Hello! It's been a couple weeks since I've blogged, nothing major has been going on, just lazy I guess. :)
Everything is going pretty well, work has been good...training has been busy and a litle stressful at times but I like it.
Wednesday was Amy's birthday and today is Kari's...Happy Birthday to both of you! :)
Speaking of Amy, she'll be in town this coming Friday for a week and I can't wait. We're going to go and get pedicures together, I'm looking forward to it. I'm also looking forward to seeing John & Isabelle again too. This is one of the good parts of being back "home", I get to see Amy more often because she's from this area too. I can't wait until I have some time off work and go out and see her new house, it sounds beautiful!
Jason will also be here in a couple weeks and I can't wait for that too. I have to say how much I love my brother, we were the typical brother & sister growing up and I admit that I was hell to live with but as we've gotten older and especially since we've lost our mom 13 years ago we've become best of friends. I love it.
Speaking of my mom, I got the freakiest phone call the other nite. I didn't recognize the phone # but answered it anyway, this lady says to me "can you talk?" and I didn't recognize the voice so I said "who is this?" and she said "your mother"....I had to stop for a minute and then said "I'm sorry you must have the wrong number" and hung up. Talk about freaky! I wanted to tell her that that was impossible because my mom was dead but that would have been rude. It's funny because sometimes I forget that my mom is gone and then sometimes it feels like it's been forever. Weird.
Not sure what I'm going to do today. I got up and threw some clothes on and headed to the pet store because I realized that my kitties were out of dry cat food, so I ran out & picked that up and got myself some coffee. I've been doing laundry & cleaning. I'm thinking of asking Darcy is she wants to go to the casino either tonight or tomorrow but I know how I am about casinos and not sure if it's a good choice right now because I like to spend money there. ha ha.
Speaking of money, my bank messed up my bank account last week big time. I checked my balance and they were telling me I only had $12! My checkbook said around $175 so I knew they were wrong. I freaked out and sent Matt an IM to ask him for help, he was such a jerk about it and grilled me about did I call the bank? Am I going to get it straightened out? So I just said screw it and told him nevermind, I'd figure it out myself. Fortheloveofgod, I left with nothing. Yes, I know it was my choice but we are still married and he only has had to replace dishes & silverware whereas I have to replace EVERYTHING. I didn't think it was too much to ask, plus I've also told him that I won't ask for alimony. He called me the next day and apologized for being a jerk and I ended up transferring some money from our joint account (my name is still on it) into my personal checking account. He tends to forget that I'm starting over, I took a huge cut in pay and I'm struggling. I hate asking for help but technically, if I wanted to be a snotty about the whole thing I could go after him for alimony due to the fact that we've been married for 15 years and that the standard of living that I became accustomed to has gone down drastically. Ugh. I don't want things to get nasty between us but I feel that I really got the short end of the stick and I'm going to make a list of all that I left behind, try to determine a dollar value and present it to him. I don't want to have to get an attorney but I feel like I might have to, I don't want to get screwed and I think that I've put myself into a position where I am.
Oh-well, sorry for that rant!
That's all I've got for now, I'll try to be better about blogging!
Hope everyone has a nice weekend! :)
Saturday, July 28, 2007
Sunday, July 15, 2007
Sunday
Good morning...just finished my oatmeal and am drinking my coffee, it is so nice out right now, a little on the cool side but I'm sure it'll warm up.
Not much going on with me, the rest of my week at work went pretty well. Got my paycheck on Thursday and put it right in the bank and it's pretty much gone now but isn't that the way it goes? :sigh:
Yesterday I slept in and got started on doing some laundry, cleaning and whatnot and then around 2 or so I got so sick to my stomach and was throwing up. I have no idea what it was, the only thing I can think of is that I took my medicine twice...it becomes part of my morning routine to automatically take my medicine and I didn't have breakfast right away so I couldn't remember if I had taken it, I swore I hadn't and took it. That had to be it because all I had eaten was oatmeal and a cup of coffee and within an hour or so after getting sick I felt better. Yeah, I bet that was enjoyable to read about. :)
Darcy is coming over at noon and we're going to the galleria to do some shopping, she has something she's looking for and there's something else I wanted to get Amy for her birthday which is on the 25th. This month is flying by! Kari's birthday is coming up too, on the 28th. Busy month for birthdays!
