The End.....Please!!

[Benzie and Beyond]

I should not be seeing the sun rise and set in the same day in my truck, in september. 29 tickets, 12 hours yesterday, 30 in my queue due for tomorrow. ugh....

i normally hate christmas carols, but let it snow, let it snow, let it snow........


we are operatiing with 9 guys for 12 counties, which one of the counties takes two. but wait, we have a guy out for a back injury...so make that 8. stop a second, another guy is gonna try and comeback today after braking his collar bone two days ago at home. they gave him a mobilizer, but we'll see how long that lasts. and that guy, a major ticket doer in the busiest county. so the last two days we've only had 7 guys (6 guys and a gal)

How many more cable drops can there be to place? haven't we upgraded all the cell towers yet? stop patching your crappy ug elec from the 60's and put it on the pole........

i'll stop there, but really, is it winter yet?

[Benzie and Beyond]

and no, the staffing:workload situation wasn't really "big brothers" fault in our area this year, we've had two people quit since the "hiring period" and we'd have been hurting for overtime in our area this year had they not quit.

[cableunderground]

Hang in there Benzie! It's only a few more weeks til we get a break...been a long year!

[locator00566]

Welcome to USIC!

[nothingicantlocate]

I should not be seeing the sun rise and set in the same day in my truck, in september. 29 tickets, 12 hours yesterday, 30 in my queue due for tomorrow. ugh....

Seeing the sun rise and set the same day in september? That's been once a week for me this month. 29 tickets in 12 hrs? That would be a luxury for me. On average I am doing 35-40 tickets in 8 hours because we aren't allowed OT. I feel your pain, just keep in mind there is always someone out there who has it up the ass worse than you! ;-) Keep your head up, the snow is almost here!!!

[Benzie and Beyond]

Seeing the sun rise and set the same day in september? That's been once a week for me this month. 29 tickets in 12 hrs? That would be a luxury for me. On average I am doing 35-40 tickets in 8 hours because we aren't allowed OT. I feel your pain, just keep in mind there is always someone out there who has it up the ass worse than you! ;-) Keep your head up, the snow is almost here!!!

not allowed OT? they try that here a few times a year. Every time they try that we end up with late tickets on every team within a day. We aren't staffed enoughf for 8 only. One week of it would be nice though..... been on 65+ since april, except a week here and there they were trying hours control, but the week after that was about 80 so really, average is high. i realize we aren't the only ones out there in a bad way like that, doesn't mean it doesn't stink.

if we could just work 5 10's and have weekends off, that'd be awesome. we've only had 1 weekend off this year that wasn't a holiday, or vacation

[sprayandpray]

not allowed OT? they try that here a few times a year. Every time they try that we end up with late tickets on every team within a day. We aren't staffed enoughf for 8 only. One week of it would be nice though..... been on 65+ since april, except a week here and there they were trying hours control, but the week after that was about 80 so really, average is high. i realize we aren't the only ones out there in a bad way like that, doesn't mean it doesn't stink.

if we could just work 5 10's and have weekends off, that'd be awesome. we've only had 1 weekend off this year that wasn't a holiday, or vacation

How many weeks do you get off during the Winter?

[big boots mcghee]

Since you're wishing for winter to hit and the work to slow down here in September, I hope you're not one of these guys that starts begging for spring to come in January.

[Benzie and Beyond]

things usually slow down enough somewhere between thanksgiving and christmas, and snow is usually gone around april 1. sprng of '10 we got the "privilege" of starting around march 7th.

and no, i don't wish for spring in january, i enjoy my winter time. last year there were three of us that rotated, each working a week and getting two off that was fantastic. don't know what this year will bring yet. hopefully something similar.

[nothingicantlocate]

I wish I got time off in the winter, in six years of locating I have never had any time off in the winter. I must be doing something wrong!! lol But now I am looking to relocate to oklahoma and haveing a hell of a time finding work there in the state. I don't know if USIC or Chesapeak don't want to pay me what I'm asking or what but I will be moving soon and need to figure something out by then or I will have all winter off!

[Benzie and Beyond]

winter time off is the nature of the beast up here. it's hard to do alot with 3ft+ snowbanks. however, most of the tickets that do come in in the winter suck, cause all the cable drops, phone drops, pet fences, sprinklers and landscapng tickets aren't there. but some gas services, engineering tickets for the project areas to come, soil borings and other crappy bs tickets do come in.

thankfully, we get ticket for installing dish network satellite poles, and they still come in.

[Goldenboy]

I've still never taken a day of layoff in 14 years of locating. Every year it sounds better and better though.

As far as crap tickets in winter that is all we get also. Phone,elec,tv, and gas upgrades are the normal winter tickets. This is because they are trying to get all the utilities moved before the road projects start in spring.

[Dave72]

We have the odd water main break etc in the winter that our locator covers, but otherwise the off season is spent archiving the previous summer's data and doing updates on existing plant to make more of an as-built on the maps.

[Wingfoot]

I wish I got time off in the winter, in six years of locating I have never had any time off in the winter. I must be doing something wrong!! lol But now I am looking to relocate to oklahoma and haveing a hell of a time finding work there in the state. I don't know if USIC or Chesapeak don't want to pay me what I'm asking or what but I will be moving soon and need to figure something out by then or I will have all winter off!

Hey n.i.c.l. - The USIC District in the beautiful Tulsa area (God's country) would welcome an experienced locator with 6 years under his/her belt!

USIC has a hard time getting/keeping locators there because of the oil patch work that's booming in Oklahoma. Seems like both are desiring Okies who are not afraid of work. The oil patch wins because the pay is much better. But, the oil patch is back-breaking, hard work. The difference between the two careers, the oil patch hires a person for the neck DOWN and locating hires for the neck UP.

If you can honestly pass a "Whiz Quiz" and have 6 years of seasoning, I suggest cutting through all that USIC email bullshit and contact the Tulsa District Manager direct by telephone. Hell, he might pay for your airfare to Tulsa for the interview - just sayin'.

Good Luck Buddy!

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[nothingicantlocate]

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