Altan
My newest Squidoo lens is Celtic Music: Altan and it can be found here. I just published it, so changes may occur.
Altan is a great traditional Irish group that began in the 1980s with Belfast flute player Frankie Kennedy and Gweedore fiddler and singer Mairead Ni Mhaonaigh. I happened to attend a folk festival in Rockport, Maine in 1986, where the duo were performing. This was before they formed the group and the same year they released the album titled Altan. I got to see Altan perform live in Worcester, MA either in the late '80s or early '90s.
Check out the lens for much more information about the group, with links to all their albums, their website (which is very extensive), YouTube videos, and a link to a recording of their appearance on the RTE One program The Full Set in July 2007.
All Squidoo lens URLs start with "http://www.squidoo.com/". I chose "celticmusic-altan" as the second part so I can add other lenses about Celtic music using "celticmusic-" followed by an artist or group name if I decide to create other lenses along this line. If I do, it'll be mainly because I want to get the information out there, since so far the monetary returns from existing lenses has been extremely small. The way I built this lens, commissions for any CD or MP3 downloads from Amazon will be split 50/50 with Squidoo. As an Amazon associate, I could've built the page using links that would give me all of the commission, but given the small returns so far, I decided that's not worth the effort. I can always change things later.
There are plenty of artists and groups I could do lenses on, since it seems so far nobody else seems to have tackled the area. Squidoo is fond of saying you can create a lens on a subject in five minutes. You can, but it won't be very good. I put several hours into my lenses, usually over more than one day as I think about how I want things to appear. Other Celtic Music lenses may appear, but I don't think there's going to be a sudden explosion of them.
LiveIreland
My interest in Celtic music was kicked up a notch or two a couple of months ago when I was using StumbleUpon one Wednesday afternoon and landed at the site of LiveIreland.com, an internet radio station in the Temple Bar section of Dublin. The station features traditional Irish music, which includes new music in traditional styles. The site features a webcam which shows the DJ in the studio when there is one. At the time I landed there, a very attractive redhaired lass was doing a show. I learned her name was Klara McDonnell. The site also features a chat room where people can communicate with the DJ and each other. There are a few people who show up regularly any time there's a DJ, and sometimes they can be found there even when the station is automated.
It turned out I was lucky to catch Klara doing a show as it was her last Wednesday appearance. She'd only done a few shows before I saw that one, but she's a singer/songwriter and part-time actress, and she's really gotten to like doing the show and interacting with the chat people. She's become a real favorite of the chat room people, myself included.
While LiveIreland broadcasts 24 hours a day, DJs are most likely to be seen in the studio on the webcam between 7 and 11 p.m. Dublin time, which is 8 hours ahead of Pacific time. DJs are volunteers, so they're not always there. So far, it seems Klara on Mondays (now from 8 to 10 Dublin time) and Noel on Thursdays from 7 to 9 Dublin time are the most likely to appear. Some of the DJs are university students, so there may be fewer live DJs during the summer months.
For a couple of Mondays during Klara's show, the station experimented with using Stickam for more interactive shows. People with webcams could add their faces and voices to chats on LiveIreland's Stickam page. Although I had a cam, I hadn't used it in years, but I was able to hook up a microphone and join without video that first time. I discovered the cam was too old to work properly and got a new cam for the next one of Klara's shows. After that, studio engineer Daithi realized the computer in the studio would need to be replaced, or a new one added, in order to keep Stickam from interfering with the quality of the broadcast. But they do want to do more shows on Stickam in the future, and I'll be ready, as long as I'm around during Klara's show.
LiveIreland also has a social networking site, My.LiveIreland.com, and I've set up a page there. It's still very much a work in progress. I'd like to add some of my photos there, and I'll be adding a comment about the Altan lens there as well. Currently there are 895 members of the site.
