For A Fan

You only go around this big marble once so you better do your best to suck every ounce of juice from it that you can. My life hasn’t been without excitement. I would say I’ve lived well. I haven’t always done the right thing but I’ve tried to keep my moral compass pointed north for the most part. I haven’t always lived well though. I spent 14 years of my life working the same job and the last 7 of those years hating every minute of it. In this day and age that type of longevity on a job can be seen as a good thing: dedication to a company full of devotion and a bunch of other stuff that doesn’t matter in the real world.

When that chapter of my life closed, I made a decision to make a fundamental change in my life. I chose to do something hard. I moved. I moved as far away from where I was as I could without leaving the country. I came to Oregon and man have I changed. I came to a place of singular beauty and unlike anyplace I have ever seen. I have met people that are so much different than I am I still can’t get my head all the way around it. I’ve learned to not judge and to embrace the bizarre. I’ve learned to be accepting of other people’s culture and celebrate their difference as well as be enriched by their personalities. I have brought my family to a place that will enable them to reach their full potential. I want to reach my full potential as well. It takes a shit-ton of hard work and truck loads of guts. You should reach yours too.

What is the one thing you always wanted to do or be? That’s the first question you should be asking yourself. That was a hard one for me. I find it’s difficult for a lot of people so I don’t sweat it. I like to fix things, all kinds of things, machines of every shape and size. I love the way electricity smells in the air. The way metal smells when it’s being melted, grinded, or filed. Creating something out of a pile of parts…something from nothing. I love computers and electronics: the merger of art and science. I guess that is the stuff of Engineering but when I think of it I see myself looking at a pile of used things and re-purposing them to be useful again. It’s my way of reclaiming things that have been discarded and using them for good once more.

My dream is to create machines that take dirty laundry to the washer. To make a way for elder people to remain independent for as long as they want. Creating machines and technologies for the rest of us. Making things and not being concerned with the bottom line. To pay people that work on my stuff a wage they can support their families on. To train people off the street to do highly skilled jobs. To help them kick their addictions and give them a roof, food, and a purpose. I’m not interested in being rich. If I woke up rich tomorrow it wouldn’t change a whole lot about my life though I would like to own my airplane and that’s just because I hate to fly. Having my own bird would take a lot of the anxiety out of the equation. Other than that, I don’t need a fancy car, a big house, or a bunch of people kissing my ass. It’s just not who I am.

We all need a purpose in this life. I believe we were all created with a purpose in mind. Unfortunately a good many of us never realize what that purpose is. We spend our time living grey lives and hoping our day will end as soon as possible so we can have a break until our next bleak moment. Then it’s over. Your light goes out and you have nothing to show for the time you were given on this earth. Spend your time wisely. It’s the only commodity on this planet that has any real value. It’s finite and not replenishable. Use it well; use it to its fullest. Doing hard things is hard but that doesn’t mean they shouldn’t be done. You will fail. It will happen. It’s how you handle the failure that defines your character. Always be true to your calling and never EVER quit.

Black Friday: When CEO's Dream

Black Friday: When CEO’s Dream

Black Friday (henceforth referred to as BF) has been an institution in this country for as long as I can remember. In short, it’s is a termed used by retailers to refer to the fact that their businesses go into the “black” meaning they are actually making money. For many retailers, it’s the holiest day of the year. A day CEO’s lay on their sold gold pillows dreaming, safe in the  knowledge that their yearend bonuses are secure…yes, let us sleep easy.

There used to be rules for BF. It was on Friday, the day after Thanksgiving; not Thanksgiving Day, not Wednesday, not Midnight…it was Friday…period. People spent a few hours on Friday taking advantage of deals and getting ramped up for the Christmas shopping season. Maybe have some lunch with a good friend. There were no long lines of people that had been camped out for up to twelve hours before a store opened to buy televisions, tablets, and computers.

In time, retailers figured out that people had become so entrenched in a consumer culture that they figured out ways to make them crazy over things they didn’t really need and could find at different times of the year if they were savvy and paying attention. People had slid into a mentality that their loved ones, particularly their small children, absolutely had to have the newest and greatest item made in China for the low low price of $99.95. I remember Teddy Ruxpin and Cabbage Patch Dolls. People actually fist fighting in stores over the scant supply of these dolls that ended up in landfills five minutes after Johnny and Suzy grew tired of them. Just so you know, kids could care less about such things. Their attention spans are short and if you give them sticks and string just for giggles, you would be amazed what they can do with them.

