One new thing in my work schedule in this new year is working the late shift every Wednesday. On these days I start work at 10:30 am instead of 8:30 am. (And for the past three Wednesdays I have been auditing my friend Dr. Matt's 9:00 am class on the Holocaust at Washtenaw Community College. First experience in the community college setting, so I'd like to write about that in another post and will probably do so eventually).
As soon as 5:00 pm hits, my partner in crime Katie and I hit the phones as "Service Reception - how may I direct your call?" We're still in the thick of busy season but there are less calls in the queues once the clock strikes 6:00 pm. The Customer Service queues have significantly less people calling as well - which makes for lots of time for the late-nighters to gab about things they divined from their fortune cookies (for example: tonight, we ordered Oriental Express and one person got a fortune that said, "You have 365 days in a year; may all of your 365 dreams come true!" She thought it was a terrible fortune and wanted to return it. Mine said something like, "Service to many leads to greatness" - which, depending on how you read your fortunes, is nice for a person working in Customer Service currently). (Yes, they also talked about end taglines for fortune cookies - but we won't get into that right now...)
We also started discussing the Opportunities Weekly e-mails sent from Human Resources with internal job listings because apparently one person who left a vacancy got escorted from the building. Two of the late-nighters, Linda and Trent, were discussing the events surrounding the dismissal. Trent eventually ended up walking over to Linda's cube - which is diagonal from mine on my right-hand side - and I heard him say, "Do you have Facebook up?" almost in disbelief. I figured right then that she was caught in the act (I should explain that Trent, a young twenty-something, is a senior representative, and Linda - while considerably a few years Trent's senior - is a product lead but has only been with Thomson for one year. Generally, Facebook is blocked and marked as a "restricted access" page).
"No-ooo," she replied haltingly.
"Okay - can you log in for me?" I heard him say over my cube wall.
Lots of murmuring in hushed tones and then Linda said, "oh, I thought you were going to have me log in because he posted details about leaving Thomson on his Facebook."
"Oh no," said Trent. "I just wanted to see if you were able to see some pictures that my girlfriend tagged of me...but I guess you can't." Trent's voice started to sound more distant - I gathered that he had walked away from Linda's desk. "I guess it's because you're not friends with her. No - you are not her friend."
Any bystander not understanding that the two had just logged into Facebook would think that Trent was a heartless soul, coldly stating that his girlfriend was not Linda's friend. The thought of how Facebook has transformed our culture into referring to electronic connections through a social networking website as "friends on facebook" or just "friends" made me laugh out loud literally. Linda understood this immediately and let out a big "wahhhhhh."
"No Linda, that's not what I meant!" was the belabored response.
Between calls, I heard Linda telling me, "My sister just posted on my son's wall...so-and-so just joined the group 'I love guts...'" All the while, I was "thomcom-ing" (Thomson's instant messenger) Katie about how funny it was to listen to these people - who four years ago didn't have access to Facebook when it was just Facebook for college kids - and their fascination with status updates and notes posted.
Our conversation looked something like this:
imm [at 7:25 pm]: Isn't this hilarious?
kcm (Katie) [at 7:25 pm]: I wonder what technology will be like for us in about 20 years
So do I...
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
license transfers
I haven't posted in a while, mainly due to the fact that the holidays involved a lot of driving - over 1000 miles in about two weeks time (more on that in another post). I also haven't posted in a while because we're in the throes of busy season here at the Tax & Accounting Business of Thomson Reuters. These days, I am either sitting at my desk on a call - or up and running getting more information.
My work post-holidays involves our cash cow, UltraTax, and making sure that users who are new to the program are happy with their investment. In any case, this liberal arts kid is learning more about the world of tax. This morning, I ended up eavesdropping on a conversation that had nothing to do with everything I've been eating, sleeping, and breathing during my eight hours at work every day...
"We would need his signature to relinquish his rights to the software..."