Meanwhile, I've been listening to LiveIreland quite a bit, and have discovered several new groups, such as the Anglo/Irish group Flook, and Afro Celt Sound System, that I really like. Irish pop singer Sinead O'Connor has put out a CD called Sean Nos Nua and I like what I've heard from it, and usually request songs on it. Sean nos is traditional Irish unaccompanied singing, and O'Connor has added some instrumentation, though not much, to her renditions of traditional songs. The Nua in the title means "new."
LI has a lot of music, but there are limitations on what they can play. EMI, which apparently controls rights to The Chieftains, does not allow their music to be played on LI, and there are probably other artists we can't hear either because of EMI. And even with groups and artists who can be played, it appears LI doesn't have everything by them. Older Altan tunes, for example, don't show up on LI's lists.
One thing's for certain, being a DJ seems to be a lot easier with the use of computers and MP3 recordings. When I did my shows on WICN from 1985 to 1991, almost everything was on LP, with CDs just starting to get used more often. Cueing up a tune on an LP and starting it so it came in at the right time was a bit of an art. With MP3s, it's a whole lot easier. No more running back and forth to the record library during a show, or pulling albums before the show and putting them back after, and hoping everyone put them all in the right places. Of course, I didn't have a webcam in the studio or a chat room to keep an eye on either.
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
Friday, March 21, 2008
Obama in the Viewfinder - Portland, OR March 21, 2008
On Wednesday this week, I found out from the Willamette Week website that Sen. Barack Obama would be making a stop in Portland Friday. In the comments section of the story, someone posted the URL for getting an online ticket, and a ticket was essential. I put in for one and got it, probably just in time, as later stories said tickets were gone shortly after noon.
I mentioned it on the Delphi Forums forum Pulling to the Left. Another participant suggested I should get there by 4 a.m. for a speech scheduled for 9:30 a.m. with doors opening at 7:30. The MAX doesn't run quite that early, but I did catch it this morning just after 4:30 and was getting off just after 5.
As I was walking from the MAX stop to the Coliseum, which is located behind the Rose Garden Arena, a guy caught up with me and asked if I was going to hear a speech. I said yes and we became event buddies and talked. His name was Joe and like me, he had a camera, which is one reason we both showed up early. It made the long wait much much easier, especially since I had forgotten to bring a book. It was cold, so I was glad I had my winter jacket, but at least the rain we'd had until around 4 a.m. didn't bother us again. When we got to the Coliseum, there were about 100-200 people already there and the place holds close to 12,000. We were right up front, especially after the line split for admittance through the many doors into the place.
Another thing I forgot was the Swiss Army knife which is always in my pocket and I hadn't removed. Well, the TSA people handling security had to take it, and the guy I spoke with indicated I probably wouldn't get it back - fortunately, I did. Reminder for anyone going to a candidate rally in post-9/11 America: Swiss Army knives, other small knives, umbrellas, water bottles and coffee containers (except for paper ones) can't be taken into an arena. I was somewhat mollified after the event to see a table with over 100 other small pocket knives, so I was far from the only person who'd forgotten about one.
Just before we were admitted at 7 a.m., a half hour earlier than scheduled, someone was handing out stickers for "Section 106." Joe and I got stickers and learned from others that we would be seated opposite the media crews with their cameras, so we had a chance of showing up on TV. Signs were passed out once we were in our seats, and I got a blue one that said "Change We Can Believe In." Some got a second red sign with the message "Stand For Change."
I took some pictures before things got started - signs, crowd shots, etc. and knew I would be pretty involved trying to get good pictures. Because of our location, that looked to be a challenge because their were large white lights opposite us. The camera did OK with them, though, and because of the glare, I ended up seeing most of the speeches by Rep. Earl Blumenauer, Gov. Bill Richardson of New Mexico (the governor endorsed Obama in his speech), and Obama. Looking through the viewfinder or at the small screen, I didn't get as much glare as I saw just looking without the camera.
