Memoirs part 2

I mentioned in my last posting that I by chance ended up working at BT (more specifically BT International, doesn't exist now) working in Mondial House which up until a few years back was one of the major international exchanges in London where a high percentage of the international voice and data traffic passed in and out of the UK. On the day of my second interview with the Senior manager of the Department I was being proposed for it was the morning after the Marchioness Disaster happened just a few hundred feet down from the office I would be working in. My time working in this building saw me close to 2 IRA bombings in the City - Baltic Exchange and HSBC bombs I walked past within 30 mins of the explosions and the Cannon St Rail crash happened in the station directly next to the building I worked in.

My work at BT was in two different areas. I worked for 3 1/2 years in Mondial House in the International Fault Reporting Centre (IFRC) doing remote test and diagnostics for International Leased lines. At this time it was all FDM High Order cables and sattelite links. So much happened in my time in this group (First Gulf War - the morning of the allied attack first two things to go where the Kuwait City International Exchange and then the equivalent in Baghdad) We got calls from Al Jazera to report faults which made for difficult conversations given the state of war we were in. Some of our guys even went to Kuwait to set up a Satellite link back to the UK after the war - they had amazing pictures of the burning oil wells and an 11 story hole from the roof down into the basement of the International Exchange in Kuwait City - one of the first bombs dropped of the war. I also did a lot of work in Repeat Faults and Special Fault investigations these where reoccuring problems and long term problems.

A Few of these included

Gweru Earth Station going down when Migrating Elephants would rub there back sides against a bamboo tower the 2.5 Meter satellite dish was installed on would lose satellite tracking.

Being on the telex to Moscow discussing a long term data circuit problem for Reuters and have the guy on the other end say "I must go tanks have surrounded the building" when there was a military uprising and Gorbachev took control of the country.

Reuters having the longest ourstanding fault (over 3 years) for their high grade fax line in Beirut where first the Satellite earth station was bombed, then it was replaced with a mobile unit but it neede to drive around the top of a mountain every few hours to avoid being targetted again, The exchange cabling to the Reuters building was destroyed, the engineers where Christians and couldn't go into the offending area for fear of their lives. Cables in the end where run out of the 2nd floor across the road to the Reuters building on the other side of the street. Finally the Exchange was bombed, then the Reuters building. Despite all these issues we got regular complaints form Reuters up until ther building was bombed!

I loved my time in Mondial, I worked with an eclectic mix of characters including hardened drinkers who would regularily drink 8 pints before a night shift then drink a further 4 cans of special brew followed by half a bottle of scotch during their shift. There was a big drinking culture, even afternoon tea breaks where an opportunity for an extra drink. I progressed in skill and experience quickly and with the excellent training courses BT ran in their own training centres in Stone (ask any BT employee about the Wayfarer pub!) I was at a stage where I wanted to progress further. this option wasn't open to me in Mondial in the department I was in so I applied for another job in Docklands working in a Global Customer Service Centre providing technical support for Blue Chip Global Managed service customers. This was a promotion and also got me into packet switched data networks and I became the office Unix Administrator.

More to follow.

Thanks for your kind responses to my first memoir posting on my blog. I'll continue to update it on my return.

We're checked in ready for tomorrow's flight home. It's been fab and am really relaxed.

My working life - The early years

I decided to leave school at 16, I got good grades but I was bored with formal classroom education and I managed to secure an apprenticeship at Fergusons, a manufacturer of Television and Video equipment. The factory site was in Enfield a bus ride from my home in Turnford, Herts. The first year there we worked in the training department learning basic toolshop skills such as welding, Lathe work, milling and Electronics. Apprentice salaries were not good (I earned £3415 a year!) but it still left me £60 a week for social funds. We also spend a day a week at College class room lessons, but learning practical stuff relevant for the workplace. I enjoyed it, but I was pretty crap at the mechanical stuff, liking and being better at the Electrical and Electronics I got an ONC in Mechanical enigneering and moved onto an ONC in electrical and electronics.

I met some really great people some of which I stay in touch with today including Ed Thompson who I had the privelige to work with recently in Project Management roles at Virign Media and Barry Roberts who I still keep in my network to name but two.

We not only worked together we partied together and our social group consisted mostly of people we knew from school or work. Underage drinking in Enfield Town folowed by a takeaway chinese on the bus home to Turnford.

Two years into my apprenticeship the companies fortunes took a turn for the worst. The factory was on a 3 day week to save money and we were at college 1.5 days a week meaning as a teenager it was kind of odd. We saw the writing on the wall and Ed had been applying for other jobs and recommended I apply to BT, where he also had an interview.

We both got offered jobs and I took my role in the International Fault Reporting Centre in Mondial House in the City of London on Upper Thames St. A cool location right on the Thames next to Cannon St Station. Ed took a different more local role but I've never forgotten Ed's suggestion back then built my career in Telecoms and IT, and while I've never told him it was instrumental in my life. A chance suggestion shaped the last 20 years of my working life.

Those early years were fun and exciting - as 16 year olds in an adult environment (we did placements in all the different departments around the factory) we had to grow up quickly and will never forget meeting some of my old school friends in a pub who had stayed in education and even at 18 thinking how immature they were compared to us. I sometimes regret not having pursued further education, so far it has never been a glass ceiling to my career progression so the experience I got in those early teen years I value more than any paper qualification.

My memories of my time at BT to follow!

the Start of Ramadan today, still over 40Deg C and am relaxing by the pool

I've been putting together some thoughts about starting a local IT support company focused on Small Business and Home workers. Also spent some time by the pool reading Penny Powers' new book Know me Like me Follow Me. Penny is one of the founders of Ecademy - a social networking site I've been a member of for a few years. It's given me some pointers and ideas about how I can use social media to grow a successful small business in my locality built on reputation.

I've got some ideas to work out when I get back. Looking at starting something small and local in Yateley. Lots of small businesses I know seem to struggle with local it support.

Also am going to start blogging some of my memoirs from my working life. Look out for it soon!

is leavign on a jet plane...

Using Ping.fm to consolidate Blog and other Social Media updates. Neat!

Off to Dubai this afternoon - can't wait. Got a lot on and be goot get away for a bit.

Still thinking about some of the new Open Source OSS tools and how starting a probe factory for them and their customers might be a nice little business...

Last day in the office before off to Dubai. Loads to get through and ensure stuff happens in my absence!