It turns out that April was a very good month for freelance work, which is good considering how bad March was. Now here on the first of May, it seems a good time to reflect and update my loyal readership on things at this point.
First, let’s tackle the job situation. Last week I travelled to my old stomping grounds of Milwaukee to interview for a Senior Design position with a company up there. I don’t believe I’d be going too far out on a limb by saying that this company and I would be an excellent match for each other. Period. Of course it doesn’t hurt that I truly think I nailed the interview(s) when I was up there. However I am really trying to temper my optimism and not let my hopes get up too high…I’ve been burned enough over the last eight months to know that nothing is guaranteed.
Second, let’s get a little more personal for once and discuss the whole love life thing (a topic I usually try to avoid). As all my close friends are no doubt aware, my attitudes on romance and dating have been somewhat jaded in the last nine years or so. I won’t get into gruesome detail, but the nutshell is that I dated a young lady back in the day and the whole thing mutated into something very toxic and I’ve been cleaning it up ever since. I allowed myself to become insecure, emotionally needy, and an overall mess for this girl, and as a result I’ve been extremely wary of getting close to anyone else lest it happen again.
For a time, my “heart of stone” mentality was useful and even fun. After all, it’s amazing how liberating it can be to not care about whether your latest fling will get hurt or not – another will come along in no time.
But ultimately, that is not who I really am nor what I really aspire to be. And so after the novelty of that selfish new attitude began to fade, I quietly began to ease off the accelerator of always being on the hunt and instead began to pay more attention to my friends and family.
I could content myself with the knowledge that while I’d certainly had my share of fun, I was now more mature and wanted to focus on other things. I reasoned that if the fates wanted more from me, they would present it. Until then, I would just be happy with all the great people already in my life and if I stayed single for the rest of my life, it would still be a happy and full one.
And true to form, when I am out with certain friends I find that while they are still very much trying to get me to talk to various random girls, I just really haven’t had the desire to put in the effort. The very thought of having all the same boring conversations that I’ve already had countless times before with all the other countless randos that I’ve talked to just makes me want to stay put, enjoy my drink and enjoy just being with my pals. Any one of those girls may have been just amazing and perfect for me, but I’ll never know since I just don’t have the motivation to find out.
However what I find interesting is the fact that there is one particular young lady out there who I think about all the time. I actually enjoy talking to her and what really is amazing is that it’s absolutely effortless. We just click. Always have. But, as with many things in life, timing is everything and we’ve just never been able to get our timing right. Ever.
And so here I am - on the verge of a (hopefully) big move to some other place, while she stays where she is (at least until she gets a chance to move to where she really wants to be). Maybe it was never really meant to be, but no matter what happens, I will say that it does my heart good to know that it is, in fact, not made of stone after all…
To that I say “Cheers!”
Tuesday, May 1, 2012
Agenda Items
First Item: I’ve decided to stop apologizing for the long delays in updating my blog. It’s been this way for quite some time now and you, the reader, should take a little responsibility here for your own disappointment and frustration. If your expectations weren’t set so high, maybe you wouldn’t be so bummed when they aren’t met.
Second Item: I’ve also decided that nobody is probably reading this stupid thing anyway and this whole blog has really become nothing more than a passive aggressive exercise in ranting and complaining about my struggles with just a dash of occasional positive optimism thrown in for flavor. Is that really of much interest to anybody else? It barely interests me anymore, I just can’t fathom that it holds much appeal to anyone else.
Third Item: If this does in fact still appeal to anyone else, then perhaps they should take a hard look at their own lives and interests and start asking some questions.
Fourth Item: The previous item has been deemed irrelevant and will be stricken from the record.
Fifth Item: I will post a new update shortly, the reader is encouraged to stand by and await further instructions.
Second Item: I’ve also decided that nobody is probably reading this stupid thing anyway and this whole blog has really become nothing more than a passive aggressive exercise in ranting and complaining about my struggles with just a dash of occasional positive optimism thrown in for flavor. Is that really of much interest to anybody else? It barely interests me anymore, I just can’t fathom that it holds much appeal to anyone else.
Third Item: If this does in fact still appeal to anyone else, then perhaps they should take a hard look at their own lives and interests and start asking some questions.
Fourth Item: The previous item has been deemed irrelevant and will be stricken from the record.
Fifth Item: I will post a new update shortly, the reader is encouraged to stand by and await further instructions.
Tuesday, February 21, 2012
Oh the frustration…
As documented in previous postings on this blog, the last year and a half have been, well, challenging.
However the last six months have been especially brutal in terms of earning an income. Freelance can be good, but it hasn’t yet been quite good enough to keep me fully floating and that’s not including the three months when there was literally no work coming in at all. Zip. Zero. Nada.
So the next logical step is to pursue a “regular” job with an established company, earning a stable salary. Sounds like the perfect scenario – so why hasn’t that happened? For my part, I’ve sent countless resumes and emails, made countless phone calls, talked to a plethora of “inside” people who thought they could get the wheels greased in my favor at whatever company they worked for. I’ve even interviewed at a few places via telephone and in person… so what’s the freaking deal?! My employment status (and by that I do mean a total lack thereof), is certainly not a result of a lack of effort. I’ve hustled, networked, emailed, called, spoken to, and met with a seemingly endless stream of HR personnel, Creative Directors, Vice Presidents, Presidents, even Owners.
For example: In early December I went so far as to pay my own way to travel up to Milwaukee to meet with a company after the President called to follow up on the resume and portfolio sampler I sent to him. After chatting for about thirty five minutes on the phone (may not seem like a long time, but to the President of a company like this, even fifteen minutes of his time would have been an achievement), he asked if I might be in the area anytime soon to possibly meet in person. The very clear indication was that the need to add to the design staff would be fast approaching, and with that in mind, I decided to roll the dice and set a meeting.
About $250 for gas, food, and other expenses later (money I had to borrow BTW), I walked into the office ready to meet with this guy and hopefully wow and impress him with all my industry experience and design talent… I got to meet with him for all of five minutes. Five. After that I got passed along to his assistant, then to the two staff designers, then on to a quick tour of the facility. That was it. I didn’t even get to go into my portfolio with the president (you know, they guy who wanted to meet with me in the first place). We had a nice five minute chat in which we seemed to be very much on the same page, but then that was it. Well, okay. He’s busy. I get it.
But then came the real burn.
The morning after returning to KC, I fired off a few individual “Thank You” emails to the people I met with – including the president. Not one single reply. From anybody. Forget that I took the time, effort, and expense to travel all the way up there to meet with those people. Clearly that didn’t warrant any kind of polite response – you know, something like “Dan it was nice meeting with as well, I hope you had a safe trip back to KC. Thank you again for coming in to meet with us”. Even forgetting the total lack of discussion about a potential position with the company, it blows my mind that even replying to an email seemd to be too much to ask.
Well, fine. I guess I’ll just scratch that off the list a dead end. So what’s next? The answer to that is that nothing else would be bubbling up until we were well into the next month and in the new year.