Because I was so focused on taking pictures, I didn't concentrate as much on the speeches. But Gov. Richardson's speech can be viewed here:
http://bravenewfilms.org/blog/33380-bill-richardson-endorses-obama-hi-res
and Sen. Obama's speech, in four parts, can be seen here:
http://www.nwcn.com/video/index.html?nvid=229100
I plan to watch them myself later. So far I've taken a look to see if I show up, and it appears most of the time I'm out of frame on the left side to the point that so far I haven't spotted myself.
Richardson spoke for about 15 minutes, and Obama spoke of his former rival at some length. It made me wonder if Obama's thinking of Richardson as a VP, and I've seen comments to that effect at some of the sites I looked at while finding the videos.
Considering they were supposed to be in Salem, about an hour's drive south, at 11:30, I thought they spoke longer than I'd expected. Sen. Obama covered a lot of ground in his speech, covering many issues from health care, job outsourcing, national security, the Iraq debacle, education, and others. He's setting himself an ambitious agenda, but then, there is much in this country that needs serious fixing after eight years of the destructive Bush regime.
We all were very excited to be seeing Barack Obama just a few days after his historic speech in Philadelphia. We were on our feet much of the time, with the sections within media camera range waving signs enthusiastically. Several "waves" went around the Coliseum before the speeches, and several times we chanted "Yes we can!" My throat's a little scratchy right now from all the yelling and cheering.
It was an energizing event. Obama, as many probably already know, is a great speaker. While I thought because of our location I'd mostly be seeing only his back, things got better. I had mostly back views of Blumenauer and Richardson during their speeches, but Obama had a wireless mike and was able to face everyone in turn, which was good because this was a sort of theater in the round setting.
After he ended his speech, he went around in the crowd down on the arena floor, shaking hands and possibly autographing stuff, although I'm not sure about the latter. As the picture above shows, I saw him as one head in a sea of heads.
Afterward, I lost track of Joe, so I headed out. I figured it was worth a shot to try and see if I could recover the Swiss Army knife, so when I spotted a TSA guy just outside the doors, I asked him about it and he said stuff was on display at the Guest Services area, which meant I had to go back in. Rather than try to swim upstream like a salmon, I went past the outward-surging crowd into the arena itself and walked back, then joined the crowd again to get back to Guest Services. I spotted my knife among the hundred or so others, but we had to wait for word that Obama had left. After a while, the folks in charge of the confiscated stuff picked up the table with all the knives and carried it outside, with many of us in hot pursuit. I was able to quickly recover my possession and head back to the MAX stop.
I mentioned it on the Delphi Forums forum Pulling to the Left. Another participant suggested I should get there by 4 a.m. for a speech scheduled for 9:30 a.m. with doors opening at 7:30. The MAX doesn't run quite that early, but I did catch it this morning just after 4:30 and was getting off just after 5.
As I was walking from the MAX stop to the Coliseum, which is located behind the Rose Garden Arena, a guy caught up with me and asked if I was going to hear a speech. I said yes and we became event buddies and talked. His name was Joe and like me, he had a camera, which is one reason we both showed up early. It made the long wait much much easier, especially since I had forgotten to bring a book. It was cold, so I was glad I had my winter jacket, but at least the rain we'd had until around 4 a.m. didn't bother us again. When we got to the Coliseum, there were about 100-200 people already there and the place holds close to 12,000. We were right up front, especially after the line split for admittance through the many doors into the place.Another thing I forgot was the Swiss Army knife which is always in my pocket and I hadn't removed. Well, the TSA people handling security had to take it, and the guy I spoke with indicated I probably wouldn't get it back - fortunately, I did. Reminder for anyone going to a candidate rally in post-9/11 America: Swiss Army knives, other small knives, umbrellas, water bottles and coffee containers (except for paper ones) can't be taken into an arena. I was somewhat mollified after the event to see a table with over 100 other small pocket knives, so I was far from the only person who'd forgotten about one.
Just before we were admitted at 7 a.m., a half hour earlier than scheduled, someone was handing out stickers for "Section 106." Joe and I got stickers and learned from others that we would be seated opposite the media crews with their cameras, so we had a chance of showing up on TV. Signs were passed out once we were in our seats, and I got a blue one that said "Change We Can Believe In." Some got a second red sign with the message "Stand For Change."
