It Started With A Keyboard

63 followers

Updated 6 years ago

Welcome to my roller coaster of a day. Sit back and relax. I'll try to keep it (kinda) short.

I'm gonna miss that keyboard.

My day started like pretty much every other work day that I have had for the last 25 years. I get up really early, I drive to work, I sit in front of an outdated workstation, I spend eight hours solving problems. That's pretty much it. Exciting, huh? I've been in the same facility for the last 13 years. Lots of things have happened in that 13 years. Many people have come and gone. A few building makeovers. Several procedural revisions. A few equipment upgrades.

One thing that has stayed consistent and been my compadre, has been my keyboard. A great 4 pound, yellowed off-white, IBM mechanical keyboard. Certain spots on the body worn from my fingers over the hundreds of hours I have sat there with it. You can probably guess that it had been replaced without my knowledge. It sounds ridiculous, but I was a bit heartbroken. We had been through a lot over the years.

That was how my day started.

Did I mention my job was eliminated?

So, as I was still fuming over my buddy disappearing overnight, I got a phone call from a coworker. One that I have worked with for the last 28 years. She proceeded to let me know that our jobs had been eliminated. Plain and simple, our roles with the company are no longer needed. When she and I started 28 years ago, we did everything on paper. The two of us were instrumental in computerizing and automating what we do. You're probably saying it yourself, and you'd be right, we created a monster that eventually replaced us. That one is on us, I guess.

It is still hard to swallow after all that we have put into it. Change has never been a good friend of mine, and though I have made many adaptations over the years, I have usually been in charge of the path I was taking. This time, I am back to square one. Starting over.

I usually write my stories to end a little happier.

Now we get to look at how that roller coaster headed back up.

I have been here on WA since March 7th of this year. That's not quite a month yet. I have zero experience with websites or writing. I came here to give myself a backup for when I did become not needed anymore. So, when I got the news today, I was kicking myself for not doing this a year ago. Here's where it gets interesting.

I have a website that I have built with the training from Kyle and the support of the community here. Every question I have had, except for one, was easily found in the search box. One question I had to ask, and it was answered within minutes. I have built the site with the basics and have been adding 1500 to 1900 word posts weekly. In other words, I have been trying to get that coveted Google Index badge. Knowing that I had a lot of work to do before I got there.

So, about 30 seconds in to my phone call with that coworker this morning, pretty much right after she said we were done, I was very surprised to see an email with the following.

"Hey Lee,

Great news, your website has been indexed by Google."

Could that have come at a better time?? Call it luck, call it whatever, it was just what I needed to see at just the exact time.

That can't be all, can it? Nope.

Even after my email, I was not in the best of moods. I finally got the chance to have my meeting with my boss. I want to add that the decisions in the company come from the Central Office, so my superiors at my location have no say in the matter. It is not their fault that things like this happen. I hold nothing against them. I was treated with respect and I returned it.

About half-way through the 40-minute conversation, I felt what I can only describe as a wave of energy run through my entire body. I have no idea what it was, but it made me feel like everything was going to be OK. I was told by one of my managers that was in the room with us that my face lit up and I got a big smile. She thought I had gone a little crazy. I left the room and the feeling stuck with me. I still can't explain it, but I have no doubts that this was all meant to be.

Two more things and I will stop yacking.

I have no self-confidence when it comes to what I am trying to accomplish here at WA. I have been working on this, but it is one of my issues that I haven't been able to kick. Until today.

I have not given out my website to anyone other than my wife. I have been afraid of what people would think. Criticism is an important way we learn and I welcome it in all things I do. I just haven't gotten to the point with my site yet. Until today.

When I left the managers office, I spoke to several people. Most were hanging around to see what I had to say after my meeting. I gave each of them my website address and asked them to check it out and to pass it on. This sounds simple, but it is a huge step for me personally.

Lastly, when I went on lunch right after the meeting, I decided to open up the Instagram page that I had created along with my website. I had not added anything to it yet, so I decided to give it a whirl. With a ton of my wifes help, she's an Instagram master, we added some content and some hash tags. Within an hour we had some followers and a bunch of likes. This, I know will drive the traffic to the website that I need to turn this into the beast that I want it to be.

I want to thank Kyle and Carson and everyone in this community for the support I have been given. Above all, I want to thank my wife for giving me the support I need to make this happen.

Thank you all for reading this.

Lee