That's really all I've got right now...boring, I know, but hey at least I'm not crying! ha ha
Have a good one everyone!
Not much going on with me, the rest of my week at work went pretty well. Got my paycheck on Thursday and put it right in the bank and it's pretty much gone now but isn't that the way it goes? :sigh:
Yesterday I slept in and got started on doing some laundry, cleaning and whatnot and then around 2 or so I got so sick to my stomach and was throwing up. I have no idea what it was, the only thing I can think of is that I took my medicine twice...it becomes part of my morning routine to automatically take my medicine and I didn't have breakfast right away so I couldn't remember if I had taken it, I swore I hadn't and took it. That had to be it because all I had eaten was oatmeal and a cup of coffee and within an hour or so after getting sick I felt better. Yeah, I bet that was enjoyable to read about. :)
Darcy is coming over at noon and we're going to the galleria to do some shopping, she has something she's looking for and there's something else I wanted to get Amy for her birthday which is on the 25th. This month is flying by! Kari's birthday is coming up too, on the 28th. Busy month for birthdays!
That's really all I've got right now...boring, I know, but hey at least I'm not crying! ha ha
Have a good one everyone!
Wednesday, July 11, 2007
Wednesday
I'm happy to report that we're having a break from the hot & humid weather that we have had the last few days, I've got the windows open and there's a nice cool breeze coming in. Ahhhh :)
Everything is going much better, I'm feeling more like myself...perhaps even a little stronger & more confident version of myself. I've been doing a lot of thinking and am making a very conscious effort to not be so hard on myself, to not always think whatever negative situation arises that it means there is something wrong with me. It's a struggle, I've always had issues with low self-esteem but I am feeling better, so that's a start.
It helps so much to have a job again, as much as I miss being able to stay up as late as I want and sleep in as late as I want, I do enjoy being back to work and feeling like I have a purpose. It's also been nice to be around new people all day. We spent all of today on the phones taking billing & id card calls and it was fun. I had one call that started off badly but ended well...the lady was trying to make a payment via e-check but didn't understand the difference between a routing number and account number...she was getting very angry with me and kept saying "I don't understand why you are not getting this"...I explained to her at least 3 times that the routing number can be found in the lower left hand corner of her check, etc. etc. We went round and round for a good 7 minutes which felt more like 30 minutes. Finally she told me she had another policy with us and to check that because she knew her account information was in there...she was correct, we did have her info stored in this second policy BUT the so-called routing number that she was giving me was actually her account number. I explained this to her in the most "pcf" (professional, courteous & friendly) way and she got quiet for a second and said "wow, I learned something today, thank you!" and when I was closing the call and apologized for her frustration, thanked her for her patience and she then apologized to me which is always a great feeling when a customer apologizes. Other than that the rest of my calls were great, I had a 72 year old man call who was freaking hysterical...I have to verify date of birth and two other items before I can speak about the policy and when I asked for his dob he said "okay, before I do that I need for you to raise your right hand and solemnly swear that you will not tell anyone how old I am", I cracked up and said "I swear, sir". He was a riot and at the end of the call I gave my speel about how it is my goal to provide excellent customer service, etc and he said "Michelle, if and when you do get a husband in your life he will be very lucky to have you as his wife because you are very pleasant and kind". I wanted to tell him that I do have a husband and that we're getting a divorce and oddly enough today is our 15 year anniversary. ha ha. But of course I just laughed and said thank you. Too funny.
Yeah, so today is my 15 year "anniversary" of being married...I have not been looking forward to this day but I have to say that I am okay with it. I e-mailed Matt on Sunday and said that I didn't know if he planned on acknowledging it in anyway but if he had, to please not, that I couldn't handle it. Luckily he understood. I thought I would feel really sad today but I don't, hopefully that's a good sign.
I'm thinking of stopping over to Darcy's house tonight to hang out, I called her a few minutes ago and no one was home so hopefully she'll call me back.
Tomorrow is pay day!! Woohooo!! I can't wait to get that check in my hand and get it into my account...my checking account is literally echoing because it's so close to empty. :)
I think that's about it from me, just wanted to check in and say thank you once again for everyone's kind words and for reading all of my depressing posts, I'm crossing my fingers that those become a thing of the past. :)
Have a great day/night everyone!!
