District Office

Before I tell you about my trip to the District Office last week let me say something quickly about Cal Ripken. I am a big baseball fan, a big sports fan in general and I want you all to know that Cal Ripken is a true hero of mine and should be to all of us. This guy came to work and played hard every day. When you look at some of the so called baseball heros of today they have nothing on Cal.

As I mentioned, last Thursday I had to head to Schenectady to go to the District Offices. I was staying at the Marriott there for Thursday also. It was more of a Courtyard Marriott but I still got the points. I also happened to be there for Jerry Rogers goodbye party. He has been the customer service manager for a few years and we are sorry to see him go. I was glad to get to his party, there was a time last fall when he really helped me out with the people from Velocorp in getting them some extra inventory when they needed it. It was huge on his part and really helped me make my numbers.

Anyway, I like going to the District Office. I work out of my home and am on the road quite a bit so I like to check in and see how people are. I also feel that even though I do not share an office with the people there they are my co-workers and a lot of what they do is important to me so I should know them. I know some of the other reps do not do this as much as I do and I pride myself in it. I like to go about once a month and spend some time with the key people who help manage my account- Terri in Billing, Jerry in CS, Tom in Finance (great guy) and then hopefully coincide my visit with Gil Miller. He was not here this time.

I spent some time catching up with Jerry and also met his replacement Grant Hunt. As I said I am sad to see Jerry go because he and I have been through some wars together but Grant seems like a nice guy. It is always good to catch up with Terri as without her doing the billing and tracking down the invoices, I don't get paid. She is an unsung hero of the company. I always put a good word into her boss Tom for her when I am there.

Jerry's goodbye party was at some a brew pub called Van Dyck. That of course inspired some pretty good jokes. It was a great time. Jerry got lit up and some of the people who worked for him were pretty sad. Jerry is married and his wife came to pick him up. I decided not to make too much of a night of it as I had to drive back to the Courtyard Marriott and do not know the roads all that well. It was a good time. Jerry wrote a great goodbye email that he copied me on and I was glad to get that.

Adios, Farewell, See Ya....

As many of you know, tomorrow will be my last day here. It has been a very happy 7 years and it is with mixed emotions that I am saying goodbye to everyone. My experiences here have allowed me to grow both personally and professionally. I leave extremely thankful for all the opportunity it has presented me. What I hold highest from my experience has been the personal and professional friendships that I was able to make.

You guys are also the greatest gang I have ever worked with. We worked hard and played hard but got it all done.

Below I have included my personal email and my cell phone. Please keep in touch as I'm sure our paths will cross again soon.

Good Luck with everything moving forward – I wish you the best!

All the best,
J-RO