Dish Guy Damage

I arrived on a job this morning to repair damage the 'dish guy' did just after 10 AM. I thought the house looked familiar but I wasn't sure. I wasn't supposed to be there until the afternoon but had the time this morning so I thought I would stop by to see if I could knock-it-out. Thankfully, they were home and appreciated that I got there early.

I spoke with the people briefly about what had happened with the 'dish guy.' They lamented about their experience and mentioned they were glad they had NOT called us yet to disconnect; could I please 'undo' whatever he did. I was happy to listen to their bad experience with the 'dish people' as locally they are our only video competitor. Whenever people ask me about 'the dish' all I can relay is what I have been told; most often from their dissatisfied customers. After speaking with them to get some sense of what I needed to do, I excused myself to the van and gathered the things I would need to remedy the situation.

As I walked back into the home the woman mentioned that she thought I had been there before. I smiled and mentioned that I had thought so, too. Her husband was there and I apologized to them both as after many years on the job I am more likely to remember the home rather than the people. I meet a lot of people. As I went about the home I remembered more about my first visit. It had been five years. I joked with them that the next time I showed up at the door I would think about putting them on my 'Christmas card list. They both laughed.

The 'dish guy' damage was worse than I first thought. I was there for a while. During this time I could overhear the husband taking a phone call; it was obvious someone had passed away. I was casually conversing with the misses and she told me their friend's wife had passed; she had been beset with numerous health troubles. I expressed my sympathy; apparently, it was not unexpected.

As I was finishing up we began talking about travel. They were both retired and were enjoying it. Somehow the conversation turned to me telling them a cool story from my trip to Maui just over eight years ago. The woman began to cry. I asked her not to as I might start, too.

Some days ago as I went through some things here I found a disc on which I had saved all the postings from 'the old blog' before they shut it down. Here is the story as I posted it there over a year ago.

MAUI MEMORIES

A little over six years ago I was presented with the opportunity to go with friends to Maui. A good friend of mine from Baltimore had just graduated from Law School. She and some friends were going to take the vacation-of-a-lifetime to celebrate and 'while they had the chance.' I struggled with the decision whether or not to go. The expense was more money than I had ever spent on anything other than a house or a car. I was having trouble justifying it but I did decide to go.

We had an awesome time on Maui. I was staying in a very cool little efficiency condo. My friends were staying at a hotel resort a short five minute walk up the beach. I did a lot of things there and had a great time. I went snorkeling in a semi-submerged volcanic caldera...and almost drowned. I took the helicopter tour of the island. I saw the sun rise over the rim of Haleakala and then rode a bicycle 38 miles from 10,000 feet elevation down to the beach. It was great! I told friends when I got home it was worth every penny as I had seen the 'Face-of-God.'

My last day there I had checked out of my condo early and had my stuff up at the friends' resort. They would be taking me to the airport for a 5 o'clock flight; their flight left later. After eating breakfast I went down to the beach for a little while. I stopped to shower the sand off my feet before returning to the pool. A couple was doing the same thing nearby. We began talking.

They lived in NYC but the wife was born in Allentown, PA which is about 50 miles from here. She was very familiar with Amishland. They lived in Greenwich Village. They were very nice people. As we walked back towards the pool, Kevin asked me if he could buy me a beer. I said, 'No sir, it's only 11 o'clock in the morning and I'm flying out today. My flight leaves at 5 so I have a long day/night ahead of me.' He insisted.

As can so often be the case, one beer lead to another and another and before I knew it I was having lunch with these people. After lunch I told them I had to go 'touch base' with my friends, let them know where I was and what I was doing. I also told my lunch companions that I had four bottles of beer I would give them in the hotel room. That I would be right back.

I talked to my friends, retrieved the beers, and returned to the table by the pool. Kevin had taken his t-shirt off. It was folded on the table. We began talking some more. Kevin looked at me and said, 'I like you. There's something about your spirit. I want you to have this on one condition.' He handed me the folded t-shirt. 'What's that?' I asked.

He said, 'You promise me you will wear it.' I agreed, thanked him, put it in my backpack and we said our good-byes. A nice end to a great trip. I was soon off to the airport and headed home.

FAST FORWARD TO THREE DAYS LATER....

I got home from another hot late-August workday still trying to adjust to the time change from my vacation. It's always easier to fly 'back in time,' instead of 'forward.' I sat down in front of the PC and turned the TV on. I was checking e-mail, chatting or something. The TV was just backround noise. A commercial came on. It was for an online travel website. All I heard was, 'Ever want to go on a bike ride at 10,000 feet?' My head swivelled. I turned and looked at the TV and there was Haleakala! I had JUST BEEN THERE! I almost jumped out of my chair.

FAST FORWARD TO THREE WEEKS LATER.....

