Second Promotion

Source: https://xkcd.com/806/

I am happy to announce that for the past month I have been working in a different department.  As the title suggests I have been promoted.  Again.

It has been less than a year since I left my old job as an Optician and began working at an ISP in technical support.  Moreover the two promotions, first as a residential tier 2, and then to a business technical tier 1 analyst have both come as tremendous surprises (as well as new challenges).  Regardless, I transitioned well into the residential tier 2 position and so far as a business analyst I'm getting along with my team and building upon my knowledge base and skill set.

Mkay, so what exactly do I do?

Essentially I do the same thing I was doing for residential clients.  I trouble shoot reported issues and assist end users in solutions that resolve their problems.  But I also do so much more than I did when I was in the residential department.

With our business clients I give technical support for their phone systems, email, and general web hosting.  To say that each trouble ticket is more involved than I have previously worked with would be an understatement.

A simple issue of internet being reported as down also means that the phone systems that I support will likely also be effected.  The work that I do for a lot of trouble tickets usually involves more than just myself.  Since I am supporting everything from small businesses to medical facilities.  This means that every second counts.

I think this is the first company I've worked for where I can say with confidence that I love my job and I look forward to commuting to work every day.

The New Job: Tech Support

Wow, has life been busy!  A month ago was my last day at Walmart as an Optician (yes, I can fix your glasses, and no I didn't do eye exams - that's the Optometrist!) and a few days later started my new job at a local Internet Service Provider (ISP).  So far it's a great job, and one that I'm naturally good at.  During the same time, as I was transitioning between jobs, my wife was weaning our daughter which was its own adventure - one that I just won't get into.

So what am I doing exactly?  Well I do technical support.  Essentially I'm the guy who fixes your internet when you call in saying that your internet is slow or down.  (Occasionally I help out the customer service representatives by taking payments from customers too, but that's not exactly exciting.)  The exciting part of every day is helping people get their internet up and running.  This involves listening to the problem being described by the customer and then diagnosing the root of the problem by running tests and assembling stats on what's happening.  Sometimes I do have to escalate some issues to be handled by another department, but that's in extreme cases.

It's not always busy at the office which has a geeky ambiance that I enjoy.  It has all the markings of my dream job.  Alright, alright so what don't I like about the job?  Well, to be honest there's nothing I like less than any other part.  I mean, it's work.  However, the people I work with really have a sincere focus on team work and an emphasis on supporting each other.  It's also an environment where everyone is highly encouraged to learn something new every day regardless of whether or not you're in technical support or accounting.  It's just an all around great place to work!

Given that one of my goals is to get in to IT or programming, this is a great first step.  The best part is that I can already see that my simple entry level position is not the end of the line for me.  There's room to move up.  And you know what else?  I'm encouraged to move up if I want to.  This is a company where if you're good and what you do, then results will usually follow.

It's really a great opportunity to expand upon my skill set.  And the absolute best part is that I have a regular schedule.  That makes all the difference.  I think the sacrifice I made taking a pay cut to accept this position has opened a door to me, and I'm happy I walked through.

However, I'm not naive.  I know there are going to be tough days.  I know there are going to be days I wish I hadn't shown up to work.  There are going to be days where things are overwhelming, and maybe things just aren't working right and tickets get back logged.  This isn't any different from any other job.  The difference is that in this job I think I'm going to have a good experience during the tough times because I know I have the support of my coworkers and supervisor who want to see me be my best.

Why I Love Google

Source

So, it was pointed out recently that I have an apparent "fan boy" lean towards Google.  I'll admit, I bring up Google a lot when talking about tech, and the latest trends.  Over the long haul since the day I first opened my Gmail (and before that when they were my exclusive go to for searches) I've found their products easily integrated into my day-to-day life. 

What's great is that from one email address I have so many services and options to choose, or not to choose, from.  This means that I'm not constantly creating logins for everything, which cuts down on time logging into to services that I use regularly.  This of course means that while I'm checking my email, calendar, and even blogging (yes, Blogger is part of Google!) all that time I save by logging in once is time that can now be given to productivity - getting things done!

But is that all there is for my existence on Google's servers?  There's actually quite a long list of available services to Google users.

