An Update is in Order
Haven't really said much in a while. Suppose I should remedy that.
Things are going pretty well right now, I must say. Well, relatively anyway. Work sucks, but work always sucks because it's work and it's monotonous. There's no way around that, unfortunately, but we all have to make a living. AT&T has been all right for the most part, but there's a lot that's starting to grate my nerves about the place. I've come to realize that the position I am in with the company is not an enviable position... it's an expendable position for the company, really. If they had their way, my job would be outsourced and someone overseas would be doing my job, all in the process of saving money. If it weren't for the government er... coaxing, shall we say, the company into bringing the jobs back to America, I wouldn't have a job with the company. Don't get me wrong, I'm thankful for the job I have, and it's a foot in the door, but it's upsetting me the way we are treated. My department is the lowest paid department in the company. We don't get great benefits. We have to pay for our own parking. They have millions of exaggerated rules that aren't needed, but they enforce them because they feel they need to control our department instead of letting us be self-sufficient. I've always worked jobs where they tell you "Here's your task. Do whatever it takes to get it done. We won't micro-manage you or tell you how it should be done. Just do it." AT&T doesn't see things that way. It hast to be done their way, regardless if there are better or more efficient methods to use.
Oh, and we're in a Union. Now, I thought that if you were part of a Union, things like that wouldn't be the case because they'd fight for your right and all that... not the case with our Union. The only reason I'm a member of it is because Indiana has a stupid law that lets them take Union dues out of checks, REGARDLESS OF WHETHER WE ARE IN THE UNION OR NOT. Tell me there isn't something wrong with that. Our Union just wants to make money, period. They don't do anything for us. Our stewards complain that we complain too much as a workforce, making their lives harder, while our Union reps just sit in their office and do nothing. Oh, they'll come to meetings and will quickly point fingers at management for doing things that are against the contract, but they do NOTHING to change those things. As such, I don't support my Union. I don't go to any Union functions, I don't wear Union logos. Why should I stand up for them if they won't stand up for me?
Eighteen months. After a year and a half, you can go anywhere you want to in the company, because you have to be in a position eighteen months to show you have longevity. "Time and Title", they call it. I'm at eleven months right now. Sure, there's a lot more money and more prestigious positions to be had in the company, but I don't know if I want to be around all that if it's going to be the same story no matter where I go. I don't like having to work with rules. I just like being told what my function is. As long as I get the job done, why should it matter how I did it? As such, I am looking for other jobs. Jobs like mine, or a derivative of, that are with good companies that offer better money and benefits. I'm not going to give up my tenure with AT&T just to start over with another company for the same amount of pay, that would be stupid. But if they can offer me more, I think I'll have to jump ship.
Anyway, enough about work. It depresses me to talk about.
Personally, I think my life is pretty good right now. I just moved into the city of Indianapolis. I was living with my friend Christy, but that was killing me economically. Gas prices made it impossible to live, when I had to drive almost 70 miles round trip every day just to get back and forth to work. I can't afford that. I now live in a house about 5 miles from work, right in the downtown area. I have everything around me - food, shows, sports, interstates, my job... It's a wonderful deal. My friend Chris Banks and roommates. It's a 4 bedroom house, and we are only paying $675 a month for rent. We can afford that, but we'd like to have a third person to sweeten the deal, make it super cheap for all of us. Anyone in the Indy area interested? ;)
The house isn't in the greatest neighborhood, I suppose. We do hear a lot of commotion at night. People on the streets and such. But, we've had no problems. It helps that there's a school right down the road and that there are strict neighborhood watch patrols enforced around the area. We're a couple of streets down from Woodruff Place, if anyone's familiar with that area. The house is a little beat up on the outside, but the inside has been renovated. All hardwood floors. 2 bathrooms. 2 floors. I've got the master bedroom, Chris has a bedroom upstairs. We're going to use one room as a rec room for gaming/poker/hanging out with friend, while the other room will be a bedroom for a third person. There's a few minor nuances about the house, though. There's some mold, but a maintenance person just came out today to assess that. He's going to get that taken care of ASAP, which will be very nice. Mold smells and it's bad for your health. I'm just glad he's being prompt about it.
Honestly, it's just cool to look around and say "This is my house. I'm paying for this." It's an empowering feeling.
Christina and I are still dating. It's been something of a struggle, though. We haven't been able to see each other much because our work schedules conflict and her parents aren't doing well right now. Her dad is really sick and the doctors can't seem to figure out why, which is really frustrating her to no end. I can't blame her for that. I'd be wanting answers too. Her mom is also sick, also with something "unknown", but she seems to be getting better now, which I'm glad for. As such, though, she's usually doing things with her family, helping to take care of them, which means we don't get to see each other that often. I'd like to see her more, certainly, but family comes first. All I can do is be there for her, try to support her and her family any way that I can. Hopefully we'll get some time to ourselves soon. But I've been busy with the move, work and family obligations of my own as well. It's been really hit or miss for both of us. These things always find a way of working themselves out though. I care about her a lot. I'd just like to see her more often, preferably away from the workplace. :)
My mom had a scare the other night. Some bad storms went through the area and a tree fell onto the garage. Thankfully damage was minimal and the garage didn't cave in, but it was still a frightening experience.
Not a lot else to say, really. Oh, I guess I should say I've finally started using facebook. I still refuse to use myspace, but I can tolerate facebook if only for the fact that it doesn't have a bunch of stupid ads like myspace. Look me up on there if you'd like - just search for Aaron James Gray. I should be easy to find. I've got a few pics of myself on there and I've found a lot of friends that I've lost touch with over the years. I suppose it is useful in that regard. ;)
That's all I have to say for now. I hope everyone is doing well right now. Please comment or send me a message, it'd be nice to hear from you all.
