I went to a house to do a TC (trouble Call), and was told on the phone by a quiet gentleman to go to the back door.
I arrive and do as such. I am greeted by a man who smiles and talks in low whispers. He takes me inside where the usually yippy dogs jump my legs and bark, but rather than barking they gasp at me. Their barks are literal puffs of silent air. I ask him what's with the dogs, and he tells me they have been debarked. He walks me quietly around the house showing me the televisions that are acting up.
During the walk through he tells me the reason why everything has been quieted in the house, even the thick carpets. His wife, rather than losing her hearing in their advanced age, has actually had her hearing improve. The electrical wires in the walls which give off a natural hum that most people can't hear....are very loud to her and drive her nuts.
She wasn't there initially, and I doubted the guy thinking he may be crazy, but sure enough as I'm leaving she arrives home, and steps out of the car. On her head is a set of Bose noise cancelling headphones.
Friday, January 17, 2014
The Dog Whisperer
It is a daily routine to be given disconnects (discos) to go do. Quite often a gate is locked, or there is a dog in the backyard that inhibits one from performing the job, and thus it will be rescheduled.
When doing installs however, all measures should be tried to get to that tap location to hook up the new customer and complete the install.
I was doing the feasibility walk around on a new install and went to go check out the pedestal that houses the tap. I peek over the fence to be greeted by the gaping maws of two German shepherds. The tap was right beside them. I went and knocked on the door, and no answer. No one was home to put these two mean dogs up.
I called dispatch and had an assist set up for a guy to come help and keep these dogs off me while I hooked up my customer. Ol' Buddy shows up. Him and I walk to the fence where I have a ladder set up, as the gate is locked also. He peeks over, sees the dogs, and pales. He comes off the ladder. "Dude, I'm a Cat guy. I don't think I can do that."
My mother wrote the book on Toy Fox Terriers. She judged dog shows of numerous breeds. I grew up helping in obedience classes. I looked at buddy and smiled. "Ok, I'll hop over, and keep them off of you. You hook up the customer. Can you do that?"
He nodded, and we did just that.
I hopped over and maintained eye contact. Dogs instinctively like to attack from behind. While I looked down one, the other would try to come around and get our sides. I waved a stick at the flanker, while keeping eye contact with the other. Then I would switch. After a few minutes of that, Buddy said he was done and I covered him while he hopped over. Then he gave me a hand up, and I followed.
The other cable guys talk poorly of Buddy, saying he's a lazy smoker. I know he helped me when I had to fend off two German Shepherds. Buddy's a good guy.
When doing installs however, all measures should be tried to get to that tap location to hook up the new customer and complete the install.
I was doing the feasibility walk around on a new install and went to go check out the pedestal that houses the tap. I peek over the fence to be greeted by the gaping maws of two German shepherds. The tap was right beside them. I went and knocked on the door, and no answer. No one was home to put these two mean dogs up.
I called dispatch and had an assist set up for a guy to come help and keep these dogs off me while I hooked up my customer. Ol' Buddy shows up. Him and I walk to the fence where I have a ladder set up, as the gate is locked also. He peeks over, sees the dogs, and pales. He comes off the ladder. "Dude, I'm a Cat guy. I don't think I can do that."
My mother wrote the book on Toy Fox Terriers. She judged dog shows of numerous breeds. I grew up helping in obedience classes. I looked at buddy and smiled. "Ok, I'll hop over, and keep them off of you. You hook up the customer. Can you do that?"
He nodded, and we did just that.
I hopped over and maintained eye contact. Dogs instinctively like to attack from behind. While I looked down one, the other would try to come around and get our sides. I waved a stick at the flanker, while keeping eye contact with the other. Then I would switch. After a few minutes of that, Buddy said he was done and I covered him while he hopped over. Then he gave me a hand up, and I followed.
The other cable guys talk poorly of Buddy, saying he's a lazy smoker. I know he helped me when I had to fend off two German Shepherds. Buddy's a good guy.
Saturday, January 11, 2014
My Manager
My manager told me a story about when he was a cable guy in the olden days. He was quite proud of it. He was collecting payments from non-pays. It was his duty to go up and let them know to pay, or he was going to shut them off, and he did it with a smile.
One gentleman got in a fury. I don't have to pay this shit! I won't do it. He merely smiled back "Ok." and went to go get his climbing gear on. The big fat gentleman ran out, red in the face, waving a check. "Damn it! Take it! I want my tv on!"
My manager took the check, removed the gear, and watched the man huff back into the house.
My manager went down the street to the next house and was talking to the lady about paying when an ambulance arrived at the gentleman's house. He watched as the fat man was wheeled out on a stretcher into the ambulance.
To this day my manager gloats about how he infuriated a man to death.
