Welcome...

"Welcome to MusicTown. May I service you?"

Instead of being told, "You're overqualified, thanks but no thanks!" ... I go in for new employee orientation on Monday evening at Big Blue Home Improvement Store.

The hiring process was simple:
- fill out an application online, with a relatively quick multiple-choice quiz as part of it (If in situation X, is Y or Z the better choice?)
- phone call two days later to schedule an interview
- interview with HR person at store, second interview the next day with an assistant manager
- call a week later to come in for a pre-hire drug test

The interview questions were scripted (as expected for a large company), the people I talked to were quite friendly, and it was about as painless as any hiring process I've ever been through.

Oddly, I *don't* know what department I'll be in yet - the HR person hasn't decided where she wants to put me yet (a lumber manager expressed interest), and corollary to that is not knowing what kind of compensation they're going to offer. I asked for a reasonable rate (about half my hourly rate at the Real Job), and would probably settle for a bit less. I have a firm lower limit in mind, though.

I was impressed with the benefits package for part-time employees, too - optional medical/dental/vision coverage, basic life insurance, 401k with matching (they'll match 1:1 for 3%, .5:1 for another 2%, and .25:1 for 1% more, meaning a total of 4.25% for 6% of my money), and a stock purchase plan, along with employee discounts and paid vacation.

I find it odd that people are griping about how hard it is to find work when it took me less than two weeks to get a second job with benefits available...

Face it, you were a shitty banker anyways.

Is this what normal is?

I've spent the last year working overnights. 11pm-7am. It was a test run, essentially: trying to find a way to spend a bit more time at home and with MrsZ. Previously, I had been working evenings (3p-11p) and almost never saw my wife.

It's been a long year. Sleep became a precious commodity, snatched in fits and bursts when the opportunity arouse. Instead of my preferred 7-9 hours daily, I've been getting about 6 on a good day. Evening social events were again out, unless it was something absolutely critical or on one of my nights off.

I've gained fifteen or so pounds, my blood pressure has gone up, and my stress level has gone through the roof.

I walked out the door at 7:04 this morning and closed that chapter on my career. Beginning next week, I'll be on day shift. I finally came up with the seniority to get there. (Six years in March, although I could be bumped back to evenings in the next shift bid.) MrsZ and I get to commute together at least three days each week. I can be active in my fire department in the evenings. I get to sleep at night. I can do social activities; go out for a beer, enjoy a poker game, invite the neighbors for a BBQ, all that crazy stuff. I'm looking forward to it.

That said... there is a small piece of me that will miss the solitude and freedom of nights. With no upper management and no visitors floating around, it was usually just those of us working with an occasional visit from a deputy bringing coffee. The workload was generally quite tolerable - occasionally even slow - and the calls tended to the dramatic.

On top of that, the group I worked with were some of the best people I've worked with. Certainly there were personality differences, and arguments, but when things had to get done, we did them. We made a pretty good team, playing on each other's strengths and picking up the slack when needed. I'm going to miss working with most of them.

... but not enough to give up my sleep. :-)

Rise and Fall

OldNFO has a post up lamenting the lack of properly-trained and -qualified replacements for a retiring generation.

He writes:

But seriously, what's the next generation going to do? Forfeit the capability to the Asians? Hope they can pay somebody to do the work for them? Just stop doing R&D? I don't know, but I'm not getting a good feeling here...

Hie thee forth, RTWT.

Shoulder:Wheel

Well, vacation ended this morning (last night). Tossed the usual assortment of stuff in my bag and trundled back in to the office.

Truth be told, five weeks was a great break, but by the end of it I was beginning to get a little twitchy. I spent the first week or two turning my body back around to a daytime schedule, then we travelled for nearly two weeks, and I had intended to spend the last week or so finishing up projects around the house.

Unfortunately, the weather didn't cooperate. I don't handle hot weather well, and 90+ with accompanying humidity just kills me. I got a little bit done, but there's plenty remaining, and a fair bit is now time-sensitive as winter approaches. As if to reinforce the point, the sugar maple in our yard dropped its first few leaves this past week; a nice crimson counterpoint to the green grass they laid in.

Much as I enjoyed the respite from Other People's Problems, coming in to work tonight was also something of a relief. I enjoy what I do, and more than a month disconnected was a bit more than I was ready for. Next time ... four weeks, max. But it's over now...

Last fall, my parents gave us a gift certificate for a very nice local restaurant for our anniversary, and we decided to use it Friday night to celebrate the end of vacation, the end of summer, and just because. I called early in the afternoon and asked for a reservation at 8:00 or 8:30, and was told both were available. I opted for 8:00 and asked for a specific section; one that is graced with full-height windows overlooking a park and the lake.

