robotech_master

So, on Saturday I went down to the building where I used to work about 6 to 7 years ago. Back then it was MCI, but MCI closed the call center and laid me off. Now it belongs to a telephone tech support company called TeleTech. They provide tech support for a number of companies, among them Hewlett-Packard and Best Buy. I interviewed for a job there, and I got it! I'm going to be providing inbound telephone support for Best Buy customers. (I wonder if this has anything to do with the new broadband wireless initiative Best Buy just announced?)

Salary starts at $10 an hour, plus upsell incentives. (Well do I remember those from the time I worked at MCI.) Benefits and vacation accrual start on day 31. I won't know what days or hours I end up working until after my training finishes. Could be a morning shift or an evening shift; my days off could be the weekend or any two normal weekdays. Training starts July 19th…at 6 a.m. I'm not thrilled about that, but on the other hand I do seem to sleep better when I go to bed earlier, so I guess this will give me the excuse I need to shove off early.

I'm excited and delighted to have a full-time job again after so long. Especially since it means I'll get the car my parents bought and have been keeping for me since shortly after I left Mihlfeld. It's a mid '70s Olds Delta '88 luxury aircraft carrier (see photo at right), and the mileage is going to be atrocious, but on the other hand it will let me go grocery shopping without having to pay for a cab.

All this time I've been imagining what I'd do to celebrate getting a job and a car again—drive down to Branson to watch a movie at the IMAX, or maybe out to Oklahoma to visit Mercedes Lackey again. And I may still do some of that. But I think the very first thing I'll do will be to drive out to the grocery store and, with much pomp and circumstance, buy the very largest package of paper towels that will fit in my shopping cart.