7.5.2026 Thursday - a little stressed

 

I am always a little stressed out before going on a trip; work deadlines, the dogs and cats, my mom, and travel itinerary. Which is a silly of me because: the first is covered by my team members and they manage themselves very well. Better when I am not around (this is a topic for another discussion) And I am within reach if they should need a confirmation from me. The second logistic is shared by my two children who balance out their work-days and duties to ensure everyone gets a feed, with love and attention, Sean sleeps over so that Mochi does not pine for human company. The third logistic is my mom, who gets dropped off on Wednesday evening after class, and weekend afternoons. Mostly my sister steps in, but Sara is on standby if amah needs a bath before Wednesday's dinner. And for the travel itinerary, except for a slip up from Kuching - KL - Sydney, everything has been shipshape - especially this time as I am traveling with an injury - I am promised wheelchair assistance; cutting queues to deliver me door-to-door.  

6.5.2026 Wednesday - opportunity knocks

A random message pops up on my screen - wanting to know if we have a place for a Part 1. We are not really looking, but usually I will have a look to understand the duration of the 'work period', and if the candidate shows promise. This one does, and wants to work for about a year. I consult Sam about the money aspect, and will let FL and SW decide on the 'need more hands on board' aspect. I want them to undertake the delegation of work and guiding, and utilising of this person's time in the office. We have always wanted to keep the office small, and manage delivery deadlines, not to do redundant work, optimise everyone's time in the office, and without spending long hours in the office as well.

I will ask them about this tomorrow and we move from there. 

Sam and I spend a few quiet minutes looking through some photos from my external drive, and talk about how much we have done, and how far we have come

5.5.2026 Tuesday - Sarah's birthday

photo taken at an Italian restaurant to celebrate a reunion of former students, colleagues and their friends

 Ileana says to me after the dinner - if you don't think about what's outside this room, it feels like being in Kuching. And I think that is lovely.

4.5.2026 Monday - change of plans (again)

This morning is a case of good news and bad news; one project is scheduled to proceed, and has a possibility of growing larger in scale. Another smaller one has been reduced into a simpler project, meaning that the earnings are also reduced, and we might have difficulty to recoup fees for abortive work. On the other hand, this new smaller project is a new typology and we can use this to train a young architect who has been working on this site. 

I feel that is the only way to deal with situations like this, to extract the good from every situation even the challenging ones. My wish is that the young ones around me learn from this response, this attitude to be resilient and grow with the changes.

On a slightly different note, Sean proposed a design for a kitchen upgrade to a family friend. We sat in at his chat with the clients and I thought how well he is doing; his delivery, suggestions for the client to choose and take stake of the design process. They seem surprised at the proposal, not what they had in mind, which is a good thing. And this 'good thing' is reinforced this morning with a confirmation to proceed with Sean's idea (and a compliment to him for re-setting their thinking of what is possible for the space). It is only a kitchen (a small one at that) but if you can do the small things well, the larger ones are just a collection of small things. 

3.5.2026 Sunday - Luke

 

2.5.2026 Saturday - revisiting the old neighbourhood

 

1.5.2026 Friday - Labour Day