Book of Jamez

55 y/o malcontent, something of a writer

Author: Jamez

  • Getting Around

    I’m finally to the point, I hope, where I don’t have to use my GPS every time I want to go somewhere here. I know how the city works and can find my way to most places with little trouble. It’s even reached the point where I am getting to know stupid intersections that I want to avoid as much as possible. I know that’ll be challenged over the next few days, I’m going to have dinner at a friends in Chandler, not really been down there. Today I get to go over to one of the school, Grand Canyon University for a trade show type thing for work… joy, of joys.

    IMG_2895

    Traffic still kind of baffles me, and probably would where ever I happen to be. I keep waiting for the Onion headline that explains why everyone in front of me is traveling 10 miles under the speed limit in all three lanes… and why it happens every day. I see the speed limit sign, “Look there’s another” I say as we creep along… OK, creep along might be pushing it, but I just can’t figure this stuff out… how and why?!

    Turning and turn lanes I don’t get either – when I turn I turn into the lane that I want to be in, unless there is another turn lane or obstruction that I can see – but many people turn into a lane they don’t want and then rush over to get in the lane they should have been to begin with. WTF… OK, this could be a slow GPS thing for them or something… I’m not really sure. They have turn lanes in the center of the road here which you would think people could use and it would help traffic flow better, but what happens is they don’t know how to use them or they go in cockeyed with their ass hanging out and people have to swerve around them… and swerving way out to make a turn onto a regular street, why do people do that?

    The lack of signal use drives me crazy… you’re cruising along and then someone slows down, and sometimes for blocks at a time. Then they either turn or finally put on their signal. How hard can it be?

    As you can imagine I spend a lot of my driving time waving my hands in the air, screaming like I just don’t care… oh wait… no, I often talk to them even though they can’t hear me and try to explain how stupid they are. I do it in a nice calm voice most of the time.. ok, not really.

    This driving thing is still pretty unusual for me… I do my best to be careful…

  • Careful Readings

    I want to thank someone, problem is I can’t remember who to thank. At the beginning of the year someone suggested that I start reading As Bill See’s It cover to cover, in order… you know how you read most books. I had always just opened it up randomly or searched in the index in the back for a particular topic. I’ve added it to my morning readings and read two pages a day (at least, sometimes more) and it’s been really great to have those extra ideas and reflections. (you can add in here the joke you hear at conventions: Bill wrote “As Bill See’s It” but Lois wrote “Lois Remembers” which is kind of funny… the first time…)

    As Bill See's It
    As Bill See’s It

    As Bill See’s It is an interesting book – it contains quotes from Bill’s letters, books, talks, most of them offer something to think about for the day. But there are things that really get on my nerves about it – they will cite the book Alcoholics Anonymous for certain passages but it wont match exactly… for example I’ve written about the Grouch and the Brainstorm a few times where in the book it says “brainstorm” but in ABS it says “the sudden rage”. There are actually several times where it does that and I think to myself “Aren’t there Cite Police” that monitor this kind of thing? I actually went so far as to contact A.A. World Services to ask them about it…  (more…)

  • Answering the Phone 101

    I almost forgot, this is one of those things that I wanted to write about.

    Photo on 10-10-13 at 6.52 AM

    Yesterday I called to schedule an initial appointment with the surgeon (more on that later – is this getting annoying or what?), they were supposed to call me and didn’t so I initiated the call and it went something like this.

    “Hi my name is Jamez and I have a referral to call you.” I said

    “What for?” she said in a not to friendly voice

    I specify why I’m calling, the referral and that I’d like to schedule an appointment.

    “An appointment for what?” she asks “just to see the doctor? surgery? what kind of appointment?”

    “I can schedule surgery without first seeing the surgeon?” I inquire

    “Why didn’t you say that to begin with?” she barks “which location do you want an appointment?”

    “I wasn’t aware you had more than one location what are…” I start

    she shoots off the two addresses before I can even begin to understand thats what she’s doing.