Everything is going much better, I'm feeling more like myself...perhaps even a little stronger & more confident version of myself. I've been doing a lot of thinking and am making a very conscious effort to not be so hard on myself, to not always think whatever negative situation arises that it means there is something wrong with me. It's a struggle, I've always had issues with low self-esteem but I am feeling better, so that's a start.
It helps so much to have a job again, as much as I miss being able to stay up as late as I want and sleep in as late as I want, I do enjoy being back to work and feeling like I have a purpose. It's also been nice to be around new people all day. We spent all of today on the phones taking billing & id card calls and it was fun. I had one call that started off badly but ended well...the lady was trying to make a payment via e-check but didn't understand the difference between a routing number and account number...she was getting very angry with me and kept saying "I don't understand why you are not getting this"...I explained to her at least 3 times that the routing number can be found in the lower left hand corner of her check, etc. etc. We went round and round for a good 7 minutes which felt more like 30 minutes. Finally she told me she had another policy with us and to check that because she knew her account information was in there...she was correct, we did have her info stored in this second policy BUT the so-called routing number that she was giving me was actually her account number. I explained this to her in the most "pcf" (professional, courteous & friendly) way and she got quiet for a second and said "wow, I learned something today, thank you!" and when I was closing the call and apologized for her frustration, thanked her for her patience and she then apologized to me which is always a great feeling when a customer apologizes. Other than that the rest of my calls were great, I had a 72 year old man call who was freaking hysterical...I have to verify date of birth and two other items before I can speak about the policy and when I asked for his dob he said "okay, before I do that I need for you to raise your right hand and solemnly swear that you will not tell anyone how old I am", I cracked up and said "I swear, sir". He was a riot and at the end of the call I gave my speel about how it is my goal to provide excellent customer service, etc and he said "Michelle, if and when you do get a husband in your life he will be very lucky to have you as his wife because you are very pleasant and kind". I wanted to tell him that I do have a husband and that we're getting a divorce and oddly enough today is our 15 year anniversary. ha ha. But of course I just laughed and said thank you. Too funny.
Yeah, so today is my 15 year "anniversary" of being married...I have not been looking forward to this day but I have to say that I am okay with it. I e-mailed Matt on Sunday and said that I didn't know if he planned on acknowledging it in anyway but if he had, to please not, that I couldn't handle it. Luckily he understood. I thought I would feel really sad today but I don't, hopefully that's a good sign.
I'm thinking of stopping over to Darcy's house tonight to hang out, I called her a few minutes ago and no one was home so hopefully she'll call me back.
Tomorrow is pay day!! Woohooo!! I can't wait to get that check in my hand and get it into my account...my checking account is literally echoing because it's so close to empty. :)
I think that's about it from me, just wanted to check in and say thank you once again for everyone's kind words and for reading all of my depressing posts, I'm crossing my fingers that those become a thing of the past. :)
Have a great day/night everyone!!
Monday, July 9, 2007
Monday
Well I'm happy to report that I'm not crying and have not cried all day today. I did however wake up with the puffiest eyes ever and couldn't even wear my contacts because my eyeballs hurt. How pathetic is that?! Geesh! :)
I'm honestly quite angry with myself for allowing someone to have such an effect on me and make me doubt myself and make me feel like there is something wrong with me. Hey, I know I'm not perfect but I'm a good person and I don't deserve to be treated the way that I was.
Thanks to my brother & my wonderful friends, I am starting to see things in a different perspective and am realizing that there are a lot of things in life that we can't control...people get sick, we lose people that we love, all kinds of horrible things that we have absolutely no control over. I've lost too many people that I love, my mom died when I was only 22, my grandfather whom I loved like a father died this past November, my best friend was diagnosed with breast cancer 2 years ago--thank god she is healthy now!!...those types of things I can't control. But what I can control is who I let into my life and how I allow them to treat me. I can't control how someone treats me per say but I can control how I respond to it and if I continue to let it happen. I was raised to always see the good in people and while I do believe that is a good quality, I tend to make excuses for people when they are hurtful...that only goes so far. When someone continues to hurt someone else and it is brought to their attention time & time again and they don't change their behavior...that's a problem and to me, it means they really don't give a shit about your feelings. This applies to my current situation, my marriage, this psycho friend I made at one of my jobs in Washington...anyone.
