Do any of you get to turn the phone off for the upcoming holiday season, or walk away for a little while, leaving the responsibilities to someone else? Or are you always "ON." I struggle with this every year around this time.
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Holidays-Do us engineers get any time off?
- Thread starter Brian Bowers
- Start date
I am IT, so I can't take the full brunt of it, but I am never all the way off and have not been in years.
I can not recall a single time I have left town over the past decade that there has not been a problem.
One time, it was when I was at NAB in Vegas. We (my engineer & I) had made a night of it. I woke up to 57 missed calls.
I can not recall a single time I have left town over the past decade that there has not been a problem.
One time, it was when I was at NAB in Vegas. We (my engineer & I) had made a night of it. I woke up to 57 missed calls.
I am blessed enough to be part of a contract engineering group. Being the low-man on the totem pole, I always assumed I would never see a Christmas. However, my co-workers all seem to fight over Thanksgiving, so I get to take a full week off over Christmas. And I make sure to drive FAR AWAY so I can't get pressed into service in a pinch.
It's not too much of an issue for me. I build all my own stuff, so my automation, traffic, etc... is extremely redundant. I can map around almost anything from my phone.
It only bothers me, when I am giving up a vacation day and fielding calls.
It only bothers me, when I am giving up a vacation day and fielding calls.
My supervisor splits the holidays - I did Thanksgiving off, he's outa here for Christmas. Our stuff is fairly reliable and redundant. Since the holidays have both part - time board ops and a lot of special programming, it's occasionally necessary to hand hold one or more through some task or other, but I can get to the automation, audio router, phone switch, and pretty much ever thing else - including the floor A/C system - from my computer at home. I'll knock wood, a trip is rarely necessary.
I'd rather work than have time off! Love it.
RockNuts! said:
PM me your doctors name... LOL
Retirement is wonderful.
If you have a Gates/Harris 2.5 you can easily drive the final directly with around 25 watts...
A trick I discovered one New Year's day when the IPA shorted out...
(That transmitter is now in Columbus, Indiana; the Nautel in there now mostly takes care of itself.)
Since I own the stations, I set my own hours. But, of course, if something major breaks, I own the place, so.....
A trick I discovered one New Year's day when the IPA shorted out...
(That transmitter is now in Columbus, Indiana; the Nautel in there now mostly takes care of itself.)
Since I own the stations, I set my own hours. But, of course, if something major breaks, I own the place, so.....
That's the marvelous thing about being a contract engineer, unless you have a signed contract with me, and up to date on your retainer payments, I don't answer the phone if you call on a holiday. Most owners understand that, some don't. The ones that expect me to be at their beck and call with nothing on their part learn quickly, the ones that don't stay off the air until I get back from my vacation...or they can find some other sucker to get them going again....then I'll let HIM get stuck with the bill when they don't pay him for his work.
On call but technically off for a week or so during the holiday season. It saves me the commute, so I'm happy. I stay within the state so I can get back within about an hour and a half max. We have backups on most things that matter (other than one major site) so we are in pretty good shape. Good equipment really helps keep the calls to a minimal. I'm usually the guy that covers for others. Occationally I have others cover for me, but holidays isn't as critical. I like to keep the favor bucket full so when I need off at other special times in the year I can get someone to cover me 
.
.Off for the week between Christmas and New Years, but naturally, still on call for 5 different clients. So never truly off.
The internet is a wonderful thing, being able to VPN and remote in to almost everything now.
I can re route audio, turn things on and off, check the Intraplex, log in to the TX, send EAS tests... all from my phone.
The internet is a wonderful thing, being able to VPN and remote in to almost everything now.
I can re route audio, turn things on and off, check the Intraplex, log in to the TX, send EAS tests... all from my phone.
Takes me a day or so to not feel guilty having set the phone to ring "Family & Friends" only.
Leaving my boss to handel the emergencies alone.
But I get over it.
Leaving my boss to handel the emergencies alone.
But I get over it.
jboyd said:
J Boyd I swear you're a hero to me. I will call and we will have that lunch. I can't wait to see your facilities.
John Buffaloe
It sure is Tom...and except for the carrier dropping when the power blinks, that 'ole 2.5 of yours has served the new owner well. Still using one of the tubes that came with it too. And, of course, an exciter with plenty of muscle to drive the PA directly. Thanks for making it available!TomT said:
Last Christmas it seems like I got a 36 hour segment off.
This year as it stands, Ive been assigned 11 PM to 3 PM, that's 16 hours/day, for the 24th , 25th and 26th.
I agreed to cover midnights so the other guy could have Christmas off.
In addition, now there's training on the day shift for a two week period for me that will coincide with the
days I've agreed to cover.
Don't know if there's going to be window of x hours of plant closure., but you can see why I would hope for this.
The drive back and forth to work and home should be interesting.
When in was in field service travel mode, there were seldom interruptions during holdays with emergencies from customers,
but I was always "on".
Taking a vacation was very different. I always got calls interrupting my vacations, because these were normal workweeks,
and as a specialist in one particular product, I got stuck being the sole guy with answers, so it was unavoidable.
This year as it stands, Ive been assigned 11 PM to 3 PM, that's 16 hours/day, for the 24th , 25th and 26th.
I agreed to cover midnights so the other guy could have Christmas off.
In addition, now there's training on the day shift for a two week period for me that will coincide with the
days I've agreed to cover.
Don't know if there's going to be window of x hours of plant closure., but you can see why I would hope for this.
The drive back and forth to work and home should be interesting.
When in was in field service travel mode, there were seldom interruptions during holdays with emergencies from customers,
but I was always "on".
Taking a vacation was very different. I always got calls interrupting my vacations, because these were normal workweeks,
and as a specialist in one particular product, I got stuck being the sole guy with answers, so it was unavoidable.
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