Warning! The Surgeon General has determined that reading this post may be hazardous to your psyche. I don’t usually try writing this late at night as it tends to only make sense to those who are intoxicated. However, as I haven’t had much chance during the past couple of days to do a lot of “leisure” surfing, it’ll have to do.
On the job front, the preliminary report is that casualties in our department will be limited to positions which are currently vacant that will not be immediately backfilled. Looks like none of the 50 some odd active positions in our department will be affected by the layoff. So thanks everyone for your thought s and prayers and a big praise and thanks to God for seeing me through that one.
Having never explained what I do, this may be a good moment. Then again it may not but, but I’m the one typing so humor me. I have a weird job. Like I mentioned in the first post, I work in a call center, providing end user support. (Mostly Blackberry support.) The first half of my shift is during the end of the normal “day shift” and the second half of my shift is the beginning of the “night shift”.
For the first half of the day, I am constantly busy with calls coming in one right after the other. For that portion of the day I only work with Public Safety accounts (Police, Fire, Military, Government) and have the pleasure of speaking with some great folks all over the country.
The second half of my shift I take Public Safety call plus work outages for our VIP Corporate accounts. These are large-scale accounts where we have gone on site and created custom cell coverage. However, even though I am technically available to a larger pool of customers, our queue slams to a grinding halt when the government offices close at 5PM Eastern. (Which is when I return from break...I work Noon-Nine, but lunch is 3-4...go figure.)
This presents a bit of quandry for us night crew folks in that we are tethered to our desks, ready to handle whatever crisis unfolds, but there are times when our calls are few and far between. So we have downtime. Lots and lots of downtime. Don’t everybody feel sorry for me at once. Without getting too deep into the nature of agent call metrics / politics / work flow structure of a call center and employee vs. contractor vs. outsourced job duties within said center, let me say that we can’t just get up and go find something more productive to do. Plus, we have to answer our phones by the third ring or it logs you out of the system, re-routes the call, and tags your name on a report for your supervisor and department manager. Believe me, that aint a conversation you want to have….folks get fired that way. (Thus walking more than a couple of feet away from your desk while you are in the call queue is a risky undertaking.)
At first, this downtime was kind of cool. But trust me, after a while, staring at your computer waiting for something to break gets REALLY boring. Fortunately, we are allowed to have our personal laptops at our desks, and since I have a mobile broadband card, I am able to browse between calls and do fun things like draw Goofy water skiing.
Occasionally (like today) we get assigned a special project which is a wonderful thing as it breaks up the monotony and keeps us busy all night. But when you get home late and you’ve been truly busy all day, going straight to bed is not an option. At least not for me. I need downtime. A filler. A transition between work and bed. Usually it comes in the form of a book. I love to read and this time of night is conducive to it. BUT, as I have posts to respond to, I guess I’d better get to it.
I have no idea what I have been typing the past 20 minutes so if it makes no sense whatsoever, ignore it. I’m typing this in MS WORD and haven’t logged into the DIS yet so I guess I better go that now and see what cards I have been dealt.
Let’s see, our first response was from my headless friend Zzub who writes
Dude! TMI! And I know a thing or two about TMI.
Well Zzub, you are probably correct on that one. I was fighting a KILLER sinus headache that day & it may be that the over the counter sinus & pain relief drug cocktail I brewed up was bit too much. (I added all the TMI stuff last minute.) Zzub also wanted to know about the monorail. Well Zzub, I don’t have an aversion to the elevated train of wonder. In fact I enjoy it much. On trip two, (the church fart trip) I rode it for the first time, and caught several rides on other excursions. It does seem though that the ferry was utilized much more often. Finally Zzub wrote
That's amazing news about your granddad. But I had no clue you get get a Dole Whip anywhere but Disney World. So this TR has some useful information. Now I'm off to google Dole Whip to see if there is one to be had nearer my house.
I agree with you on that one my friend. 20 years and counting is a miracle I’ll take any day. As to Dole Whip….good luck in your quest.
Our next comment came from whogirl’smom. She wrote
What a wonderful installment! The stroll down Dole Whip Lane, that is, not Stinky Feet St.
. That is a blessing that your grandfather is still beating the odds; I know because my dad had quad. bypass surgery 22 years ago this May. It still amazes me when I think about how long it's been. (And it amazes me how they don't let people stay in the hospital long enough now after surgery, but that's another thread...) Anyway, hope the family is doing well and I look forward to the next exciting episode!
I have to admit to being somewhat perplexed by the after-care received by heart patients these days myself. When a lady in our church had bypass surgery, she was out in a few days. I was even more shocked when they brought her Salisbury Steak in the hospital and included a packet of salt. Red meat and salt are strict no-no’s on the heart healthy diet my grandfathers cardiologist put him on. (EDITED NOW THAT I'M MORE COHERENT TO SAY: Thanks also for the well wishes as well and I'm glad you enjoy reading. )
Jcc0621 was the next to write in with a quick and simple:
Go Grandpa
Go indeed! Ride on Grandpa , ride like the wind.
Next up was another northwesterner, our friend the computer dude Vexorg.
I think you could have cut back on the adjectives a bit there, but an interesting update nonetheless.
Maybe so, but it’s not often a guy gets to type out trouser trumpet so I have to take it where I can get it. Glad you were able to look past it and find something of interest to boot.
Our next post comes from PrincessV who seems to think that my theory of intentional separation was sound. Well PV, when I kidded my mom about it this week, she said “Well, I won’t say it didn’t cross my mind.” PrincessV also said:
Dude, I'll never expereince a Dole Whip the same again!
To which I say “Rock ON!” Which doesn’t make much sense so I guess I better say something else. Thanks PV – it’s one of those things that is forever associated in my mind. This closes out our updates on page 7 so let’s move on to page 8.
Our first poster on this page was our favorite cast member Backstage_Gal. BG wrote that she is enjoying the trip down memory lane. I am glad to hear that BG and I thank you for kind words! BG then gave a shout out to the kinfolk with this:
To which I’m sure he’d reply “Yes sir, my plumbing is still a flowing!” Cause he always says this, even when he’s not talking to a sir. BG then made the shocking confession of having never tried Dole Whip. Which is sad and made me stare up at the ceiling and go hmmmm.
AshClan was our next poster up to bat and she was saddened that the descriptive nature of this TR resembled the Great One. (Is that how you said you wanted me to spell that Z?) She then went on to question the existence of non-pineapple dole whip.
I don't know that they really do have "Dole Whips" that are chocolate or vanilla. Wouldn't that just be called soft serve ice cream? Or am I missing something? Marita, try one next time you get to the MK (or even the Poly, where you can make your own). They are yummy!
I can assure you that they do indeed exist. They are different than soft serve in that Dole Whip is non-dairy (thus the only soft serve that was “legal” on my grandfather’s cardio diet.)
Finally we were graced a rare second posting from Zzub who wanted to stick up for my TR. I really appreciate that you got my back Z. No Worries. I got thick skin and take criticism well.
As to this:
UnecessarilyDescriptiveButNonethelessInterestingBiscuit.
Well, this post is probably guilty of the first and lacking of the latter, but hopefully it was coherent enough to follow. It’s about 1 am now and I have to be up at 6:15 to get my oldest ready for school so in the words of my other grandfather “Let’s draw a line right here and pick it up in the morning.”
I hope to have another episode posted either tomorrow (well technically today) or Friday. Good night, God Bless, and peace out y’all!
You're getting more and more like ZZUB every day. 
And yes bees are evil, malicious, vicious, and vindictive. I swear. They are all out to get me. Lucky I'm not allergic, I just don't like getting stung. Evil, Evil Bees. 
