Time is Money

Time, she says, is money. If that be the truth, then my time at IDI should be worth a lot of money in the bank.  I was thinking about this as I wrote my farewell email to all staff after receiving the letter from HR telling me what my gratuity/separation payment was going to be. It seemed my 8 years at IDI was not worth a lot of money anyway.

Later that day I went home and, as happens every day once I put my key in the door,  those Pavlov conditioned daughters of mine came hurtling towards me screaming, ‘daddy daddy….!’ I did not have any children 8 years ago when I joined IDI. But here we are and I feel so much richer for having my kids.

Since I made the announcement, I have discovered that I was actually a star. Everyone has been telling me I am a star and I shall be missed. Already I am feeling 10 feet taller. Even this issue with the gratuity has not spoiled my mood for long. It has all left me feeling like Alex Ferguson. May be I should be knighted...

8 years ago if you wanted to watch a video online it took almost 10minutes to load the damn thing. Now it takes just over a minute on my smart phone (its Chinese, do not snigger). 8 years ago there was no mobile money, Liverpool were still turning corners and the same well-meaning dimwitted politicians were running this … oh sorry about that last one.

So I think I have grown very wealthy over the last 8 years. I have a very lovely wife. I have 3 wonderful kids; even though the 2 big ones are actually fatter than they are big. I actually have 2 years of senior management experience to put on my CV.  IDI gave me the opportunity to make a difference in people’s lives too. We serve over 10,000 clients in the HIV clinic and we have published studies that show that my work has impacted on the treatment outcomes for these people. And that is real wealth.

 

Superman goes to England

So he said, ever since I can remember, I have always felt invincible; unbreakable even. This feeling is not there all the time though. Like superman, some villain may have kryptonite and I may feel vulnerable. That villain could be a person or a situation. But, just like superman, I prevail in the end just before the credits roll up.

Lately the kryptonite is powerful and is possessed by many villains.

First I missed my flight by a whole day. With no clue whatsoever, I even call the airline to complain and it takes about 5 minutes for them to make me understand that my flight was for the day before.

Then I get here 2 days late and, after a glowing introduction, my presentation bombs out in a style only Bill Gates would understand from his days launching dodgy software.

As in any good episode of superman, it usually gets worse before it gets better. Is it going to get any worse? How much worse can it get. Today it was the University of Liverpool and the department of Chemical and Microbiology. Easy to explain away the glitch using big IT words. But next week it is the University of Oxford Computer Science professors. My guess is that the kryptonite will be found in the content. The professors will be frowning and trying to make up excuses for me.

She says I should be drenched in sweat at the prospect of backfiring again. But superman usually ends up kissing a hot chic at the end (unless it is one of those stupid – to be continued – episodes). So I am now focusing on what form the hot chic at the end will take for me.  This may be the most exciting superman episode yet, but it is not a season finale and neither is it the season opener. As such, superman will not die in this episode nor stay injured till the next.

She says she would like to be the hot chic at the end when I am in this mood.