Living technology

It amazes me sometimes the terminology we use to describe inanimate objects. It can make them sound like living things. In the process of helping a customer with his account I had to check on the status of cell towers in his area. One tower was having an issue and I was just amused by the way the service ticket was worded.  It literally said "there is a report of no heartbeat from this cell site."  Now in technical terms, I have no idea what a cellsite having a heartbeat means other than meaning it's not totally down. From the sentence above though it feels like we should be rushing life-vac helicopters out with electric paddles charged and ready. Perhaps that is exactly what feeling that phrase is supposed to elicit. Maybe it is supposed to get the adrenaline flowing and have you leaping into your car to get there ASAP! Or something is going to Die. If so, I think it works well. Perhaps if it were just a minor problem they would have said "the cell site is twitching" or "the cell site appears to have a slight fever." As yet I still don't have any clue what is actually wrong with the site but I doubt it can be anything good.

I've been building a lot of origami lately inspired , no doubt by older brother of mine. Usually I make little origami balls and creatures and line them up on my desk at work. This gives me something to keep from going insane when it's slow btwn calls. I like making the origami balls the best. Usually it is a little more challenging than just the critters, although some of the animals can get pretty tricky. A couple of the creations atop my desk have actually even dawn comments. I was surprised when on of my co-workers came up and was gushing over how cool the giant one I built was. Not that I minded, just for me it's a way to pass the time in a fun way. I'm not all that great at making sure the folds are absolutely perfect and imsure some of my things are a tad bit lopsided, so I really never think about them being little works of art.

Hmmm.... Lost track where I was going with that. Took a walk on my lunch today, weird that my lunch is at ten am. It's really nice outside today. I'm still a little sad that it's no longer really hot during the day, but it's been in the mid 80s consistently this week so not bad. I do love the leaf change and I'm excited about halloween. Don't know why I still like that holiday so much since I don't trick-or-treat anymore. Guess I just like dressing up in funny costumes. Heh I'm always wanting to buy all the halloween decorations at the store, even if I know they're just gonna sit in storage most the year. Oh well... ok this post has been way to rambly so I'm just gonna end it now. Have a good day all!

Early morning office.

It turns out that offices are very spooky in the early morning. I just started my new shift , coming in at 6 am. I had thought that there were quite a few people that came in at 6 but apparently not. I guess most people get here at 6:30 or 7:00. When I got here this morning all the lights were off. The moniters glowed eerily from the darkness, their low hum filling the depthless room. I had never heard any ghostly rumors about our building , but you never know, so I quickly flipped on all the light switches I could find. Half the room burst into cheerful brightness. I dashed over to my desk to log in. I didn't know where the switches for the other half of the room were, and the door to the break room could only be reached by going through the darkened portion of the building. The job I work is all on the phones, so I couldn't just skip getting water to have at my desk. Without it I'd be all froggy within minutes.

 Steeling myself, I chose the shortest route to the door as possible. The pleasant glow of fluorescense soon grew weak. I looked back with regret, but forged ahead. My imagination is not very nice sometimes, every cubicle I'd pass it'd almost look like there was someone there, waiting in the darkness. Just a chair... not wanting to look foolish in front of an absent audience I walked as quickly as I could without running. I have to admit I may have sprinted up the ramp to the door. Opening the door I nearly walked into a co-worker, had to bite my tongue to not let out an EEK of terror. Suddenly I was not alone any more though!! While the moniters did still seem like slightly untrustworth creatures, the room no longer seemed to loom an endless expanse. I happily made my way into the break room, looking forward to the day.

