It's days like this that I totally HATE my job. BTW, I had a fantastic day yesterday. Somehow everything seemed to be falling in place. Travel plans done; consultants' contracts signed; I got several prizes from the office New Year (Pi Mai) party raffle; I got a new office laptop - WOW. I left the office yesterday on a BIG HIGH.
Seems that nothing lasts forever - invisible forces conspired to bring me crashing down. We signed an agreement in 2008. The partner was requested to thoroughly review the project document before putting their signature to it, considering that it is a legal document. We also informed them that once it is signed, getting any changes to the document is a very time consuming and tedious process. They went ahead and signed anyway. So, for like 2 years, they did NOTHING on the project because - THEY DIDN'T UNDERSTAND how to do the project. Seriously?
Okay, I was of the opinion that this project should be cancelled altogether seeing that there was no tangible output during the 2 years (with constant backstopping and engagement on our part) but Supervisors said that i'm "impatient" and that we should give them time. At the project completion date, we had to practically force them to prepare reports on the project activities in order to receive payment. We then set about preparing an amendment to the original project document, which would give them a no-cost extension to the project. We asked them to carefully consider their request and the timeline. They said that an extra 12 months would suffice. I prepared the documents and sent them to review before sending them to our main office. They said the timeline they asked for was enough.
So, shock on me now when we are AT THE END of the 12 month extended period, and they're coming up with questions on a daily basis. We don't understand this; how do we do that? can we split these payments into two? We can't get anyone to do this and that training? We propose to change the nature of the training (trainings which they themselves decided on and requested for) AAARRRRGGGHHHH! Thus, I again have to draw up YET ANOTHER amendment to the 1st amendment, to request additional time, and i'm not confident that with any more time they would complete the project anyway. Fyi - I have to do it by day's end, since i'm not at work tomorrow and will be off until next week. Double AARRRGGGHHHH!
On top of that, in February this year, they asked for an extension to other projects that they're managing. I informed them what is required, they reverted with their suggested timelines. I inserted them into the project document and sent them to them to review. They said EVRYTHING IS FINE and that I could go ahead and process the request. Yesterday I received the signed copies from the Hq and i'm preparing to send them to the partner to sign, when they tell me that again, they'd like to split the payments for the last two installments. Really? It had taken us 3 months to get these documents prepared and signed, and when they've just come in they claim another change in the project details? Jesus? Isn't that just an abuse of my time and kindness? How much patience can one have with such people?
#TotallyFrustrating!!!
