Pops is not telling a lie

When the solution is simple, God is answering. --Albert Einstein

Just when I thought I would not see the light of day...
HE is in charge. Why do I need to be always reminded?

I thought I needed more than luck, blood, sweat and tears to carry me through this extraordinarily hectic week (for the record: feb 28 - mar 4. there.).

I got all the deadlines down pat (you should see my diary). I had scheduled the client calls I needed to make. Of course if I called them, you could bet your last cent that they would volley questions back to my homecourt so I likewise made allowances for that. Check. Then I had to play big sister to my overly proactive underlings who ask questions ranging from the splendidly smart to the terrribly duh.

Oh. My. Gosh. How, how, how could I breathe? Even if I gave up a couple of hours of shuteye everyday (from this day forward so heaven help me), I knew I needed something that resembled a miracle to finish ALL of these *#*"* stuff in time.

On top of these, I was particularly bothered by two items:

(1) Some client said that the reporting package attached to the main report we sent to our counterpart in Zurich was - horrors!!!! – not the updated version. What???? What would I tell the partner then? How could I convince him to sign another fax telling Zurich about this inexcusable blunder??? Oh dear. I couldn't breathe...

(2) Another client was following up on the draft annual report. Fair enough. Fieldwork ended first week of Feb anyway. But where do I start, pray tell? It’s a totally different ballgame here. Out-and-out DIY.

I had one manager for both (1) and (2) who left without so much as an adieu. Pfftt! Just like that. When I asked our secretaries if someone would take over her post, they said the partners said I could probabaly manage these NEW engagements. Thank you. What does NEW mean? No prior year files to copy from, no prior year financial statements patterned after my firm’s template. No prior year everything. And I am a NEWbie, did they overlook that fact?

Does Hercules have a female counterpart??? Did she become a saint? I could probably burn incense in front of her image, let the smoke rise up to the heavens to rouse her from slumber and rescue me from this fix. Quick!

I honestly thought my neck would be on the block. The idea, though, didn’t seem so morbid to me if I considered the imminent ire I would probably earn from the partners.

Deal with them I did, frightened as I was about the outcome...and the backlash, needless to say. I just prayed. Period. Didn’t know what else to do.

(1) I was afraid of checking the numbers and found the client’s accusation to be true. I only remembered checking and re-checking the figures because I was reporting directly to our partner….Well, what do you know? The reporting package we sent to Zurich was correct! My underling just mistakenly stamped the unpdated version and gave it straight to the client without my knowledge. ( I would deal with him later). I, on the other hand, downloaded the updated version, printed a copy, stamped it, attached it to the report, had it signed by our partner, and, finally, sent the signed copy to the Zurich people. Whew.

(2) I - I was basically left alone to finish this, remember??? - promised the client we’d forward the draft report first week of March. Then our secretary informed me that they just added some clients to my existing portfolio. Wow. My schedules had just gone from manageable to plainly absurd...and then there's this new client...how???? Well, what do you know? By some stroke of luck, our partner on this engagement went to China on business and would not be back ‘til 10 March. I had a way out! In short, I was able to buy some more time. That was truly a close call.

What can I say? I have proven time and time again that HE somehow always makes things right just when I thought things were so totally beyond my control and I had no way out.

I am grateful. The worrywart can breathe normally again. Well, until the next onslaught...i am so hopeless sometimes.

But I don’t care what happens tomorrow. I just survived a ****** week!!!


x's : pops? fernandez. GOD is good, all the time. sounds familiar? yes. :))