It was a beautiful morning. The sun was bright, the birds were singing. It was going to be another great day to be out-and-about. We start work at 8:30 and I don't waste any time getting off the lot. The office is the last place I want to spend time at while working. I followed my usual routine and stopped at a convenience store to buy a paper and my morning iced tea. I had turned the radio on; was listening to Howard Stern.

I began driving to my first job. On the radio they began reporting a plane had struck the north tower of the World Trade Center. I listened as I drove, parked the van and knocked on the apartment door. The door opened and it was obvious to me that I had awakened the man. I said, 'Good Morning, you don't know what's going on do you?' He said, 'No. ?'

I said, 'turn on the TV...any channel.' He was stunned, sat back in his chair and just stared. He had moved down here from the city. I immediately thought of my new friend, Kevin. He was a NYC firefighter, Lower East Side.

That was on a Tuesday, the following Thursday they told us at work that we could forgo the uniform on Friday and, with a $2 donation to the Red Cross, we could wear anything we wanted as long as it was red, white, or blue. I knew what I was wearing. Poolside in Hawaii Kevin had given me his FDNY shirt. I cried as I put it on. I promised him I would wear it.

I got to work and the other guys loved it! They all asked, "Where'd you get that?' It has his engine and ladder number on it, it is very cool. That was on September 14th, long before the shirts were a dime-a-dozen. I told them, 'Believe it or not, I got this shirt three weeks ago on a beach in Maui.' Unbelievable.

That Sunday I got an e-mail from Patty, his wife. I wish I would have saved it. One paragraph. To paraphrase...'thinking back to three weeks ago at the Wailea Resort....seems like a lifetime ago.' Much to my relief, she had signed both their names so I knew Kevin was okay.

I wrote back and in my response I told her how unbelievable to me that through events of history his casual act of friendship had become something I will treasure forever.

I succeeded in fighting back the tears as I looked towards her husband, instead. I didn't mean to make her cry. I just relayed a story about a nice trip I took and what happened soon after I got home; how the trip had been worth every penny spent and much more. It was clear she understood.

Just a story from today. A story from my past, too.

Hope everyone's staying warm; having fun, too.

Bad Day for Cable Guys

I am sure I have mentioned on these 'pages' before that my co-workers and I often have to do jobs known in our cable-lingo as 'DNP's.' A DNP is a disconnect for non-pay; we are to knock on the door to collect the outstanding balance before terminating the service. Most often we then go back some time later and turn it back on. Of course, the customer pays a fee for this service.

My second job this morning was one such service call. I had a work order to reconnect the service to a home in a neighborhood served by underground lines. In this case such a job was going to take five minutes longer than the usual three minutes as the pedestals aka 'peds' were behind the homes not out near the street. In most new neighborhoods the peds are in someone's front yard out near the sidewalk.

It was cold but the line to be reconnected was the only one that was disconnected in the ped. I attempted to remove the terminator from the tap where the line had been connected but †he terminator was defective. It was no big deal as there were other ports available on the tap so I simply moved it to one of those. I connected the line, closed and locked the ped, and walked away. Job done. I returned to my warm van, got inside and drove to the next job.

I went about my day and mid-afternoon noticed a trouble call had appeared on my phone. It was at the address I had reconnected earlier and read, 'No Service/All TV's.' In most cases this is the result of the customer tampering with the lines after the service has been terminated and it can be resolved quickly. In this situation I am sorry to say, that was not the case.

This past weekend the company did some kind of firm-ware upgrade to the system that drives our digital and high-definition services. We currently have 10/12 different 'set-top' boxes out in the field. Some models took the automatic upgrade better than others. Some models would not take the upgrade without being unplugged electrically and then allowed to reboot. At this home they had three different models of boxes. Their boxes had been disconnected during the termination and weren't taking the download.

I had to call my boss three times during the hour-plus that I was there for more specific information and to advise him of my progress. I value my independence highly; any need to call him makes for a 'bad day' for me. Ugh.

He has been trying very hard to maintain a good relationship with me after my comments to his evaluation of me back on '08; that is a whole other story best kept never shared here. I saw him briefly at the end of the day today and he said, 'and you think you had a bad day.' I asked what he meant. He went on to tell me the following story.

One of our contractors had pulled up to a house to do a DNP. He had parked his truck in front of the house and went to the door to collect the money. As he explained to the customer that he needed to collect the outstanding balance or disconnect the service; his truck...which he left running due to the cold weather...had slipped out of park, into reverse and had banged the customer's car! Can you imagine...you are there as a 'collection agent' and then you slam into their car? Oh my.

Very funny to picture the scene.

Here I thought I had a bad day.

Hope all's well with everyone.

Have fun and take care.

