Though fall here in Central Florida takes quite a while to make it's changes known since it means the days are now only slightly less humid and slightly less hot, I remember well the dramatic signs of the onset of the season as it rolled in each year up north.The wind would be crisper and the evening temperatures would suddenly plummet some 20 degrees from the midday high. The sun would get noticeably weaker and fail to attain the heights in the sky that it used to during summer. The leaves would start to dry out and you could imagine the trees screaming silently in pain as the suppleness left them. The world seemed bewitched and darker as if a spell had been cast upon it by an evil entity.
Though the weather changes are virtually non-existent here, I am starting to feel a change now as fall approaches, in the way my life has glided along this summer. And it ain't all for the best, I fear. It may be the end of an era of relative calm and comfort in the now well-ingrained cycle that is Koyaanisqatsi.
First there was the accident. Yes, I was fortunate to not have suffered any major or lasting injuries, but the hit to my financial "storm shelter" may signal a paradigm shift back to a high-debt, over-exposed lifestyle, ala pre-Koyaanisqatsi.
Now, just as I have committed myself to a heavier dependence on the fair winds of stability of income, dark clouds of potential doom are collecting on the horizon.
The department here at work recently underwent a transfer from being under the umbrella of sales to the scrutiny of business operations (ie: the pencil pushers). Now, the stats generated by the department are scanned daily by those up above to see what they can do to "trim the fat".
We have been cautioned about every action we do that could increase costs and decrease worth in their eyes. But I have a feeling it won't matter. It's like a worker in a vast municipal landfill putting his used Kleenex in his pocket so as not to add to the mountains of trash around him.
The offshore Level 1 folks are taking on a new initiative now...they will receive every single inbound call and either work it or triage it up to us if it needs "specialized and expert" attention. It's in the early stages but so far, it's like the sudden autumn cold snap that catches you off guard...the calls have ground to a virtual halt.
Here's my prediction:
The department has only 4 reps currently equipped to handle Spanish-speaking calls from North or South America (Asia, Africa and Europe are serviced by our counterparts in Ireland, Beijing, Sydney and Singapore), they may have a shot, or at least some of them, at being retained. But, they may not stay for long...Level 1, after all, can develop a group of the same number to replace them. They're in the Philippines...I think they have some Spanish-speakers, wouldn't you say?
As for us mono-linguist reps? Well, I am the only one in Heathrow with CSI-GOV classification...a US-born citizen able to take calls from government entities (Department of Homeland Security, et al) that only deal with those certified reps. How that would be more secure is beyond me...ask the bo-bo's who thought up the USA Patriot Act and all. Nevertheless, I may have a bit of protection with that, not to mention my status as the department's Subject Matter Expert on Backup Exec, the signature "availability" product accounting for a large percentage of the calls.
But I don't think that either of these imagined "medals on my chest" will amount to anything when the gauntlet is thrown down. Springfield has reps that are also CSI-GOV certified, they have their own Backup Exec expert and many reps have more tenure with the company than even some of the former Veritas folks here in Florida. I think, as far as this crew of 14, we're all pretty much screwed.
Like the fact of the change of the seasons, I think it's inevitable.
It's just a matter of time, and it's not like it hasn't happened before.
Methinks that soon I shall be vexed by an evil entity, bewitching and darkening my world yet again...