    This is an example of bad customer service, this is an example of how NOT to answer the phone for your job. She was not the least bit friendly, not the least bit helpful and maybe was having a really, really bad day (it was only 9 how bad could it have gotten by 9?).

    When I answer the phone at work (I do this for a living) it’s like this:

    “Good morning thank you for calling [insert workplace here], my name is Jamez how can we help you today?” and then I listen… and then I go out of my way to help that person get what they need… sometimes I have to put them on hold to think to myself “had this person just read the email they wouldn’t have had to call” but I don’t tell them that…

    My job is to be of service, to be friendly and to make them feel like they were listened to and cared about. If you answer the phone for your job that’s what you’re supposed to do, don’t be all bitchy to them no matter how bad a day you are having… You’ll actually find that when you’re grumpy or not up to the task that faking this kind of thing actually helps you to feel better… because those people sometimes say thank you, those people need to feel like someone is listening and most of the time they’re human..

    Remember that golden rule thing… treat them as you would have them treat you. And smile, it helps to make you less grouchy

    I’m keeping the doctor appointment, but I might be overly, syrupy cheery when I get to their office!

  • Start and Stop

    “My mother was born in the psychiatric unit…”

    IMG_2889

    That’s how I always planned to start my book. It’s true… we think… and I like truth. Also it really kind of makes things seem like they happened for reasons. Some of the things that happened probably didn’t have to happen at all, but they happened nonetheless. But I wonder if I were a reader reading that first sentence would I then expect to find a book about my mother? Cause it wouldn’t be about her that much, it would be about my experiences. I find though that it helps to have backstory for your own experiences to strengthen the validity of the story.

    –

    I wrote a lot more of this and expanded a bit on mothers aunts and siblings… and then I kept running into things that I didn’t want to say here … partly because I didn’t want to suddenly argue with her born again christian brother and sister and partly because I wanted to be sure my stories were accurate. That means I have to collaborate with someone and that’ll be fun, but it also means that this story will have to be told somewhere else and I’m alright with that.

    I’m in a writing mood I guess, I’ve got thoughts running rampant in my head and have written quite a lot in the last few days… a few posts I cannot post yet due to surprises that are in store for others that I can’t share now… don’t you just hate a tease? But after next Wednesday those will start to appear.

    I’ll continue the story of my mother, myself and growing up… and maybe once in a while I’ll post a snippet of that here for your amusement or shock or what have you, depending on the situation. I never thought the story was all that but others have consistently told me it is so we’ll get it out there and deal with debate after the fact.

  • High Results, Bad News

    So I tried out a new doctor Monday and she’s alright, mostly I went for a surgery consult (more on that later) but also my high cholesterol medication ran out so I needed some more of that – it’s the only medicine that I really take.

    eeeeww, health food
    eeeeww, health food

    I have a history of high cholesterol you can see listed in these posts:

    Bad Blood

    Bad Exercise

    Moving from the walking city of Washington DC, where I didn’t have to own a car for 15 years to a city where I drive sometimes even 2 blocks away… well things are bound to not be good. Lack of exercise isn’t really a good thing for anyone they tell me.. but I rarely think other people are right. 🙂

    So the results of my blood test (that wasn’t done fasting) was pretty high in all the wrong places… but my medicine ran out over a month ago and I just bought my bicycle on Saturday. The doc doubled my dose… which i’ll pick up today on the way home… who knows how that’s going to affect me.

    I’ll see what I can do about eating some more healthy type foods… and I’m certainly going to avoid eating any Thai, ever again eeeewww

  • Poked, Probed and Processed

    I didn’t get a chance to ride my bicycle yesterday, by the time I arrived home it was dark and I think I’d like the thing to have a light or something – today I plan to ride again.