One gentleman got in a fury. I don't have to pay this shit! I won't do it. He merely smiled back "Ok." and went to go get his climbing gear on. The big fat gentleman ran out, red in the face, waving a check. "Damn it! Take it! I want my tv on!"
My manager took the check, removed the gear, and watched the man huff back into the house.
My manager went down the street to the next house and was talking to the lady about paying when an ambulance arrived at the gentleman's house. He watched as the fat man was wheeled out on a stretcher into the ambulance.
To this day my manager gloats about how he infuriated a man to death.
Get off my lawn!
People tend to flock together, living near others of similar ages and income. One such neighborhood is full of well to do old people. In there I have met grey haired old people with pictures of numerous presidents shaking hands with them, and others who have houses full of oriental treasures. One such old person I backed up his driveway to get to his house, but had to stop. The houses are very close together, and his neighbor was up on a ladder painting his house. I had to get out, and figure out how to maneuver my van around him and his ladder right next to the driveway. I do so, but had to swing the van in an S curve to avoid him.
6 inches of my tires went off the driveway and onto his lawn. The very old man got off his ladder and started banging on my window, cursing me for hurting his lawn. I get out, survey the damage, stifle a laugh, and call my manager out. I fix the guy's house who I was there for, while my manager dealt with senior loco.
I fix the problem, and wave the guy off.
Manager gave him his number to call.
The guy lights up his phone for a week demanding to know where I live so he could come and pull up my lawn to replace his own. My manager and I both laughed about it for a while.
6 inches of my tires went off the driveway and onto his lawn. The very old man got off his ladder and started banging on my window, cursing me for hurting his lawn. I get out, survey the damage, stifle a laugh, and call my manager out. I fix the guy's house who I was there for, while my manager dealt with senior loco.
I fix the problem, and wave the guy off.
Manager gave him his number to call.
The guy lights up his phone for a week demanding to know where I live so he could come and pull up my lawn to replace his own. My manager and I both laughed about it for a while.
The Poop room
There is a part of town where all the young bars are. It is the affluent, yuppyish, well to do part of town where things are nice and the people gather to socialize. It is usually no big deal to work over there, other than the fact the houses are historical and need new wiring, but the people and insides are generally nice.
One house I approached looked just like all the others on the outside. It was a 1940's brick home, with newer remodeling done. The home owner opens the door and I enter. Inside is the typical pier 1 layout. All the prints on the walls, the pillows, the furniture, all run of the mill current style. The one peculiarity was the smell.
It was the smell of what I imagined a large fruit plantation would smell like after the harvest rain. All the leftover fruits have fallen into the leaf litter and begun to rot along with the fertilizer laid down for next year. All of that, but wet and moldy. It was quite odd, and nothing I had ever smelt before. I had a job to do, so I ignored it and started surveying the television for the reasons it was acting up.
My investigation led me to believe the issue may be outside, and I asked the customer the best way to get out back. "Should I go around front, or do you have a back door?"
The customer smiled, and with a motion of his hand said, "Follow me through the poop room."
He led on down a hall, and to a room with a door leading outside on the opposite end of it. Between me and the door was a room sized chocolate cake, with a thin slice cut from the middle of it. There was several inches of caked dog shit covering the floor except for the path that was worn down by continual paws treading over it. With a gag I tread through, and made it outside. I redid the outside and had the customer check the tv to see if it worked. Thank the goddess it did.
One house I approached looked just like all the others on the outside. It was a 1940's brick home, with newer remodeling done. The home owner opens the door and I enter. Inside is the typical pier 1 layout. All the prints on the walls, the pillows, the furniture, all run of the mill current style. The one peculiarity was the smell.
It was the smell of what I imagined a large fruit plantation would smell like after the harvest rain. All the leftover fruits have fallen into the leaf litter and begun to rot along with the fertilizer laid down for next year. All of that, but wet and moldy. It was quite odd, and nothing I had ever smelt before. I had a job to do, so I ignored it and started surveying the television for the reasons it was acting up.
My investigation led me to believe the issue may be outside, and I asked the customer the best way to get out back. "Should I go around front, or do you have a back door?"
The customer smiled, and with a motion of his hand said, "Follow me through the poop room."
He led on down a hall, and to a room with a door leading outside on the opposite end of it. Between me and the door was a room sized chocolate cake, with a thin slice cut from the middle of it. There was several inches of caked dog shit covering the floor except for the path that was worn down by continual paws treading over it. With a gag I tread through, and made it outside. I redid the outside and had the customer check the tv to see if it worked. Thank the goddess it did.
Wednesday, January 8, 2014
Loose Dogs
Working for a long time for a cable company you tend to get to know your town. You learn the histories of the people who you encounter. You know what happens in certain neighborhoods.
I worked on a house on the edge of town, I forget doing what, but it was semi rural, with the neighbor an acre or two a way. I remember that the guy had a big loose dog. It was intrusive, in my face, barking, and liked to run up and down the road a lot.