Sorry for my psycho-babble tangent but hey, I spent the whole weekend in bed crying so I had a lot of time to think. :) I'm trying to make light of a depressing situation and to actually learn from it and not let it happen again.
So, that's that.
I had a good day at work today. We had our first official test regarding what we've learned in the first two weeks and I scored a 92%, a 90% or above was considered a passing grade and only 3 of us officially passed. Geico does put a lot of importance & value on these tests and quizzes that we randomly have but in training, it's used more as a tool to help coach you with things that you need help with and at the same time they praise you for what you've done well.
We also started taking live calls. It's so funny because I was in a call center environment for 2 years at First Healthcare and then 3 years at Medtronic so it's not like the phones were new to me. However, I was nervous because it's new which I'm sure is quite normal. I sat with my friend Chelsea and she listened in on my calls while I took them, she'd point to the screen or write me a note if I was missing something and then we switched spots and I did the same. I felt pretty good about the calls that each of us took. I bet we each took maybe 8 or 9 which was a nice slow start. Tomorrow we'll take about 2 hours and take some more calls and those calls will actually be monitored by our quality team so I'm a little nervous about that, not only do they record your calls but they also record everything that you are doing on your computer. I think it's great for learning purposes but a little intimidating.
Oh, have I mentioned that it is so humid here? Ohmygod. Today when I left work and stepped outside it felt like I was walking in to a sauna. I stepped outside not too long ago to take the garbage out and it is still so humid. Ugh. I did not miss this part of western NY one bit. :) Oh-well.
Well I hope everyone had a good day....thank you to all of my wonderful friends for always being there for me, it means the world to me.
Love,
M.
I'm honestly quite angry with myself for allowing someone to have such an effect on me and make me doubt myself and make me feel like there is something wrong with me. Hey, I know I'm not perfect but I'm a good person and I don't deserve to be treated the way that I was.
Thanks to my brother & my wonderful friends, I am starting to see things in a different perspective and am realizing that there are a lot of things in life that we can't control...people get sick, we lose people that we love, all kinds of horrible things that we have absolutely no control over. I've lost too many people that I love, my mom died when I was only 22, my grandfather whom I loved like a father died this past November, my best friend was diagnosed with breast cancer 2 years ago--thank god she is healthy now!!...those types of things I can't control. But what I can control is who I let into my life and how I allow them to treat me. I can't control how someone treats me per say but I can control how I respond to it and if I continue to let it happen. I was raised to always see the good in people and while I do believe that is a good quality, I tend to make excuses for people when they are hurtful...that only goes so far. When someone continues to hurt someone else and it is brought to their attention time & time again and they don't change their behavior...that's a problem and to me, it means they really don't give a shit about your feelings. This applies to my current situation, my marriage, this psycho friend I made at one of my jobs in Washington...anyone.
Sorry for my psycho-babble tangent but hey, I spent the whole weekend in bed crying so I had a lot of time to think. :) I'm trying to make light of a depressing situation and to actually learn from it and not let it happen again.
So, that's that.
I had a good day at work today. We had our first official test regarding what we've learned in the first two weeks and I scored a 92%, a 90% or above was considered a passing grade and only 3 of us officially passed. Geico does put a lot of importance & value on these tests and quizzes that we randomly have but in training, it's used more as a tool to help coach you with things that you need help with and at the same time they praise you for what you've done well.
We also started taking live calls. It's so funny because I was in a call center environment for 2 years at First Healthcare and then 3 years at Medtronic so it's not like the phones were new to me. However, I was nervous because it's new which I'm sure is quite normal. I sat with my friend Chelsea and she listened in on my calls while I took them, she'd point to the screen or write me a note if I was missing something and then we switched spots and I did the same. I felt pretty good about the calls that each of us took. I bet we each took maybe 8 or 9 which was a nice slow start. Tomorrow we'll take about 2 hours and take some more calls and those calls will actually be monitored by our quality team so I'm a little nervous about that, not only do they record your calls but they also record everything that you are doing on your computer. I think it's great for learning purposes but a little intimidating.