I took some pictures before things got started - signs, crowd shots, etc. and knew I would be pretty involved trying to get good pictures. Because of our location, that looked to be a challenge because their were large white lights opposite us. The camera did OK with them, though, and because of the glare, I ended up seeing most of the speeches by Rep. Earl Blumenauer, Gov. Bill Richardson of New Mexico (the governor endorsed Obama in his speech), and Obama. Looking through the viewfinder or at the small screen, I didn't get as much glare as I saw just looking without the camera.
Because I was so focused on taking pictures, I didn't concentrate as much on the speeches. But Gov. Richardson's speech can be viewed here:http://bravenewfilms.org/blog/33380-bill-richardson-endorses-obama-hi-res
and Sen. Obama's speech, in four parts, can be seen here:
http://www.nwcn.com/video/index.html?nvid=229100
I plan to watch them myself later. So far I've taken a look to see if I show up, and it appears most of the time I'm out of frame on the left side to the point that so far I haven't spotted myself.
Richardson spoke for about 15 minutes, and Obama spoke of his former rival at some length. It made me wonder if Obama's thinking of Richardson as a VP, and I've seen comments to that effect at some of the sites I looked at while finding the videos.Considering they were supposed to be in Salem, about an hour's drive south, at 11:30, I thought they spoke longer than I'd expected. Sen. Obama covered a lot of ground in his speech, covering many issues from health care, job outsourcing, national security, the Iraq debacle, education, and others. He's setting himself an ambitious agenda, but then, there is much in this country that needs serious fixing after eight years of the destructive Bush regime.
We all were very excited to be seeing Barack Obama just a few days after his historic speech in Philadelphia. We were on our feet much of the time, with the sections within media camera range waving signs enthusiastically. Several "waves" went around the Coliseum before the speeches, and several times we chanted "Yes we can!" My throat's a little scratchy right now from all the yelling and cheering.
It was an energizing event. Obama, as many probably already know, is a great speaker. While I thought because of our location I'd mostly be seeing only his back, things got better. I had mostly back views of Blumenauer and Richardson during their speeches, but Obama had a wireless mike and was able to face everyone in turn, which was good because this was a sort of theater in the round setting.
After he ended his speech, he went around in the crowd down on the arena floor, shaking hands and possibly autographing stuff, although I'm not sure about the latter. As the picture above shows, I saw him as one head in a sea of heads.
Afterward, I lost track of Joe, so I headed out. I figured it was worth a shot to try and see if I could recover the Swiss Army knife, so when I spotted a TSA guy just outside the doors, I asked him about it and he said stuff was on display at the Guest Services area, which meant I had to go back in. Rather than try to swim upstream like a salmon, I went past the outward-surging crowd into the arena itself and walked back, then joined the crowd again to get back to Guest Services. I spotted my knife among the hundred or so others, but we had to wait for word that Obama had left. After a while, the folks in charge of the confiscated stuff picked up the table with all the knives and carried it outside, with many of us in hot pursuit. I was able to quickly recover my possession and head back to the MAX stop.
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
More on those "44" calls
I went through the list of calls recorded on my phone today, and found six more calls with 12-digit numbers starting with 44. Since I didn't speak to anyone during those calls, I don't know if the company would've been identified as "Financial Services" of Atlanta, GA as last night's call revealed. But I did put in a complaint for each call on www.donotcall.gov. That site accepts complaints if you know the number but not the company or vice versa, although I think it's better if you can supply both. Still, anyone looking at the complaints I filed would see the pattern. They were all 44 numbers, with the next three digits being 207 or 208. Beyond that, all the numbers were different, so probably each operator has a separate number, probably in an attempt to make it look like it's someone different calling each time so calls can't be blocked by entering a full number in a blocker. I suppose I should look into whether my phone can set up blocks for all numbers beginning with 44207 and 44208.