When that time did finally come along, I started getting calls and emails from this headhunter and that corporate recruiter wanting to know if I’d be interested in a design job at XYZ company in ABC city or town. Sure! Feels great to have some movement again! Looks like my lean days might finally be coming to an end as I can now see little sparks of light at the end of this tunnel. But I’m not calling this good enough – Oh no sir! I know all too well how easily those little sparks can flicker out into nothing, so the wise thing is for me to continue to pursue other opportiunities as well. The the idea hits me! I can use this increase in activity as possible leverage for the company here in KC that I had met with way back in August. They were impressed with my portfolio and my resume, but every time I checked in with them, they were still not quite ready to add to their staff. Fair enough, but with my stock now on the rise, perhaps I can ignite a little urgency into them.
Perhaps at this point, I should detail this particular company a little bit and explain why I felt that the leverage was there for me to use in the first place. For starters, this company is very grounded in the very industry that I have the bulk of my professional experience in. So right off the bat, I can hit the ground running. Beyond that, the company’s physical location is basically exactly what I’ve always looked for. An old brick warehouse in the very hip crossroads district of KC that has been completely renovated and now just oozes the very creative vibe that I’ve always wanted to work in. It’s trendy, it’s hip, it’s dynamic. Perfect environment for me.
The next selling point is the work itself – they get to work on a lot of very high-end, very design driven projects. Sure they have to tackle the occasional low-budget stinker every now and then, but to a large degree, they very much operate at a higher level than any other place I’ve ever worked. Ever.
But what’s in it for them, you ask? Well, as it happens, they loved my portfolio of previous work. Secondly, whatever anybody reading this knows me as, one thing I will give myself credit for is that I interview VERY well. I’m personable, intelligent, ask poignant questions, and I articulate much more gooder than the average joe. An easygoing sense of humor certainly doesn’t hurt my case either.
Okay, so in terms of selling points for me we have a strong portfolio, and a good personality, surely that can’t be all? Well as a matter of fact, it isn’t! They've seen that I can do the work that they do and they can tell that I’ll get along well with the other people there while doing that work, but one of the added bonuses with me is that from a technical standpoint, I already use the exact software that they do. A software, I might add, that is becoming increasingly rare among design professionals in this industry. To an outsider, this may not seem like that big of a deal, but trust me - it is.
Beyond those things, there’s a few more I can rattle off here, but in the interest of not boring the reader to death, lets just sum it up by stating that there are a LOT of synergies with this company and myself. A lot! In fact there are enough that it seems a little ridiculous to me that they didn’t try to hire me after I met with them the first time. But whatevs. We have to deal with the here and now, and now, I think I might have some leverage to finally get the ball rolling!
A very well written email was composed (by none other than yours truly) simply stating that the window of opportunity might soon be closing and I’d hate for that to happen without at least checking back in with them to see if anything had opened up. His response was to the effect that he understood where I was coming from, but regrettably they were still not yet in a position to add to the staff. It was a bummer, but at least I tried. That was on a Thursday.
The following Monday I get an unexpected email from him asking if I could come in to meet with the Creative Director (the guy who I would report to if hired as a designer). Now things are getting interesting! This is EXACTLY the kind of fire I was trying to light under their butts. Of course I’d be happy to come in and meet with him. So I did, and guess what… we got along famously! The CD and I probably chatted for about an hour and a half and it was pretty obvious to both of us that I was definitely a good fit for the company and he and I would have no trouble working together. Great!
Then nothing. And more nothing. Finally I got a response to my “Thank you” emails and it was warm and friendly with just the slightest of hints that the wheels might just be turning over there. Now I’m really excited. Certainly they didn’t have me come in and meet yet again just to put me back on the back burner. No way…
Yes way.
Now I’m basically back to where I was at the beginning of January. No job. Not a lot of freelance work coming in and not many full-time prospects out there.
I think the absolute worst part of all this has to be to get so close to reaching the end zone only to get put right back at your own 20 yard line. It’s getting very hard to even get enthusiastic about new “opportunities” when they come along. Why should I? Every time I do start getting excited about something that seems to be a good fit, that’s when it all just evaporates into nothing.
This is easily the worst time in my life I’ve ever known. Ever. I just truly hope it gets better soon. I can’t help but think that something has to go my way here before too long.
However the last six months have been especially brutal in terms of earning an income. Freelance can be good, but it hasn’t yet been quite good enough to keep me fully floating and that’s not including the three months when there was literally no work coming in at all. Zip. Zero. Nada.
So the next logical step is to pursue a “regular” job with an established company, earning a stable salary. Sounds like the perfect scenario – so why hasn’t that happened? For my part, I’ve sent countless resumes and emails, made countless phone calls, talked to a plethora of “inside” people who thought they could get the wheels greased in my favor at whatever company they worked for. I’ve even interviewed at a few places via telephone and in person… so what’s the freaking deal?! My employment status (and by that I do mean a total lack thereof), is certainly not a result of a lack of effort. I’ve hustled, networked, emailed, called, spoken to, and met with a seemingly endless stream of HR personnel, Creative Directors, Vice Presidents, Presidents, even Owners.
For example: In early December I went so far as to pay my own way to travel up to Milwaukee to meet with a company after the President called to follow up on the resume and portfolio sampler I sent to him. After chatting for about thirty five minutes on the phone (may not seem like a long time, but to the President of a company like this, even fifteen minutes of his time would have been an achievement), he asked if I might be in the area anytime soon to possibly meet in person. The very clear indication was that the need to add to the design staff would be fast approaching, and with that in mind, I decided to roll the dice and set a meeting.
About $250 for gas, food, and other expenses later (money I had to borrow BTW), I walked into the office ready to meet with this guy and hopefully wow and impress him with all my industry experience and design talent… I got to meet with him for all of five minutes. Five. After that I got passed along to his assistant, then to the two staff designers, then on to a quick tour of the facility. That was it. I didn’t even get to go into my portfolio with the president (you know, they guy who wanted to meet with me in the first place). We had a nice five minute chat in which we seemed to be very much on the same page, but then that was it. Well, okay. He’s busy. I get it.
But then came the real burn.
The morning after returning to KC, I fired off a few individual “Thank You” emails to the people I met with – including the president. Not one single reply. From anybody. Forget that I took the time, effort, and expense to travel all the way up there to meet with those people. Clearly that didn’t warrant any kind of polite response – you know, something like “Dan it was nice meeting with as well, I hope you had a safe trip back to KC. Thank you again for coming in to meet with us”. Even forgetting the total lack of discussion about a potential position with the company, it blows my mind that even replying to an email seemd to be too much to ask.
Well, fine. I guess I’ll just scratch that off the list a dead end. So what’s next? The answer to that is that nothing else would be bubbling up until we were well into the next month and in the new year.
