Amanda CAARSON

I got in this morning, and found that they’ve fixed the surf control (that which allows us to surf the ‘Net or not), so I can now post and email from work again.
That’s good.
I was starting to miss it.
I mean, I’m not going to avoid work to do it or anything, but it gives me a window to the outside world and keeps me from being totally sucked in to the cue continuum, even if it doesn’t help me avoid getting screwed.
I should be posting more from this point, until something else goes wrong.

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It’s been a while since I’ve posted.
I haven’t done much over the last week except work, and that’s been a total disaster.
It was OK the first part of the week, (excluding all the system problems, and rude callers and administrative crap that’s the usual fair), and I even had a funny call, from some guy who wanted to know if he could donate his medications to someone else because he was no longer taking them and didn’t tell us before we sent him the order.
Of course, I told him he couldn’t.
Absolutely nothing’s happened on the accessibility front, which tells me everybody who’s been promoted according to the level of their incompetence feels that they’ve fixed the problem.
Not good.
On top of all the system lock-ups, Jaws crashes, and screens that aren’t accessible to begin with, yet another problem has surfaced.
Since Thursday morning, it now takes my system literally twenty minutes to start.
There’s a start-up script (actually a series of them) that runs every time we log on to our systems.
One of them in particular has started taking a very long time to run.
I’ve reported it several times, with no result, except that I’ve been suspected of extreme work avoidance, (at least three hours worth for Thursday alone), and generally brushed off, as if everybody’s annoyed because there’s yet another problem developing around the blind person.
Here lately I feel like all I manage to do is cause problems, mixed in with the little bit (compared to everyone else) of money I manage to bring in for the company and the client.
All I seem to be doing is adding to everybody’s problems, and since I don’t have any solutions that are immediate and don’t require any work, it’s somehow my fault.
And there’s no end in site.
We’re due for another upgrade of the database interface in a couple of days, and by January, I’m expected to utilize certain features that come with the new upgrade that aren’t available in the old version of the interface.
It doesn’t matter whether or not any of this has to be as difficult as it is.
The simple fact is that it’s being made difficult, therefore it is.
I’m finding it really hard to keep a sense of humor throughout all this.
All of this is way past the point of ridiculous, and the worst part about it all is that there’s nothing I can do about it.
They say they’re supposed to have the surf control crap fixed sometime this week, so hopefully I’ll be able to post and check my email from work again.
I also hope to post more frequently.

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Due to the lack of ‘net access at work, (which isn’t supposed to be cleared up for about two weeks), I’m going to be posting the items I wrote while at work this week during the day.
I’ll also be posting items from this summer that I’ve never gotten around to adding to the improved Customerservant.com.
For those reading this via L-J, you should be able to look back through the archives, if the posts don’t get added to your friends pages with the old dates.

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I spent yesterday at work, doing nothing.
I had to “be specific” about the Jaws cursor at least three times, at one point taking the time to write an email explaining how Jaws acts like a camera, and the cursor is like a lense.
If the lense can’t focus, then it can’t take a proper picture.
Unfortunately, that message was met with “I still don’t understand.”
And this message was intended for people who claimed they understood how Jaws works, and knew all about how to use it.
Right.
By the time the message got through the chain, it was changed to something about tab order.
By yesterday afternoon, I was being told that the guy in PA I trained to do this stuff in the first place was up, running and taking calls, and that we would have a meeting today so he could tell me how it all worked.
I talked to him last night.
He’s in the same boat I am, and in complete agreement with me that the damned thing needs to be fixed, and that nobody’s listening to a damn thing we’re saying.
We’re still having our meeting today, although it’ll probably just be a rehash of last night’s conversation.
The operations manager is having a meeting with the director of corporate HR this afternoon.
We’ll see how that pans out.

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A lot’s happened in my worklife since the last time I posted about it last Tuesday.
First of all, all the access we had (to the share drive where all my work documents are stored, as well as any memos sent by management in order to be able to be read by myself through Jaws along with my mail, and this blog), has been completely blocked, yet to be restored.
But the biggest event by far has been the disaccessibilization of our database.
Not that it was the most accessible thing in the world, (as you’ll find out by browsing the archives of this blog), but it worked well enough to allow me to do my job.
Now it doesn’t work at all.
This has been going on since Friday.
So after everybody in upper management (and that includes upper management outside the local center as well as the upper management from the client) gushed profusely about how it was a horrible oversight, and how it would never happen again, I had a “meeting” about it yesterday afternoon, at which nothing got accomplished, unless you count my unceremoniously being added to the “pilot team” for the hellish database.
An IP address was supposed to be sent down the pipeline that would give myself and the other agent in the client’s office up in Pennsylvania access to the old version of the interface, but that IP yielded nothing.
The end result of all this?
I spent the last two days (Friday and Monday) at work sitting on my ass, doing absolutely nothing, and I’ll be doing that today too, as the answer I got yesterday before leaving was “Just come in tomorrow and we’ll think of something.”
Guys, that’s really brilliant.
But it’s not the most brilliant thing to happen yesterday.
During our little meeting, I asked if there was any way for feedback to be sent directly to the development team. (Why the hell does every group of people have to be a team?) I got to talk to someone from Development at that meeting, who says he’s going to download a forty-minute demo of Jaws and test it out on the interface.
Never mind he’s probably not used the damned software, and has no idea of how it works or how to use it.
The answer: “You talk to your supervisor, who will talk to his supervisor, who will talk to the person above them, who will talk to the client’s representative, who will meet with the supervisor weveral levels above the other guy in PA, and it’ll go down that chain after we all form an “action plan”, and then we’ll go to Development.”
In short, the same system we’ve been using which produced this huge mess in the first place.
Corporate America is indeed lovely, isn’t it?
Actually, let me rephrase.
Instead of “Corporate America” read the Call Center Industry.
And on top of all that, I broke my cane.
Well, at this point it’s in one piece until I can replace it, but it’s really bent, and it can’t be folded because the elastic in the middle is broken.
I’ll have to wait until the next paycheck to start saving to replace it.
This one went to bills, and the next one will primarily go to my rent.
I’m hoping they’ll fix the access at work so I can post during the day today, so that doing nothing takes up less time than it did yesterday.
If not, I’ll post later today.

