43,200 Seconds ...

After the hectic day I had yesterday I feel like going for a nice long Outer Banks vacation. I went to supervise an installation of a shop signage for a client of mine at 2.30pm yesterday and only came home at 2.30am! I was so beat by the time I got home and was thoroughly amazed that something that would normally take 3 hours at the max took 12 whole hours.

You know that saying 'when it rains, it pours'? Well, it sure rings true for me. I'm in the midst of working on a project for a motorsport company that involves quite a bit of items and one of them is a clubhouse cum workshop signage. Yesterday was the day the signage was to be up and everything was arranged way in advance with the schedules all properly worked out.

The client was informed of the installation time, the installers were informed of the proper location, the signage production was all done properly and I was a happy man. That was before I left the house for the clients place. Like I said, the installation was to start at 2.30pm. I was there early with 20 minutes to spare.

Now, knowing the way Malaysians work, I knew the installers would be late, which was the norm. So to give myself some leeway, I informed the client that the installation would start at 3.00pm. And I was right, the moment I got there, I get a text message that they would be late. No worries cos I was prepared for it.

Then 3.00pm came along and I got another text message. They would be running much later and could only arrive at 4.00pm. Good god! I was incensed. I call them and give them an earful! Then I inform the client who was there already that the installation would be a little late. Thank god, he was okay with it.

Then 4.00pm comes along and I get another text message saying they would be late cos they were only just leaving their office which was located on the other end of the planet. That would take at least an hour more and worse yet, it rains cats and dogs. Any other day I would have welcomed the rain cos of the heat wave we've been experiencing but not today.

The rain was going to play havoc with traffic and would hinder the installation. Why me god, why me? I go to the client and say

'Houston, we have a problem'

He gives me this weird look and says that as long as it's up by today he doesn't care how long it takes. Then he tells me he has to go for a meeting and will be back later to check on the signage. I call the supplier and tell them that I don't care if they have to climb that building in pouring rain with lightning and thunder all around but I want that signage up by today!

They finally arrive at 6pm and I breathe a sigh of relieve. Things started looking good, the rain was easing and at least now things would get underway. How wrong I was. I find out that the measurements are all wrong and they would have to call for more stuff and people to help rectify the mistakes and that it would take a lot longer to get the signage up. I was shaking my head in disbelief!

I honestly don't know how all the measure could go wrong when everything was relayed to all parties concerned in black and white. Confirmation on the sizes were done numerous times and everytime I checked, everyone always assured me that they knew what they were doing. If that was the case, somebody should tell me how come all the sizes were wrong and I ended up wasting 43,200 seconds of my life just sitting and waiting?

Anyways, to cut a long story short, I ended up waiting at the location till 2.30am making sure the signage was up. Things like these can only happen to me. No matter how well I plan everything, something will always go wrong. I have always hated having to rely on others to do work for me but unfortunately sometimes I can't help it.

As much as I like to do everything myself, I simply cannot handle everything, which is something wifey always tells me. She's right, as always cos there really are specialized people to do certain work but with things like these happening how in the world can I put my faith in people to do work for me? It's no wonder I always want to do everything for myself and end up having loads more white hairs.

Ok, I got to get ready for my buddy's lil girl's birthday party. You all have a nice weekend and I'll try to post some pictures of the party later tonight :D
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