Stormy Mood
Of all the passive, relaxing pastimes, my favorite is listening to and watching rain/thunderstorms. As a little kid I loved storms. Even as my mother ran around the house, closing blinds and curtains, I was behind her opening them up again. While she was hiding in her bed under the covers, I was standing at the glass storm door, staring open-mouthed in fascination at the lightning. I was always amazed by the sheer force of the wind, swaying even the largest tree trunks. I always looked forward to storms.
Now, because of my job, I rarely ever enjoy a storm anymore. My job has made me loathe storms. Hell, it could be a bright and sunny day and I will still grumble if I hear about a storm ANYWHERE. We monitor for 49 states (including Hawaii, but not Alaska), Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands. A storm anywhere will affect us.
For those who don't know, I work in an alarm monitoring center (burglary, medical, and fire). Even mild storms wreak havoc on these alarms. Storms cause power failures and the systems alert us of these power fails. So we then have to notify the subscribers, who are now sitting in the dark, holding the remote to the tv that has now gone black, that their power is out. On top of this wind rattles doors sending us burglary signals, and thunder tricks the window sensors into sending glassbreak signals. A bad storm can send hundreds of signals at once (for 10-15 operators to handle) and sometimes the authorities will even tell us that they aren't responding due to the weather. Imagine all of the people with alarm systems in New York, Las Vegas, Nashville (Nashville PD sometimes takes 10 minutes to answer their phones on normal days). The point is, we are required to handle each new signal within 30 seconds or our stats drop. If stats drop, managers get grumpy, breaks get delayed etc etc. It's a real pain in the ass.
Let me give you an example of a Nashville burg signal.
Receive signal
Call inside home/business*
If no contact or no passcode, Call first person on call list*
If no contact or no passcode, Dispatch PD (hold time can sometimes exceed 10 minutes)
Notify rest of call list
If someone is responding, Call PD to update
Clear Signal
*Per state law (Florida, Tennessee, Virginia, & Colorado are what we call 2-Call Verify States - On all signals, The premise [home or business] and the first number on the call list must be called before a dispatch can be made.)
So the minimum time for a Nashville signal is 5-10 minutes... usually more. Imagine 100 of these all at once...
I don't know, it just really upsets me that my job has stolen even this simple pleasure from me. It's already bad enough that I have to deal with corupt management.
Now, because of my job, I rarely ever enjoy a storm anymore. My job has made me loathe storms. Hell, it could be a bright and sunny day and I will still grumble if I hear about a storm ANYWHERE. We monitor for 49 states (including Hawaii, but not Alaska), Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands. A storm anywhere will affect us.
For those who don't know, I work in an alarm monitoring center (burglary, medical, and fire). Even mild storms wreak havoc on these alarms. Storms cause power failures and the systems alert us of these power fails. So we then have to notify the subscribers, who are now sitting in the dark, holding the remote to the tv that has now gone black, that their power is out. On top of this wind rattles doors sending us burglary signals, and thunder tricks the window sensors into sending glassbreak signals. A bad storm can send hundreds of signals at once (for 10-15 operators to handle) and sometimes the authorities will even tell us that they aren't responding due to the weather. Imagine all of the people with alarm systems in New York, Las Vegas, Nashville (Nashville PD sometimes takes 10 minutes to answer their phones on normal days). The point is, we are required to handle each new signal within 30 seconds or our stats drop. If stats drop, managers get grumpy, breaks get delayed etc etc. It's a real pain in the ass.
Let me give you an example of a Nashville burg signal.
Receive signal
Call inside home/business*
If no contact or no passcode, Call first person on call list*
If no contact or no passcode, Dispatch PD (hold time can sometimes exceed 10 minutes)
Notify rest of call list
If someone is responding, Call PD to update
Clear Signal
*Per state law (Florida, Tennessee, Virginia, & Colorado are what we call 2-Call Verify States - On all signals, The premise [home or business] and the first number on the call list must be called before a dispatch can be made.)
So the minimum time for a Nashville signal is 5-10 minutes... usually more. Imagine 100 of these all at once...
I don't know, it just really upsets me that my job has stolen even this simple pleasure from me. It's already bad enough that I have to deal with corupt management.