Gmail, Contacts, Blogger, Calendar, Docs, Sheets, Slides, Forms, Drive, Hangouts, Keep, Voice, YouTube, Sites, Groups, Maps, Photos, Play Music, Messages for Web, and Arts & Culture

The above list - I'm sure - is just a sliver of what's available from Google if you have a gmail.  Much more if you're a business or educational facility that uses GSuite.

Best of all the services I use on a daily basis is the Google Assistant.  Saying the hot phrase "Hey Google," followed by a command such as, "what's on my agenda today?" or "what time does Starbucks close?" yields results that make it easy to find the information you need.  Apple's Siri (yes I have an iPod and tested Siri for myself) just doesn't compare.

The focus of every product from Google is productivity.  This proved especially helpful during my time in academia.  Saving something to my Google Drive proved useful for backup if I needed to pull something up on campus and didn't have time to open my laptop and plug in my USB drive.  Best of all, since my professors required projects/assignments to be submitted in *.docx, *.xlsx, or *.pptx (MS Office formats), I could use Google Docs to

• Collaborate on a group project without needing to fish through emails looking for the current version of whatever you're working on
• Comment and suggest edits to existing projects
• Use the Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides apps on my phone and tablet to edit assignments and projects when away from my laptop
• Save projects as MS Office, *pdf, *.epub, or any other format you need!

That last bit really came handy as professors required MS Office formats.  I mean, really came in handy.

Google Keep has always been handy as a way to have a shopping list.  Best part is that as you're shopping you can check off what you put in your cart and it'll cross it out and move it down so you know what's left to get.  This is especially handy with to-do lists and other times you need to keep track of things and mark off when done.  My wife and I keep a shared grocery list that we add to as things get low and when it comes time to shop we both have the same list so either of us can shop and keep updated on what we need.

I could go on with every service I've used, how I've used it, and how it actually helps me, but we would be here all day.  I guess looking back over what I've written here it seems that I may be slightly fanatic about Google.  You know what?  I'm completely cool with that!  Some people may not even like Google, and may even have an absurd idea that Google is some sort of Skynet or the Matrix or the one of the omens of the apocalypse, but that's just infantile paranoia and a conspiracy fantasy.

Work-Life Balance Not Exactly Ideal

Image source

So the balancing act between my work and life probably could not be any worse.  At the moment my goal of waking up early just isn't going to happen because my biorhythm is not well supported by my work schedule.  Due to short staffing and payroll cut backs I can't be full time.  Being part time has immense drawbacks since I get left with all the hours that no one else wants.  Essentially I work afternoon and evenings half the week followed immediately by morning and daytime shifts.  This pretty much leaves me exhausted and unable to function day to day by the end of the week.  Every precious minute I get to sleep, is welcomed with no protest!

From another point of view I wonder what the chaotic schedule is doing to the relationship I have with my wife and daughter.  I'm away from home at odd times and there's no consistency.  At times I'm unable to remember the last time I had a chance to actually have a good conversation with my wife that didn't revolve around finances, benefits, or how much my next pay check is going to be.  At the same time my work schedule and every day agenda at work is also partially dictated by whatever mood my boss happens to be in.  Such inconsistency causes great mental stress and anxiety about even going into work.

To summarize: I need a new job.

I have been out on the job market actually since March of last year, and so far with no success.  My wonderful wife has helped my compile a list of applications when I've been at work and I've received tips of who's looking to hire.  (As an added bonus: jobs that would give me the work/life balance I desperately need!)  Unfortunately, the story is the same after every interview.  I've got potential, but this other person has more experience.  Sure I make it into the final batch of qualified candidates, however, this does not help my need to provide, support, and be there for my family.

To say it's been rough would be a great understatement!

But this has got me thinking about where I want to go in life and what I need.  I don't need another job.  And even a retail job that's full time won't cut it.  I need a job that I can retire from in 30 years.  A job that utilizes my natural talents, nourishes and expands my potential, and develops my existing skill set.  Such a job - I realize - would likely be related to computer science or IT.  It's almost ecstasy to think that I could find a job where my day to day forced interaction with the general public would be drastically reduced or very limited.  I think that's what I really want though.  I'm just done with only retailers willing to hire me, and then force me into a position where I can't grow in my job.

