Life’s Little Ups and Downs

Posted on April 27, 2014April 27, 2014 by Dusty Roads

What a week it’s been so far. Only one more day and I will get a break…sort of.

But really, Monday was marathon Monday and I spent the day at the T- Mobile cell phone store dealing with the first of the technology glitches. That out of the way I don’t even remember Tuesday.

Wednesday was the computer fiasco and I had to deal with that all week.

Friday I had my interview for the new position. My invitation (that’s what they call the appointment) was for 10-10:30. Well it started at 10:00 but I didn’t finish up until 1:30. Interviewed with 3 different people and sat with the person I’ll be replacing so he could give me an “overview”. (Assuming I get the job)

Saturday I was working 9-6 but I didn’t finish up until 9:30 pm. I finally told the last client that I’d have to get back to them in the morning. On an up note, the IT department called me back and finally had time to take over my computer “remotely”. Once they did that they saw what a mess they’d made. It took a good hour for them to go through everything remove junk, add correct stuff and run the security scans but in the end I was back in working order! Yay!

I had turned on the TV to see what horrible kitties Jackson Galaxy had to deal with in his show “My Cat From Hell”. It’s like the cat equivalent of the Dog Whisperer but I think dogs are much easier to understand than cats. Did you know cats can make 100 different sounds and dogs can only make 10.

Just like in the Dog Whisperer, most of the time the problem is in the owners not the animal. I enjoy both shows but as a Cat Momma I like Jackson’s show best.

Oh Oh, I’m writing this post at 10:30 pm and my phone just chirped. I picked up the email and it was from the client I put off until the morning. She told me to stop working and she’d talk to me in the morning. LOL

Rocky must agree with my client. He just hopped up on my desk and is refusing to sit quietly. Trying to proof my post around his head is a challenge. Now you know why he was named Editor in chief.

I guess I really don’t have anything to say tonight. Just rambling thoughts so I’ll spare you any more for now. Have a great day. 🙂

Change is Good

Posted on April 13, 2014April 13, 2014 by Dusty Roads

Change is often hard. This coming from the person who packed up and moved to a new state where they knew no one and knew nothing about the state.

I was young and restless and fearless. Now I still get itchy feet. It comes out in my travels but I also have a stronger sense of home. I like my adopted state, maybe not the cold winters but there’s a lot of other good stuff to recommend it. (No digs about “Taxachusetts”).

Looks like change is once again headed my way. If it happens I guess you can say I went reluctantly which is surprising because I really want it to happen. It all boils down to change.

Rumor has it that there’s a position with another department opening up. The powers that be have brought the opportunity to my attention and it would be a fun job. Off the record I have been told I can keep working from home (once I’m trained). I’d be eligible for bonuses. Bonuses are very good. My budget has been quite tight without the overtime I used to get at my old company. So what am I hesitating for? The schedule change required.

I feel like I will have to mourn my old schedule.

I know that’s funny but for 10 years I worked weekends at my old company and I have continued as a Night and Weekend worker in my new job. I’m used to having weekdays to go to the doctor, dentist, bank, vet and all those other errands that can’t be done easily on the weekend. I am used to having quiet hiking spaces and deserted attractions. The crowds show up on weekends.

The new position requires Monday – Friday. The opportunity is too good not to try for it so I’ve been trying to get myself thinking positive about the schedule. Many events and activities are only on the weekends and I miss out unless I take a day off. Some examples are AAA Travel Expo… usually Thurs- Sun; Riverquest boat rides on the Connecticut River, again usually weekends; The Spring Flower Shows.. always weekends; summer Fairs, Autumn Harvest Festivals and so on.

So I guess there’s a lot to be said for being conforming and working like the rest of the world. Now if I can only get the job. 🙂

Post Trashed/ The Day After

Posted on November 29, 2013November 29, 2013 by Dusty Roads

Good Morning Friends!

Anyone with a Turkey Hangover?

I had quite a post planned for today all about my thoughts on Black Friday. Comments and opinions about shopping on Thanksgiving. Those poor people who had to miss Thanksgiving with their families because the big, greedy retail stores wanted one more day to put their paws in our pockets.

