Temple Construction Progress Developments for Two Temples

After five days of no major temple construction progress developments, I checked on the LDS Church Temples site during my last few minutes of work, then again when I came home. I was amazed at the developments that have taken place with two temples. In Barranquilla Colombia, where the temple is anticipated to be completed either in late 2018 or early 2019, walls are being poured for the steeple base. In the meantime, at the Lisbon Portugal temple site (where construction is anticipated to be completed sometime during 2019), structural framing is underway for the meetinghouse that will reside on temple grounds, and they are also excavating for the maintenance building and the temple site has been completely cleared of all debris that would prevent consturction from moving forward.

With these developments announced, I am not sure how likely it is that any further progress or temple construction milestones will be reported by the end of this year. But you can count on my keeping track of such developments and doing everything in my power to report them as soon as I can after learning of them.

Thanks to you all for your continued interest and expressions of sympathy and support. Any and all comments are welcome and appreciated.

Third Workday: First Full Day on the Phones

Hello, all. My work shift is almost over tonight. After resolving several issues today, I am finally able to post with a report on how my first official day on the phones has gone. It's been quite a wild ride.

Even though I got out of bed when my alarm rang today, I still had trouble getting going. I was able to get some things done, though. And all too soon, the time arrived to leave for work.

When I got to work today, my team leader advised me that we were mainly getting the most basic types of call we deal with. And even though this first day on the phones has been busy enough, it has still been mild compared to what is normal call volume. I learned a lot today, and it's been a very good one.

The main problem for me is that my supervisor Trent, his assistant Jenny, and my TL are all scheduled earlier on in the day. It appears that on Wednesdays, for the span of roughly the last 5 hours of the shift, I am momentarily the one and only person manning the phones for this branch of the campaign.

I have had plenty of good conversations. I had received hands-on training from all three people mentioned above. And even though manning the campaign alone meant there wasn't really anyone to ask for advice and help for the last few hours, it hasn't been too much of a problem. For a while, I forgot about being taught how to set up callbacks for the job, but I was able to have my memory refreshed.

I also felt a little stupid. As those who know me best will tell you, I at various times have had trouble with appropriately modulating my voice. This became a problem today. I am hoping beyond hope that I seemed louder to myself than I actually was. Time will tell. And I am fully prepared for an appropriate tongue lashing if it is necessary.

I did get several compliments today on my excellent customer service. I hope that will work to my favor. It has been a most amazing day, and I am so thankful to have been able to be a part of it.

I had some major problems with headaches, nausea, and vertigo today, but I didn't let that stop me. I have stuck it out for my entire shift. And now there are less than 5 minutes until I can go home.

I am so grateful to be back to earning a living for my family. The fact of my working again has (not surprisingly) improved both the outlook and the mood of Amy and myself. It is so amazing to be back in the saddle again, and I couldn't be more grateful to have this opportunity. Thanks to you all for your interest, concern, and support.

As always, any and all comments are welcome and most appreciated. Thanks.

Report of Second Workday

Hello, all! Once again, it was a busy day. Today I woke up early and made phone calls. I got almost everything addressed that I needed to, including getting doctor's appointments rescheduled. Most importantly, I was able to call about the error with my anniversary gift to Amy. The company representative I talked to was very sympathetic. She apologized profusely for the error, said we could keep the wrong set as a complimentary gift, and said she was sending out the correct set at no charge. So that was good. I wasn't able to call to get a status update on how close we were to getting Amy on the health insurance I have. That I will have to save until tomorrow.

Because I was so tied up getting things resolved and phoning people, I barely had time to eat breakfast. But I knew I would be coming home a few hours later, so that wasn't a problem. I did have to throw everything I needed for work together in a rush to get out the door.

Due to traffic and my running late, even with the shorter commute, I was a few minutes late for work. But I got right into things. Through talking to Trent and my TL, I was able to gain access to all the systems I needed to do my job. But as I read through the script for the different phone calls, I had some trouble understanding the flow. I brought this to my TL's attention. She was kind enough to rewrite the confusing parts for me, but I still felt insecure. Since the other trainee was likewise confused and uncertain, she volunteered to demonstrate how to do the job.

But another part of this job that will be a mixed blessing is that the call volume is inconsistent. From what I observed today, it seems that call volume is fairly mild (with long intervals between each call) and that somehow, the calls in the queue are not evenly distributed. So I honestly don't know how busy I personally might be. But that's yet to be determined. I now know more about the job than I did yesterday.

Once again, my day ended early. I start on the phones with my full-length shift tomorrow. And I feel ready for it, especially since I got mostly everything settled. One problem I encountered is a minor issue, but one that I am doing my best to get addressed. The other people assigned to my campaign seem very nice. They all introduced themselves to me and let me know they would do anything they could to help me adjust to things. However, most of them appear to be very heavy smokers, and the stench of the residual smell of smoke was severe enough that it caused me to have both an asthmatic and allergic reaction. It didn't help that this applied to most of the group I am working with. They even spoke about taking a smoke break as a group as I was leaving today. I advised Trent of the problem, and he promised to work on it. I just hope I don't get anyone in trouble. Some of the nicest people I know from my previous experience at ROI are smokers, but they hide the scent well, and they are very kind to me. My own brother has picked up smoking, which is a constant worry, but he has the decency to cover up the smell and not do it when he is around us. I tried my best to indicate to Trent that I had no desire to get anyone in trouble, but that the situation would be problematic for me. He sent me a very kind text in reply saying he was sorry about that, that he hoped I was okay, and taht he would try and work something out.

The one good thing about getting this job at this time is that it sounds like, among all of my coworkers, I have a real shot at becoming one of the most diligent employees assigned to the campaign. This is a goal which I indicated to Trent I would do my best to achieve. And it's not because the rest of the people on the campaign are lazy or inefficient. To the contrary, despite the obvious difference that I do not and never will smoke (as it would probably kill me, assuming I even had any inclination to do so), they seem to be a good group. And they seem to respect taht I am different and also to be mindful of what I'm dealing with. So I hope all of that will be taken into account when anything is decided about how to further handle my unique circumstances. I will keep you posted.

In the meantime, I had been hoping to do another blog post containing a massive Church news update, but in view of my fatigue (borne of the stress of the day and the close contact I had with smokers), it will have to wait for a day or two.

But one thing I did want to mention. My sister Joanna and her family headed out for Maine @ around 4 am. Joanna, if you read this, I hope you will have a safe journey. We will look forward to hearing of your adventures and seeing your family again this summer. Bon voyage!

As for the rest of you, thank you for reading all of my posts, and I hope that whatever I have to say about my life or the Church continues to interest you all. I look forward to much more blogging in the future. Today, I was still adjusting to my job. But as things evolve, I anticipate fully being able to report on all such developments with greater diligence and accuracy than every before.

Thanks so much for your interest and support. I appreciate all of you. Any comments or other feedback of any kind are welcome.