The word of the week is enthuse.
June 17 - What's Next?
How's everyone doing out there? Thanks for visiting.
The thing about blogging is, well, that it's singular.
Not solo, as you might have thought I'd say. No, what I mean
is: this blog is my set of small signals to the world about what I'm up to, but
it's a transmitter, not a receiver.
To tune into the lives of my friends and family from way out
here in BC, I've had to turn to Fbook, for the most part. But as you may
already know, that's a selective slice of life that people choose to share and
some say very little, sadly. So it's hard to know what people are up to in any
given week, let alone day, with the busy lives we all have. Especially since
Fbook can take up so much TIME of a day for some!
Something else is going to emerge to replace Fbook.
What that is, or when it will arrive, is anyone's guess. If
I had to speculate, I'd have to say it'd be some kind of automatic logger-app
run on one's mobile device that would keep track of your day. Where you’d been,
who'd you met, what you'd done, what photos you'd taken… all that and a lot
more I can't think of right now. Said service would roll everything all into
one easy-to-use package and present it to the world, or at least those people
you'd want to share it with.
For now, for me, this blog serves such a role very well… and
I wish more people I knew had time for one!
June 18 - Closing Copy
I've still got a lot to learn.
In Copy, that is. Internalizing the prices, products and
production details of the job is proving VERY challenging. All I can do is put
in the time and effort to learn them as I go along.
Tonight, I closed Copy solo, though I wasn't really on my
own until the last hour and a half, as a Copy staffer kindly stayed later to ensure I
wasn't overwhelmed with all the orders we'd taken in today. Thanks and whew!
Self-serve is funny and a time-sink both. I'm learning to be
concise in a friendly way and to sum up answers simply for people. Which, if
followed by even more questions and requests, will turn into "Well, if you
want said copies done that way at that size, I'd be happy to set up a job order
for you, which will be ready at X time." Cue disappointed / annoyed look,
which doesn't faze me much, as I'm used to people trying to get a lot for a
little in customer service. The phrases "It's only a few copies" or
"Could you just help me adjust this?" are already very familiar to me
as covers for "Can you do this copy job for me on the cheap, right now,
while I stand back and watch?"
Overall, I know I did well, losing myself in the job details
and not sweating that I was flying solo. The department is fairly
well-organized and getting better with a new manager, so consistency is a
wonderful thing when you're new to the job like I am.
Better yet, I'm starting to know what I'm talking about,
which is the tipping point!
June 19 - IT Training
Let's talk tech training. Specifically, the CompTIA+ course online I'm taking with a friend
right now.
So far, we've worked through the first of the three courses
of modules. It's been educational for me and rather a stretch for them, as many
of these terms are g33k-speak to them. However, I'm VERY proud of the efforts
they've put in to focus and learn the tech language. We've both made a lot of
progress learning together and I think I'm doing a decent job as a
teacher-interpreter when needed, so that the online teacher's assumptions don't
steamroller my friend under in a torrent of technobabble...
I'm hoping that by the end of the summer, we'll be finished
the course and well into a second round of learning to become Microsoft Office
Certified. With both that and the CompTIA+ certification, sending out resumes
to the local IT industry should be a much more fruitful endeavor by the end of
the year. From all accounts, the local IT scene is thriving and once we have
these qualifications, we'll have taking a big step past many other job-seekers
towards the front of the hiring line.
By then, I should know exactly where I'm heading at my day
job.
June 20 - Motivation
It's hard right now for me, some days, to enthuse.
What I mean by that is I'm feeling a reciprocity from
Phoenix: the joy of my release there has turned softly to a cushiony coasting
that is going nowhere fast.
Staying positive and keeping perspective is something I'm
reminding myself of daily right now.
Mainly, the day job is taking a lot of my energy, just
getting through intact is draining. Like any job dealing with customers, said
folks don't care if you're new or not: they just want their stuff Done Right,
On Time. It's frustrating to be capable of so many things, yet the
condescending and irritated looks I get all day from people expecting instant
correct answers is wearing. I counter that with professionalism, a pleasant manner and
patience when people throw their little fits and do the best I can, then a
little bit more.
I can't tell them that I'd rather be writing my novel's
third draft, or doing any of a dozen other things than smile when they
reiterate how I'm delaying their Important Business by not Knowing My Job
Perfectly… and a glance at my 'In Training' Badge doesn't reassure them.
