Coincidence eh?

It's not a good idea to consume chocolate when you're having a headache. Well at least for me it's true, because there's something in the chemicals in chocolate that enhance headaches. But I just took my chances and ate 3 pieces of the most irresistible ones in this box that my mom's friend gave us. Anyway, I was off work today because I woke up at 3.17 am with the same migraine that I had the day before at work. I tried to go back to sleep but was unsuccessful, just tossing and turning and burning with fever. When it was finally 6 am, I took a shower and was surprised that the water did not rejuvenate me. So, rather hesitantly (but knowing it was the absolute right thing to do cos I was exhausted), I called my boss at 8.15 and told him that I wasn't coming, but could he please arrange for someone to complete the one small task that I was meant to do today?

Yah, so I felt a little guilty about pushing aside my responsibilities for a day. I think they were even betting on that (my new employers), that I would want to get things done no matter what, because they did a pretty thorough personality test on me before I was hired. My bosses did not reveal all the results to me, but they did mention that I was inclined to be "impatient" and would want to complete a task quickly. Which was correct. So maybe they put me in my current position because they knew I'd try to do something about the massive backlog of work my predecessor left me. I wonder how the personality test helped them to decide which type of person was good for which job. Because I did notice a distinct similarity in all the HR people -- they were all friendly and giggly people. Which is what you need in HR, people who are warm and sociable and who'd be able to deal with 'people' needs. So there you go.

It's also interesting how unseen forces work, or unseen powers work rather. I don't know whether the two incidents are related or not (because my mother is just a housewife after all and holds no real power), but I told her this morning about the friend of mine who was stuck doing nothing in the library of the foreign ministry for what has been almost a month. Yeah, he called me in the morning while I was resting. It seems the ministry is always this late in assigning new hires to a division. But waiting around for a month is such a drag even when surrounded by such interesting books. My mom exhibited shock and disgust at the same time at the Ministry's inefficiency, as if it was a grave misconduct.

What I actually said was, "Ma, do you think aunty saimun needs any help right now in pauper's department?" (I call my dad Pauper. Not that he's a pauper, that's just what his nickname sounds like "pohper")

"Why? She's on leave, packing and getting ready to be posted to Washington."

"Oh. Cos my friend is stuck in the Wisma Putra library doing nothing. For a month. Maybe if she needs to get anything done, he can help her?"

"Hah? Really? A month?? This is all so-and-so's doing, the one in charge of administration. If they don't have work, why'd they hire your friend in the first place! What's his name?"

I told her his name. "Well wait til your father gets back from Pakistan. Maybe there will be work available then. Why don't you ask him when he gets back."

So I thought, okay. And the guy in charge of admin is a really nice guy, this is not meant to take a hit at him. It's normal for there to be a long delay before getting a posting in the government. Cos it's the government. Things there are slow. It's common knowledge.

Anyway, the funny thing is, I don't know know if the previous incident is related or not, but at 5 pm the same day, the admin ppl called my friend and informed him he'll be assigned to the American bilateral division in my dad's foreign policy department. So that's great huh? What a wicked twist of luck. So my friend was surprised (and amused like me) at how fast things came into order after he told me his predicament. I was pretty surprised, too. But it is so unlikely that my mother had anything to do with it. Cos she is just a housewife after all. And my father really is away abroad. It's just some really wild coincidence. But a really funny one.