Work, Work, Work Edition: I Have Come Full Circle

This will hopefully be my last "Work, Work, Work" post. Before I get into my current job, I'll briefly talk about what went on after I was laid off from First Quality. Basically I became a stay at home dad. It was nice to be able to finally spend some time with my baby daughter. About five months after I was offered a job at the local ESPN radio station. I thought it was just going to be a one time thing, but it became a part time job. I usually work there one or two nights a week. What I do is help broadcast high school and college sports through online streaming radio. I mostly cover Mansfield University games. I started out covering football games and now I'm doing basketball games. I play commercials when the play-by-play guy calls for them via text message. I also grab highlights from the live games, compile them together and then play them during halftime and at the end of the game with exciting theatrical music playing behind them. I'm not really a big sports fan but some of the games get pretty exciting. I really enjoy this job for the most part, it's in a pretty laid back setting, but I'll be done working there at the end of February. It's not that I don't like the job, I just don't need it because I am working full time now. They asked me to stay on until basketball season was over, so I agreed. 

So now the reason I have titled this post "I Have Come Full Circle" is because I am now working at the Williamsport Sun-Gazette, which if you remember years ago when I started these posts, was the first place I worked for. My first job for the Sun-Gazette was delivering papers as a paperboy and now I work in advertising sales. I like to joke around and say it only took 22 years to get a promotion.

For the first time in years I can honestly say I love my job and I feel like this is one I can stay at for a long long time, maybe even retire from. I've been there for almost half a year now and it definitely doesn't feel like I've been there that long. The days there fly on by, when most jobs I've had seemed to drag on and on. I get to spend some time in the office and some time out on the road seeing customers. The job provides plenty of variety and there is rarely a dull moment. It can be stressful at times and many days I have to put out many small fires (that's just a metaphor). I guess the worst part of the job is calling people to let them know they owe us money. But seriously, that's the worst of it, and that's not really all that bad. 

The best part about the job is the freedom. I pretty much decide how my day is going to go. I usually spend the first part of the day figuring out who I'm going to go out and see that day. I e-mail and call customers to follow up on ads or try to sell more ad space. Then I hit the road and visit some customers that I've set up appointments with, or sometimes I just stop by and see if they have any needs. It's great to get out and meet new people with this job. 

When I started, I worked in a territory that took me out pretty far sometimes, up to 50 miles. But only a few months into the job, one of my co-workers quit her job and I took over her territory which is right in the city, so I don't have to drive as far. Also, there is much more revenue coming into the new territory I'm in, and since I'm paid solely on commission, that's a good thing!

Some of the other freedoms I get to enjoy with this job is being able to go to medical appointments during work hours. If I have to pick up Gabe from school or Chloe from day care I can just take the rest of the day off to stay with them at the house. I can take a lunch break at my own house and I can even check my e-mails and make sales calls from home if I need a quieter environment. 

I've got just a couple funny things to share about this job. Shortly after I started, one of my co-workers was working on an ad and the customer wanted the phrase "Zippity-do-dah" somewhere on the ad. One of our graphic designers designed the ad, but when it was handed back to my co-worker, she noticed it said "Zippity-do-dan" instead. One of my other co-workers thought it would make a good nickname for me. Fortunately it never caught on. She still calls me that once in a while though. We have two guys that work there named Chuck. One works upstairs, the other downstairs. So they call one Up Chuck and the other Down Chuck. When I heard about this I suggested that they call the downstairs Chuck, Ground Chuck. It hasn't caught on either. One more. I met with a customer who was being promoted to a different position so she was training a new person to handle the company's advertising. One day I called to ask a few questions to the new person. I meant to ask her if the person she was replacing was still mentoring her, but I accidently asked her if she was still tormenting her. We both got a pretty good laugh out of it. 

Now I want to finish this post out by talking about how most of the jobs I've had have been "linked" to each other somehow in one way or another. Get ready, this is going to be like an episode of LOST...or maybe not, you decide. I've also included links which will take you to the post where I talk about that job.