We are seeing Christmas come earlier and earlier with each passing year. We have become so spoiled as a culture, we think we have the right to mindlessly consume and discard. It’s the new normal. In doing so we have watched our jobs go overeas, our economy go in the toilet, and we have become a debtor nation. It’s a long way from The Declaration of Independence. For me, I choose to push away from the table. I will not be participating in the gluttonous consumer orgy that is Black Friday. My children will have a low end Christmas consisting of a few items. I will teach them that family is what matters and what they should be paying attention to and that they should be thankful what they have. We will have out feasts and if you’re one of the fortunate, you will receive one inexpensive gift from me. If you’re really fortunate, you will get a call from me on Christmas Day wishing you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

The Growth Principle

The Growth Principle

I wrote a pretty inflammatory essay a couple nights ago that I was going to post tonight but the more I stew on it, the more it comes off like senseless bitching. I’ve spent too many years bitching I think. I’ll save it for another day maybe. I have my days when I get mad about things that have happened to me. I want to extract a pound of flesh from those that have done me wrong. My long game plan is to make a billion dollars and then go hire them for double what they are making now and put them to task doing menial things. You now, cleaning toilets, getting my dry cleaning, and walking my dog. I know it’s mean spirited. I never said I was perfect and I am still working on being humble as the dust. It’s a life’s work so cut me some slack.

The reason I decided to sit on it was you really; the two or three of you that read my ramblings. I read the things you post and I know you feel the same things that I feel. There are a lot of you that have been wronged and been discarded. You've given years of your life to some entity just to be thrown out with the trash when you’re no longer useful or compatible. Most of you don’t bitch (at least not to me). I’ve had conversations with one or two of you where I can start to draw it out of you but at the end you back away. You’re bigger people then me. You guys are the ones I look to when I’m getting left of center, when I want to really drive a stake through someone’s heart and for that I thank-you. It inspires me to try and better myself.

I was out on TV Hwy (real street) on a quest with my wife for the perfect curtains for the living room. So we’re out and about and I start seeing places that sell firewood. I have a fireplace in my new apartment but spending three to five dollars on a bundle of wood is not particle long term. I’ve been on the lookout for a full cord of wood that someone will bring to the house. It’s done here; I just haven’t found the perfect place. So we stop at a spot that has half cords I get out and start walking around. This older Hispanic lady comes up to me and I start asking her about the firewood. She’s doing a lot of nodding. I’ve been overseas and I know when the person I’m talking to doesn’t have any idea what I’m saying. Eventually she puts me on the phone with someone and she says “speaks English.” We get back in the car and we decide we really need to learn Spanish. There is a very heavy Hispanic community here and learning Spanish would benefit both of us and our children. Something as simple as learning to speak Spanish can be the one thing that pushes me towards being a more well rounded individual and will by default, help me grow; enriching my life and the lives of those around me.

It’s all about growth at the end of the day. We are only as old as we let ourselves become. When we stop moving forward and stop learning I think we begin to die. Holding on to the past helps us die faster too…I’m trying guys, I really am.

For you Mark, under 600 words.

The Cable gods Are Not Happy
 
I recently read a article <Consumers Hate Cable Companies> about how cable television companies were one of the most hated businesses according to consumers. I can relate having been on both sides of the line. Recently I moved to new apartment that did not have the wonderful fiber pipe I had in my old place. I was faced with a couple of choices; get new service with Comcast, get new service with ATT, or transfer and downgrade my existing service to DSL with a 8x1 pipe for lack of fiber. I won't do business with ATT just on principle. They have had this country in a choke hold since Bell invented the damn thing. Their customer service is crap and they couldn't care less about their customers (from my experience anyway). Comcast has one of the worse reputations on the street for customer service and is universally hated by everyone I've ever asked. Just for fun I called to find out about some of their data packages. My good friend Tyrone (his real name) was not a wealth of information. He was able to tell me about a 40 meg download package but when I asked him what the upload speed was and he had no idea. He had to Google it (he told me that while I waited it was 10 megs just so you know). The service was priced at 44.99 for 12 months then went up to 59.99 and then would settle at 64.99 which he tells me is the regular price. He never was able to explain to me how we went from 59.99 to 64.99 and I felt further inquiries weren't necessary so we moved on. I then asked him if I wanted to move forward, what sort of installation windows did they have available. He told me he would have to build the work order and then see if maybe he could get into the billing system. He informed me that since they were in the middle of a merger, they were running two systems side by side. “It might work maybe” was the best he could do. He also told me there would be a installation charge ranging from 19.99 to 39.99 depending on where I lived...Oh, and he would also need my social to run a credit check to determine if a deposit was necessary. I thanked him for his time and we ended the call. Fun fact, the Comcast/Time Warner merger is still being reviewed by the FCC. Now Tyrone might have had access to information that I don't and carelessly let the cat out of the bag but I kinda doubt. Tyrone was probably some pour underpaid rep with little or no training that was just trying to make a few bucks for himself. I can't fault him for that.