When that time did finally come along, I started getting calls and emails from this headhunter and that corporate recruiter wanting to know if I’d be interested in a design job at XYZ company in ABC city or town. Sure! Feels great to have some movement again! Looks like my lean days might finally be coming to an end as I can now see little sparks of light at the end of this tunnel. But I’m not calling this good enough – Oh no sir! I know all too well how easily those little sparks can flicker out into nothing, so the wise thing is for me to continue to pursue other opportiunities as well. The the idea hits me! I can use this increase in activity as possible leverage for the company here in KC that I had met with way back in August. They were impressed with my portfolio and my resume, but every time I checked in with them, they were still not quite ready to add to their staff. Fair enough, but with my stock now on the rise, perhaps I can ignite a little urgency into them.
Perhaps at this point, I should detail this particular company a little bit and explain why I felt that the leverage was there for me to use in the first place. For starters, this company is very grounded in the very industry that I have the bulk of my professional experience in. So right off the bat, I can hit the ground running. Beyond that, the company’s physical location is basically exactly what I’ve always looked for. An old brick warehouse in the very hip crossroads district of KC that has been completely renovated and now just oozes the very creative vibe that I’ve always wanted to work in. It’s trendy, it’s hip, it’s dynamic. Perfect environment for me.
The next selling point is the work itself – they get to work on a lot of very high-end, very design driven projects. Sure they have to tackle the occasional low-budget stinker every now and then, but to a large degree, they very much operate at a higher level than any other place I’ve ever worked. Ever.
But what’s in it for them, you ask? Well, as it happens, they loved my portfolio of previous work. Secondly, whatever anybody reading this knows me as, one thing I will give myself credit for is that I interview VERY well. I’m personable, intelligent, ask poignant questions, and I articulate much more gooder than the average joe. An easygoing sense of humor certainly doesn’t hurt my case either.
Okay, so in terms of selling points for me we have a strong portfolio, and a good personality, surely that can’t be all? Well as a matter of fact, it isn’t! They've seen that I can do the work that they do and they can tell that I’ll get along well with the other people there while doing that work, but one of the added bonuses with me is that from a technical standpoint, I already use the exact software that they do. A software, I might add, that is becoming increasingly rare among design professionals in this industry. To an outsider, this may not seem like that big of a deal, but trust me - it is.
Beyond those things, there’s a few more I can rattle off here, but in the interest of not boring the reader to death, lets just sum it up by stating that there are a LOT of synergies with this company and myself. A lot! In fact there are enough that it seems a little ridiculous to me that they didn’t try to hire me after I met with them the first time. But whatevs. We have to deal with the here and now, and now, I think I might have some leverage to finally get the ball rolling!
A very well written email was composed (by none other than yours truly) simply stating that the window of opportunity might soon be closing and I’d hate for that to happen without at least checking back in with them to see if anything had opened up. His response was to the effect that he understood where I was coming from, but regrettably they were still not yet in a position to add to the staff. It was a bummer, but at least I tried. That was on a Thursday.
The following Monday I get an unexpected email from him asking if I could come in to meet with the Creative Director (the guy who I would report to if hired as a designer). Now things are getting interesting! This is EXACTLY the kind of fire I was trying to light under their butts. Of course I’d be happy to come in and meet with him. So I did, and guess what… we got along famously! The CD and I probably chatted for about an hour and a half and it was pretty obvious to both of us that I was definitely a good fit for the company and he and I would have no trouble working together. Great!
Then nothing. And more nothing. Finally I got a response to my “Thank you” emails and it was warm and friendly with just the slightest of hints that the wheels might just be turning over there. Now I’m really excited. Certainly they didn’t have me come in and meet yet again just to put me back on the back burner. No way…
Yes way.
Now I’m basically back to where I was at the beginning of January. No job. Not a lot of freelance work coming in and not many full-time prospects out there.
I think the absolute worst part of all this has to be to get so close to reaching the end zone only to get put right back at your own 20 yard line. It’s getting very hard to even get enthusiastic about new “opportunities” when they come along. Why should I? Every time I do start getting excited about something that seems to be a good fit, that’s when it all just evaporates into nothing.
This is easily the worst time in my life I’ve ever known. Ever. I just truly hope it gets better soon. I can’t help but think that something has to go my way here before too long.
Monday, January 2, 2012
New Year
So it is now the year 2012 Anno Diem. Seems to be a perfect time to reflect on the previous year and how it might shape the new one. For starters, 2011 was something of a mixed bag or variety pack of good times and bad times. But perhaps a better analogy might be that of a sandwich, a few layers of good between two slices of bad.
As 2011 dawned, I found myself stressed in terms of finances, my career not going very well and my paychecks certainly inadequate to cover my basic expenses with no relief in sight. I was stuck in a role that in the end turned out to not be a good fit for me at work, but there wasn’t much room to move, so it was either that or leave. On the personal front, I was living in a city three hours away from anything resembling a social life, and one of the few good friends I did have there suffered a tragedy that I can’t even imagine by losing one of her best friends in a horrible accident. While I wouldn’t dare presume to understand the depths of that pain, the very fact that I couldn’t understand it was enough for my heart to break for her and for my other friends suffering that loss. I in fact rang in 2011 at a bar, amid his various friends and family and their shock and tears.
It was shortly after the first of the year and right in the middle of all this darkness that a prospect of a new career opportunity began to materialize and really take tangible form. I had been in very preliminary discussions with a friend of mine in California to move out there and serve as a junior partner in a startup venture for a new product he was developing. In early December I had even travelled out there for a long weekend to meet with him and his business partner (his adopted mom) to hash things over. After a few weeks had passed of the new year, I was finally given word of an “official” offer to come on board and, with things being so bleak and fruitless in my present situation, it seemed to be the perfect time and the perfect opportunity to make a change.
So in the last week of February, I said my goodbyes to Iowa and all my coworkers and friends there and with nothing but my clothes, my computer, and my car, I made the great journey west to California.
It was the evening of one of the last days of February when I made the descent from the El Cajon Pass down into the Ontario area. It was cold, pouring rain, and the wind was gusting enough to make that descent a truly nerve-racking one. I kept my speed slow and steady (despite the other idiots on the road racing past as if there weren’t anything to be concerned about) and eventually arrived at my friend Ric’s house, a little rattled, but safe and sound nonetheless.
The next five months in California were eye opening in many ways. Ric was sporting enough to give me many guided tours of the Southern California region and I got to see a ton of cool stuff. However I also got to see and experience many of the bad aspects of SoCal in terms of the socio-economic deterioration of so many of the neighborhoods out there caused in large measure by the toxic cocktail of a bloated welfare system and unchecked illegal immigration. I myself had opinions on those issues before being out there, but only in an abstract, unattached way. Now having lived and breathed the reality of it, I’d say my opinions are now quite solidified and I agree with Ric that the day will come when things reach critical mass out there (and in the southwest in general) and when that happens, you won’t want to be anywhere near it when it all blows up.
But back to my story, in general I started acclimating as best I could to my new life in SoCal and we worked diligently every day to get the business up and running. We zeroed in a few local pubs and restaraunts that we liked and we both did some more in-depth exploring of the area to find new things of interest. I suspect Ric enjoyed having a newbie there with him to force him to get out a little bit and explore the scene himself. I eventually joined a gym and began to re-establish my workout routine and even went out on a few dates with a couple of the local California girls. Nothing came of them obviously, but all the same, I was definitely trying to find a foothold and build a life.
