Work
I'm not sure if I have ever really posted anything substantial about work, other than the special events like Billfish tournaments and the like.
I've been at the station for the best part of four years now and I'm starting to feel confident enough about every system in the building to just get on with it myself without double checking anything. This might sound odd, how complicated can a job be, right? Well, actually, being a Broadcast Engineer is fucking complicated... at Channel Seven at least.
I'm personnel IT; everyone, literally every employee (about 60) including th GM comes to me for IT and technical shit from blown up computers to stupid user errors like switching on your FUCKING MONITOR, no one asks our chief, because he only gets me to do it anyway. I'm electrical; from changing batteries to changing capacitors to handling 120 volts and 3 amps to handling 7500 volts and unlimited current. I'm mechanical; from designing and installing scaffold mounted rafter cam rigs to making a rack unit from scraps. I'm a carpenter; from rebuilding door frames to making desk shelves from scratch. I'm a live truck instructor and operator; from maintaining the truck to doing shots and testing the kids I train. I'm a signaller; working on just about every aspect of radio frequency spectrum from AM all the way through up into the 7Ghz range from radios and scanners, microwaves and FM transmitters that can and will sterilise or kill you to 12 meter satellite dishes up and download. I'm a vehicle mechanic for all 11 station cars (hate it hate it hate it). I manage the PAs too when no one is there to do it. I'm a cameraman on the news shows too when they need me or want to keep myself refreshed. I also make studio setups in remote locations and break them down again when the live event is over. I also get to paint, put pitch on the roof and pick up litter outside because nobody else but me and Jon do.
It doesn't even faze me anymore. Today I put up shelves, re-routed our network, worked out a system to get skype video on air.. fuck, I even took our Sales manager's iPhone (I'd never even held a smart phone before) and updated the firmware on it.
When I was in the Army I had a few things to consider at all times. Personal fitness, radio training, phoenix training, combat medic and shooting. There's some logistics in there but it's basically five or six strictly defined sets of drills. On top of that you knew what you were going to be doing at least a day ahead of schedule, even in the filed.. shit, even when I was in Ireland and there were so many repeating training cycles . but here no day is the same and I love that, even when we schedule something chances are that something is going to pop out of nowhere and fuck up the plan. No day is easy either.. well ok, I've like four or five days in the last four years where I didn't really do anything because everything was done already, but you get my point.
It's firmly what I am now and I'm not sure I would want to do anything else unless I won the lottery and could be a pilot.
Man I need to get an engineering degree so I can get into management and make some real money.
Other news:
hetros scoots out of PC in the morning. Safe travels, girl. Call us when you get there.
I'm actually starting to feel better. My neck doesn't hurt, I'm not half as drained as I have been for the last five weeks and I'm hoping that when I start the lipitor next week that things will improve further. Still tired, but fuck, we have two young kids, what parents aren't?
Bef is running game this week.
Bef got her new PC today which is why I was able to get online tonight on the old pc.
I got to watch all of the new Battlestar Galactica whilst i was off sick. I liked it and it was refreshing to watch a tv series that had a plot, start middle and, would you believe it, an actual ENDING!
My nicknames for Ava all start with P and all follow the lines of Poppet, Ploppy, Poppy, Puppy, Pouty, Petal, blah blah blah. I have no idea why. I still think Haley would have been a great name for her.
I've been at the station for the best part of four years now and I'm starting to feel confident enough about every system in the building to just get on with it myself without double checking anything. This might sound odd, how complicated can a job be, right? Well, actually, being a Broadcast Engineer is fucking complicated... at Channel Seven at least.
I'm personnel IT; everyone, literally every employee (about 60) including th GM comes to me for IT and technical shit from blown up computers to stupid user errors like switching on your FUCKING MONITOR, no one asks our chief, because he only gets me to do it anyway. I'm electrical; from changing batteries to changing capacitors to handling 120 volts and 3 amps to handling 7500 volts and unlimited current. I'm mechanical; from designing and installing scaffold mounted rafter cam rigs to making a rack unit from scraps. I'm a carpenter; from rebuilding door frames to making desk shelves from scratch. I'm a live truck instructor and operator; from maintaining the truck to doing shots and testing the kids I train. I'm a signaller; working on just about every aspect of radio frequency spectrum from AM all the way through up into the 7Ghz range from radios and scanners, microwaves and FM transmitters that can and will sterilise or kill you to 12 meter satellite dishes up and download. I'm a vehicle mechanic for all 11 station cars (hate it hate it hate it). I manage the PAs too when no one is there to do it. I'm a cameraman on the news shows too when they need me or want to keep myself refreshed. I also make studio setups in remote locations and break them down again when the live event is over. I also get to paint, put pitch on the roof and pick up litter outside because nobody else but me and Jon do.
It doesn't even faze me anymore. Today I put up shelves, re-routed our network, worked out a system to get skype video on air.. fuck, I even took our Sales manager's iPhone (I'd never even held a smart phone before) and updated the firmware on it.
When I was in the Army I had a few things to consider at all times. Personal fitness, radio training, phoenix training, combat medic and shooting. There's some logistics in there but it's basically five or six strictly defined sets of drills. On top of that you knew what you were going to be doing at least a day ahead of schedule, even in the filed.. shit, even when I was in Ireland and there were so many repeating training cycles . but here no day is the same and I love that, even when we schedule something chances are that something is going to pop out of nowhere and fuck up the plan. No day is easy either.. well ok, I've like four or five days in the last four years where I didn't really do anything because everything was done already, but you get my point.
It's firmly what I am now and I'm not sure I would want to do anything else unless I won the lottery and could be a pilot.
Man I need to get an engineering degree so I can get into management and make some real money.
Other news:
hetros scoots out of PC in the morning. Safe travels, girl. Call us when you get there.
I'm actually starting to feel better. My neck doesn't hurt, I'm not half as drained as I have been for the last five weeks and I'm hoping that when I start the lipitor next week that things will improve further. Still tired, but fuck, we have two young kids, what parents aren't?
Bef is running game this week.
Bef got her new PC today which is why I was able to get online tonight on the old pc.
I got to watch all of the new Battlestar Galactica whilst i was off sick. I liked it and it was refreshing to watch a tv series that had a plot, start middle and, would you believe it, an actual ENDING!
My nicknames for Ava all start with P and all follow the lines of Poppet, Ploppy, Poppy, Puppy, Pouty, Petal, blah blah blah. I have no idea why. I still think Haley would have been a great name for her.