    Don't Panic
    Don’t Panic

    I left work early for a doctor appointment, new city and finally a new doctor. My high-cholesterol medicine prescription has run out and I know I’m supposed to take that stuff… so that means I need a new doctor here. The doctor I got is a woman, which is new for me, for the last 10 years or so I had the same doctor in DC and he was a great guy, got to know me pretty well… it’s like starting over. She had the lab draw blood – no fasting involved, she said it was more realistic of what my every day levels are… been saying that for years I have – I hate fasting. I also asked for a flu shot, I want to make sure the government microchip gets what it needs /tinfoilhat

    She also gave me a surgery consult for something I was diagnosed with last November with Kaiser… I’m not sure why Kaiser made me wait, but now I’m here and have a consult. That doctor will call today and I’ll schedule an appointment probably have another exam and then get to schedule surgery… fun stuff. More on that later.

    Arriving home I quickly showered, ate an headed out again to an AA “meeting” in Tempe, it’s more like a Traditions workshop… a local AA historian and a local AA long-timer shared on their knowledge and experience with the Traditions – they’ll do this all month. This week was about the history mostly, but the long-timer shared about anonymity also meaning “sacrifice” and how it might be helpful to some if they read the Twelfth tradition as follows:

    Sacrifice is the spiritual foundation of all our traditions – ever reminding us to place principles before personal desires. 

    I really kind of thought that hit the nail on the head, but I also think we tend to be over anonymous… I’ll be making two of these next meetings hopefully, one of the weeks I’ll be in Washington, DC so wont get to make it.

    Today’s goal – to ride my bike after work.

  • Weekend Musings

    It was a weekend full of AA stuff, and there wasn’t even a round up.

    ImageFriday I attended the 5:30 meeting at Prince of Peace – they have a meeting there everyday at 5:30 I guess and the format is different on each day maybe… on Tuesday I spoke there and heard the Friday was a call-up ticket meeting so I told Cliff about it and we both attended. It was a very full meeting, saw many faces I know and enjoyed the meeting. Afterwards Cliff and I had dinner at a restaurant across the way – not bad at all.

    Saturday morning I headed to AHWATUKEE for the morning Men’s stag, it’s open discussion. It’s really a birthday meeting, they let celebrants share and then pick the topic. Saturday a gentlemen picked up his 40 year chip and the topic wasn’t too bad. Afterward Cliff and I had breakfast, then I met his dog Gunner. Cliff was also kind enough to bring my new bicycle home in his truck and I went riding almost right after I arrived home. I rode about 10 miles and then was ready to go to sleep for the rest of the day, but I didn’t. 🙂

    I’ve been watching the TV show Warehouse 13 on Netflix and one of the characters is in AA and that’s been interesting to watch, in one episode he switches bodies with his partner and she’d been drinking and it kind of throws him for a loop. I like that he’s a regular guy in AA and still able to deal with the world – as weird as it may be – without being so different or a stick-in-the-mud.

    Sunday morning was another meeting, i even went to the fellowship before the meeting at Starbucks. My friend Roger picked up his 18 year chip and talked about his recent trip back to NY where he first sobered up many years ago. There was also someone who just moved to the area who picked up a 2 year chip, she moved here from Virginia Beach and her sponsor told her to find a meeting to make coffee at and she asked for help to find such a place. Over all it was a good meeting.

    After the meeting Sunday I did laundry and then took the bicycle out for a nice ride, there are nice bike paths all over here so lots to see and do.

    This morning I’m going to work, some meetings and a doctor appointment in the afternoon – more on that later.

  • Up In Smoke

    Today there was a little mishap with someones lunch and the work microwave and pillars of smoke encompassed our small little office space. It was a terrible tragedy as the lunch didn’t survive

    very well done
    very well done

    The smell in the office was pretty bad though, one of our office mates sneezes around smoke as if someone doused her in sneezing powder, I felt sorry for her. The rest of us just ended up with our clothes, hair and skin smelling like burnt plastic. It was lovely. This wasn’t my first time smelling like burnt something or another…

    Back in 1985 (lets jump in the Way Back Machine Sherman!) I was living with Grandma in Whitehall. Every morning was the same routine with her, she’d wake me up and write in her journal and start singing some song or other and eventually get around to making herself breakfast. I wasn’t much of a breakfast person so I didn’t usually partake on school days, which this was.