1. Williamsport Sun-Gazette-Paperboy 

The most obvious thing here is that the first job I had was with the Sun-Gazette and now I am currently employed there. 

2. Weis Markets-Bakery Cleaner

You will see that some of my future jobs involve Weis Markets.

3. Cutco-Sales Representative

No connections to other jobs I've had.

4. Woolrich-Fabric Cutter

My dad also works for Woolrich. Many years later I would interview for a graphic design job at Woolrich, but I did not get the job.

5. Freshlife-Shelf Stocker

No connections to other jobs I've had.

6. Applebee Window Systems-Telemarketer

No connections to other jobs I've had.

7. The Shoe Dept.-Sales

No connections to other jobs I've had.

8. Blockbuster Video-Cashier

We had a regular customer that stopped in frequently and I would end up working with her at my next job, Hope Enterprises.

9. Hope Enterprises-Habilitation Staff (links below)

There are connections to Hope Enterprises through other jobs further ahead.

    Part One

    Part Two

    Part Three

    Part Four

    Part Five

    Part Six

10. Holiday Inn-Bellman

I worked with a girl at the front desk who was the niece of a man I took care of while working for Hope Enterprises.

I frequently picked up some of our guests who were staying in the area to work on a new computer system for the next company I would work for, Brodart.

Other jobs further ahead will also link to this one.

11. Brodart-Graphic Designer

My good friend, Jesse, who I've mentioned countless times on this blog used to be a graphic designer here before I worked here.

12. Paris Uniform Company-Route Sales Representative

I delivered to the Weis Markets Main office, the warehouse and two Weis Market stores.

Other jobs further along link to this job as well.

13. Fast Signs-Graphic Designer

We did some jobs for both Hope Enterprises and the Holiday Inn.

I also worked there with one of my college classmates. I almost replaced him at another job when he was getting ready to leave a place called Auto Trim Design. Another one of my college classmates got the job instead.

14. Papa John's-Pizza Delivery

I frequently delivered to guests at the Holiday Inn.

This job also links to future jobs.

15. Hope Enterprises-Habilitation Staff (again)

No other connections besides the ones that were mentioned earlier.

16. Billtown Cab-Taxi Driver

I picked up customers that worked for Hope Enterprises, including one of my former bosses. 

I picked up a former co-worker at the Holiday Inn.

I frequently drove one of my customers to and from work at the place that would become my next job, First Quality.

17. Frito Lay-Detailer

I stocked shelves at two Weis Markets.

18. First Quality-Machine Operator

Use to drive a customer here when I worked for Billtown Cab.

I worked in the same building as my stepfather, but on a different shift.

A girl I used to work with at Hope Enterprises worked in the same building as me, also on a different shift.

19. ESPN-Producer/Tech

No connections to other jobs I've had.

20. Williamsport Sun-Gazette-Advertising Sales Representative

The first ad I sold was for an event being held at the Holiday Inn.

The first territory I worked in had many of the same customers I had when I worked for Paris Uniforms.

One of my customers sells orthopedic shoes and I used to take residents I took care of at Hope Enterprises to his store to get shoes. This customer is also my current boss's father. 

One of the graphic designers at the Sun-Gazette went to Penn College and the other (who is no longer there) went to the Bradley Academy for the Visual Arts in York, PA. I attended both those schools.

One of the girls that work in the sales office with me used to be one of my customers when I drove for Billtown Cab. I often give her a ride home.

The girl who trained me for my job is the ex-wife of the owner of Billtown Cab. 

Fast Signs is one of my customers...at least they would be if they would advertise. They're in my territory anyway.

The guy that hands me my paycheck is the father of a girl I worked with at Fast Signs.

One of the girls in the sales office is married to my wife's third cousin.

My first boss from when I was a paper boy still works there at the Sun-Gazette and we chat frequently.



That's all I can think of for now. I'll update this post if I think of any others. This is it for the Work, Work, Work edition here on the blog, it only took me about five years to finish it, but I guess you could say it was five years in the making.