After a couple of months out west, I made the journey to Mexico for the wedding of one of my absolute best friends. I was a little unsure about the location as it was in Playa Del Carmen, which is directly across from the island of Cozumel, which I had been to before and thought was something of a dump. However I was pleasantly surprised with the quality of the hotel itself, the unbelievable service of the staff, and the stunning beauty of the beach we were on. In fact, I’m not sure how it worked out this way, but I wasn’t “supposed” to have a view of the ocean from my room, but the room they gave me looked directly out onto the ocean and the beach. It really couldn’t have been better!
The wedding itself was beautiful yet casual and all the guests had a great time celebrating over the course of a few days. I ate amazing food every day, experienced my first professional massage/spa, swam in the clear ocean waters, drank plenty of the all-inclusive booze, and soaked up the warm sunshine. To be able to do all of that with some of my best friends truly made the trip unforgettable! However, like all good things, the time did come for me to go back, and as I made the descent back into California, I gazed out the window and realized that I was became depressed at the sight of Ontario and my new life there.
Over the next few weeks I tried to rally my enthusiasm, but in truth, the business was not taking off as we had hoped with only a few isolated orders coming through and not much movement from any of our retail contacts. I was brought on board to be the driving force of the sales and marketing efforts, but despite my best intentions and efforts, the sales simply were not coming in and I found myself becoming extremely homesick for the Midwest. The idea then began to form that perhaps I could solve both of these problems in one fell swoop by relocating back to Kansas City and then using my network of friends and contacts to start getting business built up from there. Days later, I composed an email to Ric laying out my thoughts on this and after a few discussions, he agreed to let me make the jump back to KC.
And so, a couple of weeks later at the end of July, I again loaded up my car and made the drive back. It didn’t take long for me to get settled in at my parents house and get my “office” set up and ready to go. But after only a week, I got the call from Ric that I was being cut-off from the business and that I’d need to find other employment. While I was definitely disappointed at this news, I could at least console myself that it at least happened after I was already back in terra cognita and in a solid position to start fresh.
I began the process the very next day by calling and emailing all of my contacts in my previous industry, recruiters, design directors, former colleagues etc. However it was a phone call to one of good friends in Milwaukee that changed the scope of my efforts. Dave is a freelance designer and has been for a number of years and has found quite a bit of success with it. He strongly encouraged me to consider freelancing as a viable alternative to the typical corporate grind. He made it very clear that it could take a while to get firmly established with a solid roster of clients, but that the fact that times were lean for those looking for regular design jobs meant that the freelancers were being tapped to pick up the slack left by downsized design departments. This idea had been floated by me before, but it really seemed to take hold this time. So I started building up contact lists and formatting my portfolio. It didn’t take long to get a few “hits” and in the first six weeks, I brought in enough work to keep me financially above water and positioned well enough to remain encouraged… until everything dried up. I don’t know why, but after those first weeks, everything seemed to die in terms of design work. None of my existing clients needed anything and none of the potential clients seemed to have any work either. Dead in the water.
So I began to refocus on the search for a “normal” job. I went on several interviews, spoke with a variety of people, got a lot of positive feedback, but nothing seemed to go anywhere for one reason or another. As though this weren’t discouraging enough, I then had to hear through my friend Dave, that one of the Creative Directors I had contacted to explore the possibility of a job did not like my portfolio. His assessment was that my work was not at the level of a “Senior Designer”. Maybe I’m too sensitive to criticism, but that was really a tough blow to take. I knew that my portfolio wasn’t as “flashy” and “high-end” as some in the industry, but that’s really more of a reflection of the types of projects I’ve gotten to work on, and not my value as a designer. Over the next week I formed quite a list of reasons and arguments against this guys’ dismissal of my work, but I still could not shake that feeling of “not being good enough”.
Slowly however, that gloom started to abate and I began working on a few proactive projects to focus on a more high-end aesthetic, just to prove to myself that I could do it. After a few rounds and revisions, I did come up with a couple of decent, flashy portfolio pieces and I know for a fact now that I can do more. But flashy proactive projects look good in my portfolio, but they don’t necessarily put me on a paying basis. And so, while perhaps my portfolio is a touch stronger, I was still without an income with the holidays fast approaching.
It was at this time that I looked into coming on with UPS as a seasonal helper. The full rundown on that can be found in a previous posting on this blog, so there is no need for me to go into it again. What is important though is that, while it was good to have some kind of income, it certainly wasn’t enough to get all my bills paid let alone enough to afford to do anything for my friends and family for Christmas.
And that leads me into the more personal aspect of my situation, the fact that I have some of the most unbelievably awesome friends one could ever hope for. They know what my finances are like, and yet they still keep picking up the tab most times when we go out and do things. I don’t expect them to as they have already done so much for me, but for whatever reason, they just haven’t given up on me yet.
So I guess that’s where 2011 ends: a professional and financial situation as dire and bleak as I have ever known, yet I am still surrounded by awesome friends and family. My selfish hope for 2012 is to get myself back on solid ground and to be able to begin to repay the kindness and charity of those around me. My unselfish hope for 2012, is the same thing for all the millions in this country who find themselves in the same position as me.
As 2011 dawned, I found myself stressed in terms of finances, my career not going very well and my paychecks certainly inadequate to cover my basic expenses with no relief in sight. I was stuck in a role that in the end turned out to not be a good fit for me at work, but there wasn’t much room to move, so it was either that or leave. On the personal front, I was living in a city three hours away from anything resembling a social life, and one of the few good friends I did have there suffered a tragedy that I can’t even imagine by losing one of her best friends in a horrible accident. While I wouldn’t dare presume to understand the depths of that pain, the very fact that I couldn’t understand it was enough for my heart to break for her and for my other friends suffering that loss. I in fact rang in 2011 at a bar, amid his various friends and family and their shock and tears.
It was shortly after the first of the year and right in the middle of all this darkness that a prospect of a new career opportunity began to materialize and really take tangible form. I had been in very preliminary discussions with a friend of mine in California to move out there and serve as a junior partner in a startup venture for a new product he was developing. In early December I had even travelled out there for a long weekend to meet with him and his business partner (his adopted mom) to hash things over. After a few weeks had passed of the new year, I was finally given word of an “official” offer to come on board and, with things being so bleak and fruitless in my present situation, it seemed to be the perfect time and the perfect opportunity to make a change.
So in the last week of February, I said my goodbyes to Iowa and all my coworkers and friends there and with nothing but my clothes, my computer, and my car, I made the great journey west to California.
It was the evening of one of the last days of February when I made the descent from the El Cajon Pass down into the Ontario area. It was cold, pouring rain, and the wind was gusting enough to make that descent a truly nerve-racking one. I kept my speed slow and steady (despite the other idiots on the road racing past as if there weren’t anything to be concerned about) and eventually arrived at my friend Ric’s house, a little rattled, but safe and sound nonetheless.
