I refuse to go down without a fight. Unfortunately, I'm working myself to death in the process. The number of us out there who understand how to troubleshoot basic tip and ring are dwindling and I'm taking advantage of it. The problem is that I'm doing it for three different companies. My primary job, which was supposed to be part-time, is easily 45-50 hours per week and could be more if I wanted it. That's the one that's a ten minute commute from home for me, with a company vehicle and flexible schedule. The pay is at the top-end of what people make around here. It's not forever, as this company told me from day one that they have no intentions of selling any new systems other than hosted. The beauty is that they have hundreds of customers all over the state with TDM systems that need support. Many of them are still under warranty. We just installed one that was pending from a few months ago yesterday. I've never been so busy in my life. Traveling about a 50 mile radius on a daily basis, meeting people, shaking hands and going to places I've never been. That's the fun part.
The other companies I'm supporting are one that I once owned and the other that Derrick owned. Both are in VA, about four hours from here. At first, I thought that I could provide plenty of technical support for them from home and live a life of semi-retirement. Initially, the money seemed good and the quest seemed manageable. It didn't take long to realize that there's no way in hell that a rookie is going to learn how to troubleshoot dial tone or paging speakers by assisting them over the phone. It also didn't take long to realize that I would have to be traveling up there to assist on a regular basis. Being stuck in the house and attached to a phone and computer started to take a toll on my sanity.
Now, I'm facing the proverbial case of 'be careful what you wish for'. Working a full-time job as a technician while juggling calls from two other companies' employees and customers is no joke. I come home exhausted, only to have to answer a full-day's worth of e-mails and writing proposals. It's killing me to the point where I'm going to have to consider cutting one or more of them and focus on what works best for me.
There was a time when I was convinced that the IT and hosted boys would soon be sending us out to pasture. That might be the case one day, but it sure isn't happening in the mid-Atlantic region of the US. How it will be a year from now is hard to say, but I'm confident that I'm going to be able to keep this sector of the business alive in my area.