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I guess things really must be stressful out there on those streets. That’s why things like this should be no surprise at all, right?

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While reading one of the blogs listed on my blogroll, I found out about something called a carnival. Basically, a carnival is an effort by a group of bloggers to cull articles and posts from various blogs fitting specific criteria set out by the host of the carnival, and then having links to the submissions culled together in one article. It’s a way to generate publicity with a group effort. I don’t know how well this works with LiveJournal, but I don’t see why it wouldn’t. You can submit posts to a number of carnivals by going to and clicking on the carnival submit form at the top. Have fun.

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Not that this system is any good on any other day, but today it’s just been absolutely ridiculous.
I’ve had to restart the thing more than once, because of everything from “serious application container issue” messages to the search button not working.
I’d like to know whose semester-end project this was, and how drunk they were when the got it done.
I’ll be glad to get off work.
I’m getting tired of this place.
O … wait … I’ve been tired of it for a while.
On a better note, the site’s got a new look, and I’ll be adding some things when I get home.
I hope to be able to post some things that aren’t work related, yet are original soon, all in the hope of making the content of this site of higher caliber.
There will always be room for the enteraining things that go on at work, but I want to expand things a little.
I have a headache right now.
And I don’t have any drugs with me either.
We’ve been in cue all day as usual.
All of this is really stressful on a person.

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I looked at my paycheck yesterday morning, and got a nice little surprise.
They’ve raised my pay almost twenty cents. And this is before the evaluation coming up this month. Yay me, and thanks a lot, John. He’s really done a lot for me, including going to bat when other people wouldn’t. I hope today isn’t as busy as yesterday, and I really hope my schedule isn’t as screwed up.

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I’m stuck with another schedule from hell today. My first break was at 09:45, my lunch is at 14:00, and my last break is at 16:00. Somebody has to be smoking something in order to come up with this stuff. Back to the grindstone for now. I still have a little over two hours to go.

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For some reason, that last post didn’t complete itself. I mean, I typed the whole thing, but for some reason, it didn’t completely post. Furthermore, when I try to edit the page, I get an IE error that says it cannot open the page and the action will be aborted. I hope this doesn’t have anything to do with my server again. God, that’s really pissing me off.

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I just got a call from a totally blind employee of the client. I’ve worked here for going on two years, and have yet to have that happen.
I suppose there’s a first time for everything.

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It’s Thursday, and I’m back at work.
I woke up at around 07:38 this morning, which is way too late for my liking.
I heard the alarm go off the morning, and hit the button, then rolled over thinking I’d lay there for a few more minutes.
That few minutes turned into two and a half hours.
So I got up, threw on my clothes and finished getting ready in less than twenty minutes.
I drank my first coke while walking out the door.
And it looks like training the man in PA is back on.
This time, I log in to clerical work.
My employer isn’t billing the client.
Whatever.
At this point, he still isn’t here, but it’s probably because nobody told him.
It’s hotter than hell in here.
We keep bitching at the facilities manager, but it’s turning into something that has to happen on a daily basis.
I’ve threatened to buy everybody on my row, (and as many other people as I can afford), canned drinks if it doesn’t cool off in here.
I might have to deal with being hot, but I’m not going to deal with being parched, and I definitely cannot afford to keep buying bottled drinks.
Betty, I got your comments about importing all my L-J entries, and thank you very much for your offer.
Fortunately, I already got them imported, thanks to a little xml.
I’m applying for a mentor position at work.
It won’t mean any more pay, but I’m hoping it will lead to something else.
Here I go again being hopeful.
Let’s see how it turns out.

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That last caller had to have been sleeping or something. When I asked for his ID, it took him literally a minute to answer, and then I still had to ask three more times because he couldn’t figure out what was going on. He asked if I was verifying his transaction. OK. Just because the Burger King is looking at you in that special way doesn’t mean you need to be a total twit.

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