It was supposed to be a nice day, no data to run, no reports to prepare, no requests to handle. Considering the fact that it’s a hectic Monday, I should say that must be a God-given reprieve. I’d determined to take the fully advantage of this precious break---some net shopping, or perhaps soothing reading? That question didn’t trouble me for a long time, because soon all my daydreaming was ended by an incoming email.

It’s an email from Mr. L---my boss D (Why boss D? I’ll explain that later).  In this email, he asked me to translate a report. I opened the file and found it was 25-pages. So just like that, my short-lived break vanished in a puff of air. I asked him about the deadline. He answered: “Take it easy and no need to hurry.” I didn’t feel much comforting with his words. After all, break was temporary and rare these days, and many other things might come up soon. Signed, I started to do the translation. One and a half hour later, he called: “Boss want this report within today.”

For God’s sake, I am really not a whining person. But it was already 15:00, only two hours before off-work and I still had about 20 pages left! You know, this damn report was not written in everyday language---it’s a technique report. That means two hours probably was just enough for me to read it through and get a rough idea through those terminologies and glossaries. Under such condition, I really didn’t know what to do except whining. So I did it.

“Gosh, do you really want me to do a 25-pages’ translation within two hours?” hands sweating, and my voice almost trembled.

“What do you mean 25 pages?” he asked half-minded.

I had a really bad feeling about it. Oh, this was not good. After an ominous caesura, words came out through my clenched teeth: “The report, you sent me, has 25 pages.”

“Really? Wait, let me check----woops, my fault, sorry. You only need to translate Part 3.”

I stared at Part 1 and Part 2 on my computer screen---which, after I’d racked my brain, wrestled with those metaphysical, rangy, hectoring and slangy words for more than one hour, finally almost done---I felt that I really wanted to throw something, anything, at some particular human being.

I should have learned my lesson. Last week, Boss D asked me to give him man hour cost in 2013.  I spent 2 hours, dragging data from more than 10 service orders and finally put these numbers together. However, when I gave him the total value, he said: “Oh, sorry, what I want is just time reporting hours.”

I didn’t know what to say, really.

Perhaps it’s my fault. Now I have five bosses to serve, (that doesn’t include boss’s boss, and many others who can or think they can issue orders at me), three of them I’ve worked for before. Despite all the differences between these three, they have one thing in common---they give you orders in clear and simple way. Ok, boss C is more detail-oriented, but he would talk you through and make you fully understand of his needs. Anyway I got used to their managing style, and I can always easily figure out what they want. Coming to Boss D and Boss E, aha, that’s another story.

Time for change, either myself or my job.