Invisible sources
My new employer has an interesting history. Qwest was formerly US West, formerly Northwestern Bell Telephone Company, the old Ma Bell utility for the 14 western states stretching from Iowa and Minnesota, across to Washington and Oregon, and south, down the Mountain time zone, to include Arizona and New Mexico. It was one of the three Bells divested by AT&T (formerly American Telephone and Telegraph) in 1984. On the first day of work, they showed us an enduring corporate image of some phone technician trudging towards the phone poles during a late 1800's blizzard in the Dakotas. The artist's rendering set my Deadwood heart a-twitter.In Episode 1, Season 2 of the HBO series (re-airing Christmas night,) perhaps that very same worker and his colleagues have begun constructing the telegraph poles that will deliver "messages from invisible sources, what some people think of as progress" in the yet-to-be-annexed Hills. Not even a wily cocksucker like Al Swearingen could have foreseen a future without wires, of digital imaging, fiber-optic transmission, three-way calling, MSN pop-up guards, and Parental Controls. (Oh, how Al would have hated that.)
It's an exciting thing to be a part of-- cutting edge and technology-driven, yet still married to a rich and remarkable past. If it doesn't work out, I'm going to work for the Pinkertons.
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It's the little things with a new job-- parking, eating, time management, etc. Parking's a no-go in downtown Des Moines so I walk through sub-zero wind chills to reach the office. Lunch is late so I'll be eating breakfast on a consistent basis for the first time in a decade. My favorite lunch spot has become my favorite dinner spot. Union-mandated work breaks are having a difficult time being filled. I can check my e-mail, but there's no net-surfing. I tried to read a book today, and make a couple calls, but neither of those things felt right. Maybe I'll take up smoking.
posted by CM @ 9:47 PM
4 Comments:
They do not pay for your parking??
No, they don't. And the garage across the street is $109 per month.
It's only ten blocks from home. If I can make it this week, I can make it any week.
What we need is a light rail system? Who's with me? I think they had streetcars in this town at one time. That would be ideal for me.
That sux about the parking...Why not work for one of Des Moines' big insurers? With your wit you will whip right through the corporate hierachy.
Chris- are you left or right eye dominant?
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