Yesterday, we had a central government-level round of talks between my boss's boss and our counterparts. This happens at least twice a year, but there is always lots of preparation for it when it does happen. Two things make this event especially stressful for me: 1) I am the go-to guy on a lot of what is happening - from schedule, to events, to in-country coordination; and 2) A lot of the members of the visiting delegation are special-needs people, i.e., they need a vehicle to take them shopping, or they need to change their airlines ticket, or they need me to fix their PDA. No one need is really too much for me to handle, but all of them put together adds up to a lot of my time invested in their need. These two primary issues, coupled with the fact that we just finished a field activity (I am exhausted and haven't had much time off for a very long time), and the last minute translation of the 11-page script that we finished the night before the talks make this the most stressfull event that I have to deal with throughout the year.
Anyway, it is over now and about half of the crew have either left, or are leaving, this morning. The other half will be nothing more than a slight annoyance until they trinkle out of here over the next couple of days. A huge burden has lifted from my shoulders and I feel much better now.
Diep left for Saigon yesterday. She wasn't helpful before she left. I had to work on Saturday and Sunday to get ready for Monday and she was acting as if I had some mistress at work. It sucked being at work already and then to come home to the cold shoulder because I had been "neglecting" the family didn't help my morale at all. Not that I didn't see her issue: That was the weekend of Megan's Birthday.
So, I will joint Diep and Megan in Saigon tomorrow night. In the meantime, I will do a few things at work and make sure that I get my workouts in and enoy this next day and a half away from family stress.
Hanoi weather, this morning, is beautiful. That doesn't happen very often.
No comments:
Post a Comment