I took the week off an told everyone that I would be in Singapore settling cat stuff. Wait a minute, what's that you said , " But I just saw you today". Yup. I did a bad thing. I lied.
The deception was necessary. Despite me leaving work in about 3 weeks or so, I'm expected to develop and work on new projects that I won't be able to see through. Oh. and my boss seems under the delusion that I will work till the day my flight leaves Beijing for good.
I have tried to set him and the many bosses right - I leave work on 14 Jan and that's as far as it goes. There is no chance of me saying, "oh, maybe I'll stay another week.". I've given over 2 months notice. That's ample time to find my replacement and to give me "me-time", a luxury that I can't afford if I work there longer.
I need plenty of "me-time" before we leave on 27Jan. I have 5 years to pack away - and I'm packing for 4 ( Dan, 2 cats and me) - we have a lot of stuff. 5 years of stuff don't magically pack themselves and frankly, I don't want to take junk home. If it needs to go into the bin, that's where I'm putting it.
So I had to "lie" to be left in peace this week. Some of my team members know I'm here and I try to look through proposals and respond to emails. Rest of the time, I go to supermarkets or hide out in places I'm pretty sure my colleagues and clients wouldn't be. All I want on my week off is to pack and purchase items that I intend to bring home ( e.g. a new set of chairs for my dining table) .
Limited success so far - I only managed to pack some towels and bedsheets and identified those sheets, pillow and blankets that will be left behind; sent all our wool coats to the dry cleaners; got a new laundry basket (yay) and ordered more cat litter to bring home ( that stuff is expensive in SG)
Tomorrow, I'll have to take a conference call (ugh. client called - no respect of personal time). After which I hope to be more productive at Ikea. Fingers crossed that I don't run into anyone familiar and that I get more stuff done tomorrow.