When I looked through the call detail of my recent bills, I saw the calls went back to Nov. 14, 2007, so there haven't been a whole lot of calls. But still, it's seven more calls than I should have gotten.
I'm not sure if the reports will amount to anything. If I don't file complaints, it definitely will not amount to anything and I might continue getting calls unless the woman I spoke with last evening really did get me on the company's do not call list. Who knows, maybe they really don't want to call pissed off people to try to sell them stuff. Some companies aren't that bright, though, so we'll see.
When I looked through the call detail of my recent bills, I saw the calls went back to Nov. 14, 2007, so there haven't been a whole lot of calls. But still, it's seven more calls than I should have gotten.
I'm not sure if the reports will amount to anything. If I don't file complaints, it definitely will not amount to anything and I might continue getting calls unless the woman I spoke with last evening really did get me on the company's do not call list. Who knows, maybe they really don't want to call pissed off people to try to sell them stuff. Some companies aren't that bright, though, so we'll see.
Monday, January 28, 2008
Do Not Call
I was watching Bush lie to the nation, talking back to the TV telling him how full of crap he is, when I got a phone call. I don't get a whole lot of them, and like too many recently, it was a call from a 12-digit number starting with 44 - 442074121208 to be exact (I looked up 44 as a country code. It's the UK.). I've gotten way too many of those calls over the past few months, and every call has begun with 44.
At first, I would just hang up on them without ever speaking to anyone since it looked like a call from outside the country, and nobody I personally know outside the country has my phone number. When I did listen, it was some company promising to lower my interest rates on credit cards, although the recorded message never identified which of several card companies they might be calling from. So I'd just hang up. After a few times, however, I decided I'd listen a little more and see if they offered a button to push to keep them from calling again. They did. I pushed "2" on more than one call, but the calls continued to come in. Not very often, really - sometimes a week or more would go without a call.
But there shouldn't have been any calls because I'm on the government's Do Not Call list and have been for several years. With only a few exceptions, it's worked pretty much as I expected it would.
This time I answered, and as the recorded message played, I got a pen and piece of paper. The option to push 2 on the phone came, I pushed it, and then started to write down the number showing on the phone. I was interrupted by a person coming on the line, so I switched gears. The woman on the other end started her spiel, but I interrupted her by asking what company she represented. She said "Financial Services" which isn't very helpful. It's just as evasive as them pretending to be calling from a credit card company I do business with. I wrote it down. Then I asked where the company was located and she said "Atlanta, GA." I wrote that down, wondering whether either bit of info was true. I've since Googled "financial services atlanta" and have found National Financial Services Group, but she didn't say "National" and that company appears to be concentrating on doing business in the Southeast, not the Northwest. I don't think that company was calling me. There was no company in Atlanta called Financial Services that Google came up with.
I then asked her if I had a business relationship with the company, which I'm very sure I don't since I'd never heard of them before. She asked if I had a Visa or Master Card, something a legit company calling me about credit cards would already know, one would think. I asked how her company got my number, and she said through Experian, one of the major credit reporting agencies. I don't know whether to believe that or not, although I wouldn't doubt that any of those agencies would sell numbers.
I then let her know my phone number is on the Do Not Call list and I shouldn't even be getting this call. I also told her I'd gotten previous calls and had pressed 2 on my phone on at least two occasions to stop further calls. She asked for my number and since I'm sure it's already on record there somewhere, I gave it again, and that was the end of the call.
Since I'm a phone drone myself, I didn't enjoy giving the woman a hard time, but her company (or probably her company's client, since she probably works for an outsource company like I do) had no business calling a number on the Do Not Call list. I wasn't very polite, but I didn't yell, didn't use profanity, and didn't insult her or even her employer. But she could have no doubt I was not pleased to be having that conversation.
