IBM E-Learning Services got word earlier this month that our department would be relocating to Wai Gao Qiao (Free Trade Zone) WAAAAAAAAY out in the boonies. So the higher ups’ selling points included individual cubicles in a newly constructed space with windows, cheap but healthy and tasty cafeteria food, an outdoor environment with clean air (as opposed to the polluted city air) and convenient shuttle bus locations. Right. And the bad news is? My 30-50 minute roundtrip commute jumps to 3+ hours. Yeeeaaah. Needless to say, the next day I notified my PM that I was outta there. I mean, I didn’t even get to speaking frankly about the job itself (unchallenging and inefficient, exacerbated by shitty resources)…. I just explained that I simply am unwilling to commute that far. It’s a lifestyle choice. Even if I could work part of the week downtown, I’m still not doing it. Not only is the move completely illogical for my position because I can do everything more effectively and efficiently from my office at home, but it would require that I drop all my teaching gigs, which I started months ago. I enjoy teaching my clients. Teaching is just such a slice of work heaven. I do my own thing, and my students are cool people. We actually connect. Plus, at the FTZ, there are no guarantees the facilities there will actually be conducive to productivity. Yeah sure, I’ll have my own space, but are we getting a new server to replace our one that has 50 GB of space for our staff of 20? What about our printer? Will we get one that is higher capacity and does not freeze/jam all the damn time? Who knows.

Interestingly, I was told today that another department in IBM has a tech writer opening. I’m going to try and interview for it. At least, that section will stay in downtown. Pay isn’t as good but I’ll see. Could work out.

Anyway, I guess everything balances out. John gets off between Xmas and New Year’s. We’re going to Thailand– Bangkok and then Phuket. Should be fun. We’re gonna load up on cheap massages. After that, we’re going to the US (again!) West Coast for his work. Four weeks. I imagine I’ll do some info interviews with companies/NGOs based in LA (with work in China) and travel around. But I dunno, it’ll be hard to do East Coast when the West Coast is so much warmer in the winter.

Ok well things have been really hectic with work wrapping up, job hunting, and travel planning. I’m wiped. Ran all over town today running visa errands for John. Went to the Entry/Exit Bureau, waited an hour only to be told that I didn’t have the right docs. Starving, we then got stuck in a jerky cab that made me motion sick. Hitting the sack early tonight.