Love and Regards,
Aaron
Things are going pretty well right now, I must say. Well, relatively anyway. Work sucks, but work always sucks because it's work and it's monotonous. There's no way around that, unfortunately, but we all have to make a living. AT&T has been all right for the most part, but there's a lot that's starting to grate my nerves about the place. I've come to realize that the position I am in with the company is not an enviable position... it's an expendable position for the company, really. If they had their way, my job would be outsourced and someone overseas would be doing my job, all in the process of saving money. If it weren't for the government er... coaxing, shall we say, the company into bringing the jobs back to America, I wouldn't have a job with the company. Don't get me wrong, I'm thankful for the job I have, and it's a foot in the door, but it's upsetting me the way we are treated. My department is the lowest paid department in the company. We don't get great benefits. We have to pay for our own parking. They have millions of exaggerated rules that aren't needed, but they enforce them because they feel they need to control our department instead of letting us be self-sufficient. I've always worked jobs where they tell you "Here's your task. Do whatever it takes to get it done. We won't micro-manage you or tell you how it should be done. Just do it." AT&T doesn't see things that way. It hast to be done their way, regardless if there are better or more efficient methods to use.
Oh, and we're in a Union. Now, I thought that if you were part of a Union, things like that wouldn't be the case because they'd fight for your right and all that... not the case with our Union. The only reason I'm a member of it is because Indiana has a stupid law that lets them take Union dues out of checks, REGARDLESS OF WHETHER WE ARE IN THE UNION OR NOT. Tell me there isn't something wrong with that. Our Union just wants to make money, period. They don't do anything for us. Our stewards complain that we complain too much as a workforce, making their lives harder, while our Union reps just sit in their office and do nothing. Oh, they'll come to meetings and will quickly point fingers at management for doing things that are against the contract, but they do NOTHING to change those things. As such, I don't support my Union. I don't go to any Union functions, I don't wear Union logos. Why should I stand up for them if they won't stand up for me?
Eighteen months. After a year and a half, you can go anywhere you want to in the company, because you have to be in a position eighteen months to show you have longevity. "Time and Title", they call it. I'm at eleven months right now. Sure, there's a lot more money and more prestigious positions to be had in the company, but I don't know if I want to be around all that if it's going to be the same story no matter where I go. I don't like having to work with rules. I just like being told what my function is. As long as I get the job done, why should it matter how I did it? As such, I am looking for other jobs. Jobs like mine, or a derivative of, that are with good companies that offer better money and benefits. I'm not going to give up my tenure with AT&T just to start over with another company for the same amount of pay, that would be stupid. But if they can offer me more, I think I'll have to jump ship.
Anyway, enough about work. It depresses me to talk about.
Personally, I think my life is pretty good right now. I just moved into the city of Indianapolis. I was living with my friend Christy, but that was killing me economically. Gas prices made it impossible to live, when I had to drive almost 70 miles round trip every day just to get back and forth to work. I can't afford that. I now live in a house about 5 miles from work, right in the downtown area. I have everything around me - food, shows, sports, interstates, my job... It's a wonderful deal. My friend Chris Banks and roommates. It's a 4 bedroom house, and we are only paying $675 a month for rent. We can afford that, but we'd like to have a third person to sweeten the deal, make it super cheap for all of us. Anyone in the Indy area interested? ;)
The house isn't in the greatest neighborhood, I suppose. We do hear a lot of commotion at night. People on the streets and such. But, we've had no problems. It helps that there's a school right down the road and that there are strict neighborhood watch patrols enforced around the area. We're a couple of streets down from Woodruff Place, if anyone's familiar with that area. The house is a little beat up on the outside, but the inside has been renovated. All hardwood floors. 2 bathrooms. 2 floors. I've got the master bedroom, Chris has a bedroom upstairs. We're going to use one room as a rec room for gaming/poker/hanging out with friend, while the other room will be a bedroom for a third person. There's a few minor nuances about the house, though. There's some mold, but a maintenance person just came out today to assess that. He's going to get that taken care of ASAP, which will be very nice. Mold smells and it's bad for your health. I'm just glad he's being prompt about it.
Honestly, it's just cool to look around and say "This is my house. I'm paying for this." It's an empowering feeling.
Christina and I are still dating. It's been something of a struggle, though. We haven't been able to see each other much because our work schedules conflict and her parents aren't doing well right now. Her dad is really sick and the doctors can't seem to figure out why, which is really frustrating her to no end. I can't blame her for that. I'd be wanting answers too. Her mom is also sick, also with something "unknown", but she seems to be getting better now, which I'm glad for. As such, though, she's usually doing things with her family, helping to take care of them, which means we don't get to see each other that often. I'd like to see her more, certainly, but family comes first. All I can do is be there for her, try to support her and her family any way that I can. Hopefully we'll get some time to ourselves soon. But I've been busy with the move, work and family obligations of my own as well. It's been really hit or miss for both of us. These things always find a way of working themselves out though. I care about her a lot. I'd just like to see her more often, preferably away from the workplace. :)
My mom had a scare the other night. Some bad storms went through the area and a tree fell onto the garage. Thankfully damage was minimal and the garage didn't cave in, but it was still a frightening experience.
Not a lot else to say, really. Oh, I guess I should say I've finally started using facebook. I still refuse to use myspace, but I can tolerate facebook if only for the fact that it doesn't have a bunch of stupid ads like myspace. Look me up on there if you'd like - just search for Aaron James Gray. I should be easy to find. I've got a few pics of myself on there and I've found a lot of friends that I've lost touch with over the years. I suppose it is useful in that regard. ;)
That's all I have to say for now. I hope everyone is doing well right now. Please comment or send me a message, it'd be nice to hear from you all.
Love and Regards,
Aaron