In fairness a lot of this is standard stuff. Credit checks are something thats been going on for several years. I'm sure some high level management type could explain it to me but the words “its pointless and just another way to keep you away from our service” will never come out of his/her's mouth. Installation charges aren't uncommon either. It costs about 110 bucks to roll a truck to a location. Gotta make your money somewhere. The main fault here is that Tyrone didn't have his shit together. I mean the way he handled my call was clumsy. He didn't seem all that interested in getting me on as a new customer. That's all fine and good. Tyrone didn't have any skin in the game. He was probably being paid minimum wage and working for some third party call center that has Comcast as a client. Believe me, I've seen behind the curtain at Xerox. They answer the phones for Nextel. These are sadest places that make me think of what a prison galley might have looked like. Lots of hollowed out empty eyes, no real motivation, and a yearning to do something else. I actually had one of the ass-hate supervisors brag about how he had been there five years. It isn't something I'd be bragging about but thats me.

So that brings me to Frontier Cable. They are a small cable outfit that I have had service with for about a year. They had fiber to premises service where I lived which I had never seen before. Let me say, it was super fast, never went down, and I loved it. I only had to call them twice in a year and both times my calls were handled like I would expect them to be. I guess the only thing I would say about the installation on that place was the tech that did the install didn't even pull out his meter until I asked to see it. He had no light meter or any other diagnostic equipment. When I was a tech we called it “plug and pray” short for plug it in and pray that it works. In this case it did and I had no issues.

Fast forward to a week ago when I'm transferring my service to this new place. No, there is no fiber here (Sorry keep beating that drum) but yes they can service me with a 20x10 pipe. Well that ain't what I want but I'll take anything so as not to have to get in bed with Comcast. Sure, sign me up. It'll be about a week before they can get to me. Not great but I understand. The day before the install someone calls me up to say that they can't give me the 20 meg circuit, there aren't enough ports and the best they can do is 8x1. Well shit, says I, that sucks. So I started asking some technical questions: so this is DSL? How far from the CO am I, stuff like that...guy has no clue what I'm talking about. I give up. He says, well we can just have the tech drop the modem off so you don't have to wait around all day. It's called a fast connect where I come from and usually I would be ok with that. I start saying things like this is wired with CAT3...upload/download stuff...he's like whoooa Mr Customer, you own the wiring, we'll make sure its good to the NID. I'm like yea, I know about demarcation but this is a apartment complex and the likelihood of me getting a wiring upgrade are zero. I want a guy to come in, hook it up and make sure it works. I'll take it from there. Fine he says.

So the next day I'm excited because I haven't had Internet in a week. Even crappy service is better than no service right? I'm set up for a 9am – 1pm time slot. So I wait...and wait...and wait. Its noon now I make my first call. Hey there, are we still on for this install...yes sir Mr Customer he must just be running behind. Ok, says I, I been on the other end of it so I know things can get backed up. Its 3pm now. No call no tech. My second call...yes sir, Mr Customer, we're running behind. Let me give the tech a call and see what's going on....so he puts me on hold and I wait...and wait...and wait. Sorry about the hold Mr Customer, I left the tech a voice mail to give you a call with a update. I'm like well now shit...I know that one. Things are starting to not look so hot. So now it's 6pm. No call no tech no nothing. So I make call number 3. 33 minutes later this nice lady up in Washington named Wendy tells me well Mr Customer looks like your install got pushed till tomorrow. They left you a automated message to number xxx xxx xxxx....Im like thats the wrong number. Shes like, oh guess that's why you didn't get it. I ask her if its common to push work orders till the next day. She says sometimes it happens. I can remember living in a world back in the late 90's early 2000's when we did stuff like that. It wasn't like that when I left I can assure you. She says she'll call me in the am and make everything right. She was nice enough to wave the 9 dollar activation fee. Thanks, I appreciate that. Will she follow through? I'll be really impressed if she does.

