May that one light burn for me.....

I'm truly unhappy at work.

It's hard for me to swallow it that my colleague has truly left us because of the management.

Things didn't get better this morning.

I'm still hoping for that light to burn bright for me.

So, for now, let me console myself with this song which I first heard when I was probably 18 or 19. I was at a low point and this lifted me up.

One Light Burning from Richie Sambora

All alone in the dark
No walls no windows
Trying hard to define
Heaven from hell

Standing out in the rain
With just one shadow
Nothing to see or believe
Beyond myself

See my life going by
Each moment I am alive
I keep reaching out, holding on, hoping

Somewhere in my life
There's one light burning
I feel it like my heart beating inside

Somewhere in my life
There's one light burning

All alone with my fears
No words are spoken
A story yet to be told
Locked in my mind

Hope is somewhere ahead
Shining brightly
But the past is always following close behind

See my life going by, each moment I am alive
I keep reaching out, holding on, hoping

Somewhere in my life
There's one light burning
I feel it like my heart beating inside

Somewhere in my life
There's one light burning

Somewhere in my life
There's one light burning
I feel it like my heart beating inside

Somewhere in my life
There's one light burning
Leading the way, leading the way

Me and the retail therapy.........

I did something I never thought I would do last night.

I went for retail therapy.

So, how did I end up with this? Let's begin by saying that I'm not feeling happy at work lately.

A very close colleague has made up her mind to leave the company heartbroken when our current Division Management decided to 'erase' her Section on the silly ground that all she did was paperwork and that her Section did not live up to their name of 'developing our suppliers' ( Read my story on the office space relocation which was the result of this sad event). Those were the shocking words said to me by the Management.

Hurt by the sudden move by the Management, my colleague did the drastic thing of taking up a similar job at a rival factory even though we all know very well that the rival company has a not-too-favourable work condition either. She said, at least the pay is better, the place is nearer to her house and most importantly she doesn't have to look at the face of the.......'eraser'.

Truth be told, she is not the only one hurt by the Management decision. I am one of those badly affected by this as well. My colleague and I have always been co-operative and supportive of each other at work. I know the hard work she has done. Even our Customers praised her for controlling our Suppliers so well. Isn't it sad that outsiders can see what you do and yet your own management are blind to it all?

Even from the moment the Management decided to 'erase' her Section by placing them under another Group ( notorious among the Division for their failures & lack of co-operation with each other ), she and I have come to a stumbling block. As the person who is in charge of procedures and Quality standards, I suddenly found myself with 'ghost figures' for the rules, job responsibilities and guidelines we have set up together. My colleague suddenly found herself having to report to at least THREE different people for different tasks. The Management has dropped onto her lap all the unfinished tasks by those people for her to follow up and conclude. It's crazy. So, now how about the jobs that she and I and the previous Management had discussed together and agreed that she was officially assigned to do?

I went to our Management complaining how disappointed I am that we, the middle management people, we were NEVER informed or consulted before making a major decision like this. I told him that at the end of the day, we are the people who have to perform the jobs and why were our opinions and views never taken into account?

Feeling frustrated and broken, I drove to a Shopping Mall on the way home and walked to a perfume shop. It's true that I'd been eyeing some designer perfumes lately but I had never felt really compelled to buy any till last night.

So, I approached the counter and asked to smell Nina by Nina Ricci, Love by Nina Ricci, Lovely by Sarah Jessica Parker and Glow by JLo. The lady at the counter also recommended a Ferré Limited Edition perfume whose name looked like Rossé to me. At least smelling those perfumes took my mind off the problem at work, even only for that moment. It was a nice dilemma to have. Making up my mind which perfume to choose with the little money I have.

What a pretty packaging!

I settled for Love by Nina Ricci as it was a Limited Edition item, the packaging was just me and I knew that if I didn't get that pretty bottle and packing tin, the images shall stick to my mind for the rest of my life. It's bad enough that what we had held on to at work had been snatched away from us but at least, here in my own world, nobody can take this sweet pretty Love away from me.

Thank you Nina.