Are You An Unhappy Rat?

Is being "ambitious" with respect to one's career akin to being perpetually unhappy?  I think it is, at least to some degree.

We all want the promotion.
We all want the next level or title.
We all want recognition for our hard work.
We all want the bonus we deserve.
We all want a BlackBerry.

To do all this,

We put in the extra hours in the office.
We sacrifice our personal life.
We are constantly in touch via our BlackBerry.
We take courses we have no real interest in.
We play office politics (whether intentionally or subconsciously).

We don't like it,

When we are passed off for promotion.
When we are a victim of office politics.
When we don't get credit for our work or others get it.
When we don't get the rating that we deserve on our Performance Appraisal.
When we don't get the raise that we wanted.

What does all this mean?  It means the rats in the Rat Race are unhappy or at least unsatisfied for one reason or another.

I think one way to be happier (not necessarily happy) is to work for yourself (i.e start your own business) or simply work for money (i.e. be an independent contractor/consultant).

The latter seems to be working for me, at least for the time being.

Happiness is a state of mind and being happy is really up to you.

My "New" Lenovo Laptop

Dear Readers,

On December 27th, 2009, I purchased a Lenovo IdeaPad Y550.  On the same day I received the following message:


Thank you for your purchase from Lenovo. Your order has been received and is processed.


On January 10th, 2010, I received the following message:


Dear valued Lenovo customer,

We thank you for your recent IdeaPad Y550 purchase. Due to the overwhelming popularity of our Boxing Day promotion, we were forced to move production of your order to our manufacturer in China. This change has caused a slight delay in shipping. Your order is now scheduled to ship on or before January 14th 2010. We will send you an email once the order has shipped.

We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience this has caused.

Regards,

Lenovo Customer Service


On January 15th, 2010, I received the following message:


Dear Valued Lenovo Customer,

We wanted to provide you an update on your current Y550 order. Due to an unforeseen part constraint, your order has been delayed. Your order is now scheduled to ship on February 15. We will send you a confirmation email once the order has shipped. After you receive this email please allow 3 business days for UPS to issue a tracking number. 

Please know that we understand your frustration with this process. We apologize, but we will not be able to provide any type of compensation for this delay.

If you need to contact us for further information, please provide your order number.

Regards,

Lenovo Customer Service


They call me a "Valued Lenovo Customer" and at the same time tell me bluntly there will be no compensation for the almost TWO MONTHS delay that is clearly their fault?  Did I ask for compensation for my "new" laptop that will already be 2 months old when I receive it?

Thanks for the excellent customer service Lenovo!



Dear readers, take note of their service.