Well nothing will ever change in this office. I went to make a cup of tea this morning and I asked openly in the office, so everyone could hear, for one of the men to change the water bottle for me in the cooler. You see, we use the water from the cooler to fill the kettle, it prevents the excess build up of limescale. Before I asked one of the men to help, I did ask everyone of they wanted a cup of tea or coffee. The complaint girl declined a drink. She then proceeded to shout across the room to the man putting a new water bottle in the cooler to put the kettle on. Wait a minute, did she not understand me? So I went and asked again if anyone would like a cup. She declined a second time. So I made tea for those who wanted and as soon as I left the kitchen, she shuffled in and made herself a cup of tea. How childish? She is really been silly, and she is deliberately excluding me from anything that happens in the office and outside the office.
The Receptionist has not been collecting my post since the last time that I told you about it. I really cannot be bothered. I know that if I complain, she is going to give some stupid excuse and try and blame me for it Or she will say it’s not my job to collect post, well I know that it’s not her job to collect my post, because I am the only one that she doesn’t collect from. So you know what, I will just leave the post and see if that then creates a problem! It definitely won’t be my problem.
And last week Friday, there was a problem where a client was paying for a service that he did not have for 2 years. My senior colleague invited our new team member to discuss it with the Manager so he is aware how to deal with these situations. I was not invited to this discussion, even though I am the next in line if my Senior Colleague is not in the office. I by chance went to collect a something that I had sent to the printer, and my Senior Colleague then calls me over and says, “if you want to hear this then come over!” Thanks, I fell really appreciated now! It feels almost as if they are waiting for me to resign and get out. They will never discuss any problems I have with the complaint girl because she works in a division of the company that makes the biggest profit in our department, and she has been doing it for a couple of years. The Receptionist has been in trouble before and she has gotten out of the mess many times before, so that is a no-brainer. HR has failed to improve my wellbeing and act like they don’t care. I initially told them how these issues were affecting my health. So what do they do, armed with the information that I gave them (me being truthful, how stupid!), they warm me that if I take any days of sick I will have to take them as unpaid. How compassionate? I suppose rules are rules!
On the plus side, My Manager told me that he is really glad that I work for him and he wouldn’t know what he would do without me! How sweet of him, and I know he meant what he said! Also, the only person I can turn to in the office is back from holiday, so that has put a smile on my face this morning! Let’s hope that everyone else’s attitude changes too! I’m tired of trying to be myself because I just get it thrown back in my face. I am at a loss as to how I can go forward in this office without someone trying to pull me back.
Tuesday 13 March 2007
Monday 12 March 2007
Sunshine, you are my sunshine!
Glorious Monday, the Sun is out, the birds are chirping away and everyone has a smile on their face. When you grow up in Africa, you take for granted what nature offers you. There is the climbing of trees, eating fresh fruit that is just ripe off the fruit trees. I remember making good use of both ripe and raw fruit. Raw mangoes make sure that any constipation that you may be experiencing will be a thing of the past. When dipped in a mixture of vinegar, salt and chilli powder, you get the most intense sharp and sour taste that you can never re-create in any cooking style.
And you learn so many other things about fruit. You know that fruit is ready by holding it and twisting gently. If it comes off the tree, it is ripe, and 99% of the time, is sweet. If it doesn't come off, just leave it and try again tomorrow! My favourite was to break a branch off a lychee tree that was full of Lychees. We would then sit on the pavements on the side of the road and indulge in the most fantastic meal ever. Oh, yes and my favourites, black, big, juicy mulberries. The best time to eat these was straight after it had finished rain. The rain cleans them and you just pick them off the tree and munch away. Yes, you hands get the most difficult to remove purple stains and your mouth provides the evidence that you have been eating mulberries. Yes, the amount of times my bum has been warmed up for eating "dirty fruit" was all well worth the few moments of pleasure!
And if the sun can do all this to fruit, imagine the goodness that it will do to your skin? I hope everyone reading this takes my advise, get as much sun as possible. Not only does it improve the condition of your skin, it must also produce some type of "good feeling" chemicals in your body, because I cannot remember every feeling depressed or down whilst living in Africa. And I had less in Africa than I have now!
I love the warm weather, and I think the warm weather loves me!
Don't forget, the lighter your skin colour, the more careful you need to be about prolonged exposure to the sun. Don't use that sun block cream, just allow you skin to darken up naturally by slowly exposing it to the sun. I believe in the most natural ways of living, like relying on good old fashion things like vitamin E oil to help keep you looking younger. You can't use vitamin E for a year and expect results, but if you use it on you face and neck your whole life, I will personally guarantee that you will look younger than you should. If you see my mother, you will not believe that she is old enough to be my mother!
