Did I mention I had a new job?
So, for those of you who might have missed my previous posts; I have a new job. For a couple months now, I have been dispatching taxicabs.
Want to see my "office"?
I guess you managed to gather from the pictures that this place isn't very modern... In fact, my maternal grandfather used to work for the same company in the same building when he started working in like... 1940-something? Except for a few paint jobs and changes of flooring, it's pretty much the same old stuff that's always been around... Heck, there's still a basement that's dug straight in the dirt, no cement/concrete foundation or anything... The doors and stairs have been built by standards that have gone out of fashion longer than I've lived...
Basically, my job is to answer the phone and dispatch calls to the cabs who're free and in service. To keep track of who's in service or not, who's busy or free, I have these little numbered wooden blocks and "poles". There are two zones, what's downtown (south shore and all that's southwards from Dessaulles street) and what's uptown (north of Dessaulles street). If say, taxi number 14 is available to take calls, he tells me which zone he's in and I put his block on the right side of the "pole" besides the correct zone, between the checkered poles. If I send him somewhere to pick up a customer, I either put his block in the middle section if he stays in town or put him on the top checkered right-side part because he's in service but out of town/where the CB waves can't reach. If the taxi driver is not in duty, his or her block remains in order on the left-most side of the poles, in numeric order. If the cab is available but currently at the carwash, gaz station or busy eating or on the minivan for people in wheelchairs and other medical conditions or for job-related functions at one of our 2 stands, I turn his block to the side where the digits are red and he keeps his priority when he comes back...
But that's a real quick summary of it; there's a bunch of rules that seem easy to master but it can mess everything up when you try to actually apply them when you're working... But I guess they like me; I got my own shift of 4 days/week, keys to the president's office (to pick up faxes and make photocopies) and lots of good comments even though I mess up sometimes...
Want to see my "office"?
I guess you managed to gather from the pictures that this place isn't very modern... In fact, my maternal grandfather used to work for the same company in the same building when he started working in like... 1940-something? Except for a few paint jobs and changes of flooring, it's pretty much the same old stuff that's always been around... Heck, there's still a basement that's dug straight in the dirt, no cement/concrete foundation or anything... The doors and stairs have been built by standards that have gone out of fashion longer than I've lived...
Basically, my job is to answer the phone and dispatch calls to the cabs who're free and in service. To keep track of who's in service or not, who's busy or free, I have these little numbered wooden blocks and "poles". There are two zones, what's downtown (south shore and all that's southwards from Dessaulles street) and what's uptown (north of Dessaulles street). If say, taxi number 14 is available to take calls, he tells me which zone he's in and I put his block on the right side of the "pole" besides the correct zone, between the checkered poles. If I send him somewhere to pick up a customer, I either put his block in the middle section if he stays in town or put him on the top checkered right-side part because he's in service but out of town/where the CB waves can't reach. If the taxi driver is not in duty, his or her block remains in order on the left-most side of the poles, in numeric order. If the cab is available but currently at the carwash, gaz station or busy eating or on the minivan for people in wheelchairs and other medical conditions or for job-related functions at one of our 2 stands, I turn his block to the side where the digits are red and he keeps his priority when he comes back...
But that's a real quick summary of it; there's a bunch of rules that seem easy to master but it can mess everything up when you try to actually apply them when you're working... But I guess they like me; I got my own shift of 4 days/week, keys to the president's office (to pick up faxes and make photocopies) and lots of good comments even though I mess up sometimes...