Tag Archives: Work

20th Century Boy

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Presently in the phone with Harpy. Blood pressure which is usually low is quite high while talking to him. It all stemmed when for some strange reason I tried giving him a call to let him know the latest developments at work.

Like last week when I wrote I have all these phone numbers in my cellphone and hardly any of them were available. Well, Rand was available and I told him about the latest.

Harpy was unavailable, as was Bill, Annemarie, and everyone else. That’s fine. They have their lives, their problems and I’ve got mine.

What happened was mainly a continuation of last week. Last week was when I started phoning up a few hotels and motels and asking them questions regarding beaming movies to their rooms.

I couldn’t do it all the way through since the people on the other end had questions that I couldn’t answer. Vivek and his business partner and Abby were all unavailable.

Still I felt it best if I went through the questionnaire with one of the three next to me in case there were questions. I told them this today and they agreed.

It didn’t mean they were going to find time to sit there next to me. In fact they still wanted me to call, looking and sounding stupid sitting next to an empty chair. It’s just ridiculous.

But the peak of ridiculousness was when they told me that I would be driving to different hotels and motels to check out the properties. Oh how their faces fell when I told them I didn’t drive.

They offered to pay for driving lessons but I told them I knew how to drive, it’s just that I don’t want to drive. And I don’t have a license.

I am probably one of the few Americans they’ve met who steadfastly refuses to drive.

I explained to them that I used to drive for a living. I drove to California and back. I’ve driven to Florida and back. I drove to Austin, Texas. And twice a day I used to drive from Saddle Brook NJ to 757 Third Avenue, only a few blocks away.

When I had to do an “impersonation of Janet Leigh” for Vivek’s business partner is when I tried calling.

Rand understood. He was my unofficial co-pilot for about a year.

Things have changed since I last drove 23 years ago. More new drivers and more older drivers. It’s not so much I don’t trust them, but the tons of metal are unsafe at any speed.

All it takes is one split second, one thing to go wrong and everything could all go bad.

And I do not want to drive a car or truck or van ever again.

Harpy insisted on telling me over and over that it would be something new to do. That if I want to keep my job I had better start to drive again. Sorry, but if it comes down to that I would rather walk than drive.

And dealing with Vivek and his business partner and Abby is something else entirely. Several times as I sat with them, plans for what I should do change within seconds. ‘John should do this.’ Then ‘John should do that’ which totally conflicts with the initial proposal.

What am I getting myself into? I was also told that I could start coming into the office at 10:00 since Vivek and his business partner don’t usually make it in until noon sometimes.

So they want me to stay later, until 6:00 or 7:00.

Sorry if tonight’s entry is incoherent. I think I should put off talking on the phone until after I’ve written since whatever state of mind I might have been in previously, it’s gone now and I am a bit tense.

Action Time Vision

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So Happy It’s Thursday again. Yes it’s my Friday. Or is it? It looks like I will be going in to the office for a little while tomorrow.

I now work for a company that supplies movies to hotels and motels. That just happened this morning, not by my doing. The company that hired me is no more.

I still support The Conservative Mortgage Company, That Cancer Research Foundation, The Hulk Investment Company, Investment Consultants Australian for Beer Company, and now the Asian Indian Beamed Movie Company.

Five companies, all contributing to my salary. There might be one or two smaller companies that I overlooked but you get the picture.

So today, Vivek calls me from Washington DC? Pensacola? and tells me something about what I have to do today.

Some Indian dude named Abby called up, telling me that he’s stopping by to see me about what Vivek talked to me this morning. The thing is, Vivek was half asleep when he called and I only understood about 10% of what he was saying.

Abby says he’ll be in the office in an hour. Two hours later he shows up. I get a crash course on what I have to do. Call up various hotels and motels that have signed up for the movie beaming service and ask them questions from two different questionnaires.

That wouldn’t be too difficult. It was eerily similar to a job I had about 20 years ago, working for Rupert Murdoch and helping to build his Hotel Database to Nowhere. But instead of looking at brochures and running off to ingest some powders with coworkers, I’m basically on my own.

Abby had hit the road running off to Washington DC when I finally had a chance to make some calls. Make that call. Midway through while talking to Raj in Reading PA, I realized I was over my head.

I thanked him for his time and mentioned that I would call him back with a few more questions in a day or two. I had some questions of my own to ask but Vivek and his business partner were unavailable, as was Abby.

Actually Abby did call from the road telling me that there was one person that was important to reach today. I called that one person who was quite personable and asked that I email him the questionnaires which he will fill out and fax in tomorrow.

And that’s the basic reason why I will be going in tomorrow. To get a fax and then scan it and send to Seattle. I don’t mind really.

I will just start my laundry tonight and head into the office without any of the daily hang ups. It’s my job now and like Vivek said, the company that hired me is no more and if I want a job, this is the job I should take.

Beaming movies into hotel and motel rooms for $2.99 a day, $3.99 if you want to include adult movies. All the movies are stored in a box and available with the touch of a finger. It’s actually something I am looking forward to.

I saw Matthew Broderick on the street yesterday.