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#242200 - 22/11/2004 12:23 Employed!
Dignan
carpal tunnel

Registered: 08/03/2000
Posts: 12338
Loc: Sterling, VA
Hallelujah! I've finally found a job. I'm entering the workforce in a lowly help desk position, but I like it so far, and the salary isn't too shabby. Best of all, my employer is the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in D.C. I get the best commute in the morning (20 to 40 minutes through very scenic routes), and the building is very nice (the office space less so, but oh well).

It's a little weird to go behind the scenes at a place I've been visiting since I was little. My parents have been seeing shows here since it opened, and they got their first look behind the scenes when I showed them around this weekend.

Anyway, I just thought I'd share. It's pretty exciting for me
_________________________
Matt

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#242201 - 22/11/2004 12:59 Re: Employed! [Re: Dignan]
tman
carpal tunnel

Registered: 24/12/2001
Posts: 5528
Congratulations! That's great

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#242202 - 22/11/2004 13:13 Re: Employed! [Re: Dignan]
bonzi
pooh-bah

Registered: 13/09/1999
Posts: 2401
Loc: Croatia
Congratulations! Looks like a nice place to work. I always liked/wanted being insider in places like that.

Whom is your help desk helping?
_________________________
Dragi "Bonzi" Raos Q#5196 MkII #080000376, 18GB green MkIIa #040103247, 60GB blue

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#242203 - 22/11/2004 14:20 Re: Employed! [Re: bonzi]
Dignan
carpal tunnel

Registered: 08/03/2000
Posts: 12338
Loc: Sterling, VA
It's basically helping everyone (in the Kennedy Center) - just over 550 people. About 75% of it is handled through a help ticket system that we use called HelpStar (anyone here familiar with that?), about 15% of it is through the phone, and the rest through emails.

The useful application for most reported problems is a FANTASTIC program called LANDesk. It lists every computer in the Kennedy Center building, from the offices to the gift shops to the box offices, and I can right click on any of them, select "Remote Control", and connect directly to their machine and control it from mine. I've used these types of programs before, but this one is fast. It's just like I'm sitting in front their machine. Very impressive.

Anyway, I'm just getting used to it all at the moment. It's pretty chaotic


Edited by Dignan17 (22/11/2004 14:26)
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Matt

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#242204 - 22/11/2004 14:48 Re: Employed! [Re: Dignan]
bonzi
pooh-bah

Registered: 13/09/1999
Posts: 2401
Loc: Croatia
Sounds nice. Time to remove 'unemployed' from your profile
_________________________
Dragi "Bonzi" Raos Q#5196 MkII #080000376, 18GB green MkIIa #040103247, 60GB blue

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#242205 - 22/11/2004 17:33 Re: Employed! [Re: bonzi]
Dignan
carpal tunnel

Registered: 08/03/2000
Posts: 12338
Loc: Sterling, VA
Ha! Good point, I'll go do that

And I'm sure there are some folk saying "Help desk? This is the guy that asks the most annoying computer quesitons here." Well, the irony isn't lost on me either
_________________________
Matt

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#242206 - 22/11/2004 17:49 Re: Employed! [Re: Dignan]
rob
carpal tunnel

Registered: 21/05/1999
Posts: 5335
Loc: Cambridge UK
Congrats - I know how frustrating a period out of work can be, but it's all worthwhile when you land a job which not only pays but is also cool. Have fun!

Rob

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#242207 - 22/11/2004 19:34 Re: Employed! [Re: rob]
Dignan
carpal tunnel

Registered: 08/03/2000
Posts: 12338
Loc: Sterling, VA
Quote:
but it's all worthwhile when you land a job which...is also cool

And indeed it is. I had the most frustrating time getting lunch today, but I'm willing to bet I had the most scenic tour while being frustrated.

Basically the little cafe we have in the basement that the employees go to was closed. So, I had to go find a place outside. Keep in mind this is all on my one hour lunch break:

- I walk out of my help desk area about five feet and take the elevator down to the basement/dressing rooms.
- once there, I walk under the Eisenhower theater
- after I walk under the Eisenhower, I walk under the largest performance space in the building, the Opera House, and I can look up at the seating through the orchestra pit
- I see the "canteen" is closed, so I walk up to the Hall of States, one of two hallways in the building that is 60 feet tall and a couple hundred feet long
- I walk out of the Kennedy Center, across the street, and start winding my way around the Watergate Hotel (yeah, that Watergate)
- I get some Chinese food at someplace that Bob Dole always ordered from, and go back to the Kennedy Center
- I now have to find someplace to eat my Dole-approved Chinese food, so I make my way up to the top level where I know there are tables and chairs in one of the two large halls upstairs on the other side of the building
- "Unfortunately," there's a presentation in the hallway that connects the two main hallways, so I can't get to the tables. So, I have to go outside onto the rooftop terrace and walk around the outside of the building.
- the rooftop terrace has a panoramic view of both sides of the Potomac, so I can see all the trees on the Virginia side that surround the smaller city of Rosslyn, all of Georgetown (the school and area) along with its boathouses and such, the business-oriented NW section of DC, and lastly the monuments to the east and south

Well, that left me with about 10 minutes to eat my food, but it was freaking worth it! I'll have to take a panoramic shot of the rooftop terrace and add it to the "here's my view from the office" thread
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Matt

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#242208 - 24/11/2004 11:42 Re: Employed! [Re: Dignan]
brendanhoar
enthusiast

Registered: 09/06/2003
Posts: 297
The rooftop of the Kennedy Center is one of my favorite places in DC. Consider yourself very lucky!

-brendan

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