After getting off the phone, I went to www.donotcall.gov and filed a complaint, listing the phone number as shown on my phone, and the company name the woman had given, even though I'm pretty sure it's bogus since Google couldn't find it. It's the first time I've put through a complaint on that website, mostly because there have only been one or two occasions before this outfit started calling and I didn't get information needed for a complaint then.
I won't be surprised if that company robocalls me again, and if they do, I'll file another complaint.
At first, I would just hang up on them without ever speaking to anyone since it looked like a call from outside the country, and nobody I personally know outside the country has my phone number. When I did listen, it was some company promising to lower my interest rates on credit cards, although the recorded message never identified which of several card companies they might be calling from. So I'd just hang up. After a few times, however, I decided I'd listen a little more and see if they offered a button to push to keep them from calling again. They did. I pushed "2" on more than one call, but the calls continued to come in. Not very often, really - sometimes a week or more would go without a call.
But there shouldn't have been any calls because I'm on the government's Do Not Call list and have been for several years. With only a few exceptions, it's worked pretty much as I expected it would.
This time I answered, and as the recorded message played, I got a pen and piece of paper. The option to push 2 on the phone came, I pushed it, and then started to write down the number showing on the phone. I was interrupted by a person coming on the line, so I switched gears. The woman on the other end started her spiel, but I interrupted her by asking what company she represented. She said "Financial Services" which isn't very helpful. It's just as evasive as them pretending to be calling from a credit card company I do business with. I wrote it down. Then I asked where the company was located and she said "Atlanta, GA." I wrote that down, wondering whether either bit of info was true. I've since Googled "financial services atlanta" and have found National Financial Services Group, but she didn't say "National" and that company appears to be concentrating on doing business in the Southeast, not the Northwest. I don't think that company was calling me. There was no company in Atlanta called Financial Services that Google came up with.
I then asked her if I had a business relationship with the company, which I'm very sure I don't since I'd never heard of them before. She asked if I had a Visa or Master Card, something a legit company calling me about credit cards would already know, one would think. I asked how her company got my number, and she said through Experian, one of the major credit reporting agencies. I don't know whether to believe that or not, although I wouldn't doubt that any of those agencies would sell numbers.
I then let her know my phone number is on the Do Not Call list and I shouldn't even be getting this call. I also told her I'd gotten previous calls and had pressed 2 on my phone on at least two occasions to stop further calls. She asked for my number and since I'm sure it's already on record there somewhere, I gave it again, and that was the end of the call.
Since I'm a phone drone myself, I didn't enjoy giving the woman a hard time, but her company (or probably her company's client, since she probably works for an outsource company like I do) had no business calling a number on the Do Not Call list. I wasn't very polite, but I didn't yell, didn't use profanity, and didn't insult her or even her employer. But she could have no doubt I was not pleased to be having that conversation.
After getting off the phone, I went to www.donotcall.gov and filed a complaint, listing the phone number as shown on my phone, and the company name the woman had given, even though I'm pretty sure it's bogus since Google couldn't find it. It's the first time I've put through a complaint on that website, mostly because there have only been one or two occasions before this outfit started calling and I didn't get information needed for a complaint then.
I won't be surprised if that company robocalls me again, and if they do, I'll file another complaint.
Thursday, January 24, 2008
The Snowflake Man
Just after I started my new job, I encountered an article about Wilson A. Bentley of Jericho, Vermont. He's known as the first person to take pictures of snowflakes. He took well over 5,000 pictures of snowflakes beginning in 1885 until he died in 1931. Bentley combined a bellows camera with a microscope to take his amazing photos, which required a lot of patience and holding of breath to keep his subjects from melting. People still use his pictures as references and as springboards for arts and crafts projects.
My aunt and uncle (I have the same first name and middle name as the uncle, my father's brother - both now deceased) lived for many years in Jericho, not far from the village green in Jericho Center, where there's a roadside marker commemorating Bentley. Many years ago, I'd seen some of Bentley's photos, most likely in our family's mid-1950s copy of The World Book Encyclopedia. When I first saw the marker in Jericho Center, I knew why it was there. He was certainly in the right place to become a snowflake photographer. Jericho is just to the west of Vermont's highest peak, Mt. Mansfield, and east of Lake Champlain, so it would get some lake effect flurries until the lake froze, and lake effect snow sometimes even reached Jericho from Lake Ontario on the other side of the Adirondacks.