The conversation took place between one of the Seniors here at work and a user about a software license. When our users purchase our software, "we license individuals and not firms" (a common phrase thrown around the department). The individual who agrees to sign the license agreement is legally bound to the software as its owner. The license transfer takes place when the licensee - or software owner - is no longer with the firm but the software is. The most common reasons for a licensee leaving a firm include retirement, firm splits, and death. If the software remains at the firm without the licensee, a license transfer is necessary in order for the firm to stay current on their software through renewals. In other words, the licensee relinquishes ownership rights and responsibilities to the software and transfers them to someone else over which to preside.
Eavesdropping on that conversation a few feet away made me think about how beginning and living a life founded on Christ is much like a license transfer. Upon agreement to abandon one's life to Christ, the individual relinquishes it in their heart by transferring it to the lordship of Jesus Christ. Of course, the individual is still in charge of natural faculties - but they have surrendered the desires of their hearts and their lives to something greater than themselves; to One familiar with surrender, who willingly laid down His own sinless life to take away the sins of the world.
Often I encounter people in this life who state that of course they would go to heaven because they are a good person, they go to church on Sundays, they believe in God...but often "Western Christianity", and those who commit to it verbally, is soured unfortunately by the lack of demonstration of a life abandonned to Christ. Inevitably, Christians are not perfect - but when I think about those who say but don't live, it makes me wonder if they have truly engaged in a license transfer: resolving in ones heart to sign over one's life in order to "take hold of the life that is truly life" in Christ (1 Timothy 6:19).
If you do not share in my beliefs, please do not interpret this as something I would try to force upon you. Why would anyone want to relinquish the rights to their own life to the lordship of some amorphous entity? I would venture to suggest that it would be signing off from the futilty and purposelessness of life in order to sign onto something greater - life and love everlasting. This is something that I am learning about everyday, and it's difficult to describe without getting emotional/technical/verbose.
Here's the license transfer concept in a sentence: "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." - John 3:16
No more words - I hope you can experience a license transfer for yourself.
My work post-holidays involves our cash cow, UltraTax, and making sure that users who are new to the program are happy with their investment. In any case, this liberal arts kid is learning more about the world of tax. This morning, I ended up eavesdropping on a conversation that had nothing to do with everything I've been eating, sleeping, and breathing during my eight hours at work every day...
"We would need his signature to relinquish his rights to the software..."
The conversation took place between one of the Seniors here at work and a user about a software license. When our users purchase our software, "we license individuals and not firms" (a common phrase thrown around the department). The individual who agrees to sign the license agreement is legally bound to the software as its owner. The license transfer takes place when the licensee - or software owner - is no longer with the firm but the software is. The most common reasons for a licensee leaving a firm include retirement, firm splits, and death. If the software remains at the firm without the licensee, a license transfer is necessary in order for the firm to stay current on their software through renewals. In other words, the licensee relinquishes ownership rights and responsibilities to the software and transfers them to someone else over which to preside.
Eavesdropping on that conversation a few feet away made me think about how beginning and living a life founded on Christ is much like a license transfer. Upon agreement to abandon one's life to Christ, the individual relinquishes it in their heart by transferring it to the lordship of Jesus Christ. Of course, the individual is still in charge of natural faculties - but they have surrendered the desires of their hearts and their lives to something greater than themselves; to One familiar with surrender, who willingly laid down His own sinless life to take away the sins of the world.
Often I encounter people in this life who state that of course they would go to heaven because they are a good person, they go to church on Sundays, they believe in God...but often "Western Christianity", and those who commit to it verbally, is soured unfortunately by the lack of demonstration of a life abandonned to Christ. Inevitably, Christians are not perfect - but when I think about those who say but don't live, it makes me wonder if they have truly engaged in a license transfer: resolving in ones heart to sign over one's life in order to "take hold of the life that is truly life" in Christ (1 Timothy 6:19).
If you do not share in my beliefs, please do not interpret this as something I would try to force upon you. Why would anyone want to relinquish the rights to their own life to the lordship of some amorphous entity? I would venture to suggest that it would be signing off from the futilty and purposelessness of life in order to sign onto something greater - life and love everlasting. This is something that I am learning about everyday, and it's difficult to describe without getting emotional/technical/verbose.
Here's the license transfer concept in a sentence: "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." - John 3:16
No more words - I hope you can experience a license transfer for yourself.
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