This is the kind of stuff that drives customers insane. I'm being easy because I worked in the business for 14 years and have seen all aspects of it. I know what happens when things are busy, your short handed and over loaded. However this stuff happens on a large scale and across all markets and all companies. That suggests to me that something is broken. When I was in the field I took a whole lot of pride in the work I did. I appreciated the money I made, the perks I had, and all the things that went with working cable. It was interesting and fun. I never made promises I couldn't keep, I worked quickly, and I was really good at putting out fires. Fires are customer issues that are burning so hot no one wants to touch them. I was the guy that ran toward the fires, I was a fixer. There were others like me but not everyone was. There were people that didn't care but most did. I think management philosophies drive a lot of the problems. Too much emphasis on the bottom line and less thought for customers and employees. This little peek into my life is just a slice of what happens everyday across the country. It's whats wrong with cable operators.

I'm giving serious consideration to getting back in the game. I loved working with customers and putting out fires. If you've ever had a bad experience similar to this I just want you to know that there are those out there that still give a shit. People that want to treat you like they want to be treated. People of honor and character. Remember it's the people on the phones, in your homes, and on the street that do the actual work. Before you rip one of them a new one, remember they operate within some tight confines and aren't' always responsible for your bad experience. Most will go out of their way to turn you around. I always wanted to walk away with you feeling warm and fuzzy and ready to tell someone about what a great experience you had. We're still out there, some of still care. I still care.

You Just Keep Swinging

You Just Keep Swinging

I haven't touch this blog in a year. The original plan was to write a longer narrative about moving to Oregon and all the adventures we had. Somewhere life got in the way and my attention was shifted to just surviving. I have mentioned that uprooting your life and moving across the country takes guts and a whole lot of “want to.” Getting established here has been harder. The only reason I'm back really is because a good friend of mine told me my writing was solid and that I probably had something to say. I'm not sure if either of those statements is true but I'll take it at face value and take a another crack at it.

I know that our forefathers came to Oregon to get a new start. The weather here is mild and the land fertile. There are plenty of farms away from the city that still live their lives like people did 100 years ago. A lot of them still think that way as well. I have found there are three kinds of people in Oregon: people from Oregon, people that live in Portland, and people from somewhere else.

The people that I have interacted with that tend to be born and raised in Oregon have a way about them. They can be stand-off-ish, passive-aggresive, and unfriendly as hell. Being from the South, that has been a hard thing for me to get my head around. Where I come from, people can be all those things but they tend to be in the minority. Here it can take a long time for people to warm up to you. They call it “breaking in.” We live close to a Albertson's grocery store. It's within walking distance and I go there all the time. One of the managers there just spoke with me about the weather a day ago. He even smiled. I almost had a heart-attack. I mean this guy has done nothing but glare at me for a whole year and now a couple of days before I am moving, he smiles and chats about the weather. That's Oregon. When I was first exposed to the phenomenon, I used to ask the person I was talking to if they were native to Oregon...I was always right. The signs are easy to spot once you know what you're looking for.

Portlanders on the other hand are completely different. They tend to be young. If they are older they swing more towards the hippy side of the spectrum. They have a youthful energy about everything and are passionate about a variety of different subjects. They tend to be open and easy to talk to. I can half difficulty connecting with them at times since it's such a swing from Oregoners. I have to concentrate really hard or spend a couple hours in the city. Either way, they are open and friendly for the most part, take a lot of pride in the city, and are a endless source of entertainment. If I could afford a decent place to live in Portland I would just to be next to these energetic people.

As for the rest of us, those that have come from other places to live here, we exist somewhere in the middle. I can usually tell when someone is from out of town. We tend to click right away. These types of people are usually people that have traveled somewhat and know how to make connections with others. There are a lot of people form California here. Oregoners hate people form California as a rule because they are driving the price of everything up so the story goes. I really don't know. I think natives hate anyone from out of town just as a rule. At least until the previously mentioned “breaking in” period has expired. Usually about a year or so.

I have been kicking around the idea of writing something like “A Noobs Guide to Portland” or some sort of survival guide for living here. There are so many things that we had to learn the hard way. Things as seemingly benign as knowing where the Tri-Met stops are and where they go. Are street cars really faster than walking? What are the rules regarding bikes and pedestrians? Are food carts safe to eat from? What are the best places to park downtown and how much should I pay? Basic things like that.

I haven't written this many words in a long time. This is a super high-level overview of what we have seen here. I have more stories about living here then I do about getting out here. We are moving to a new place tomorrow and as I write these words I am having a strong sense of dejavu. So I guess it was meant to be. Things are still tough for us but we are made of tough stuff. Starting your life from zero is always hard but sometimes it just has to be that way. I have no regrets about coming here. I don't know how long we will stay but if I leave it will be on my terms. Oregon will not spit me out, I will not allow it.

Keep the same mindset and follow your dreams. Don't ever be a slave to a life you hate or let the things you own, own you.