I've been trying to remember where I saw the article. I thought it was Wikipedia, but I can't see where the entry for Bentley was featured anywhere. So I probably saw it someplace else. I did use the Wikipedia entry as a source when I decided Bentley would be a good subject for a Squidoo lens (aka web page). The first thing I did on Squidoo was make sure nobody else had started a lens on the same subject, and nobody had. So I started looking around. Wikipedia had the picture I've used at the beginning of this post, which I edited into its separate images to scatter throughout the book listings. In addition to the books on the page, I also found links to some businesses in Jericho related to Bentley, a link to the University of Buffalo, and of course, Wikipedia.
I called it Wilson A. Bentley - The Snowflake Man. I got enough done the first day to publish it, then added some finishing touches the next day.
During my research, I discovered a book illustrated by Mary Azarian, a Vermont artist who specializes in woodcuts. It's aimed at children aged 4 to 8 and written by Jacqueline Briggs Martin. Mary Azarian won the 1999 Caldecott Medal for her illustrations. I remembered Mary from my folk music days back East, when I helped run a coffeehouse in a Unitarian church basement in Fitchburg, MA. It's where I met Joanna in 1980. Joanna and I were together for six years, and she introduced me to the New England Folk Festival in Natick, MA (late April - and the festival moved to Mansfield, MA starting in 2007) and the Old Songs Festival near Albany, NY (late June). I encountered Mary's artwork at these festivals, and Mary herself on one or two occasions. I may have said a few complimentary words to her, but didn't get into any real conversation. I really recommend you check out her website at http://www.maryazarian.com/index.html. One of these days I may do a lens about her. I'm not sure how widely known she is outside the Northeast.
Darn, now I'm feeling all nostalgic about Vermont and folk festivals I used to love going to. One of these years I'd love to go to Old Songs again. I went every year from 1985 to 2000 except for '88 and it was like going home for a weekend. I was reminded of that feeling this past summer when I went for the first time to the Oregon Country Fair, which has been running in one form or another since the late '60s. As the bus entered the grounds, I saw a sign that said "Welcome Home" and knew exactly how people returning year after year felt on seeing it.
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
Even Better News
Seems like the company I'll be taking calls for was more than a little embarrassed, at last, to come in dead last in customer service ratings among the five major cell phone providers. I believe they were in the same position when I worked at the place before, and I could've told them you get what you pay for, and this place pays about the lowest they can (currently five whole cents an hour above the state minimum wage, which is one of the highest in the country at $7.95/hr.). Needless to say, they don't attract the best employees, as one look at some of the people I'm sharing training with would prove.
So today we were told that starting Feb. 9, we're getting a $2/hr. raise to $10/hr. After 90 days, the pay begins to be based partly on performance, so the rate drops to $9.50/hr., but by then they pretty much expect people will be able to make up the other fifty cents and possibly more. Ten bucks an hour with the very short commute compares very favorably to what I was getting downtown. There's also the possibility of increasing the pay by being good at offering what they call "service solutions"; in other words, selling extra services.
The possibility exists that I could get more money than I've gotten at any other job since I moved, if I can get better at concentrating on doing what they expect and not insisting they're not making a whole lot of sense even if they're not.
A lot of times in the past when the employer has announced something and said it will benefit the employees, what they said needed a large grain of salt to go with it. They used to offer a 25 cent per hour raise every three months to a certain limit and then it went to six months, which is how I got to $10.25/hr. before I left. Then they changed things, but it only affected people hired after a certain date. It was a definite step back for them, with quite a bit longer between increases, and a lower cap on hourly rates, but they made it sound like it was a great new program. It was, but not for employees.
