Recently

It turns out the pain in my foot was caused by tight muscles and ligaments in my leg. I massaged and stretched them, and the pain was gone. If only things were that simple for my coworker.

One of the associate producers (AP) on my team got sceptic arthritis in her knee and ankle on one of her legs. They had swelled to the size of her thighs and were blue and purple from the bacterial. Poor girl. She was out for an entire week. And since half a day's pay is deducted for each sick day taken, she decided to use her holidays. Since we only have seven after our first year, she ended up using half of it up. These situations are really terrible. Since she was out, the other AP and I had to scramble to cover for her. And since she actually just came back from a week-long holiday before that, we were effectively scrambling for two weeks. It was like playing the egg-catching game all day when she was gone -- oh no, there's an egg falling here; oh no, there's another egg falling there. And since our office is two floors down from the main newsroom, we must climbed the height of Taipei 101 through the course of the day, running up and down, voicing stories over, having graphic cards created, outgesting, subtitling and re-ingesting. If only digitalization and networking can be more comprehensive... But I suppose it is all good exercise.

The past two months have been quite a mess.

First, it was Channel News Asia trying to recruit me, which I declined. Then it was my coworker getting hurt. And then it was rumors that I'm getting transferred.

A few weeks back, reporters for our domestic news kept coming to me and asking, "hey, you're coming upstairs?" I was quite taken by surprise because I had heard nothing from anyone in management. But until I asked my boss about it, no less than six had asked me, in various ways. "Congratulations, you're moving up here!" "Good job, you're finally getting to do mainstream news." "What is the matter with you, why are you leaving a cushy job for one with longer hours, nasty editors and the same pay?" All kinds of reactions. Then the rumor was confirmed.

So then I had to turn down the show that Radio Taiwan International wanted me to do. I will be working 12+ hours a day for sure after I move to domestic news, with lots of pressure and getting bullied. Great fun. But it'll be good for me. I'm know I'm going to drown and require CPR by the end of the first month. I just hope the one who gives me CPR is cute.

There is a problem with this transfer, however. I can't move until my producer finds a replacement for me. I'm proud to say that she will probably have a hard time finding someone who can do everything that I do for the team, but it shouldn't be difficult finding another monkey to do just what is required. Another problem though, is that she is on holiday in the US for two weeks. Probably by the time she gets back and actually finds someone, the reporter spot will have been filled. They're scrambling upstairs to cover for the spot that opened up, and after going through that myself with my injured coworker, I am sure they don't want to do it long.

Whatever. I'm having lousy luck this year (according to my fruity fortune advisor, I am in the year of death in the cycle) but somehow amid the bad luck, I've also found faith that everything will be alright and I will get what I have worked for and what I want, eventually.

More on what my fruity fortune advisor said next time.