Today's Adventure

Today was one of those classic days to be the cable guy as I had some interesting experiences with people. It really was an adventure. I am going to start at the end of the day and work toward the beginning.

My last 'people job' of the day was a downgrade of service. The people were disconnecting their digital cable TV service but keeping their broadband internet. I needed to pick up their digital TV equipment and make a quick change on their line. The woman heard the 'back-up beeper' of my van as I parked out on the street. The door was open as I approached it. She smiled, I said, 'Ma'am, I am here for the cable.' She invited me in.

I could see the flat screen TV in the living room past the kitchen of the town home. I walked towards it as I said, 'Ma'am, I assume this is where the box is?' I stood in front of the TV and turned as I got no response. She said, 'Yes, and we don't walk on that rug.' I said, 'Oh, Ma'am, I am so sorry.' I quickly stepped off the rug. I also quickly thought, 'well if you don't walk on it then why is it on the floor?'

She immediately came over and flipped it over so there was no chance I would step on it. She wasn't 'mean' about it; she went on to say, 'We don't step on it not in shoes, anyway.' She was nice and we did talk as I went about what I had to do. I was curious but never asked about the 'sanctity' of the rug.

Before I arrived at the job where I stepped on the sacred rug, I stopped at a house while performing a 'disconnect-for-non-pay.' Procedure requires me to knock on the door and try to collect the money before I disconnect the service. I pulled in front of the ramshackle home and knockedon the door of what I thought to be an empty home. There was no car in the driveway.

I knocked and waited. Much to my surprise a gentleman in a wheelchair answered. He was an amputee. His left leg was removed below the knee. I didn't want to disconnect his cable on 'humanitarian grounds;' so I called the office to facilitate a resolution of his account balance so I wouldn't have to. After the matter was resolved I asked about the accident he mentioned that resulted in his amputation. He told me a very sad story.

He was an avid bicycle rider. This is an area that offers many opportunities for that. He was riding his bike and was struck by a vehicle on New Year's Day 2009. It was hit-and-run. He didn't remember the accident but said the bottom half of his leg got twisted so many times it 'came off.' He said he was conscious and said to the first woman that came to help him that it hurt a lot. He said he didn't understand why she was crying. He didn't know the bottom of his leg was gone. Ugh.

Amazingly, he laughed as he told me the next thing he said to her was, 'I think I want a beer; maybe two.' He was open about talking about his situation. He really seemed to have a good attitude about life. He knew I helped him out. He shook my hand when I left.

My first job of the morning may have been the most interesting. I was there to connect the people to the internet. I was greeted at the door by a nice young woman. Our interesting conversation began after she offered me something to drink soon after I arrived. I responded with my typical question in such situations; I asked, 'You're not from around here, are you?' She said, 'No.'

She went on to tell me she had been born into a Hutterite community in South Dakota. She asked if I was familiar with Hutterites and I told her I was not. She explained that it was a communal society originally from Germany whose people had largely resettled into the northern plains of the US and western Canada. I was fascinated. She was very nice and answered all of my many questions. It was very interesting to talk to her about her experience growing up in such a community and transitioning to life into our broader culture outside. It was funny as she took a phone call from her mother and I heard her speak switching back-and-forth between their German dialect and English.

As we conversed she also told me she spent a year in Germany as an 'au pair.' before she recently got married and settled here. That was interesting, too. Definitely one of those jobs where I learned things from someone else's experiences; shared some of my own, too.

I got home tonight and googled Hutterites. It's interesting to note that they are an Anabaptist Protestant sect somewhat related to the Amish and Mennonites we have around here. Hutterites, in contrast, do drive, have electricity and 'modern conveniences' but stay socially 'removed' from greater society in their colonies. From speaking with the young woman this morning they would appear to be much more open and friendly than the Germanic sects that settled here. Funny, as I made some reference to that to her and she agreed. It was very cool talking with her.

Just three glimpses from today's daily adventure.

Who knows what tomorrow will bring?

Hope all's well with everyone.

Peace

better late than never?

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

I mentioned some posts ago my recent purchase of a new computer. I went back to an Apple MacIntosh after many years with a Windows-based PC.

I have had a lot of fun putting together videos for YouTube; the link to the first one titled, 'A day on my river,' is included in the post below.

I now have four videos posted there. One from a trip to Cancun, one from a trip to Mackinac Island/Lake Huron/Michigan, and one from a trip to Manhattan. I am sure there will be more. I have a lot of material to work with. The pictures above are shots from each of the new ones.

Each of them just a slice of our world.

Should you check them out, I hope you enjoy.

Here's the URL to my favorite...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wR05A4ZbxV8

My favorite so far, anyway... wink

Hope everyone is having a very happy New Year!

May it be a peaceful and prosperous one for you all.