Thank you so much Pt. 2

Like I said ealier it takes a lot out of one to just be able to cycle through thoughts and emotions like this. But back to where we were.

I really didn't feel this was the JOB for me because I wasn't looking for a JOB. See my thoughts on a JOB is this: A JOB is a place where you go for a paycheck. You are unhappy, unsatisfied, you have NO moral, you have NO love for it and could really care less about learning and growing for advancement in it. You do seek ways to make more money on it but that is what it is all about...the money. You work your JOB until you retire but the investment in your JOB brings little to nothing when you do retire. Now your CAREER is what you invest in. It is what you LOVE to do. You invest by spending many hours perfecting it, you research and study for it. You network with others in it. You bleed, sweat, cry, and fight for it. It is what you are passionate about. And the investments that you have in it brings back great returns. And that is me.

I have had lots of jobs but when it comes to PC repairs, desktop support, software installations and even building PC's that is my career. Now honestly...am I respected for LOVING what I do? To the person that doesn't know how to go about fixing or resolving a PC issue HELL YES they respect me. To the person that has a JOB doing it HELL NO they don't respect me. They don't respect me because I am by LOVE & PASSION alone their biggest threat. I pride myself on being as thorough as possible in resolving the issue but I also believe in trying to empower the user on using the system. I believe in doing the best research I can so I can give that person as much information on keeping the system running properly. The person who's JOB this is will come in and try to resolve the issue but they rarely take the time explain what they did, what to look for, and how to prevent it from happening again. One of the biggest reasons for that is FEAR OF BUSINESS LOSS.

Their thoughts are "if you fix it so good that it won't break, then we lose business" I say that is a load of crap. Because no matter what as fast as technology changes there will always be someone who will need your service. I have come to the conclusion that there are more people who really don't how to use their computers than there are people that do. For instance...you are a graphics person and you can tell me how to create spectacular graphics. You may have even done some research on what kind of PC best suits you for what you do. But it is rare to find a graphics person that could really do a PC operation when it calls for it. I am not knocking graphics people at all. I have learned a lot from them but what I do is really a specialized thing. If it wasn't there wouldn't be too many helpdesk around. Most people really don't want to know how to fix it, they just want it fixed. Most times they like to tinker and explore but when it breaks they want it fixed. And when it comes to my career there will always be some need for people like me.

And moreso on the personal end rather than the corporate end. After working for some of the major players in the game I am seeing as much as they all stake claim to being the top on technology they really are still catching up. They have standard images (which are nothing more than Operating systems coded to their specifications) which really do not allow users to fully utilize system capabilities. In some cases (more than most) applications have not been fully tested as they should so that prevents users from doing work. They do not provide proper information or training to either the technicians who will have to fix those NEW applications or the users who will be using them. On the personal side you have majority users who just have computers to surf the internet and read email. The smaller portion does their work on them but what they may work on at home in some cases will not be allowed onto a corporate network.

I have seen way too many cases where the person thinks their corporate machine is their home machine. NOTE TO THAT PERSON...That machine belongs to the company you work for so if you are connecting to the internet at home you should really be careful because once you connect to your job network your systems are being scanned. And they begin to download and install software that they may personally use or even games (the #1 reason for getting fired) on the machines. Some allow their children to play on them. And this is because now they don't have to spend any money buying one even though I may have thought about buying one, or I have one that needs to be fixed and it is going to cost more than I want to spend. See that is where I come in. It is my career to be able to eliminate the leg work on finding that kind of stuff out. I was just in Staples the other day and not only did it happen to me but I saw it happen to someone else too.

The salesperson was stocking a shelf and asked if I needed some help. I told him I was looking for some audio editing software. As helpful as he tried to be he took me to the section of the store that had sound cards, video cars and other HARDWARE. I kindly responded by saying "This is audio hardware, I am looking for audio software." He reply..."It should be somewhere on the other isle." I looked at my wife and said "See what I mean." Then while I was looking at what they had another guy came in with his son looking for memory. Even though the guy knew where the memory was he could not explain to the guy what he may have needed. Come to think about it the guy couldn't explain what he was really looking for. The problem was simple...The salesperson didn't ask specific questions to be able to gauge what that person needed and the person probably didn't do enough research on his problem.

Which goes right back to what I said earlier. Most users don't really know how to use their system or really identify their problems. Just because it is running slow doesn't always mean it is the memory that needs to be changed. But that is why I have made a career out of this. I so want to have a business doing this but I want the customer to know that I do appreciate the business rather than to just pop-in and pop-out. The customers are one of the reasons why I have grown to LOVE this field. I have served as more than just a technician in many cases. I have been an advisor, a counselor (which is something we don't get paid for), a friend, and consultant. There have been times where users have just placed tickets in for a tech to show up just because they needed someone to talk to. I have learned to wear many hats in this career and as much as customers have sent letters and emails to my higher ups on the level of service I have provided and the extra miles I may have gone through for a resolution. The higher-ups in no way have in turn showed me how much they appreciate how I have made not just myself but that team look larger than life.

Now this is where the spiritual side of me kicks in. It is a blessing to be appreciated by the people that I provide that service to. The truly do respect what I do. The have shown such great support in many ways and have been part of the inspiration to continue making this my career. But the greater blessing is knowing that GOD himself directed my feet to this because he saw me in it before I saw myself in it. So knowing that really does make me laugh internally at every person who has either felt I didn't deserve the opportunity for the position, felt that I was NOT coporate enough for the position, who felt I was NOT a team player, who refered to me as a rebel rouser, who called me over-passionate, who called me over-possessive, who went out of their way to say something negative to me and about me, who felt it necessary to give me unfavorable ratings on an evaluation, who felt it unworthy to give me the proper raise I so worked for and deserved and most importantly did not have any REAL respect for me the person who believes in this more than they ever will.

So as I look back and remember my first time behind a computer and how good it felt I also look forward to the day when those same people will ultimately have to compete with me for business. You never know they may have to come to me for a job if it is in GOD's plan.

In closing I say this...if you have computer issues or problems drop me a line. Experience what LOVE for what I do first hand.