We arrived a few minutes early and were directed to the bar; I ordered a Manhattan and MrsZ ordered a glass of red wine (Bresca?), which we took to the porch and rapidly gathering twilight. Our table was ready in short order, and eventually we got around to ordering our meal. This restaurant is the epitome of elegance in that regard: you are NEVER rushed. We browsed the menu, listened to the specials, nibbled on the sweet bread and butter, sipped our drinks, and when we closed our menus and looked up, the waitress appeared within moments to take our order.

A meal here is something of a prix fixe arrangement; each entree has a (different) price but all will include bread, appetizer, salad, entree, and dessert. I opted for the seafood bisque, garden salad, prime rib, and a blueberry crisp; MrsZ had a fondue, caesar salad, Frenched pork chop, and blackberry trifle.

We ate at our own pace, enjoyed our conversation, watched the dark outside (too dark to see the lake, sadly), and enjoyed coffee with our dessert. Two and a half hours after we got there, we strolled back out to the car, full, relaxed, and with a box of leftovers for an upcoming meal.

Now, I won't lie and tell you this meal was cheap. It wasn't, by any stretch of the imagination. The tab would have bought most of our groceries for a week, perhaps two.

However, what they offer is value. For the same amount of money, we could have gone to any chain restaurant two or three times, and had generic food with generic drinks. We could have sat in uncomfortable booths, stared at the TVs over the other's head, and tried to talk over the conversations and too-loud music around us.

For the money, I'd rather go out to one really nice meal every three months than a chain restaurant every month. It makes going out to eat a treat, instead of expensive calories because we didn't feel like cooking.

But now, it's shoulder to the wheel, to infinity and beyond!

Multi-tas- Ooh, shiny!

I'm well aware that Ambulance Driver hates his dipshi... er ... dispatchers. Based on what he says, with good cause - but they are working within the guidelines of their corporate environment, and that may be causing some problems.

But that's not the point of this entry!

I am a 911 dispatcher. I like to believe I'm a pretty fair dispatcher. Not "great", just "pretty fair", which translates in my mind to "a hair above average without being exceptional". Modest, immodest, it doesn't matter. I show up for work, do my shift to the best of my ability, and leave my headset hanging on the wall when I go home at the end of the day.

Some days are better than others, and what makes a "good day" in dispatch varies tremendously. Some shifts I'll come in the door tired and out of sorts, and hope for a calm shift that will allow me to read the news, play some Spider Solitaire, maybe half-watch something on Discovery or History Channel. Other days, a "good shift" is defined by a structure fire that runs well, or giving good pre-arrival instructions and ending up with a save. Or a police call that just works out *right*.

Regardless of what makes for a good day, some parts of the job never change. Our center is small enough that it is often possible to be at least peripherally aware of what is happening with ALL the agencies in the county. Perhaps not the details of each incident, but at least a rough idea of where things stand.

The corollary to that, of course, is that I need to be one-hundred-percent aware of what's going on at MY console. I need to know what's been assigned, what's pending, prioritize the pending, reassign/redirect as necessary, and keep a loose idea of where each unit is along with their status.

I try. We all do. Some do better than others, but every one of us - every single one - has a tipping point. That one last radio call or incident that brings the whole house of cards crashing down in a jumbled mess. It's not a pretty picture, and the recovery from it is even harder - because the calls *don't stop coming in*.

Picture, if you will, a waiter carrying a tray full of glasses at a black-tie cocktail party. Mingling through the crowd, and as he walks along, people are taking full glasses away and putting empty ones back. Things are going well, the party is a pleasant affair... and then someone puts a glass on the tray when the waiter isn't looking, and the balance is gone. Maybe the waiter starts to catch it and fumbles, or maybe he doesn't realize it's off balance until the first glass hits the floor. Either way, there's a hell of a mess.

Cleaning up that mess is easy - set down the tray, get a broom and dustpan, and sweep things up and carry on. But that's where our metaphor starts to fall apart. Our waiter, instead of setting down the tray and cleaning up the mess, has to get the broken glasses back on the tray in one piece, while still mingling and passing out drinks and having empties put back. Not a pretty picture, is it? In fact, darn near impossible?

I have been faced more than once with the dispatch equivalent. Eventually the "party" winds down and it's possible to get things back to an even keel, but in the meantime, all the party-goers are standing around grumbling about the clumsy waiter.

Every dispatcher has their own "tray" and ability to balance it. My question - prompted by some recent events - is this:
Is it possible to effectively train someone to a greater level of situation awareness/multi-tasking?

I.e., can they be trained to carry a bigger tray?

Any thoughts are appreciated.