Carte Blanche For Good Times

Accountancy is not my forté. Let me reiterate. Accountancy is NOT my forté. That is why I didn't go to a school of accountancy. Perhaps that is also why I am not an accountant by trade.

So that begs the question. Why am I doing the accountant's job? Surely, I'm not giving the impression that I'm trained in that field. Let me check my resume. Nope. Nothing. Oh that's right. I'm doing it because I'm more cost effective than our part time accountant (read: paid less).

I've been banging my head on the table, calculating and entering historical branch data for two days now. I was just told to put together a statement of profit/loss a couple of minutes ago. My internal response was: "Whasawhosafudge?" I hope I'm not held liable should the company do an Enron because of my faulty calculations .

To make good of a bad situation, I've started intermittently sending my data to the boss for review. While he's distracted trying to make heads or tails of my figures, I'm free to goof off, hence, the "carte blanche for good times."

Today, I'm learning how to write with my left hand. It's not going so well. Before that, I was considering huffing hi-liter fumes but I gave up on that endeavour early on. The bright yellow Hitler 'stache would be a dead giveaway. Oh. For future reference, hi-liters smell faintly like vinegar. Or at least that's what I think they smell like.

The Road Ahead

Alright. I think after a month of promises, I owe you a little bit of an explanation regarding my future plans.

I would imagine that everybody, at some point in their lives, has had a list of things they want to accomplish before they die. Whether they write it down or keep it buried somewhere in their thoughts is up to them. For many, the youthful rhetoric of these lists becomes middle aged rhetoric which slowly fades to old aged regret. That is the sad truth. I really don't want to fall into this trap. Come January 13th, I'll begin checking things off my list.

My plan is to head back home to Malaysia to visit and take care of my ailing grandmother for a few weeks. The timing is such that I will catch Chinese New Year, Thaipusam (a Hindu festival in Kuala Lumpur) and her birthday. I'll follow this with a 2-4 month backpacking excursion through SouthEast Asia. The details are fuzzy at the moment but I have a number of destinations in mind. Angkor Wat in Cambodia is the top priority. I'm looking into a working holiday visa for Great Britain after my trip but that's really pushing it. I'll probably make a quick stopover to visit some relatives instead. Basically, I'll be taking my dumbass adventures on an international scale.

The events that transpired today have only further validated my desire to leave this company. Aside from M stepping up his office shenanigans (which is to be expected), the boss said something I found a little unnerving. While talking about my successor, he said "I don't think I want to hire a young buck. They don't stick around long enough." Maybe I'm imagining things but was that a thinly veiled attack? A friend of his also approached me after work to discuss the pointlessness of travel. It doesn't matter because I'm still going. Nyah.

Between now and January, I've got a boatload of things to accomplish. For one, I need to get a number of shots (tetanus and hepatitis) as a precautionary measure. I also need to draft up my last will and testament (I request that I be cremated wearing my lucky hippo print boxers and my Doctor Evil suit). Plane tickets would be nice too.

Resignation: Aftermath

I went and did it. It was actually quite anti-climactic and I probably shouldn't have stressed over it as much as I did. Nevertheless, it's over. I'm glad.

The only bit of trouble I ran into was trying to get my letter of resignation printed out this morning. Since the printer is situated right next to the boss' desk, I couldn't print it out without his seeing it first. I ended up waiting til he was gone for lunch to make my move.

Just before the boss came back, I thought I'd do a little experiment on my co-workers and on the human condition in general. I nonchalantly made mention of my decision to the office gossip and waited a few minutes to let things trickle through the grapevine. Sure enough, M showed up in my office, pulling on my hair to get my attention (let me ask, who does this?). He said something to the effect of "Oh, I guess you're finally getting tired of me." To which I replied "Whatever do you mean?" I'm not too sure if he caught the sarcasm.

There's really nothing of note regarding the actual resignation speech itself. I said what I had to say. The boss was disappointed. I've got two and a half months to clear out my desk. Two and a half months of M, and automating the accounting system, and inventory and banging my head on the desk.

I'll try to fill you all in on my next step some time during the week. I'm still recovering from the move and all the fires I've been putting out at work.

Oh, by the way, thanks for the words of encouragement over the last couple of days, guys. Much appreciated.

Moving Sucks

That's what I've been doing for the last week. Things have been so hectic that I haven't had the opportunity to draft up my letter of resignation (tomorrow's the big day - wish me luck)

So I'm going to half-ass it. Google suggests:

[Company Address]

[Today's Date]

Dear [Manager's Name]:

As required by my contract of employment, I hereby give you two and a half months notice of my intention to leave my position as [Job Title].

I wish both you and [Company Name] every good fortune and I would like to thank you for having me as part of your team.

Yours sincerely,

[Name]

My other idea was to print this on a shirt and draw attention to it in a not so subtle fashion... but I've been told I shouldn't burn bridges.

Anyway, I'll let y'all know how things turn out tomorrow. For now, I need sleep.