I take great pride in my work also. We also have a 30 minute window. Most of the time when I get paged it is some minor thing that doesn't have an immediate impact if it waits until I get home. Also usually no-one waits for the 30 minutes to call me. Just because a company cannot or will not maintain a second and third shift skeleton staff doesn't immediately void my obligations to my family for those of my company. I am not always somewhere where I can respond in 1/2 hr. I refuse to give up my life for a job. On that rare occasion when a real emergency happens, I do leave and take care of the issue. I'm not going to leave Tolkiens "The Two Towers" because some user can't tell the difference between an O and a 0. ;') Brian > -----Original Message----- > From: KRFinch@dstsystems.com [mailto:KRFinch@dstsystems.com] > Sent: Friday, August 16, 2002 9:36 AM > To: DCT Jared Smith > Cc: kclug@kclug.org > Subject: RE: Cell-Capable Modems > > > > They already have most of my team on a leash. It's that 30 > minute response > time. Getting paged at odd hours (like this morning at 4:45) > is just a > part of life at this job. I might grumble a little, but > overall, I like > what I do and I take pride in my work. Things might be kinda crummy > sometimes, but at least it's better than having to work > scheduled night and > weekend shifts. There are also numerous advantages to having > a paycheck at > all, as I'm sure most would agree. > > The cellular dialup could make it a little more of a flexible leash. > Rather than having to plan my personal life around being able > to find a > phone jack on short notice, I could have some more > flexibility. Having > that "what if I get paged and have to leave" voice in your > head just makes > going out to dinner or to a movie a little less enjoyable. > Something like > that wouldn't get rid of all of the trips into downtown > outside of work, > but it could eliminate many of them. > > - Kevin > > > > > > DCT Jared Smith > > To: > > Sent by: cc: > > owner-kclug@marauder.i Subject: > RE: Cell-Capable Modems > lliana.net > > > > > > 08/16/2002 11:11 AM > > > > > > > > > > So you have less freedom, it sounds. Is this for more > or less money? The question is rhetorical. I'm with > Brian on this. Turn off the cellphone and enjoy the game. > > Strange how cool gadgets can evolve into leashes, once > the coolness wears off. I wouldn't use a cell-phone or a > pager, unless my job is something like delivery, where it > is a tool, not a 'convenience' or a leash. > > Of course, the other solution would be to realize the gravity > of your responsibility to DST, and ALWAYS immediately > leave every ballgame whenever you are paged. This would > give you a very high work ethic, and soon DST would stop > paging you for trivial matters, because they would see that > you really care about your work. Hard to do in this world, > where all 'important people' play golf all afternoon. > > >If only it were that simple.  :)  I used to be able to do > that, but that > >was before this job. > > > >DST has IT response times that they are contractually > obligated to uphold. > >If something goes awry, most of the time, some type of response is > required > >in under 30 minutes.  Depending on the severity, this > timeframe can be > >tightened even further.  Realistically, half the time you > can talk your > way > >through it without dialing in.  But those other times... > > > >- Kevin > > >>Usually when that happens to me. I turn off my cell phone, so > >>when the inevitable call comes half an hour later, I don't > answer it. > >>I then proceed to finish what I'm doing, blowing off the > page and all > >>subsequent pages, and then go home and dial in and fix the problem. > >>Finally I turn the phone back on and retrieve my messages, > call in and > >>tell them everything is fixed. End of problem. > >> > >>my $0.02, > >>Brian > > > > > majordomo@kclug.org > > > > > > > majordomo@kclug.org >