But I do my job anyway, knowing that even if they don't care
to care… then I do. And that's enough.
June 21 - Netflix
Old TV shows in bed are great!
That is, watching them on my ASUS tablet in bed is perfect
before bedtime.
I'm not a binge-watcher, where you plow through an entire TV
series in the course of a day or two. Sure, I'll watch a couple of episodes at
a time, but I can't binge, it's just not in me to devote that much time all at
once.
You should also remember that watching a bright moving TV
image right before bed is a bad thing, as the light fools your brain into
thinking it's NOT nearly time for bed. I've found an Android app called
ScreenFilter that give you total control over your screen's brightness independently
of the device, for no cost. I usually set it for a bout 40% bright, which is
perfect.
Right now, I'm watching Red Dwarf, a sci-fi comedy series
from the 1980's that I loved back then and I've found I still do now. The
humour is sharp, the writing not so much… but the cast and concept lend
themselves towards episodic entertainment where you simply have no idea what's
going to happen next, OR how the crew of Red Dwarf is going to deal with it.
Much like life, I'd say, and laugh!
June 22 - Solo And Party
Today I closed Copy solo again, which was… interesting.
What I find most amusing is that 'Self-Serve' should really
be renamed 'Assisted Copying' as every other person who ostensibly goes there
to save time and money by ducking our wait times still asks for help.
Which, me being me, I give to the best of my ability, though
at a cost to my job performance.
Today, that meant I spent well over an hour
over in Self Serve, assisting people in their copy tasks which, for a variety
of reasons, they couldn't do themselves. Not understanding the technology is a
big reason, as well as being budget-conscious( ie. cheap )or time conscious(
they can't / won't wait hours behind people who booked copy jobs ahead of them
)and yet they still expect instant service from Copy CSR's. Who should drop the
jobs they HAVE to have ready for set times to rush over to assist people who
wander randomly through the door late in the day.
Points for trying though. Tonight, I closed as best I could,
thankfully with assistance from another CSR who saw how I had been constantly dragged
away from my needful tasks. Thankfully, I didn't leave too much for the morning
person to finish and was done my shift almost on-time, if a little breathless.
I had time to recover in the car though, on the way to a co-worker's
birthday party in Sooke!
Not having been out to any parties recently, I was blown
away by the amazing evening I had.
The place was a lovely eclectic home on a
tall hill, with a spectacular view of the water and the sunset from the back deck:
There were more than a few people from work there, as well
as many others, including my ride who was a former MMart co-worker. I had a
total blast while I was there, chatting up quite a few folks and seeing sides
of people I work with now that I hadn't been sure were there. One and all,
they're lovely and interesting people and I was tickled that so many of them
said they were thrilled I was there tonight. Stuffed with food, ice-cream cake
and a sense of triumph from winning a close bocee match, I rode home feeling
quite relaxed despite my tiring workday… it was fantastic.
June 23 - Reflection Day
Sundays for me used to be about gaming.
When I was younger, in grade school and even high school,
Sundays were quite often the day when I'd spend many hours at a friend's place.
We'd play boardgames like Axis&Allies, or have a DnD session or, more
rarely, play video games. In later years, during university, we'd switched over
to playing Halo and DnD almost exclusively… and almost always on a Sunday, as
we all had school or work or both. But eventually that tapered off from every
other week to once a month, then eventually never. In my case, Sundays usually
meant hours spent playing Neverwinter Nights online with my friends, at least until
the last couple of years.
Now it seems that for me, Sundays are days for reflection:
literally, a day of rest for the mind and body.
In a recent Fbook posting, I talked about my experiences in
Phoenix last month. They were very moving for me and I shared them with my
friends. Due to the vagaries of Fbook, I'm not sure how many have actually read
it; they may have 'seen' the posting title, but not read the post itself.
A few people have commented on the post and their feedback
has been extremely positive. I'm humbled that my words managed to move them,
especially as the post has the power to move me if I re-read it; no surprise,
as I was there to experience those emotions. Those powerful feelings flowed
through me and out through my writing, something that I hope to experience
again, for it was as though my Muse took my hand and penned each word entire. It was as close as I've ever felt to pure, truthful writing.
That's my reflection for today.