Oh, have I mentioned that it is so humid here? Ohmygod. Today when I left work and stepped outside it felt like I was walking in to a sauna. I stepped outside not too long ago to take the garbage out and it is still so humid. Ugh. I did not miss this part of western NY one bit. :) Oh-well.
Well I hope everyone had a good day....thank you to all of my wonderful friends for always being there for me, it means the world to me.
Love,
M.
Sunday, July 8, 2007
Lesson
I've learned a lesson the hard way...which sadly seems to be the only way I ever learn lessons...live & learn though, right?
I'm not going to get into details but I recently got myself caught up in a situation with someone from my past and it has blown up in my face. Here's what I've learned: leave the past in the past. I hate to quote Dr Phil but he is so right when he says that the best predictor of future behavior is past behavior. Enough said.
I spent most of yesterday crying & just feeling so awful about myself. I feel like I will never meet anyone that will treat me well, sometimes I feel like I don't even deserve to be treated well and I should just take what I can get. I know, I know, that is the wrong way to think but it's how I feel right now. I just feel so alone and although I'm not the kind of person who needs someone around me 24/7, it would be nice to have someone that cares about me.
And yes, I would like some cheese with my whine. :) At least I can joke about it.
On the positive side, I did get to talk to Amy yesterday and that was always fun. Amy & her family are getting settled in to their new house and I cannot wait to see it, I saw a few pictures before they moved in and it looked beautiful. I'm dying to see their backyard, Amy has described it as an "oasis". Amy, you always crack me up. :)
I also got to talk with Kari and that is always enjoyable as well. I heard Kurtis in the background and I can't believe how much more verbal he is getting, I could hear him just chattering away. Kari said that he's saying all kinds of things...my favorite so far is how he says "sock"...I'll leave it to your imagination, but let's just say that Kari & John try to keep him from saying this word in public. Too cute.
I also went to JcPenney yesterday and bought 3 more tops for work, they were all 30% off and I think I now have more than enough tops to mix & match with the pants that I have. I have to say that I kind of like dressing up more for work, it makes me feel a little more professional & better about myself.
So, thank you once again for reading my sob story...I'm still a major work in progress.
Hope everyone is having a great weekend!
I'm not going to get into details but I recently got myself caught up in a situation with someone from my past and it has blown up in my face. Here's what I've learned: leave the past in the past. I hate to quote Dr Phil but he is so right when he says that the best predictor of future behavior is past behavior. Enough said.
I spent most of yesterday crying & just feeling so awful about myself. I feel like I will never meet anyone that will treat me well, sometimes I feel like I don't even deserve to be treated well and I should just take what I can get. I know, I know, that is the wrong way to think but it's how I feel right now. I just feel so alone and although I'm not the kind of person who needs someone around me 24/7, it would be nice to have someone that cares about me.
And yes, I would like some cheese with my whine. :) At least I can joke about it.
On the positive side, I did get to talk to Amy yesterday and that was always fun. Amy & her family are getting settled in to their new house and I cannot wait to see it, I saw a few pictures before they moved in and it looked beautiful. I'm dying to see their backyard, Amy has described it as an "oasis". Amy, you always crack me up. :)
I also got to talk with Kari and that is always enjoyable as well. I heard Kurtis in the background and I can't believe how much more verbal he is getting, I could hear him just chattering away. Kari said that he's saying all kinds of things...my favorite so far is how he says "sock"...I'll leave it to your imagination, but let's just say that Kari & John try to keep him from saying this word in public. Too cute.
I also went to JcPenney yesterday and bought 3 more tops for work, they were all 30% off and I think I now have more than enough tops to mix & match with the pants that I have. I have to say that I kind of like dressing up more for work, it makes me feel a little more professional & better about myself.
So, thank you once again for reading my sob story...I'm still a major work in progress.
Hope everyone is having a great weekend!
Friday, July 6, 2007
I passed
First I want to say thank you for the words of encouragement that I've received since my last post...tears are coming down my face as I write this, my emotions are so out of whack and it's not even "that time". :) So, thank you...it means a lot to me to know that I'm not alone.