    I just happened to be in the kitchen when something on the stove caught fire and there were high flames and billowing black smoke and Grandma yelling…

    “Don’t panic, don’t panic! I know what to do” and she grabbed an oven mitt and the lid to the pot and smothered it.

    Then she went on to explain that pouring water on it would have been a disaster and you should always know how to handle kitchen fires. At this point i would stop and wonder if she purposefully had the fire happen to teach me a lesson about putting them out, she was crafty like that. Nah, she wouldn’t… would she?

    Well the fire was out so I just left for school, never bothering to think that I might smell a little off… hell I was a smoker, didn’t I always smell like smoke?

    Well someone at the school thought it must be something else and before the end of first period I was called to the Principals office and asked if I’d been smoking pot. No really, apparently grease fires smell a lot like pot to people who don’t have a clue what pot smells like.

    At first I was outraged, HOW DARE THEY THINK I MIGHT BE SMOKING POT, I mean sure I might be… but how dare they… I always waited at least until lunch time – actually, I rarely had pot at school, why ruin a good high by being at school? (now if I had know about LSD back then, well … then that would have been a much better story).

    Anyway, I assured him that I hadn’t and explained about the grease fire, it actually took me a minute to remember that that’s what had happened that morning. It seemed insignificant in the grand scope of how to be a miserable teenager.

    So today I was taken for a little trip back to Whitehall WI and Grandma… and memories of stealing doorknobs to sell on the black-market… yeah, those were the good old days. And work, well I’m sure we’ll all be fine but I bet that smell lingers for a day or two.

     

  • Burning Desire

    Apparently we need some clarification! When the chairperson towards the end of the meeting says:

    “does anyone have a burning desire – anyone feel like they might drink if they don’t share?” That means exactly what it says… IF YOU THINK YOU MIGHT DRINK TODAY SPEAK UP WE’RE HERE FOR YOU!

    Below is a list of things that are NOT considered “burning desires” and instead more likely self-centered, ego-centric bullshit that none of us need to hear… chances are you’ve talked too much this week anyway, go help an alcoholic and get out of yourself already

    Things not considered burning desires (that I’ve actually heard)

    • I’ll be teaching the clown school in Tempe this week and would love to see you all there
    • The Mental Health Workshop (the field you happen to work in) will be downtown this week and it’d be great if you could drop by
    • My 40th birthday (not AA birthday, belly button) party is this Saturday, it’s a potluck and we need more volunteers for food
    • No one talked about the point I was thinking of since the meeting started… well they did kind of but I can say it so much better and really need to, because sharing and stuff
    • I really loved what you said about cats, it just touched me spiritually

    This is not a point in the meeting where you should speak up because you’re feeling the need to share your wisdom (especially if you’re on your third relapse and only have 60 days – take the cotton out of your ears and put it in your mouth)

    … ok, sorry… I feel better now

  • Tech in Tucson

    For work I traveled to Tucson, the Westin La Paloma, for a conference we put on “Mobile Learning 2013” for anyone really, but focused primarily on Education. Three days of ed tech focused sessions with some great presenters.

    There were teachers there from all over the world who came specifically for this conference and many of the attendees had been to the last two Mobile Learning conferences – it’s one of our most popular events. The Westin was a really great setting for it as well – the event staff were so attentive to our needs and everything went off without a hitch. The rooms at the Westin are really great – the beds were so nice that I wanted to spend the whole day there. And the view….

    Westin La Paloma
    Westin La Paloma

    I attended one session “WoW in School” put on by Peggy Sheehy about gaming and learning – she spent a lot of time talking about World of Warcraft and I really enjoyed her session.

    It was long hours for us staffers – I arrived Sunday after loading up the van in Phoenix at 12:30 and setting up it was after 7 when we were done for the day and I had carpet burns on my knees (not for good reasons) and we were dog tired. I didn’t get back to my apartment until 7 p.m. on Wednesday…

    The teachers and educators all had a great time though – they were all so focused on learning new things and so happy to be there – I’m glad I was a part of it.