I was just reading and watching the news about the problems in my home country. It makes me desperately upset that the people I am from are suffering. There is nothing I can do because of my commitments, but if I could satisfy my commitments and try and help my people, I would! I am one of the many people that took the easy way out and left the country to live abroad where life is good and the basic living standards are above average. That is why I take my hat of to people that both through choice and "do or die" attitude have not given up trying to bring about a change in my home country. These people are the real "freedom fighters". They are fighting for freedom from discrimination and slavery of a system that is designed to break you if your views are not the same as those in power. Democracy was brought to Africa, and although the system should form some part of society, I believe that uniting cultural law into society will benefit the nation as a whole. We cannot discard centuries of history for democracy, we can join them for a law that works for the people, something that the people already understand and live by!
Zimbabwe will always be in my heart, and one day, I will take my children to see the greatness of the people and the land!
I saw something funny the other day that paid tribute to a black sportsman that was trying to inspire kids from the deprived area he grew up in himself. I laughed to myself and really thought that this is just promoting the idea of racial division, and incites racism too, because the area is a known area that ethnic minorities live in London. His PR people obviously are towing the official "we are giving back to the community" line, probably just in time for the launch of his new sportswear range! They should be promoting the fact that he is an extraordinary athlete and not that he is black. Through my experiences with both white and black people that have not had the first hand opportunity to experience racism, I think this concept is difficult to understand! Everyone tries to redress the black/white imbalance rather than promoting achievements regardless of colour. So what if more white people achieve more than any other race. That should be enough incentive for other races to pull their thumbs out and beat them at their own game!
And you learn so many other things about fruit. You know that fruit is ready by holding it and twisting gently. If it comes off the tree, it is ripe, and 99% of the time, is sweet. If it doesn't come off, just leave it and try again tomorrow! My favourite was to break a branch off a lychee tree that was full of Lychees. We would then sit on the pavements on the side of the road and indulge in the most fantastic meal ever. Oh, yes and my favourites, black, big, juicy mulberries. The best time to eat these was straight after it had finished rain. The rain cleans them and you just pick them off the tree and munch away. Yes, you hands get the most difficult to remove purple stains and your mouth provides the evidence that you have been eating mulberries. Yes, the amount of times my bum has been warmed up for eating "dirty fruit" was all well worth the few moments of pleasure!
And if the sun can do all this to fruit, imagine the goodness that it will do to your skin? I hope everyone reading this takes my advise, get as much sun as possible. Not only does it improve the condition of your skin, it must also produce some type of "good feeling" chemicals in your body, because I cannot remember every feeling depressed or down whilst living in Africa. And I had less in Africa than I have now!
I love the warm weather, and I think the warm weather loves me!
Don't forget, the lighter your skin colour, the more careful you need to be about prolonged exposure to the sun. Don't use that sun block cream, just allow you skin to darken up naturally by slowly exposing it to the sun. I believe in the most natural ways of living, like relying on good old fashion things like vitamin E oil to help keep you looking younger. You can't use vitamin E for a year and expect results, but if you use it on you face and neck your whole life, I will personally guarantee that you will look younger than you should. If you see my mother, you will not believe that she is old enough to be my mother!
I was just reading and watching the news about the problems in my home country. It makes me desperately upset that the people I am from are suffering. There is nothing I can do because of my commitments, but if I could satisfy my commitments and try and help my people, I would! I am one of the many people that took the easy way out and left the country to live abroad where life is good and the basic living standards are above average. That is why I take my hat of to people that both through choice and "do or die" attitude have not given up trying to bring about a change in my home country. These people are the real "freedom fighters". They are fighting for freedom from discrimination and slavery of a system that is designed to break you if your views are not the same as those in power. Democracy was brought to Africa, and although the system should form some part of society, I believe that uniting cultural law into society will benefit the nation as a whole. We cannot discard centuries of history for democracy, we can join them for a law that works for the people, something that the people already understand and live by!
Zimbabwe will always be in my heart, and one day, I will take my children to see the greatness of the people and the land!
I saw something funny the other day that paid tribute to a black sportsman that was trying to inspire kids from the deprived area he grew up in himself. I laughed to myself and really thought that this is just promoting the idea of racial division, and incites racism too, because the area is a known area that ethnic minorities live in London. His PR people obviously are towing the official "we are giving back to the community" line, probably just in time for the launch of his new sportswear range! They should be promoting the fact that he is an extraordinary athlete and not that he is black. Through my experiences with both white and black people that have not had the first hand opportunity to experience racism, I think this concept is difficult to understand! Everyone tries to redress the black/white imbalance rather than promoting achievements regardless of colour. So what if more white people achieve more than any other race. That should be enough incentive for other races to pull their thumbs out and beat them at their own game!
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