartment, he knows where I live and in the worst case I will have to do business with him in the future. In other words, I can’t just ignore him and go on with my life.

So I am facing a guy with nothing more than his job to lose, and I can make that loss happen. In my opinion it would be a healthy thing for the country to happen, but on the other hand I can’t be sure of my safety if I do the thing I consider right. I don’t want enemies with nothing to lose, especially in a country like this.

This whole thing has really gotten me thinking of my basic values. If this was a question in a survey, I would definitely and without second thoughts bring out the whole incident, but in real life it is not that simple. I want to set things straight, but I don’t want to compromise my own safety. I’m also thinking of bringing this out just before I leave, which would pretty much eliminate the safety hazard.

I am really puzzled. What should I do?

Tags: culture, diamond district, let me know, morale, people in india, surprises, what is different, what?

Seems like the cold is giving up a bit. I had to visit occupational health care today and got a short prescription of Duact to reduce the swelling of the mucous membranes. The nurse was quite optimistic about my chances of getting better before next Thursday, which was nice to hear. All I have to do now is to rest and drink as much tea as possible.

I tried to find an option to hide all comments for this post in order to collect souvenir wishes and addressess for post cards, but in vain. You can either comment on my other blog or drop me an e-mail. The address is under the cat.

Tags: flu, let me know, medication, oh bugger