A while later I worked on his neighbor's house doing an install. I was hooking everything up and the dog came over and started chasing the dogs of the guy whose house I was working on. The guy proceeded to tell me about the dog, and how it annoyed all the neighbors, and the guy never chained it or apologized for its behavior.
Year later I go back to fix the guy's cable from house 1, who owned the big loose dog. I am fixing his cable and I mention his dog. He gets a sad face, then an angry one. "Ya some asshole poisoned him! Who the fuck would do that?"
He had no clue about how his dog affected his neighbors, and I kept silent about it.
Moral: Raise a prick dog, and someone will potentially poison it.
I will admit after an hour being up an a pole with little yippy rat dogs barking on me, sometimes I feel like cooking up some rat killer biscuits. I never have though out of fear of the Thinner effect. Eat your own pie boy!
I worked on a house on the edge of town, I forget doing what, but it was semi rural, with the neighbor an acre or two a way. I remember that the guy had a big loose dog. It was intrusive, in my face, barking, and liked to run up and down the road a lot.
A while later I worked on his neighbor's house doing an install. I was hooking everything up and the dog came over and started chasing the dogs of the guy whose house I was working on. The guy proceeded to tell me about the dog, and how it annoyed all the neighbors, and the guy never chained it or apologized for its behavior.
Year later I go back to fix the guy's cable from house 1, who owned the big loose dog. I am fixing his cable and I mention his dog. He gets a sad face, then an angry one. "Ya some asshole poisoned him! Who the fuck would do that?"
He had no clue about how his dog affected his neighbors, and I kept silent about it.
Moral: Raise a prick dog, and someone will potentially poison it.
I will admit after an hour being up an a pole with little yippy rat dogs barking on me, sometimes I feel like cooking up some rat killer biscuits. I never have though out of fear of the Thinner effect. Eat your own pie boy!
Tuesday, January 7, 2014
The apartments by the river.
I have two stories I wished to share that occurred in the same apartment complex.
My company has a policy about backing up. Do everything you can to not back up. 25% of all company vehicle accidents happen while backing up even though we back up 1% of the time.
Taking that into consideration here I am driving around this parking lot looking for a good parking spot. I go through a narrow area between two buildings. A lady is blindly backing out of a spot (too small for my van) and I see she doesn't care about backing out in front of my moving vehicle. On the other side of this drive area between parking spots is a landscaper sitting in his truck with a trailer behind it.
She backs out, and rather than back with her back to my vehicle and go out the open way, she does the opposite and has her car facing me. She backs out and expects me to back up to let her out. Behind her is open air and exit.
I can't back up, I cannot see behind me, and I have no one to guide my backing. I sit and look at her. She starts flipping out in her vehicle. I smile as she screams at me like a twisted angry mime.
I have my window down, as does the landscaper. He looks at me, I look at him, and he nods, pulling out to let the crazy freak lady leave.
The second story is down a few buildings in the same complex.
I am parked waiting for work. La dee da, nothing going on. I watch two people conversing wildly, their hands moving. One person has the face of Hun uh, no way on. The two walk over towards my van. I expect the usual, hey can I have something for free routine and look forward to waving them away, so I roll down the window. Instead of focused on me, they stop and look down at the grease spot in the empty parking spot next to me. I look at it, and then ask. "What's up?"
They point down to the spot and tell me that a guy was beat to death right there this morning, and that is a blood spot. Whoa.
My company has a policy about backing up. Do everything you can to not back up. 25% of all company vehicle accidents happen while backing up even though we back up 1% of the time.
Taking that into consideration here I am driving around this parking lot looking for a good parking spot. I go through a narrow area between two buildings. A lady is blindly backing out of a spot (too small for my van) and I see she doesn't care about backing out in front of my moving vehicle. On the other side of this drive area between parking spots is a landscaper sitting in his truck with a trailer behind it.
She backs out, and rather than back with her back to my vehicle and go out the open way, she does the opposite and has her car facing me. She backs out and expects me to back up to let her out. Behind her is open air and exit.
I can't back up, I cannot see behind me, and I have no one to guide my backing. I sit and look at her. She starts flipping out in her vehicle. I smile as she screams at me like a twisted angry mime.
I have my window down, as does the landscaper. He looks at me, I look at him, and he nods, pulling out to let the crazy freak lady leave.
The second story is down a few buildings in the same complex.
I am parked waiting for work. La dee da, nothing going on. I watch two people conversing wildly, their hands moving. One person has the face of Hun uh, no way on. The two walk over towards my van. I expect the usual, hey can I have something for free routine and look forward to waving them away, so I roll down the window. Instead of focused on me, they stop and look down at the grease spot in the empty parking spot next to me. I look at it, and then ask. "What's up?"
They point down to the spot and tell me that a guy was beat to death right there this morning, and that is a blood spot. Whoa.
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