Telecommuting and Proud of It!

Wednesday March 20, 10:52 a.m.

Monday night was apparently a hellish one for TTC commuters....at least, more so than usual. Satan must've been stoking the fires a little harder. It seemed to be a perfect storm of emergency buzzers (one for a fight that broke out on a subway...odd, it's not even the weekend) and one dangerous incident in which the doors suddenly opened on a moving packed subway. The response from the TTC was interesting, though. The top brass, including a pale-looking CEO Andy Byford, went on video to publicly apologize for the lousy service. That struck me as a very Japanese thing to do....mind you, he didn't bow deeply, but still, it was a good thing. Commuters were understandably only fairly charitable to the apology....after decades of lousy service, it's gonna take more than a mea culpa to fix things between The Better Way and the unhappy customers.

When I saw that transportation disaster happen on TV, I just thanked my circumstances that I now work from home. Yup, I'm a grateful telecommuter. Since I tap on my computer all day as a translator, I now just leave my home only to either take that needed walk or go downtown because I want to, not because I have to. There was that big news in business in which some of the large companies such as Yahoo or Google (not sure which) recently rescinded the telecommuting policy and forced all employees to return to the ship and batten down the hatches...perhaps nervous that some of those formerly far-flung employees were taking advantage of working at home or at the nearest Starbucks.

To be honest, there are some people who are just not made out to be telecommuters. The temptations are too great: easy access to regular TV and no access by the powers-that-be to look over your shoulder. It's like being back at university. Some students study better by being at the campus library. Some workers are more productive being in the cubicles. As for me, I seem to be able to exercise far more discipline when it comes to my translating work than when it comes to my weight. If I get an assignment, I get at it until it's done. Mind you, my interest in TV has waned down to a nub and frankly I like my job.

Still, it seems as if this sudden switch in the trend of telecommuting is very localized. According to a newspaper article, people being given sanction to work in the comfort of their homes is still alive and well and probably will not be reversed unless the economy really tanks.

High Winds and Tough Training

courtesy of yoshimov
of Flickr

Monday April 2, 9:58 p.m.

Now that picture on the right is of a proper typhoon hitting the Kanto. The true situation is supposedly not quite that bad, but apparently the area where I used to live is gonna be smacked with some pretty high winds today. I guess the wacky weather is also continuing over there after Tokyo basically stole our Winter. Over here, we're supposed to be having some gorgeous weather although the temps will be a lot more seasonable than what we had a couple of weeks ago.

courtesy of Iimi
of Flickr

Another interesting feature I got from NHK News tonight was about the start of the new fiscal year. Everything starts over again from April 1st in Japan: school, business and the TV season. This, of course, means that companies start training the newbies. The fresh faces from universities dress up in their  suits and head to work, preparing to be indoctrinated into their new workstyles.

NHK came across this one company based in Shizuoka Prefecture, some 2 hours by car from Tokyo out in the west. For their training, the boss had their recruits try something that comes right out of "The Amazing Race". They were split into pairs and told to hitchhike all the way from Numazu City to some hotel in Chiba Prefecture...in their suits.

Now, hitchhiking is relatively rare in Japan when compared to the rest of the world...something about being a burden on the driver and so forth. It's simply not something that is done readily in the country. So, just imagine 1st-year company freshpersons being forced by thumb to make their way across four prefectures to keep the big boss happy. Not easy.

And in fact, they didn't do it by thumb. The whole intent of this elaborate and imaginative exercise was to force the kids (who, I assume, will be going into sales) to communicate and negotiate a way out of their transportation dilemma. One fellow was a soldier in the Self-Defense Forces who admitted that he wasn't thrilled about haggling. Another half of a duo kept approaching women because he was afraid of being chewed out by other male drivers. But in both situations, the pairs had to confront their fears and get to the hotel in Chiba. Of course, the tape was edited so the focus was just on those two pairs and just on the drivers who were kind enough to take them through various legs of the trip. So, we didn't get to see some of the more negative replies.

But it was obvious that they all made it to Chiba in the end. The one pair that was featured was the very last pair and got the booby prize....7 hours. But the president was magnanimous and gave them a hearty welcome back home. And perhaps a lesson was learned as well. And much beer was imbibed afterwards. Still, I'm not sure whether an imposed hitchhiking odyssey is still enough to prepare the young'uns for the harsh world of salesmanship in Japan.

End of Hump Day

Wednesday February 15, 11:15 p.m.

Almost the end of Hump Day. It's been pretty quiet all day and night. Just took care of a few questions concerning the translations for Cozy back in Japan. I've got to get started on my tax return for my final year in that country since NHK has reported the start of tax season, so I've got to get my stuff in by March 15th. Cozy has also been my representative in terms of seeing whether I did get my security deposit from my old real estate agency. And I will probably be setting up my PayPal account once I get the OK from Mr. Moriya.

For Family Day next Monday, The Anime King will be having me and a couple of others for brunch at EggsSmart and then a curried crab dinner at one of his favourite Chinese haunts. I actually had to turn down my brother's invitation for dim sum on the same day.

Jobs

Monday January 23, 11:15 p.m.

Well, there's been some movement on the job front. My friend, Mark, told me that his wife had relayed my resume to someone in HR in her English language school. And sure enough, I got a call from that person today to ask me to come in on Wednesday afternoon for an interview.

Which of course means that I have to buy some good shoes at The Bay tomorrow. Luckily, Size 9.5s are a regular thing here, unlike back in Japan where they are only sold at stores which cater to big feet.

And at yesterday's dim sum fest, another old friend informed me that he may need some help with some Japanese to English translations sometime. May get quite busy. I'll have to get started on getting that replacement Social Insurance Number as well. I'll probably head on down to City Hall to get that process started before heading to the interview.

Opportunities

Monday January 16 5:03 p.m.

It's back to balmy...or at least above zero here in the GTA. And luckily, it's been pretty clear, too. But we're expecting some precip later tonight in the form of either snow or rain....or a hybrid of sleet.

Well, here I was yesterday lamenting that I was in this existential limbo when I got a call from my old friend, Sam, asking me whether I would be willing to give an informal seminar at his church sometime in a few weeks for some people who may be interested in doing what I did...work in Japan. Of course, this is purely voluntary...I can't really charge folks a consulting fee for what I have to offer, and I made that crystal clear to my friend. He was asking whether I was knowledgeable about PowerPoint and yada, yada yada. I've just been back for a month; a bit too early for me to throw out the dog-and-pony show. At this point, I can make it a pleasant little Q-&-A with some photos and then some samples of my grammar exercises. I've already asked my former boss in Tokyo, Speedy, to send a few sheets over.

Speaking of Speedy, he only wrote a few lines before he started launching into shop talk with me (yup, he's truly an entrepreneur). He asked me whether I had my Skype set up (that would be a yes), and if I would be willing to do some proofreading and maybe even some Skype English lessons. Hey, anything to pay the bills. I've sent a message over to my brother to see if we can give the Skype a dry run sometime this week.

As part of my "formal"blog training, I've been reading that I should look for similarly-themed blogs that I could possibly link up with. I came across some English-language ones, including one by a native Japanese who had been living in Toronto. However, they all had their most recent entries all the way back in 2009. The Japanese-language ones are up-to-date, though I'm not sure about linking up with them. I'm now wondering if I should start up a Japanese-language blog. It would be great practice for my second language, although I think any readers would have a field day with my skills...or lack of them.

Still, it is reassuring to come across these buds of opportunities.