Office politics

Today had been crazy.
On my MSN Messenger, which I keep active all day, I indicated the words 'Ma-ta-chia' Day.
For those who are not familiar with one of the Chinese dialects known as Hokkien, 'Ma-ta-chia' refers to 'police car'.
It means there was a lot of 'chasing' and running around.

The office was abuzz with lots of goings-on.
This was mainly from the other side of the office, where my petty colleague and his 3 other supporting staff are seated.
They have still not managed to meet the common deadline that I had shared with them.
That isn't their fault, as the work had to be submitted to them first from external bodies.
With any delay, there will be repercussions.
Considering that I had to singlehandedly manage a similar work nature (also dependent on external bodies), I was fortunate enough in that those people I had to liaise with were generally cooperative.
Of course, there were some tricky instances, but I've had luck on my side.
For that, I have been blessed.

Anyway, I was busy at work (naturally), but treated this day as any other working day.
My petty colleague was needling his gossipy support staff, saying that her 'grapevine' is no longer as reliable with 'news' anymore.
He was openly saying this again (in my and my leaving supporting officer's presence), adding that news of my supporting officer's pending departure got to the office at another office-level first, instead of within our department.
I think they are not happy that they weren't informed first.
Actually, my reason for not sharing was because my supporting staff was uncomfortable with it.
So I respected that and left him to share the news with whoever he would like to - in whatever order (if any).

I met up with wonderful colleagues from the HR department earlier this afternoon.
They have been really helpful at settling me into my own job, and now, they are sympathetic about my imminent lack of help in less than a week's time.
This is how a good work place should be; having colleagues who care enough to support you in whatever way they can especially during 'down' times!

I continue to be hopeful about finding the right person to help me out.
I've already raised a manpower requisition form for my boss's endorsement earlier today.
Shouldn't be long before I get another person to join me soon.
After all, jobs are hard to come by in general.
And we are a popular organisation! ;o)