Once again real life takes over and I don't bother to update my blog for too long.

It's been a crazy ride - again. After 2 months forced vacation I landed a contract position at a very large corporation. I'm not doing tech work but instead writing up telcom engineering specs on corporate real estate changes. That means when a local branch (one of the nearly 1000 local offices across the nation) needs to change, the project manager submits a request and I have to figure out the infrastructure changes and provide budget analysis. It's quite a bit different from the hands-on work I'm used to but I'm still accessing data and voice systems to pull information and I'm dusting off my old technical writing skills.  It's only for a month but may be extended.

Not to shabby considering how slow everything is in this area. No one is hiring and technicians are now a dime a dozen. Even more techs from my old employer are being let go next month which will create an even bigger surplus of telephony technicians.

Someone remarked how at least I have a head start on some of them. We'll see.

Anyway, I'm not digging ditches or laying asphalt - two jobs I never want to do again. Nor am I taking unemployment - something else I never want to do again. I'd rather deliver pizzas than go on unemployment.

Meanwhile I've also been working on servicing some customers on my own. Not a lot of work but it's been a good learning experience working on products I've never seen before. One customer even asked me to record their Auto Attendant messages so now you hear my voice saying "Thank you for calling. If you know your party's extension you may dial it at any time." Ha! Not exactly the voice work I dreamed of doing as a kid (didn't everyone want to be a cartoon voice?) but it pays (not so much, but it is money). I'll be working on their Music-on-Hold announcements, too. Then you'll hear me saying things like "You may also submit a trouble ticket on line. Visit us at www...." and "Did you know you can do...." while waiting on hold.  There's actually a small market for professional sounding custom recordings. I've billed enough to pay for the new laptop I needed, but that's it so far.

I don't like laptops - I prefer desktops mostly for the full size keyboards. It's hard to relocate your full tower system while visiting various customers, however. So when I found a laptop with a full keyboard (or 90% anyway) that was dirt cheap, I was pretty excited. After loading all my product documents, System access software (every phone system requires a unique and custom interface), and recording software, I now have a portable office capable of watching Naruto videos - I mean, interfacing with customers equipment and recording and editing voice prompts. Not high tech, but very useful.

So my "Open for Business" sign is hanging out front. Let me know if you need some help fixing your telephone system, streamlining the auto-nightmare menu system customers go through to reach a live person, or providing advertisements to your on-hold captive audience. All lines are open and operators are standing by to take your order.