Then I thought whoa! Until this year I was one of those “Poor people” who had to work and it wasn’t so bad. Before I worked in Plymouth I seldom worked alone and we all brought holiday food to work. Our workplace became a Thanksgiving meal and the folks working celebrated with each other. It was nice. I still celebrated on my own when I had my next day off. The extra money that I got by working the holiday certainly came in handy.

Once they moved the office to Plymouth and went “Virtual” I found I didn’t always have anyone working with me in my office. Oh I had co-workers, just not at my location but again, I didn’t mind. It was usually a quiet day and it was in Plymouth that some of the nicest things were done for me.

One Thanksgiving 2 different co-workers drove to the office to bring me Thanksgiving Dinner because they knew I was alone there! I was amazed and thankful to even be thought of once, but twice. That’s pretty special.

Another holiday when just 4 of us were working one of the 4 brought in a whole meal; ham, baked potatoes, veggies…for all of us. All home made. He got up early before work, cooked up the feast and surprised us all!

Come to think of it, I have more good memories of working holidays than bad.

And judging from the interviews on the news, these workers were happy too. They talked about earning extra money for Christmas, about break rooms overflowing with food, of happy friends that were shopping and saying hi; people they wouldn’t see if they were at home.

So I don’t know if opening on Thanksgiving is really so bad. I worked because a telecommunication company that offers phone service has to have people on in case of emergency . It’s the law in Massachusetts, maybe even Federal law but here were people working retail, laughing and singing the praises of their employers for being open and giving them the opportunity to earn a little extra for the upcoming holiday season.

Maybe having a retail store open on Thanksgiving isn’t as bad an idea as I first thought.

Jumping for joy

Posted on May 9, 2013May 9, 2013 by Dusty Roads

I promised I’d keep everyone up to date on my job search.

I have great news! Today I received an offer of employment and I accepted. I won’t go into detail about the company because it’s my policy to keep things like that confidential so that I don’t run afoul of any company rules or restrictions. My former employer was quite strict about that and often monitored blogs and Facebook. But I will say that the total package… benefits, vacation, salary comes close to matching or exceeding the perks I had at my previous employer.

That means I will be able to keep on exploring “dusty roads” around me. I can see another visit to Florida in my future. I was thinking about Crystal Springs but there are lots of other places too. Yellowstone and Yosemite, California, Oregon and Washington, those remaining “A” states to name just a few.

I really want to go to Costa Rico too and on a safari in South Africa so lots of places to go and things to see. Yay! And I’ll keep sharing those adventures along with the mundane day to day challenges with you, my friends and internet neighbors.

Change

Posted on April 1, 2013April 1, 2013 by Dusty Roads

When one door closes another one opens…or so the saying goes. No matter what, change is hard and sometimes scary. These last 3 months have been a roller coaster of emotions; sometimes exhilarating, sometimes sad, sometimes nearly panic only to swing back to excited.

I have worked many places with many people but no other work situation has fostered such close ties. From the dispatchers I shared the office with to the techs in the field it was like a big family. Things didn’t always go smooth. There were disagreements and arguments but there was also laughter, kind words, support and fun and over the years we began to feel like family. This made for great working conditions but now that it’s over there is a lot more emotion than just leaving a job.

This last week has been a concentrated version of the past three months. Everyone seemed to be wearing their feelings on their sleeves, one moment laughing, the next crying and the work demands never let up to give us a chance to come to terms with the “Last Day”.

This week the management team ordered pizza, the HR manager brought pizza, even one of the techs spent his own money to bring us pizza. Then the last morning we all brought breakfast food; juice, coffee, sweet rolls, coffee cake, apple fritters, fruit, bagels, muffins…enough food for an army. I couldn’t help thinking it was like a wake or funeral as more food poured in and visitors came by to say their good byes.

At a particularly loud moment it hit me hard. Yes like an Irish Wake without the whiskey and like a funeral after the burial those of us that remained would be…alone.

For all the complaining and groaning that goes on in a normal day-to-day give and take, when it was over those of use not going on to Malden would be alone with no place to go on Monday morning. No co-workers to chat with, fight with, laugh with…no work family.

But then the emotional swing went the other way arching back up to optimism. Look at all the opportunity, a clean slate . This is different because of the bonds made over the last 10 years but the job changing is not. Everything will be fine, not the same but it will be fine.