The next five months in California were eye opening in many ways. Ric was sporting enough to give me many guided tours of the Southern California region and I got to see a ton of cool stuff. However I also got to see and experience many of the bad aspects of SoCal in terms of the socio-economic deterioration of so many of the neighborhoods out there caused in large measure by the toxic cocktail of a bloated welfare system and unchecked illegal immigration. I myself had opinions on those issues before being out there, but only in an abstract, unattached way. Now having lived and breathed the reality of it, I’d say my opinions are now quite solidified and I agree with Ric that the day will come when things reach critical mass out there (and in the southwest in general) and when that happens, you won’t want to be anywhere near it when it all blows up.
But back to my story, in general I started acclimating as best I could to my new life in SoCal and we worked diligently every day to get the business up and running. We zeroed in a few local pubs and restaraunts that we liked and we both did some more in-depth exploring of the area to find new things of interest. I suspect Ric enjoyed having a newbie there with him to force him to get out a little bit and explore the scene himself. I eventually joined a gym and began to re-establish my workout routine and even went out on a few dates with a couple of the local California girls. Nothing came of them obviously, but all the same, I was definitely trying to find a foothold and build a life.
After a couple of months out west, I made the journey to Mexico for the wedding of one of my absolute best friends. I was a little unsure about the location as it was in Playa Del Carmen, which is directly across from the island of Cozumel, which I had been to before and thought was something of a dump. However I was pleasantly surprised with the quality of the hotel itself, the unbelievable service of the staff, and the stunning beauty of the beach we were on. In fact, I’m not sure how it worked out this way, but I wasn’t “supposed” to have a view of the ocean from my room, but the room they gave me looked directly out onto the ocean and the beach. It really couldn’t have been better!
The wedding itself was beautiful yet casual and all the guests had a great time celebrating over the course of a few days. I ate amazing food every day, experienced my first professional massage/spa, swam in the clear ocean waters, drank plenty of the all-inclusive booze, and soaked up the warm sunshine. To be able to do all of that with some of my best friends truly made the trip unforgettable! However, like all good things, the time did come for me to go back, and as I made the descent back into California, I gazed out the window and realized that I was became depressed at the sight of Ontario and my new life there.
Over the next few weeks I tried to rally my enthusiasm, but in truth, the business was not taking off as we had hoped with only a few isolated orders coming through and not much movement from any of our retail contacts. I was brought on board to be the driving force of the sales and marketing efforts, but despite my best intentions and efforts, the sales simply were not coming in and I found myself becoming extremely homesick for the Midwest. The idea then began to form that perhaps I could solve both of these problems in one fell swoop by relocating back to Kansas City and then using my network of friends and contacts to start getting business built up from there. Days later, I composed an email to Ric laying out my thoughts on this and after a few discussions, he agreed to let me make the jump back to KC.
And so, a couple of weeks later at the end of July, I again loaded up my car and made the drive back. It didn’t take long for me to get settled in at my parents house and get my “office” set up and ready to go. But after only a week, I got the call from Ric that I was being cut-off from the business and that I’d need to find other employment. While I was definitely disappointed at this news, I could at least console myself that it at least happened after I was already back in terra cognita and in a solid position to start fresh.
I began the process the very next day by calling and emailing all of my contacts in my previous industry, recruiters, design directors, former colleagues etc. However it was a phone call to one of good friends in Milwaukee that changed the scope of my efforts. Dave is a freelance designer and has been for a number of years and has found quite a bit of success with it. He strongly encouraged me to consider freelancing as a viable alternative to the typical corporate grind. He made it very clear that it could take a while to get firmly established with a solid roster of clients, but that the fact that times were lean for those looking for regular design jobs meant that the freelancers were being tapped to pick up the slack left by downsized design departments. This idea had been floated by me before, but it really seemed to take hold this time. So I started building up contact lists and formatting my portfolio. It didn’t take long to get a few “hits” and in the first six weeks, I brought in enough work to keep me financially above water and positioned well enough to remain encouraged… until everything dried up. I don’t know why, but after those first weeks, everything seemed to die in terms of design work. None of my existing clients needed anything and none of the potential clients seemed to have any work either. Dead in the water.
So I began to refocus on the search for a “normal” job. I went on several interviews, spoke with a variety of people, got a lot of positive feedback, but nothing seemed to go anywhere for one reason or another. As though this weren’t discouraging enough, I then had to hear through my friend Dave, that one of the Creative Directors I had contacted to explore the possibility of a job did not like my portfolio. His assessment was that my work was not at the level of a “Senior Designer”. Maybe I’m too sensitive to criticism, but that was really a tough blow to take. I knew that my portfolio wasn’t as “flashy” and “high-end” as some in the industry, but that’s really more of a reflection of the types of projects I’ve gotten to work on, and not my value as a designer. Over the next week I formed quite a list of reasons and arguments against this guys’ dismissal of my work, but I still could not shake that feeling of “not being good enough”.
Slowly however, that gloom started to abate and I began working on a few proactive projects to focus on a more high-end aesthetic, just to prove to myself that I could do it. After a few rounds and revisions, I did come up with a couple of decent, flashy portfolio pieces and I know for a fact now that I can do more. But flashy proactive projects look good in my portfolio, but they don’t necessarily put me on a paying basis. And so, while perhaps my portfolio is a touch stronger, I was still without an income with the holidays fast approaching.
It was at this time that I looked into coming on with UPS as a seasonal helper. The full rundown on that can be found in a previous posting on this blog, so there is no need for me to go into it again. What is important though is that, while it was good to have some kind of income, it certainly wasn’t enough to get all my bills paid let alone enough to afford to do anything for my friends and family for Christmas.
And that leads me into the more personal aspect of my situation, the fact that I have some of the most unbelievably awesome friends one could ever hope for. They know what my finances are like, and yet they still keep picking up the tab most times when we go out and do things. I don’t expect them to as they have already done so much for me, but for whatever reason, they just haven’t given up on me yet.
So I guess that’s where 2011 ends: a professional and financial situation as dire and bleak as I have ever known, yet I am still surrounded by awesome friends and family. My selfish hope for 2012 is to get myself back on solid ground and to be able to begin to repay the kindness and charity of those around me. My unselfish hope for 2012, is the same thing for all the millions in this country who find themselves in the same position as me.
Monday, December 19, 2011
Fork in the Road?
One of the interesting things about my recent gig as a temporary driver helper with UPS is that I get to see a lot of residential neighborhoods and commercial businesses in the course of our daily route. Today was a cold, rainy and generally miserable day for anybody, but especially for anybody that had to work outside…which of course, means me.
As the rain and the cold began to infiltrate my layers of clothes, and my cell phone was blowing up with the now too familiar calls from bill collectors, the stark reality of my current situation starting setting in. Those nagging thoughts of “What the hell am I doing on this UPS truck? Why am I not working a professional job that can actually offer a livable salary? How did I go from having a career and a life of my own to sitting shotgun in the cold and the rain on a delivery truck, working for mere scraps?
