I knew it was going to happen sooner or later: The $2/credit card regardless of the amount. I’ll get back to that in a moment. So I goes into work feeling pretty good. I go make peace with the security guard lady. No problem. We’re doing CFK and I got a $75 tap. All is going as well as expected. Then I get my pay cheque. I get 19 hours and no credit card bonuses. So John Mc D home I made Peace with says “You didn’t hear Rob? Now you have to have 24 hours to qualify.” What a Weasel. Not John, Rob. Now watch that will go for awhile and he’ll put another condition on it to water it down. “Only if your at line hour or only for amounts $25 and Up. So I’m no longer asking for credit cards except on OTH. The other thing that pissed me off was he missed my x3 credit cards from Tuesday’s OTH round and only gave me one. I even closed on a credit card as well for OTH Tuesday night. I keep records of all credit card sales. Not the numbers just the amounts. Also, I chipped off a big hunk of tooth and put it in my lunch box but it must have fallen out. That was disquieting. Not painful just annoying. So Anne calls and wants me to meet her at the front of the bus, etc. I meet Dian and I had a nice chat with her on the train. I called Anne as I was just heading towards Rexall all about the various call centers closing. Well, 3 in the last 2 years. There’s still a lot out there.

Anyway while chatting with Anne on my bus she said she had found a $20 bill. “Let me count just to make sure it’s not mine. So, then this $20 is your allowance.” This actually works out pretty good. I lose $20 and I gain $20. I’m still disappointed over losing the credit card bonus and Rob and his conditions. It was good for awhile. Other then OTH I’m just not asking for credit cards anymore. I asked for them to help my bank because it was fun. But Rob’s not even posting a bank report anymore. Also Rob caught him with the coffee key digging for change. It tells me that it’s his coffee machine. So our social fund? I have a strong suspicion that it’s going to pay for his trip to Vegas. We’re just along for the ride. Well, “the winners.”

When Diane and I were chatting about call centers she still insists that the one I’m curious about is every 6 months. It also seems that Advanis is full. Well according to Tony. Diane and I know some of the same people. Diane seems to think that Consumer went under because of their staffing monkey business. Maybe. And as for Tony and Advanis, I don’t think so. Maybe that’s what he told her.

Work went relatively slow this evening. We were shut down about 3-4 times. I was able to read 2-3 pages from “The New Space Opera.” Despite hearing about the bonus crap (typical XL crap)

Over the last several years a popular slogan kids have been saying has been; “Peace out.” You’ve probably have heard it to. So I’m on the train heading into work reading my book. About 4 of these guys come on the train, teenagers. And they’re talking about beating up their peers and teen fights that kind of crap. Happens everywhere. Then as they’re leaving the next stop they say “Peace out.” Okaaa. I have to give my head a shake.

I‘m not going to worry about my job and the BS that goes along with it. I’m grateful I have it really. I get away with a lot. Lots of Call Centers you can’t get away with half the things I do and not only that but we don’t cancel shifts like they do at some of the other Call Centers Anne has worked out of lately. I can work as much hours as I want and I think next week I’m going to put a few extra hours in and a couple of afternoons. I desperately need that Ram.

Anne bought us a deli pizza from Super Store and we were chowing down on that shortly before the 11pm news. Ok, the big shocker of the day: Dell computer closed down their Edmonton Call Canter operations laying off 900 people. I heard something like this before but it was Diane’s work buddy that mentioned it. The news confirmed it earlier. Wow 900 people. Rob is probably frothing at the mouth over this. Yeah Rob like they’re going to work at Xl for $8 an hour. I don’t think so. This is the 3rd Edmonton Call Center that has closed down just this month alone and 4 in the last several years. It’s getting me nervous. Most likely over the next several weeks we’ll be getting some of those people at our office and a lot more will be absorbed into the Call Center industry. There are still a lot of Call Centers here in Edmonton and Diane mentioned a few even I didn’t know existed before. What Dell wants to do is to send these jobs over seas to places like India. Maybe now the East Indian workers here will migrate back. A lot of them don’t like the cold weather here and with Dell moving overseas maybe to India, these kids might migrate back. This makes me want to try out for CPP disability all the more now. Sure we got a lot of jobs but we also lose a lot as well.

Anyway, that’s all for now.

e. Jim