So maybe, just maybe, they've learned something. I'm feeling encouraged, but past experience tells me to believe it when I see it. But if I can perform better than last time around, I could do better paywise.
So today we were told that starting Feb. 9, we're getting a $2/hr. raise to $10/hr. After 90 days, the pay begins to be based partly on performance, so the rate drops to $9.50/hr., but by then they pretty much expect people will be able to make up the other fifty cents and possibly more. Ten bucks an hour with the very short commute compares very favorably to what I was getting downtown. There's also the possibility of increasing the pay by being good at offering what they call "service solutions"; in other words, selling extra services.
The possibility exists that I could get more money than I've gotten at any other job since I moved, if I can get better at concentrating on doing what they expect and not insisting they're not making a whole lot of sense even if they're not.
A lot of times in the past when the employer has announced something and said it will benefit the employees, what they said needed a large grain of salt to go with it. They used to offer a 25 cent per hour raise every three months to a certain limit and then it went to six months, which is how I got to $10.25/hr. before I left. Then they changed things, but it only affected people hired after a certain date. It was a definite step back for them, with quite a bit longer between increases, and a lower cap on hourly rates, but they made it sound like it was a great new program. It was, but not for employees.
So maybe, just maybe, they've learned something. I'm feeling encouraged, but past experience tells me to believe it when I see it. But if I can perform better than last time around, I could do better paywise.
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
Finally: Issue Resolved
They finally sorted out whatever it was that was keeping my from having access to programs that others got access to last week, so it looks like I won't be going off looking for another job too soon. I absolutely hate looking for work, and because I keep to myself so much, references aren't the easiest things to come by.
I didn't have the access when I went in this morning, and I mentioned it again to the trainer. I didn't say I wouldn't come back from lunch if access wasn't given, though. It turned out that when I checked during lunch, everything was resolved. I mentioned that to the trainer, and she said it had been escalated yesterday. I'm glad I didn't just roll over and play dead and let them take their time resolving this, even though they weren't terribly speedy about it.
Even better, this afternoon the guy who will be my supervisor after I get out of the training part on the phones came over and introduced himself. I remembered him from my last stint there, and frankly, I think I probably got a supervisor best suited to me. He strikes me as being a relatively serious, conscientious type as well as a decent human being.
Other than the login issue, things seem to be going well. I'm pleased to see that I even remembered a lot of stuff from being there before, so I can concentrate on things that have changed. There's a whole lot of stuff to recall - maybe not to memorize, but at least remember where to go to find out stuff. The search functions on the programs are sort of like Google, but not nearly as easy to use, which a lot more guesswork or just finding out somehow where to go and trying to recall it when needed.
It's a bit of a relief to have things straightened out so I can concentrate more on the learning process. I didn't miss out on too much by not having the login issue unresolved, but there were a few things.
I didn't have the access when I went in this morning, and I mentioned it again to the trainer. I didn't say I wouldn't come back from lunch if access wasn't given, though. It turned out that when I checked during lunch, everything was resolved. I mentioned that to the trainer, and she said it had been escalated yesterday. I'm glad I didn't just roll over and play dead and let them take their time resolving this, even though they weren't terribly speedy about it.
Even better, this afternoon the guy who will be my supervisor after I get out of the training part on the phones came over and introduced himself. I remembered him from my last stint there, and frankly, I think I probably got a supervisor best suited to me. He strikes me as being a relatively serious, conscientious type as well as a decent human being.
Other than the login issue, things seem to be going well. I'm pleased to see that I even remembered a lot of stuff from being there before, so I can concentrate on things that have changed. There's a whole lot of stuff to recall - maybe not to memorize, but at least remember where to go to find out stuff. The search functions on the programs are sort of like Google, but not nearly as easy to use, which a lot more guesswork or just finding out somehow where to go and trying to recall it when needed.
It's a bit of a relief to have things straightened out so I can concentrate more on the learning process. I didn't miss out on too much by not having the login issue unresolved, but there were a few things.
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