On a happier note, I passed my test today. We spent most of the day practicing and then at 2pm we split into groups of four and then the first group took their test and so on. Luckily I was in the first group. We each signed in to our phone, set up net meeting and allowed our "customer" (I thought it was going to be someone from our quality team but it ended up being one of the many 'coaches' that we have) to share our desk top. We were given about 5 minutes to get settled and then received our first call...first let me mention something that is really cool, we have a fairly lengthy greeting that we have to say when we first answer the call and our phone system allows us to pre-record our greeting and every time a call comes in, we hear a beep in our ear & then our greeting automatically plays. Totally cool. So here's my greeting "Thank you for calling geico, my name is Michelle Hoffman and I'd be happy to assist you today. May I start by getting your policy number?"...thank goodness I don't have to say that every single time.
Anyways, back to the test. So, we were each going to be receiving 3 calls. Geico has a grading system for each of their calls, their hope is for each call to be what they call "A Level" and for this test all three of our calls needed to be "A Level" to pass. So, first call comes & I did great...as soon as the call disconnected I remembered that I forgot to tell the policyholder to disregard their cancellation notice that they'd be receiving in the mail as they had just made their payment with me. Moved on to the second call, simple. The third call was a combination of making a payment and id cards, not huge but NY state is the only state that has a "check list" of items that we need to verify before we're able to send the id cards and I knew that I nailed it. I walked out of there feeling pretty darn good. I casually mentioned to my trainer when I was leaving the room (we weren't allowed to ask for help from him, only use our materials) that I forgot to mention that they should disregard the "can notice" (insurance slang..ha ha) and he said not to worry, that I wouldn't get "dinged" for that. I'm thinking "sweet!".
Fast forward to an hour later and we've all taken our tests and one by one are being called to go over how we scored. Unfortunately the coach that called me, Lindsay, had to go into a meeting and was unable to go over my calls with me but she took detailed notes and another coach went over it. He said "You did great, you got 2 out of 3"...I was like "WHAT???". He tells me that I didn't do such & such on one of the calls and I said "yes I did"....I wasn't arguing with him per say but I was debating I guess you could call it. First I was irritated that he wasn't the person that actually called me and he didn't quite make it clear to me which call it was that I had missed, he just mentioned a general situation that came up on each call. I am fuming, mainly because I expect perfection from myself...I know that's a bit of a conceited attitude but I can't help it, that's how I am with work stuff. So we all get back into our training class and I tell Jared (my trainer) that I am very irritated and explain to him why. Those of us that missed a call were able to do a retake and we did that one by one, so in the meantime I am continuing to bitch & moan about how I know I did such & such and that I felt that they were being contradictory, etc etc.
Long story short, shortly before I took the retake of my call I figured out that they were right. I felt so stupid because I was thinking of a different call other than the one I had missed. I have to admit that I didn't quite admit this to those around me because I felt rather silly for getting all worked up and making such a fuss over something that wasn't even the case.
I took my retake of the call and aced it. I got some great feedback both times and feel good about it. I'm still irritated that I didn't get all 3 calls the first time but only 3 people in my class did, some missed 2 calls and some missed them again on their retake and that's our only chance to make it up. Not that they'll get into trouble or anything like that, they'll just get some more 1 on 1 coaching. I love that...actually working with your employees on what they are struggling with....what a concept. Can you sense my sarcasm? ha ha
So, that was my day. I woke up this morning and my eyeballs literally hurt and I didn't know why. Then gradually throughout the day the bones above my eyes just began to throb and then each time I would move my eyes it would kill...a migraine was coming. Grrrrrreat. Luckily I made it through the day and picked up some exedrin for migraines on my way home from work, took 2 and fell asleep for almost 3 hours. I'm feeling much better now, my eyes still ache a little bit but I think I caught it in time. I think it's this darn weather. The humidity is picking up again, tomorrow & Sunday the humidity is going to be really high and on Sunday it's going to be around 90. Luckily I have a/c here but I have to be honest, I don't like a/c...I love having the windows open and actually having fresh air, but the a/c does come in handy when sweat is pouring down your face. :)
I don't know what I'm going to be doing over the weekend. One thing I've learned lately is to try to be better about taking things one day at a time, sometimes I tend to think too far ahead and then I get scared or anxious. Even little things like what I'll do tomorrow, I'm just trying to go with the flow and do whatever it is that I feel like doing and not dwell on it. Probably sounds silly but I'm going to see if it helps.