Those ugly thoughts of doubt and uncertainty stayed with me as I was unable to shake them. Then later, we started making stops to a few businesses, the last of which is a company that employs a lot of design and marketing talent and is well-known as a very dynamic and creative place to work. It was driving by this company that I looked and saw three young people, perhaps in their late twenties or early thirties sitting in a conference room discussing something. The room itself was painted in very vibrant colors with trendy décor on the walls as well as several boards of drawings or other concept work and the people themselves were dressed in upscale jeans and t shirts. In short, the exact kind of place I would fit in. That’s when the panic hit me. The contrast between our situations couldn’t be more drastic: the people inside that warm room with steady jobs at a very hip and fun place to work, and me sitting in the jumpseat of a cold UPS truck trying to ignore the fact that I was soaked and that I have absolutely no prospects or hope for any kind of gainful employment.
How did this happen? Why am I stuck in this position while others are doing so well?
I am now at the age where pretty much all of my friends are already married, or soon will be and their careers are well established. In fact many of my friends are starting to see some real financial success by way of handsome salaries and steady promotions. I do not begrudge their success, but I do have to wonder what the hell have I done so incredibly wrong that I can’t even get a callback from a resume submitted to any of the dozens of companies I’ve tried contacting in search for employment.
I know full well that the economy overall is in the dumps and many companies simply aren’t hiring. I also understand that sending resumes and portfolio samples to companies proactively will not yield a high-level of response. But when I send my information in response to an actual posting for an open position, why is it that I don’t ever get past the initial screening? Even jobs that fit quite nicely with my experience, training, and talents seem to be out of my reach.
So then I have to think, why am I even having to look for a job anyway? I’ve worked for many companies, why can’t I ever seem to find one that I can actually stay with and build a career? As I go down the list, I can rattle off one reason after another for each of my previous employers as to why it didn’t work out. However, I wonder if the common denominator in all this might just be me. Maybe I am the reason my career has never been successful. Maybe there is something wrong with my wiring and I am just not good enough in some way to be able to make it.
That possibility certainly seems far fetched at first glance, after all, look at how many numbskulls and nitwits are gainfully employed at just about any company out there. I am certainly smarter, more creative, harder working etc than all if not most of the knuckleheads that infect just about every company. Yet the facts say otherwise. They are employed, which means their employers find some value in having them on the team. I am not employed and to date can’t seem to even get a phone interview, which tells me that employers do not see value in having me on the team.
Maybe this is really the hard truth to face – I just don’t have anything to offer that is of value to an employer. So what can I do? I’m too old to just start over. I am not about to go back to school to go even further in debt for a degree that will not offer any more of a guarantee of job placement than the degree I already have did. Perhaps I can continue to scratch and claw for pennies, only to still not be able to get by… but what does that solve?
I suppose I could keep knocking on doors hoping that maybe, eventually, some company will be desperate enough to give me a low-to mid-level position doing work that anybody who is talented enough, usually avoids like the plague. But again, does an unfulfilling job bring about happiness? I know that isn’t the case based on the several jobs exactly like this that I’ve already had. They are roads to nowhere in terms of professional happiness and usually don’t even pay all that well nor provide any real job security. I’ve already been there and done that. No thanks.
So I guess I’m left with the conclusion that if I can’t make it within the system, maybe it’s time to look at dropping off the grid and leaving the system entirely. At this point, selling my possessions, defaulting on my loans, dropping my cell phone plan, turning over my car to the bank (to save them the trouble of a repo), cashing in whatever I can get from my 401K, and buying a one-way bus ticket to some far away place seems like an appealing prospect.
I’m not sure how I’d make it, or if I even would, but whatever comes, it would almost certainly have to be better than the constant failure and rejection that I seem doomed to otherwise. Hell, maybe I can make it to some third world place and actually use my brains and my efforts to do some good for some other people. At least that way my life would have had some purpose or value to somebody.
As the rain and the cold began to infiltrate my layers of clothes, and my cell phone was blowing up with the now too familiar calls from bill collectors, the stark reality of my current situation starting setting in. Those nagging thoughts of “What the hell am I doing on this UPS truck? Why am I not working a professional job that can actually offer a livable salary? How did I go from having a career and a life of my own to sitting shotgun in the cold and the rain on a delivery truck, working for mere scraps?
Those ugly thoughts of doubt and uncertainty stayed with me as I was unable to shake them. Then later, we started making stops to a few businesses, the last of which is a company that employs a lot of design and marketing talent and is well-known as a very dynamic and creative place to work. It was driving by this company that I looked and saw three young people, perhaps in their late twenties or early thirties sitting in a conference room discussing something. The room itself was painted in very vibrant colors with trendy décor on the walls as well as several boards of drawings or other concept work and the people themselves were dressed in upscale jeans and t shirts. In short, the exact kind of place I would fit in. That’s when the panic hit me. The contrast between our situations couldn’t be more drastic: the people inside that warm room with steady jobs at a very hip and fun place to work, and me sitting in the jumpseat of a cold UPS truck trying to ignore the fact that I was soaked and that I have absolutely no prospects or hope for any kind of gainful employment.
How did this happen? Why am I stuck in this position while others are doing so well?
I am now at the age where pretty much all of my friends are already married, or soon will be and their careers are well established. In fact many of my friends are starting to see some real financial success by way of handsome salaries and steady promotions. I do not begrudge their success, but I do have to wonder what the hell have I done so incredibly wrong that I can’t even get a callback from a resume submitted to any of the dozens of companies I’ve tried contacting in search for employment.
I know full well that the economy overall is in the dumps and many companies simply aren’t hiring. I also understand that sending resumes and portfolio samples to companies proactively will not yield a high-level of response. But when I send my information in response to an actual posting for an open position, why is it that I don’t ever get past the initial screening? Even jobs that fit quite nicely with my experience, training, and talents seem to be out of my reach.
So then I have to think, why am I even having to look for a job anyway? I’ve worked for many companies, why can’t I ever seem to find one that I can actually stay with and build a career? As I go down the list, I can rattle off one reason after another for each of my previous employers as to why it didn’t work out. However, I wonder if the common denominator in all this might just be me. Maybe I am the reason my career has never been successful. Maybe there is something wrong with my wiring and I am just not good enough in some way to be able to make it.
That possibility certainly seems far fetched at first glance, after all, look at how many numbskulls and nitwits are gainfully employed at just about any company out there. I am certainly smarter, more creative, harder working etc than all if not most of the knuckleheads that infect just about every company. Yet the facts say otherwise. They are employed, which means their employers find some value in having them on the team. I am not employed and to date can’t seem to even get a phone interview, which tells me that employers do not see value in having me on the team.
Maybe this is really the hard truth to face – I just don’t have anything to offer that is of value to an employer. So what can I do? I’m too old to just start over. I am not about to go back to school to go even further in debt for a degree that will not offer any more of a guarantee of job placement than the degree I already have did. Perhaps I can continue to scratch and claw for pennies, only to still not be able to get by… but what does that solve?