Why I'm Going to Miss Google Plus

UPDATE (02-06-2019):  It would seem that due to another discovered security breach Google will be closing down Google+ for consumers by April 2019.

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In case most of you haven't heard, Google is shuttering it's social network Google Plus (Google+, G+).  This is sad news to the many of us who use the service to network with like minded individuals and explore the latest in cutting edge science and technology discussions.

This news fell very hard on me, since I have spent many years networking with colleagues and others in my academic field and beyond.

But that wasn't the greatest thing about G+.  If you compared G+ to other social networks such as Facebook and Twitter, the differences couldn't be more obvious.

Twitter, for the most part, is filled with the most random of postings.  It's sort of, at least to me, a platform for ranting about what's wrong in life with the appropriate "hashtag".  Of course public debate, passive aggressive "arguing", and people shooting down opinions also exist.  But if you're like me--and don't have many followers--then for the most part your twitter feed is pretty tame, aside from the occasional drama that may spill over.

Facebook has become a cesspool of negativity and politically drawn battle lines.  It's an opinionated war zone that seems much more like a scene from news coverage of the Iraq War than the place I once remembered; a place where the parade of drunken pictures from the previous night's festivities began sometime around Sunday afternoon and continued into the early hours of Monday.  By and large I've noticed that most of my friends and I don't really use Facebook that often except to use its chat feature (because not everyone uses Google!).  A few friends are still there though and sharing memes and what not, but even still, the social landscape of Facebook has changed.  Facebook now resembles an vast desert, like the planet Naboo from Star Wars, than the lush forest it once was.

Google+ was anything but; and is to this day the least politically fueled social network.  Just going onto my feed exposed me (based on what and who I followed) to the latest trends in science and technology.  What I always saw was people helping other people, sharing some awesome picture of a sunset while they were traveling, or posting some update about this or that scientific study.  Politics?  I'm most certain they existed (I'm not naive!), however because I was never following anything strictly political, and even my groups were always Meteorology and other STEM related, I never saw anything promoting this or that politician.

Now, what prompted Google to decide to shutter G+ was because allegedly there was a data breach that while Google fixed the issue did fail to advise the issue to the 500k users who were potentially affected.  That and Google claims that the social network just isn't used enough.  From my perspective this is just a drop in the bucket compared to the pervasive infractions against personal privacy that Facebook has not only committed and attempted to cover up, but has also tried to rope Google, Apple, Amazon, and any other tech company into the fiasco.  Sometimes I wonder how there are still millions of people on Facebook (then I remember my friends and I using their chat client and not willing to move elsewhere. D'oh.)

I think the greatest reason why I will continue to greatly appreciate G+ until I can no longer gain access around August 2019, and miss it after it's gone, is because at very least I could log on to a social network and just be me.  More than that I knew that logging on to G+ would leave me intellectually edified and in the know of those things that I actually cared about and wanted to know about.  It was nice knowing that I could access a social network where people were generally positive and were genuine (well, except for some of the bots, but those were rare).  But I suppose that wasn't good enough for Google.  In a way, I hope that perhaps something will come along to change Google's mind.

Just an idea: If you have a Google account and activate your Google Plus profile and begin sharing (if you haven't).  Maybe if Google sees a massive influx of users someone might think to themselves, maybe there's life still in her that's worth saving.

Get Excited: Han Solo Movie

This will either do tremendous justice to Han Solo or it will be an overdone action movie that flops. Either way, I will definitely see it.

XKCD Accurately Describes My Life

This is pretty much my life at the moment!

Source: https://www.xkcd.com/844/

Solar Eclipse 2012

On May 20 I got off work and couldn't have been more excited.  Why?  Cause there was a SOLAR ECLIPSE!!!  I admit I do get a little psyched up over stuff that most people probably don't pay attention to, but I did manage to snag a photo of the solar eclipse as the sun set.  So anyway, here's the solar eclipse...

Having A Geeky Time

Recently I've found two websites that are great places to geek out your apartment, dorm, office, or wherever you can.  Both Allposters.com and ThinkGeek.com have been amazing places (when I've had a little extra money saved up. . .) to geek out my dorm.  I fully endorse both of these sites for posters and otherwise nerdy things.  On my wishlist is the Periodic Table of the Elements shower curtain!