Wednesday, October 29, 2008
Dear Tek Systems lady,
Last time I spoke to you was a month ago when you kept e-mailing me about wanting to "touch base" and that I should call you back, even though you knew full well because I told you on numerous occasions that I was being sent to Canada that week and, as such, was out of cell phone range. Now you're pulling the same shit again this week, a week that's been more hectic than any previous because of this OMG! critical! patch that Microsoft released last Thursday and someone hasn't set up SMS so that it gets pushed through seemlessly, so I get to go to over a hundred computers to make sure they've got it which has to be done before tomorrow.
But, you want to "touch base", so here you go. I was hoping to ignore this until after Fest because I'd really rather not think about it while I'm partying with some of my newest friends in Gainesville. I took part in an "off the records" conversation last week where I learned that they're not interested in hiring me on as an employee because "How long will Tom want to keep doing this kind of work?" to which I'll have to reply it's a hell of a lot shorter now that I know there's no chance of me getting any kind of insurance or 401k or any other benefits while working here.
Let me tell you about my morning Monday. After helping the general manager of our mill figure out his laptop problems because, when that guy needs help, you help him. When I got back, there was a message on my desk saying they urgently needed my help in another department. This particular department is the one that, when I go there, I make sure not to make eye contact with anyone because, if I do, they immediately ask for help and then heads pop up like prairie dogs. "Can you make this mouse that I brought from home work on this computer that we're not supposed to be using peripherals from home on?" "Can you make my phone work?" "Tom, I know you work in IT, but I plugged this mini heater into my power strip that's now full and it tripped the breaker and now my computer shut off and my mini heater doesn't work. How do I turn it back on?" And none of these were the pressing issue that I was intended to go over there for, and those issues only detail my first hour over there. Tell the lady we don't support mice that we didn't issue, I didn't go to school to work on telephones and explain to the other one that the only thing I know about electricity is that I don't like being shocked by electricity and that 1.21 gigawatts is enough energy to send a DeLorean back to the future, which has something to do with lightning but if she doesn't want to keep tripping the breaker, she's going to have to lose something from her overloaded power strip. I'd say she could probably do without one of her dual monitors, but that's blasphemy. Because I work with computers and I'm a geek, which she can tell by the glasses and the fact that none of the aging baby boomers or the young and very married receptionist swoon whenever I walk by, that I should be able to fix everything that plugs into the wall because it's a computer and, god dammit, I know everything there is to know about computers because they teach you all that at a two year college.
So, dear Tek Systems lady, what I'm getting at is this: They've got until the end of the year to say "Hey Tom! You should work for us and not for Tek Systems. We're tired of paying Tek Systems $45 an hour for your labor, we should pay that directly to you!" If I don't hear those words by January 1, I'm moving on.
I think that about touches the bases.
Thank you,
Tommy Tumult
said Tommy T. at 8:47 AM - #
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Last time I spoke to you was a month ago when you kept e-mailing me about wanting to "touch base" and that I should call you back, even though you knew full well because I told you on numerous occasions that I was being sent to Canada that week and, as such, was out of cell phone range. Now you're pulling the same shit again this week, a week that's been more hectic than any previous because of this OMG! critical! patch that Microsoft released last Thursday and someone hasn't set up SMS so that it gets pushed through seemlessly, so I get to go to over a hundred computers to make sure they've got it which has to be done before tomorrow.
But, you want to "touch base", so here you go. I was hoping to ignore this until after Fest because I'd really rather not think about it while I'm partying with some of my newest friends in Gainesville. I took part in an "off the records" conversation last week where I learned that they're not interested in hiring me on as an employee because "How long will Tom want to keep doing this kind of work?" to which I'll have to reply it's a hell of a lot shorter now that I know there's no chance of me getting any kind of insurance or 401k or any other benefits while working here.
Let me tell you about my morning Monday. After helping the general manager of our mill figure out his laptop problems because, when that guy needs help, you help him. When I got back, there was a message on my desk saying they urgently needed my help in another department. This particular department is the one that, when I go there, I make sure not to make eye contact with anyone because, if I do, they immediately ask for help and then heads pop up like prairie dogs. "Can you make this mouse that I brought from home work on this computer that we're not supposed to be using peripherals from home on?" "Can you make my phone work?" "Tom, I know you work in IT, but I plugged this mini heater into my power strip that's now full and it tripped the breaker and now my computer shut off and my mini heater doesn't work. How do I turn it back on?" And none of these were the pressing issue that I was intended to go over there for, and those issues only detail my first hour over there. Tell the lady we don't support mice that we didn't issue, I didn't go to school to work on telephones and explain to the other one that the only thing I know about electricity is that I don't like being shocked by electricity and that 1.21 gigawatts is enough energy to send a DeLorean back to the future, which has something to do with lightning but if she doesn't want to keep tripping the breaker, she's going to have to lose something from her overloaded power strip. I'd say she could probably do without one of her dual monitors, but that's blasphemy. Because I work with computers and I'm a geek, which she can tell by the glasses and the fact that none of the aging baby boomers or the young and very married receptionist swoon whenever I walk by, that I should be able to fix everything that plugs into the wall because it's a computer and, god dammit, I know everything there is to know about computers because they teach you all that at a two year college.
So, dear Tek Systems lady, what I'm getting at is this: They've got until the end of the year to say "Hey Tom! You should work for us and not for Tek Systems. We're tired of paying Tek Systems $45 an hour for your labor, we should pay that directly to you!" If I don't hear those words by January 1, I'm moving on.
I think that about touches the bases.
Thank you,
Tommy Tumult
said Tommy T. at 8:47 AM - #
|
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