January 28th
Friday
2012
3 PM
Rorkesburg Technical Support
Salve, I’m Jerald Paziano Lavinzo, and I am currently in my office repairing a desktop computer with a damaged Graphical Processing Unit. While the place isn’t glamorous, it’s a well paying job for supporting my family. Working from nine fifty-one to five-forty in the evening
Marian called me on my office phone today, and told me that David had an emotional breakdown during the first part of lessons on his second day of daycare. It happened because the other children in the class were singing too loud. I was greatly concerned for that moment.
The noise-canceling headphones my wife and I bought for him really came in handy today, and they helped my son calm down. He was brought to the Quiet Room by Jacy before returning to class.
I’m glad that the teacher and him reacted quickly to help my son, it would’ve gotten worse otherwise.
I usually repair up to fifteen computers each day, each of them with their own problems as described by the client. Sometimes I’ll get lucky and only have to worry about ten, but that’s not a big deal since we get a break during the evening hours. Today is like any other day, with not much aside from the usual work schedule.
Our company has a directory of instruction manuals that we can refer to, just in case we get stuck while trying to diagnose or fix an issue. Most issues relate to broken internal parts or software issues that appear while installing new operating systems on the latest computers.
It can get boring on most days, especially with how much work that is needed to be done.
To decrease the boredom in the workplace, my co-workers tend to play pranks on almost everyone in the building. This includes me as well. I don’t mind these antics, for some can be rather funny.
One of them involved a little red gift box I was given by Tyson, one of my co-workers. I asked him “What’s inside?” and he told me to find out for myself. Leaving me in my office.
I shrugged and decided to open the box, just to get slightly blasted by blue confetti that covered the floor. Which left me surprised. I couldn’t be too upset at this, because it was a harmless prank.
When my boss came in to investigate everything, he too was surprised by how much was inside the room, slightly chuckling to himself afterwards. He even decided to help me clean it up, along with a fellow janitor.
His name is Troy Multon, and he’s the main boss of the company. He’s a thirty-nine year old Badger from Chicago, with blue eyes and short black hair. The man was brought in to replace our former boss, Gannor.
I’m glad he was replaced, the man was such a hot-head that could go off at any time if anyone messed up a single repair. His outbursts lowered workplace morale to an all-time low.
Our present boss is more understanding and calmer when it comes to dealing with situations, only getting angry when he needs to be. He tends to wear a light-brown suit with gray dress shoes. His suit-tie always changes each week, with Friday being his spaghetti tie. I actually like that one.
Troy will sometimes host office parties before the weekend, just to help make things a bit more lively for the moment. He orders donuts and pizzas. I enjoy the donuts, and the pizza is alright. Though… it’s not of the greatest quality.
It could use more flavorful spices and the crust is barely crunchy enough for me to take a bite out of it, and the pepperoni is overcooked. I don’t mind slightly burnt, but burning it kind of ruins the pizza.
My mother used to work at the Golden Cornetto many years ago, and she knew what a good pizza looked and tasted like. However… I appreciate them trying their best to create what they can.
January 28th
Friday
4 PM
I’m now sitting at one of the tables in the break-room for my scheduled evening break, which is for fifteen minutes. Across from me is a black-bear named Tyson. He always brought bags of potato chips to share.
“Hey Jerald, how’s your family doing?” He asked me.
“Everything is fine, though my son had an emotional breakdown at daycare today.” I replied.
“Sorry to hear about that, is he doing better right now?” Tyson said.
“Yes, he just needed a moment to calm down from the loud singing.” I answered.
“That’s good, because I know how much you’ve been doing to care for him. He’s a unique boy after all. ” said my co-worker as he offered me the bag. “Want some chips? I got plenty more at home.”
“Grazie,” I said as I grabbed a handful of potato chips. “Now that I wonder… Why are the company dinner events for adults only?”
The black-bear thought about it for a moment, since he couldn’t remember the reason why. Then it came to him after five minutes, and I waited for his answer.
“Oh yeah, I remember now… One of the employees brought their kid over and they made a huge mess during a company dinner that happened last year. That’s why it’s adults only.” my co-worker answered.
“That does make sense, such a shame my boy couldn’t come.” I replied.
“It was a previously implemented rule from our Gannor, before he was fired” Tyson said to me.
“I hope it’s changed one day, because I’m sure my son would be happy to attend one.” I replied to him.
“Maybe it will, but for now… we shall wait and see.” my co-worker said to me.
After a while, our evening break had come to an end. It was time for us to resume working on our tasks. I had to continue fixing up a damaged keyboard with input delays due to faulty wiring.
This didn’t take too long, but it was complicated to perform. One mistake would have rendered the whole product inoperable. That’s what I wanted to avoid doing, so I made sure to take my time when doing it.
I’m glad that I have all the proper tools for the job, which is also provided by the company for free. Losing them would require me to pay three-hundred dollars for a replacement. They are of high quality after all.
The boss has always reminded me to keep my tools clean as well, so they perform more efficiently during repairs. Which I don’t mind, since I do occasionally need a reminder. Along with many others.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________
January 28th
2012
Friday
5 PM
The workday is almost over, and I am quite relieved along with my other co-workers. It’s been a long day for all of us. I’m sure my wife has already started cooking up a wonderful meal.
I’ve seen most of the employees here clock out early, and I don’t mind that as long as they finish up their work for the day. Troy has always told me that I can always choose to head home early, but for me… I am rather persistent in finishing up my remaining tasks.
I wanted to finish repairing a business laptop that had problems with its main hard-drive not registering properly with the software, and I intend to finish the job. I don’t mind finishing work at the appointed time. It’s all part of the job, this is why I took classes in Technical Repair during my college years.
It took me three minutes to find the source of the problem, which was caused by improper installation of the hard drive during factory production. That didn’t seem too bad, it could’ve been worse. This was causing the system to not detect the main hard drive that stored all the data.
Once I had finished repairing the computer, all I needed to do was place it back in the box and send it back to the client through our Delivery Service. Which comes in handy for those who can’t come and pick up their devices directly.
I’ve gotten many compliments from customers and co-workers, even small gifts as well for my wonderful work ethic and skill in Computer Repair. Some of them were baked cookies and gift cards to restaurants in the city.
On certain days, Marian will come into my office to bring my co-workers some delectable cookies or small cupcakes. It’s considered a special treat for all the hard work they do. I certainly appreciate it, and they do as well.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
January 25th
Friday
5 PM
An announcement sounds off through the intercom, telling us that the workday has come to an end and to have a safe trip back home to our families. This also included watching out for suspicious activity in the company parking lot. I had just finished packing up for today.
We’ve had attempted car thefts happen before, and they are usually done by either carjackers or teenage hoodlums who think it’s funny to break car windows. This also sets off the alarm if it happens.
Our parking area has twenty-four surveillance cameras to decrease the likely-hood of these crimes from happening. Sometimes… We get lucky and catch these bozos red handed before they can try anything.
I’ve caught some idiots trying to break into the family minivan before, and I personally ran them off myself. Morons.
I don’t really get why some people resort to this, I can only guess that they are simply down on their luck and have to find some way to get money. Even if it resorts to crimes against the public.
Could there be more to this city than what I see right in front of me? I’m not entirely sure myself. It’s all a big mystery to me, and without an answer to it. But for now… I shall focus on keeping my family fed and cared for. Without them, I wouldn’t be where I am today
