Why?

Why tell the stories? For the past two months I've been Blogging. And for the past two months I've told at least one story each week. It's probably time for an explanation. Not that the stories don't stand alone or complete a thought. It's just that for me there is a lot more to it than the stories. There are several reasons why I want to be "Telling the Stories".

Ed Ridges was an early friend at UEN. Ed retired last summer. Despite all I could do to talk him out of it. My first year at UEN were filled with trips. Ed was along for most of them. As we drove throughout the state Ed told me a lot of stories. One of the first was his experience building the microwave tower at the High School in Moab.

It was 110 degrees in the shade. The metal was very hot to the touch. The tower had to be assembled in pieces, in the shade, and then moved to its final location and attached in place. Ed was a manager and it was not unusual for him to be such a hands-on part of the project. Hands-on is the guy that Ed was and is. It wasn't long before we drove by the site and Ed pointed out the tower. Seeing it was fun. It was more meaningful than just seeing any old microwave tower. I even pointed out a tree and asked if that was were the staging was done. Yes, it was.

Ed told many stories. He talked about renting a helicopter to get to a site ahead of a forest fire. He talked about snowmobiling, hiking, four-wheeling and many other things. Every story had meaning and every story was interesting to me. Much of the enjoyment was enhanced as we visited each of these locations. My first year culminated in a day-long helicopter ride to five of the mountaintop sites. This was done in December. We snowshoed to several locations because the landing areas were far down the ridge from our destination. We landed above 10,000 feet. This was a memorable accomplishment for a pilot who had been driving helicopters for more than 25 years. And we came very close to running out of fuel and putting down in the middle of a desolate stretch just outside of Evanston, Wyoming. Finally, that day, we flew home in the dark with me sitting next to the Pilot looking for high-tension wires.

It didn't take long for me to realize that I was building my own catalog of stories. Perhaps they won't rival Ed's assortment, but they are meaningful to me. And they add spice to an otherwise boring technical existence. Sometimes us technical types don't relate to humans. Or maybe it's the other way around. Okay, so we are humans, too. It's just that at times we are motivated by some pretty strange things that an average person doesn't understand. (And by conversations with my wife I realize that an average person has no desire to gain this understanding.)

There are other reasons to tell the stories. It's all well and good that we spend millions of dollars on technology every year. But if all we did was spend money and build networks then that would not be good enough. These networks touch the lives of real people and make a difference. What we do must, in the end, made a difference in the lives of the people who use them. That may seem obvious. And all too often we take it for granted. But my early experiences were gained traveling to Escalante, Monument Valley, Kanab, Vernal, Bald Mesa and many other locations.

These locations were especially meaningful because of the people I met. People that were using the UEN network to take classes and to learn. These classes helped to fill high school and college credits. I can't remember how many times I've witnessed a single individual in a rural setting participating in an upper level class taught many dozens or even hundreds of miles away. I have seen this same scene repeated many times. And it happens many more times than I see. This couldn't happen without the network.

It is the human interaction that makes my job satisfying. It is seeing the affect of this technology on a human level that keeps me coming back every day. Otherwise, this job is pretty brutal. Not enough money. Not enough resources. Too many projects. Too many demands. Never ending and sometimes thankless.

It is essential to tell the stories. Certainly for legislators, steering committee members, vendors and constituents. But also for UEN Technical Services staff. And for myself. These stories are reminders of why we build networks and why all of the hours and all of the headaches are worthwhile. So I'll keep telling the stories. More important, from a personal standpoint, I'll keep being part of the story.

That's all for now..........
8:37:54 AM    comment []