Wordless Wednesday - What I do

How my friday turned out

Happy Sunday folks. The picture pretty much sums up how my technicians repaired copiers on friday. Yes, it was one of those, Mr. Customer, it sure sucks to be you days. I don't think anyone could have been happier to see 5 PM happen than I was.

If they had been "green" technicians with little or no experience my expectations would have been lower but these guys, and I was down to 3 since one only works through wednesday part time and one was on a day of vacation, all have many years of experience but I think they were all afflicted with the same disorder. I'm not happy with my job and can't fix shit syndrome.

Of course when I see this happening and recognize it for what it is I feel powerless to make anything positive happen and that is an awful feeling to put it mildly. You might ask me are these guys worked too hard or not give enough benefits during the day? Well, let's see.

To start with each of them are supplied with a company vehicle to drive to and from home at no cost to them. They have a gas card to keep the vehicle full of gas that is approaching $4.00 a gal. Their day starts at 8 AM but they have been conditioned to slowly exit the shop towards 9 AM but not to their first service call but to "Griffin's Grill" next door to have breakfast and fellowship until maybe 9:30 or later putting them at their first call if I am lucky around 10 AM. Don't forget that lunch time is coming and they know how to squeeze every minute out of 60. As a disclaimer I will add that this behaviour is practiced by 4 of the 5. I do have one that actually acts responsible so there is a glimer of hope at times.

So, you might say to yourself after reading all this, how in the hell can they not be happy with their job? You see, they have all been told 1,000 times that the day starts at 8 AM and 8:01 is not acceptable to come walking through the door. Also we try to be a profit based company and when they throw a $100 assembly at a machine when a $1.25 part would have fixed the problem, or they forget to take an important part to a call and have to go back burning more expensive gas, they get upset when management barks at them. That is when the syndrome kicks in and I have to wonder how long it will last.

I don't really know if any of them actually look at my blog and I don't really care but I hope they see this and realize how they need to park their attitudes in the parking lot and get on with business like professionals.

On a lighter note we did get spaghetti plates the company bought from the local Boy Scouts that was quite tasty.

Monday is coming, with numerous emergencies facing my day but at least I will have 5 technicians instead of 3 unless one or more calls in sick. Time will tell.

The rest of the story

It was 1995 and everything was going just peachy working for a gentleman who lived in Nashville, NC and had started his business out of his home. I will back up for a second and state that I personally started with Office Machine Service and Sales back in 1980. At that time the main emphasis in the office machine industry was typewriters.

I can still remember unloading trailer loads of typewriters to be unboxed, set up and delivered to some school typing room. At the time we were the only company in our area that even tried to service typewriters and had many counties with many schools to maintain.

The first year I started with the company it was time for schools to be out for the summer and I would go with a team in a van loaded with an air compressor, solvents and rags to clean each machine and repair anything wrong with it to prepare for another year of service. I didn't even really see the company's shop until the summer cleaning was completed. We used a product called Fedron to clean platen rollers which is the black roller that the paper rolled around. In later years we heard about how dangerous that stuff was and wonder if we have any internal problem due to using that stuff without gloves.

As the years passed by copiers became popular and we stated selling and servicing copiers and building up quite a clientele that covered most of eastern North Carolina. That brings us to 1995 when the owner was approached by a large company wanting to purchase our small company.

After negotiations a deal was made and we were no longer employed by a small family. They were also buying other business and consolodating into one larger business. It was at that time that two of the technicians did not want to stay and be a part of this large firm so they opted to leave. I stayed. I was service manager and since this huge firm had it's own service manager I was demoted to glorified delivery man. It had it's good days and bad days depending on the location I had to deliver and the weather.

While I was being bored delivering machines the other two guys had decided to start their own business with no capital, no parts manuals, just enthusiasm to make it work. They got a contract with a local school system that allowed them to get their first year rolling. Little by little they grew in the company it is today covering most of eastern North Carolina like the original company did.

In 1999 they finally decided everything could be delivered out of the Raleigh location so that ended my job but at least they gave me a 6 month severance package for my 20 years of service.

After leaving I had fun selling log homes for a few years and then had a job doing grocery store sets which put me in a different town each day and had friday and the weekend off which was nice. The miles started to get to me so in 2005 I approached my old friend who was one of my technicians back in the old days. He wanted me to come on board and be service manager for his 5 technicians so it was like a reunion. So that's how Quality Office Equipment Co., Inc. came into existence. There are 12 people employed here including the boss & his wife. It is great place to come to every day. I am blessed to be able to say that.