Laid Off

Well crazy days are upon us. well me anyway. So yesterday at work , we were all just typing away when a center wide email goes out. MANDATORY MEETING> ceo is here , log out at 10:45 and meet in the rogue river room. Ok, whenever ceo , or customer service VP , or anyone of slight importance is coming to our center we know weeks in advance. There is usually fanfare and a lunch provided, and meetings have never been mandatory... well they are but it's unspoken. So, right off the bat we knew something was wrong. Now, i've had a feeling something like this was going to happen ever since we traded a large part of our local market to gain more market back east. I just didn't realize what i thought was going to happen would do so so quickly. The coaches had disappeared, they had a meeting of their own and no one seemed to know just what this was all about. They assured us all that all was well... little did they know... and like lambs to the slaughter off they went. With trepidation the rest of us logged off at the aforementioned hour, chatting nervously about what could possibly bring the CEO out unannounced. I'm certain we all had a very good idea what it was, but glibly reassured eachother it was just a suprize visit to encourage us over the market trade. Well it was and it wasn't. WE all got in there and got seated... one of our coaches and one of the center support staff were up front with ceo man and both looked very upset. not a good sign. At this point i was certain of what was coming and braced myself appropriately. Yes indeed, first thing our ceo said was " this is very hard, but we will be closing this center down due to the upcoming market trade. " and so on and so forth. Most people stopped listening and started crying after the first sentence, but i made sure to listen to what was being said so i could repeat everything back to those that were upset right now. Actually all in all it isn't that bad. I still have a job for 60 more days at the end of which i get a very decent severance and insurance pkg. Our company is paying for a prestigious job placement firm to come in an help us all find jobs locally if we can't relocate. If we can relocate we've been offered complete moving expenses and a guaranteed job at which ever other call center we want to go to. In some ways it would have been nice for it all to have just ended yesterday, i could spend today just chilling and filing for unemployment. Instead i'm all dressed and ready for work. Mostly i'm just dreading the lingering drama. Not to sound heartless, i know we all have just been notified of impending doom, but i really just think people need to get it together and stop whining. honestly for me at least, i think this will be a good thing, but then i've always been fairly adept at finding the good things in life.Drives other people crazy. I cant join in with the angry crowd , because i'm not angry. I completely understand why the company did what it did and i agree with the reasoning behind it. It would have been foolish to do otherwise in their shoes. I do wish we'd gotten to say good bye to our leadership, of all of this that is the hardest. These were the people who trained us and helped us grow as associates. They didn't get a 60 day extend. yesterday was their last day. I know some of them will be moving to other centers but most have family in the valley so i'll probably see them around, but it's not quite the same.
well, the clock keeps ticking down the time. Gotta get my shoes on and get ready to go to work.
59 nine days left....

memory III

graduation photo and senior prom

memory lane II

ok weird layout. so left to right, top to bottom we have, yet another christmas, then a halloween, then the many stages of Mark A, first is graduating in front of his tae kwon do trophies, then as receiver man, ah and then the very chilly days in feet of snow. good times.

memory lane.

been going through some old family photo's here are a few of the best ones. 1. mini me = ) 2.brithday from oh so long ago 3. kid monsters 4. my older bro and me and 5. camping trip to Dinosaur Utah. More to come but they're not edited yet.

not ready yet for winter

as i stood outside chatting , the temperature dropped. soon icy fingers of air wiggled their way down my arms lifting goosebumps. shiver worked their way through me, starting out side, getting more turbulent on the way in until it was only with effort that i could keep my teeth from chattering. Though i was having fun, i longed to go as i was unprepared for such an early assault from winter. I had no jacket or source of warmth. Finally it was time to go. I linger my good byes as little as possible, then dash to my car. VROOM and a swath of warmth bathes my fingers and toes. I turn the heater to the hottest setting and the fan to full blast. i sigh of blessed contentment escapes me. I almost drive past the entrance to my parking lot, knowing as soon as i arrive my little oasis of comfort will end. I grit my teeth, Gas prices are much to high for foolish driving. I leap from the car and lope across the lawn. the chill night is quickly sapping my briefly garnered warmth. my fingers fumble the housekey at the deadbolt. I growl in frustration. Finally i am inside. it is relatively wamer. still i bundle up in blankets and tonight i think i will sleep with my socks on. It's too early yet to have the heater on inside the house, but it still is tempting.
I can't belive summer is ending. I was sooo enjoying the baking heat of mid day and the even better sultry nights. I could actually almost cry. I hate being cold. grr.