Tuesday, August 30, 2011
Tuesday, August 23, 2011
Orlando vacation
I haven't had time to photoshop my pictures yet but here is a sunset taken the first night while we waited for the fireworks. Other pictures will follow.
Thursday, August 11, 2011
Strike Duty Day 3 - A third grade reminder
Our two truck combo couldn't fix the customer's problem at the end of day 2. Our plan was to start Day 3 where we left off on Day 2. We enhanced our plan by inviting the "real" technition to join us. We were followed to the site by three vehicles filled with union people. Before we knew it, there was a picket line right in front of the customer's property. They were just as loud and obnixious as they were at the garage. One guy had a blow horn and he used it at full capacity. Another guy had a siren and he cranked it up full blast. A neighbor called the police. The police showed up, but just did a drive by. No help. At one point during the customer visit, we had to go out to the "Cross Box". Several of us walked down the block while the union members followed us. We were favored by chants and harrassment while we were focused on serving the customer. The guy with the blow horn saw my name on my name tag. He called me out, "Hey Stevie, you're too old for this. Why don't you go home to your job and family and allow us to do our jobs to support our families". He then started to chant, "Stevie, Stevie, Stevie". I felt like I was in the third grade.
Strike Duty Day 2 - I Take Flight
At the end of day 1, my travel buddies and I ventured to the unknown. We took the subway back to our hotel. After de-mystifying the concept of riding the subway, we decided we could take the subway back to work the morning of day two. The subway was standing room only for the first few stops. By the time we got to our stop, we were the only ones in our car. Hmm. Church Street in Brooklyn isn't a popular destination point. We only had to walk two blocks from the subway to the garage. The union people were even more energized than they were the first day. Note to self. Buy some ear plugs.
We arrived on time. We spent another several hours organizing and getting ready for the day. As we left the garage, we stayed our our two truck configurations. Our first stop was "No Access", meaning the customer wasn't home. Our second stop was a little unusual. The customer had phone service, but the line drop from the pole to the house was literally dropped. A storm blew down several tree branches, which caught the line which dropped the drop to the ground. Simple enough. Re-attach the drop to the two story business. Tools required, a latter, a power drill, a screw and a bracket. I drew the short straw and found myself using said latter. I climbed the latter about 50 feet and attached a bracket to the side of the business. I re-attached the drop and we had our first successfull close. We noticed the neighbor had a similar issue, so we pro-actively fixed their problem. Though we won't get credit for another close, we helped a customer. Which, as Iam told, is the reason we are here. I finish the day by purchasing ear plugs.
We arrived on time. We spent another several hours organizing and getting ready for the day. As we left the garage, we stayed our our two truck configurations. Our first stop was "No Access", meaning the customer wasn't home. Our second stop was a little unusual. The customer had phone service, but the line drop from the pole to the house was literally dropped. A storm blew down several tree branches, which caught the line which dropped the drop to the ground. Simple enough. Re-attach the drop to the two story business. Tools required, a latter, a power drill, a screw and a bracket. I drew the short straw and found myself using said latter. I climbed the latter about 50 feet and attached a bracket to the side of the business. I re-attached the drop and we had our first successfull close. We noticed the neighbor had a similar issue, so we pro-actively fixed their problem. Though we won't get credit for another close, we helped a customer. Which, as Iam told, is the reason we are here. I finish the day by purchasing ear plugs.
Strike Duty Day 1 - Deflated
Saturday night at midnight, the dreaded E-mail arrived in my inbox. "The union has called a strike. Report to your assignment Monday morning at 7:00 AM." I stared at my computer moniter in disbelief. I fully expected the E-mail to tell me the union has decided to work without a contract and to cancel all reservations. Imagine my disappointment!