I suppose I could keep knocking on doors hoping that maybe, eventually, some company will be desperate enough to give me a low-to mid-level position doing work that anybody who is talented enough, usually avoids like the plague. But again, does an unfulfilling job bring about happiness? I know that isn’t the case based on the several jobs exactly like this that I’ve already had. They are roads to nowhere in terms of professional happiness and usually don’t even pay all that well nor provide any real job security. I’ve already been there and done that. No thanks.
So I guess I’m left with the conclusion that if I can’t make it within the system, maybe it’s time to look at dropping off the grid and leaving the system entirely. At this point, selling my possessions, defaulting on my loans, dropping my cell phone plan, turning over my car to the bank (to save them the trouble of a repo), cashing in whatever I can get from my 401K, and buying a one-way bus ticket to some far away place seems like an appealing prospect.
I’m not sure how I’d make it, or if I even would, but whatever comes, it would almost certainly have to be better than the constant failure and rejection that I seem doomed to otherwise. Hell, maybe I can make it to some third world place and actually use my brains and my efforts to do some good for some other people. At least that way my life would have had some purpose or value to somebody.
Tuesday, December 6, 2011
Ask not what brown can do for you...
Has it really been three months since I last posted something here? Yikes!
Well I guess there is no time like the present to remedy that little oversight. And so here it goes:
As some of you reading this may already know, I have been spending the last few months since coming back from California doing freelance design work and also searching for any good full-time employment opportunities. Unfortunately for me, the current economy isn’t very favorable to finding a regular design staff position and I do not quite have the client base built up enough to really get by. So out of pure necessity, I began searching for any temporary or seasonal jobs out there that I could do while still continuing my efforts to find “real” work. This led me to find employment with UPS as a “Driver Helper” during the holiday season.
The job is basically “on-call”, which means they’ll call every day that they need me, and will not call on days they don’t. There is no guarantee of hours or even a set schedule, which is actually a lot more stressful than I would have guessed, but the upshot is that this job ends on New Years Eve. After that, there is no obligation to or from either party, which means hopefully I’ll have one or two solid leads on a professional job by that time.
As of this posting, I have worked two days as a helper and would like to now list out some thoughts and observations.
First – the daily life of a UPS driver is TOUGH! They average from 200-300 stops every single day. Note, the word stops does not mean total packages, it means actual stops that they have to park, go in the back of the truck to locate the package(s), walk up to the location with the item(s), place (or get signature if required), walk back to the truck, and then proceed to the next stop to do it all over again. If you haven’t already imagined, that is quite a lot of getting in and out of the truck as well as a lot of briskly walking with packages that can sometimes be quite bulky and heavy. It’s not a job for slackers or the out of shape as the pace must be rapid, otherwise you would never get your daily route completed.
The next observation I made is that for all the times I’ve bitched about UPS, now that I’ve spent a bit of time on the other end, I have a whole new respect and outlook for what they do. To be able to distribute as many parcels as what they do in such an efficient way is mind boggling! But the thing that has really struck me is that in the face of such a huge workload, UPS really goes out of its way to ensure safe delivery of each item. For example, a typical home delivery is a standard “driver release”, which means no signature is required and the package can be left at the residence. But instead of just chucking it onto the porch and moving on, the driver will knock once, then scout a location near the front door to hide it from street view (often behind bushes, columns, or other obstructions that will prevent any would-be thieves from easily spotting it), and then they give a second knock before walking away. If the package was placed in a spot that it may not be easily found by the homeowner, we will even leave a note on the door specifying where it can be found – just to be sure. In fact, there even times when we have taken a package around to the back door if it was something of high value such as an LCD TV or if there was no reasonably good spot to hide it in front. All of that extra attention takes time, time that the drivers typically don’t have, but they do it anyway.
Of course there are certainly some jokers out there who do not go to these lengths and I’m sure just about everyone has a story to tell about some shady UPS driver doing something dumb (plenty of YouTube videos are available as evidence), but overall I would have to say that UPS does a great job at providing valueable delivery for an economic price. The flip side of that coin is that sometimes you can get some customers that are unbelievably off-base with their expectations, such as the following video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W1qUd9na_PQ
If you notice at the end of the video, the package in question was tucked near the front door, behind a bush, thus preventing it being seen from the street (and helping to mitigate the risk of theft), but this toolbag keeps ranting about how the driver “threw” this piece of electronic equipment into a mound of snow. First of all, while true that there is snow, the package certainly wasn’t in a mound of it. Secondly, do you know anybody who could “throw” a package behind a bush, and to the side of the porch with such accuracy? I don’t. This parcel looks obviously placed, not “thrown”…HUGE difference! The third item is given the brown corrugate box, how was this driver to have any idea what was inside of it, electronics or otherwise. Fourthly, if it was electronics, SO WHAT!? When companies ship sensitive things like that, they use a TON of foam inserts, corrugate pads, etc in order for the item to survive the rigors of shipment, which means the actual item is very likely nowhere near the plain brown outer carton. Fifthly (is that a word?), having your item sitting on top of non-melting snow in NO WAY affects it. It’s no different than leaving it on the front porch, cold weather is cold weather. Period.
I suspect that this guy was riled because the driver didn’t show up, knock on the door, place the package on a silk pillow, wait, wait some more, and when he finally did answer the door, the driver didn’t hand him a fresh cup of hot chocolate with marshmallows on top. If he wanted that kind of service, that’s fine, but you have to pay for it and it certainly isn’t included with the standard UPS Ground delivery.
It’s also worth noting that he has his comments turned “off” for that video… he was probably getting too many people calling him out on his nonsense.
Now having ranted about that video, again, there are plenty of videos showing UPS drivers doing dumb, dumb things. No question. But the moral of the story is that everyone should bear in mind that these guys have a tough job to do, and they generally do the best they can to make sure your stuff gets to you quickly, efficiently, and safely.
On the other side, let me now address what you, the average customer, can do to help ensure the smooth delivery of your stuff. First of all, if you want hand delivery from the driver directly to your hands, sign up for the “signature required” option. The typical UPS driver doesn’t have time to wait for every single customer to maybe answer the door. They need to get moving as there are plenty of other people who want their stuff too! If you want the cheapest option, then you need to make peace with the fact that your package is going to be left unattended by the driver. The good news though is that they will try their best to keep it out of sight and out of the weather (in case of rain). But you can help there by making sure there is something near your front door that can be used for hiding parcels. Bushes are common, but so are planters, chairs, and other décor. It really does help the driver to have a quick and convenient option to hide your stuff from public view, and they’ll love you for it!
If you have a special place you’d like the driver to leave your stuff, by all means make a note of it on the front door. Nine times out of ten these instructions are complied with, the exception being instructions that are completely unreasonable or even dangerous. Delivering a package to you shouldn’t look like Indiana Jones navigating the Temple of Doom – Quick, Easy, and Safe is the idea.
