Get a haircut and get a real job!

Does anyone still get a reference to "Get a Haircut" by George Thorogood & The Destroyers (circa 1993)? Well, regardless of whether you get the reference or not, I wanted to provide an update on how my job is going.

I've been a Network Technician with Emery Telcom for almost five months now and, at this point, I still like the job, my co-workers and the opportunity to learn new things and enjoy some task variety. Since my last blog post (yikes, its been a while), I've been to two training sessions. Once to Sunnyvale, CA (silicon valley) for training on the Cisco Cable Modem Termination System (CMTS) and once to Boca Raton, FL for training on the MetaSwitch telephone switch that we use.

Regardless of what technology I'm dealing with, especially since most people neither know nor care about the specifics (at least that's what Leslie tells me though it sounds more like "would you please shut up? I don't care what that is"), I genuinely enjoy learning new things and especially enjoy having some responsibility in both technical and business aspects.

In addition to the cable modem system and phone switch I've also been working with monitoring and alarming equipment, server installations, battery replacements (yesterday, I replaced 20 batteries at about 100 lbs each) and a variety of other stuff. I (almost) always liked working for XL Cable doing electronics setup/tuning in cable systems because I got to use my brain, do some physical work and have some sense of accomplishment at the end of the day. While I'm still not GLAD I was laid off from my last job, I really didn't have any task variety, it was boring and I pretty much never had a sense of accomplishment or challenge and so I'm very glad to have the opposite situation now with Emery Telcom.

Price, UT still isn't as nice as Boise, ID and we've not yet managed to sell our home there (ugh - making payments on a house you don't live in plus paying rent on a place much smaller and not nearly as nice isn't fun) but its working out here. I enjoy going to work each day, I get some overtime that helps (slightly) make up for the drop in salary and our family is doing well (the kids don't really care where we are and Leslie seems to deal with it okay).

To ensure that this isn't an entirely boring blog post, I'll also share with you that my two training trips haven't been without a little fun. I had the chance to go running in both California and Florida (including running on the beach in Florida), tired In'N'Out Burger for the first time in California and then went snorkeling in Florida. The highlight of the Florida trip was definitely being stung by a jellyfish as I swam out from shore. A stinging/burning sensation for 45 minutes or so when it happened, followed by a RAGING headache the next day were the only side effects but I didn't let it ruin the fun and got to see tropical fish, a stingray, a lot more jellyfish and some pieces of a shipwreck. And no, there was no peeing on my arm to make the sting go away.