Let ,e give you some facts:
I have averaged over 70 hours/week for over the last 6 months. In that time I have had 6 days where I didn't work on my current project, including Christmas day, a weekend in December when I arrived back in BNE on Friday afternoon, operated the fold-back mix for a Christmas "Carols by Candlelight" production Saturday rehearsal and Sunday show, my birthday earlier in Feb and one Sunday in October and one in November. And its going to be 7-days-a-week until the end of March at the earliest.
The week days are spent planning and preparing for migrations and changes that can only be implemented on weekends. 12-hourly project status update conference calls means finishing work at midnight 5 nights a week when at home, or 10pm when in HK.
Tomorrow's changes will be implemented in Australia. I am in HK. So I have to host a post-change support conference bridge on Monday from 4am local time, just in case there are unexpected issues after the weekend's changes.
While 11 trips to HK in 7 months may sound attractive, its no holiday. While here I be working around 14 hours/day (8am to 10pm is usual). I am on call for support work (was called at 11:30pm last night to help resolve problems, finally finishing at 2am, then starting again at 9am this morning). I struggle to find time for regular meals, let along sightseeing or experiencing the local environment.
And being a salaried employee, I am paid the same if I work 37.5 hr/week or 97.5 hr/week. In the last 6 months I have "taken" 3 weeks annual leave and one week of long service leave. But I still ended up working on all of those "leave" days. Some as little as 1 hour, others more than 14 hours.
At least when I am in Brisbane, I get to work from home. I have been into our office (in Toowong) twice in the last year. But working from home, I generally start as the kids head out t school around 8am , take a short break to have dinner with the family around 6pm, then work again 8om until midnight preparing for and attending the 11:30pm project update conference call.
Its hard enough finding time to take my kids to McDonalds for a "treat", let along time for things like golf or other social events. Could you go 7 months without a game of golf or more than a single day off at a time? Don't be too quick to notice the green grass on the other side of the bridge. The troll living underneath may be worse than you think.
This week I will return home on Friday morning. I will spend Friday evening setting up the sound system (including 20 radio mics) for a Musical production of Fiddler On The Roof at Centre Stage (short walk for you, at Quarry St, Spring Hill), then ready for Saturday and Sunday changes for Korea and Singapore to be implemented/supported from home and ready to start the weekly cycle again, with post-change support commencing early Monday morning as well as planning for the next weekend's changes. Somewhere in there I will need to fulfil my home duties such as mowing, trimming the hedge and looking after the pool.
Still want t swap? At least my current "day job" is in the same industry as yours, so I am sure you understand the importance of ensuring operational reliability.