On the safety note, for the love of god people, keep your dogs inside or in the back yard. All dogs hate UPS drivers (USPS and FedEx are no exception), and as much as your may love your Fido and think he is just the cutest and bestest friend in the world, we don’t want to get mauled by him. Ever. Period. So please keep them under control. That’s just common decency.
In closing, just remember that your UPS driver wants you to be happy with their service, but you need to make sure your expectations are in check with which level of service you actually paid for and it certainly doesn’t hurt for you to make it as easy as you can for your package to be delivered safely and securely.
Now stop reading this and go order something online will ya!
Well I guess there is no time like the present to remedy that little oversight. And so here it goes:
As some of you reading this may already know, I have been spending the last few months since coming back from California doing freelance design work and also searching for any good full-time employment opportunities. Unfortunately for me, the current economy isn’t very favorable to finding a regular design staff position and I do not quite have the client base built up enough to really get by. So out of pure necessity, I began searching for any temporary or seasonal jobs out there that I could do while still continuing my efforts to find “real” work. This led me to find employment with UPS as a “Driver Helper” during the holiday season.
The job is basically “on-call”, which means they’ll call every day that they need me, and will not call on days they don’t. There is no guarantee of hours or even a set schedule, which is actually a lot more stressful than I would have guessed, but the upshot is that this job ends on New Years Eve. After that, there is no obligation to or from either party, which means hopefully I’ll have one or two solid leads on a professional job by that time.
As of this posting, I have worked two days as a helper and would like to now list out some thoughts and observations.
First – the daily life of a UPS driver is TOUGH! They average from 200-300 stops every single day. Note, the word stops does not mean total packages, it means actual stops that they have to park, go in the back of the truck to locate the package(s), walk up to the location with the item(s), place (or get signature if required), walk back to the truck, and then proceed to the next stop to do it all over again. If you haven’t already imagined, that is quite a lot of getting in and out of the truck as well as a lot of briskly walking with packages that can sometimes be quite bulky and heavy. It’s not a job for slackers or the out of shape as the pace must be rapid, otherwise you would never get your daily route completed.
The next observation I made is that for all the times I’ve bitched about UPS, now that I’ve spent a bit of time on the other end, I have a whole new respect and outlook for what they do. To be able to distribute as many parcels as what they do in such an efficient way is mind boggling! But the thing that has really struck me is that in the face of such a huge workload, UPS really goes out of its way to ensure safe delivery of each item. For example, a typical home delivery is a standard “driver release”, which means no signature is required and the package can be left at the residence. But instead of just chucking it onto the porch and moving on, the driver will knock once, then scout a location near the front door to hide it from street view (often behind bushes, columns, or other obstructions that will prevent any would-be thieves from easily spotting it), and then they give a second knock before walking away. If the package was placed in a spot that it may not be easily found by the homeowner, we will even leave a note on the door specifying where it can be found – just to be sure. In fact, there even times when we have taken a package around to the back door if it was something of high value such as an LCD TV or if there was no reasonably good spot to hide it in front. All of that extra attention takes time, time that the drivers typically don’t have, but they do it anyway.
Of course there are certainly some jokers out there who do not go to these lengths and I’m sure just about everyone has a story to tell about some shady UPS driver doing something dumb (plenty of YouTube videos are available as evidence), but overall I would have to say that UPS does a great job at providing valueable delivery for an economic price. The flip side of that coin is that sometimes you can get some customers that are unbelievably off-base with their expectations, such as the following video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W1qUd9na_PQ
If you notice at the end of the video, the package in question was tucked near the front door, behind a bush, thus preventing it being seen from the street (and helping to mitigate the risk of theft), but this toolbag keeps ranting about how the driver “threw” this piece of electronic equipment into a mound of snow. First of all, while true that there is snow, the package certainly wasn’t in a mound of it. Secondly, do you know anybody who could “throw” a package behind a bush, and to the side of the porch with such accuracy? I don’t. This parcel looks obviously placed, not “thrown”…HUGE difference! The third item is given the brown corrugate box, how was this driver to have any idea what was inside of it, electronics or otherwise. Fourthly, if it was electronics, SO WHAT!? When companies ship sensitive things like that, they use a TON of foam inserts, corrugate pads, etc in order for the item to survive the rigors of shipment, which means the actual item is very likely nowhere near the plain brown outer carton. Fifthly (is that a word?), having your item sitting on top of non-melting snow in NO WAY affects it. It’s no different than leaving it on the front porch, cold weather is cold weather. Period.
I suspect that this guy was riled because the driver didn’t show up, knock on the door, place the package on a silk pillow, wait, wait some more, and when he finally did answer the door, the driver didn’t hand him a fresh cup of hot chocolate with marshmallows on top. If he wanted that kind of service, that’s fine, but you have to pay for it and it certainly isn’t included with the standard UPS Ground delivery.
It’s also worth noting that he has his comments turned “off” for that video… he was probably getting too many people calling him out on his nonsense.
Now having ranted about that video, again, there are plenty of videos showing UPS drivers doing dumb, dumb things. No question. But the moral of the story is that everyone should bear in mind that these guys have a tough job to do, and they generally do the best they can to make sure your stuff gets to you quickly, efficiently, and safely.
On the other side, let me now address what you, the average customer, can do to help ensure the smooth delivery of your stuff. First of all, if you want hand delivery from the driver directly to your hands, sign up for the “signature required” option. The typical UPS driver doesn’t have time to wait for every single customer to maybe answer the door. They need to get moving as there are plenty of other people who want their stuff too! If you want the cheapest option, then you need to make peace with the fact that your package is going to be left unattended by the driver. The good news though is that they will try their best to keep it out of sight and out of the weather (in case of rain). But you can help there by making sure there is something near your front door that can be used for hiding parcels. Bushes are common, but so are planters, chairs, and other décor. It really does help the driver to have a quick and convenient option to hide your stuff from public view, and they’ll love you for it!
If you have a special place you’d like the driver to leave your stuff, by all means make a note of it on the front door. Nine times out of ten these instructions are complied with, the exception being instructions that are completely unreasonable or even dangerous. Delivering a package to you shouldn’t look like Indiana Jones navigating the Temple of Doom – Quick, Easy, and Safe is the idea.
On the safety note, for the love of god people, keep your dogs inside or in the back yard. All dogs hate UPS drivers (USPS and FedEx are no exception), and as much as your may love your Fido and think he is just the cutest and bestest friend in the world, we don’t want to get mauled by him. Ever. Period. So please keep them under control. That’s just common decency.
In closing, just remember that your UPS driver wants you to be happy with their service, but you need to make sure your expectations are in check with which level of service you actually paid for and it certainly doesn’t hurt for you to make it as easy as you can for your package to be delivered safely and securely.
Now stop reading this and go order something online will ya!
Thursday, October 6, 2011
Updated Portfolio
In my recent efforts to either secure a full-time senior design position or drum up copious amounts of freelance design work, I have been tweaking and revising my portfolio. The following link will take you to the latest and greatest!
http://www.coroflot.com/skyarrow/Portfolio1
Enjoy!
http://www.coroflot.com/skyarrow/Portfolio1
Enjoy!
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