33 Years Ago Today and One More Shift for Tammy
33 years ago today I began my career with the FAA. I don't know what 33 years is supposed to feel like but certainly not this. Back when I was beginning my career that would've seemed like a very long time to be a controller but that's not my perspective today. Of the 500 or so people I sat with in the auditorium that morning as we filled out the many forms, I have to wonder how many (if any) are still working traffic? Could I possibly be the last man standing out of all of us? It's entirely possible.
I spent too much time this past week trying to upgrade Tammy's phone after she'd dropped hers in the toilet. It still functioned but would occasionally go dark. She was a few months past due for an upgrade but that's not what our account's records with Verizon showed. I tried to get a resolution to the problem both in-store and over the phone but with no luck whatsoever. Each time I was assured that someone would get back to me but they never did. In my frustration I made a post to Facebook, more curious than anything about what carriers others were using as I kicked around thoughts of giving Verizon the heave-ho, all the while pretty sure I would be staying with Verizon because their coverage really is the best. Once we're retired and doing more traveling we'll want good coverage.
One of the commenters to my Facebook post was Jay, a retired controller whose son works at the Verizon store in Apple Valley. He suggested I go in and see if he could get it straightened out for us. I was feeling like this was our only hope at this point.
And we did.
We spent more than two hours with James on Thursday afternoon. He was on the phone with the corporate office for much too long it seemed but he was finally able to untangle the mess our account was in and that's all that really mattered. Tammy is the happy owner of an iPhone 6 and we also walked away with a pair of UE Boom wireless speakers. They make a lot of sense for out on our deck. Actually, I'm listening to them now as I write this. They're so full of sound.
Another thing James noticed on our account was that we weren't getting the government employee discount of 15%. He fixed that too!
I opted for indoor riding this week on my CompuTrainer. I have a love-hate relationship with that piece of equipment. It works me so hard but when I'm done I'm very thankful for the workout. The photo to the right was taken during a workout where I was riding against myself from two previous rides. The image to the left of the screen was the 'current' me during the ride. The center image was from a recent ride and the right side image was an effort I did shortly after getting out of the hospital a couple months ago. I can see my improvement based on my watts output and average speed.
Today's ride was even better averaging 195 watts over 30 miles. Nothing exceptional but I'm moving in the right direction.
Spring shows up on the calendar but you wouldn't know it by looking outside.
I was expecting the snow we got last Sunday to be gone by now but it's reluctant to leave. I haven't let that stop me from taking the pups for their daily walk. They so look forward to it. Toby and Allie will be 12 this summer and I know this is something we probably won't be able to do in a couple of years. I don't want to even think about that.
Tammy has just one day of work remaining before retiring from her job as a telephone triage nurse. She's been with OptumHealth for 7 years and will be so happy to be done. It's stressful work. She'll go into the office on Monday for her last shift and to turn in all of the equipment she used in her home office. I had to laugh after she finished her last at-home shift on Tuesday, she wasted no time in tearing down all of her equipment and promising me that the office/den would soon be my domain once again.
I don't expect that she'll be putting her feet up for too long. She's already got something in the works; something that she's very excited about but I'll wait for a while to say more about it.
I spent too much time this past week trying to upgrade Tammy's phone after she'd dropped hers in the toilet. It still functioned but would occasionally go dark. She was a few months past due for an upgrade but that's not what our account's records with Verizon showed. I tried to get a resolution to the problem both in-store and over the phone but with no luck whatsoever. Each time I was assured that someone would get back to me but they never did. In my frustration I made a post to Facebook, more curious than anything about what carriers others were using as I kicked around thoughts of giving Verizon the heave-ho, all the while pretty sure I would be staying with Verizon because their coverage really is the best. Once we're retired and doing more traveling we'll want good coverage.
One of the commenters to my Facebook post was Jay, a retired controller whose son works at the Verizon store in Apple Valley. He suggested I go in and see if he could get it straightened out for us. I was feeling like this was our only hope at this point.And we did.
We spent more than two hours with James on Thursday afternoon. He was on the phone with the corporate office for much too long it seemed but he was finally able to untangle the mess our account was in and that's all that really mattered. Tammy is the happy owner of an iPhone 6 and we also walked away with a pair of UE Boom wireless speakers. They make a lot of sense for out on our deck. Actually, I'm listening to them now as I write this. They're so full of sound.
Another thing James noticed on our account was that we weren't getting the government employee discount of 15%. He fixed that too!
I opted for indoor riding this week on my CompuTrainer. I have a love-hate relationship with that piece of equipment. It works me so hard but when I'm done I'm very thankful for the workout. The photo to the right was taken during a workout where I was riding against myself from two previous rides. The image to the left of the screen was the 'current' me during the ride. The center image was from a recent ride and the right side image was an effort I did shortly after getting out of the hospital a couple months ago. I can see my improvement based on my watts output and average speed.
Today's ride was even better averaging 195 watts over 30 miles. Nothing exceptional but I'm moving in the right direction.Spring shows up on the calendar but you wouldn't know it by looking outside.
I was expecting the snow we got last Sunday to be gone by now but it's reluctant to leave. I haven't let that stop me from taking the pups for their daily walk. They so look forward to it. Toby and Allie will be 12 this summer and I know this is something we probably won't be able to do in a couple of years. I don't want to even think about that.Tammy has just one day of work remaining before retiring from her job as a telephone triage nurse. She's been with OptumHealth for 7 years and will be so happy to be done. It's stressful work. She'll go into the office on Monday for her last shift and to turn in all of the equipment she used in her home office. I had to laugh after she finished her last at-home shift on Tuesday, she wasted no time in tearing down all of her equipment and promising me that the office/den would soon be my domain once again.
I don't expect that she'll be putting her feet up for too long. She's already got something in the works; something that she's very excited about but I'll wait for a while to say more about it.
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