My trip to New York was uneventful. The first thing I did when I got to my hotel room was check the list I had of other management employees assigned to Brooklyn. I noticed one of them was staying in my hotel. I called her and we agreed to meet in the loby and take a taxi together. Three of us took a taxi from downtown Manhattan. Fifty minutes and $40 later, we arrived. I told the taxi driver to let us out a block early so he wouldn't have to travel through the picket line. We got out and immediately noticed a great ruccus in the direction we needed to go. He heard bull horns, sirens, whistles and shouting. As we approached the garage, the noise got louder. The strikers easily picked us out as "scabs", so their attention was directed toward us. We had to actually walk through the middle of the crowd of red shirts and red faces. We were called names, we had air horns go off right in our ears, we heard bull horns blaring at us. Scabs, go home was the predominant chant. Police were present, but didn't do much. Their only concern was our physical safety and that we had access to the garage. As we arrived in the garage, we were quickly ushered into a room, filled with other wide eyed managers. After several hours of orientation and organizing, we loaded up Verizon trucks and out we went. The supervisor decided to pair us all up. For the first day, we were also paired up by trucks. Two trucks with two occupants each went out to fix our customer problems. I was paired with what they call a field manager. She supervises Installation and Maintenance technitions during her normal job. Because she has never worked in the field, she doesn't know much more than I do about fixing customer problems. She was considered the lead of our two trucks (what does that tell you). Because my partner wanted some on-the-job training, she followed another lead. I'll stop right here and help with math. My partner, plus me plus two managers in a truck following us is following a lead truck which was followed by another truck. Two times four equals 8. I'm not done. Another lead also didn't have field experience and wanted some on-the-job training. Add 4 more managers to 8 and you have 12 people going to our first appointment. Keep in mind we are in Brooklyn. Our first field visit was to the "projects". We all found a parking place, which wasn't easy. We headed for our first appointment. We had 4 apartment units to visit. Hopefully, you have formed a good mental image. One eployee who knows what he is doing followed by 11 who don't. We affectionately referred to ourselves as "the network", referring to a verizon comercial. When the lead manager finished his work, he, plus the network, went out to our respective vehicles. Our travel partner was unable to continue on due to a slashed tire. My partner and I waited with them while the tire was fixed. Four hours later, we were out there visiting Verizon customers. To say our first day was unproductive is a major understatement.
My trip to New York was uneventful. The first thing I did when I got to my hotel room was check the list I had of other management employees assigned to Brooklyn. I noticed one of them was staying in my hotel. I called her and we agreed to meet in the loby and take a taxi together. Three of us took a taxi from downtown Manhattan. Fifty minutes and $40 later, we arrived. I told the taxi driver to let us out a block early so he wouldn't have to travel through the picket line. We got out and immediately noticed a great ruccus in the direction we needed to go. He heard bull horns, sirens, whistles and shouting. As we approached the garage, the noise got louder. The strikers easily picked us out as "scabs", so their attention was directed toward us. We had to actually walk through the middle of the crowd of red shirts and red faces. We were called names, we had air horns go off right in our ears, we heard bull horns blaring at us. Scabs, go home was the predominant chant. Police were present, but didn't do much. Their only concern was our physical safety and that we had access to the garage. As we arrived in the garage, we were quickly ushered into a room, filled with other wide eyed managers. After several hours of orientation and organizing, we loaded up Verizon trucks and out we went. The supervisor decided to pair us all up. For the first day, we were also paired up by trucks. Two trucks with two occupants each went out to fix our customer problems. I was paired with what they call a field manager. She supervises Installation and Maintenance technitions during her normal job. Because she has never worked in the field, she doesn't know much more than I do about fixing customer problems. She was considered the lead of our two trucks (what does that tell you). Because my partner wanted some on-the-job training, she followed another lead. I'll stop right here and help with math. My partner, plus me plus two managers in a truck following us is following a lead truck which was followed by another truck. Two times four equals 8. I'm not done. Another lead also didn't have field experience and wanted some on-the-job training. Add 4 more managers to 8 and you have 12 people going to our first appointment. Keep in mind we are in Brooklyn. Our first field visit was to the "projects". We all found a parking place, which wasn't easy. We headed for our first appointment. We had 4 apartment units to visit. Hopefully, you have formed a good mental image. One eployee who knows what he is doing followed by 11 who don't. We affectionately referred to ourselves as "the network", referring to a verizon comercial. When the lead manager finished his work, he, plus the network, went out to our respective vehicles. Our travel partner was unable to continue on due to a slashed tire. My partner and I waited with them while the tire was fixed. Four hours later, we were out there visiting Verizon customers. To say our first day was unproductive is a major understatement.
Monday, August 1, 2011
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