Project Blue

I've taken two more images for Project Blue that I really like and some macros of my jasmine bush that is blooming...well, sort of blooming. I think they flowers are struggling to open because there is so little sunlight now in winter. Perhaps it is the cold that has kept them closed, but they are beautiful none the less. I only wish I could smell them, but with my nose all blocked up - that is not going to happen.


This is a simple image of an ashtray...I like the angle at which it is captured


Again I like the angle at which this picture is taken, it makes it much more interesting


This one jasmine flower has made it through the opening process minus a petal, but it has done more than it's counterparts that are still hiding from the world


The Jasimine Bush

I love my off weekends, but this time I'm spending mine in bed. I do feel a little bit better today, bit I'm going to play it safe and stay in bed. I was supposed to go and visit a friend today, but he lives in town and I'm not sure I want to make that trek feeling the way I am.

The move to the new office is imminent. My colleagues and I have packed all our possessions into big plastic crates and secured them with cable ties. The crates have been labelled with our names and desk numbers and will apparently be moved this weekend. Monday is a public holiday (so I may have a little weekend after all) but by Tuesday everything should be going ahead full steam. I'm excited as we'll be working on new equipment (apparently these PCs are super fast!), using voice over IP technology and all sort of new and exciting things.

The images have taken forever to upload on blogger - I suppose the fact that my 3G coverage has suffered from some cell shrinkage issues would be the root cause of that (the price I pay for living close to a shopping centre) and this GPRS connection frustrating. Patience is a virtue though and I will wait. I will lose my mind if I get an 'error' or my connection drops...so help me. Fingers crossed.

All's well that ends well!

Thanks go to Anna Carson for her inspiring me to look at the world a little differently.

*i* in TEAM

Being in a team that is everything but a team is utterly frustrating. The team I work with on a day to day basis have a lot of conflicts and we fight a lot, but when things need to get done, we get them done. Our team is very much like a family. We have family dynamics within the team and the disagreements and fights are just part of our family life. So, regardless of whether or not we are always a happy team, we are a productive team.

I am part of another team which has made me very despondent. I was nominated by my line managers to take part in a programme for 'Young Achievers'. We attend a workshop once a month. The content of the courses are industry related and often veer towards the engineering aspect and architecture of the physical network. We have also touched on processes and finance over and above services and basic GSM.

The course content has been tough and we have been given individual assignments to complete. I have done very well on all the individual assignments and pride myself on not having copied from anyone else at the last minute as most have. I have tried my best to complete all the assignments competently.

The company is investing a lot of money in this group of people, working in conjunction with motivational speakers and flying professors from an university around to our different regions to lecture us. We have been divided into groups and been asked to come up with a new product or an enhancement to a product that is currently available. It doesn't necessarily need to have anything to do with our company, but everyone seems to be veering into that direction since the company is our main focus. Bear in mind that whilst being employed here we remain the intellectual property of the company. Yes, they are sneaky. Very sneaky indeed.

The team I have been assigned to has come up with an idea and has started with a business proposal. We were graded 75% for the initial proposal and have handed in 1 progress report. There are probably 3 out of 10 team members who have made an effort and contributed to this project. It is impossible to get the team together to meet. When meetings are scheduled well in advance nobody shows up. We currently have two members on maternity leave (one of which we've never seen, the other has contributed a great deal).

I don't think that our main project is going to be as good as it could be. I think the work we manage to slap together at the last minute is sub standard. I resent the fact that I will be graded based on the contribution of 3 people as opposed to the contribution of 10.

This is the first year that the programme has been run and it is yet undecided how the programme will be accredited. I hope that the accreditation will endure beyond this company though. The programme should be over in June this year. I hope my team pulls together before then.