Well I think I've rambled enough for now...thanks again for your kind words and I hope everyone has a great weekend! :)
On a happier note, I passed my test today. We spent most of the day practicing and then at 2pm we split into groups of four and then the first group took their test and so on. Luckily I was in the first group. We each signed in to our phone, set up net meeting and allowed our "customer" (I thought it was going to be someone from our quality team but it ended up being one of the many 'coaches' that we have) to share our desk top. We were given about 5 minutes to get settled and then received our first call...first let me mention something that is really cool, we have a fairly lengthy greeting that we have to say when we first answer the call and our phone system allows us to pre-record our greeting and every time a call comes in, we hear a beep in our ear & then our greeting automatically plays. Totally cool. So here's my greeting "Thank you for calling geico, my name is Michelle Hoffman and I'd be happy to assist you today. May I start by getting your policy number?"...thank goodness I don't have to say that every single time.
Anyways, back to the test. So, we were each going to be receiving 3 calls. Geico has a grading system for each of their calls, their hope is for each call to be what they call "A Level" and for this test all three of our calls needed to be "A Level" to pass. So, first call comes & I did great...as soon as the call disconnected I remembered that I forgot to tell the policyholder to disregard their cancellation notice that they'd be receiving in the mail as they had just made their payment with me. Moved on to the second call, simple. The third call was a combination of making a payment and id cards, not huge but NY state is the only state that has a "check list" of items that we need to verify before we're able to send the id cards and I knew that I nailed it. I walked out of there feeling pretty darn good. I casually mentioned to my trainer when I was leaving the room (we weren't allowed to ask for help from him, only use our materials) that I forgot to mention that they should disregard the "can notice" (insurance slang..ha ha) and he said not to worry, that I wouldn't get "dinged" for that. I'm thinking "sweet!".
Fast forward to an hour later and we've all taken our tests and one by one are being called to go over how we scored. Unfortunately the coach that called me, Lindsay, had to go into a meeting and was unable to go over my calls with me but she took detailed notes and another coach went over it. He said "You did great, you got 2 out of 3"...I was like "WHAT???". He tells me that I didn't do such & such on one of the calls and I said "yes I did"....I wasn't arguing with him per say but I was debating I guess you could call it. First I was irritated that he wasn't the person that actually called me and he didn't quite make it clear to me which call it was that I had missed, he just mentioned a general situation that came up on each call. I am fuming, mainly because I expect perfection from myself...I know that's a bit of a conceited attitude but I can't help it, that's how I am with work stuff. So we all get back into our training class and I tell Jared (my trainer) that I am very irritated and explain to him why. Those of us that missed a call were able to do a retake and we did that one by one, so in the meantime I am continuing to bitch & moan about how I know I did such & such and that I felt that they were being contradictory, etc etc.
Long story short, shortly before I took the retake of my call I figured out that they were right. I felt so stupid because I was thinking of a different call other than the one I had missed. I have to admit that I didn't quite admit this to those around me because I felt rather silly for getting all worked up and making such a fuss over something that wasn't even the case.
I took my retake of the call and aced it. I got some great feedback both times and feel good about it. I'm still irritated that I didn't get all 3 calls the first time but only 3 people in my class did, some missed 2 calls and some missed them again on their retake and that's our only chance to make it up. Not that they'll get into trouble or anything like that, they'll just get some more 1 on 1 coaching. I love that...actually working with your employees on what they are struggling with....what a concept. Can you sense my sarcasm? ha ha
So, that was my day. I woke up this morning and my eyeballs literally hurt and I didn't know why. Then gradually throughout the day the bones above my eyes just began to throb and then each time I would move my eyes it would kill...a migraine was coming. Grrrrrreat. Luckily I made it through the day and picked up some exedrin for migraines on my way home from work, took 2 and fell asleep for almost 3 hours. I'm feeling much better now, my eyes still ache a little bit but I think I caught it in time. I think it's this darn weather. The humidity is picking up again, tomorrow & Sunday the humidity is going to be really high and on Sunday it's going to be around 90. Luckily I have a/c here but I have to be honest, I don't like a/c...I love having the windows open and actually having fresh air, but the a/c does come in handy when sweat is pouring down your face. :)
I don't know what I'm going to be doing over the weekend. One thing I've learned lately is to try to be better about taking things one day at a time, sometimes I tend to think too far ahead and then I get scared or anxious. Even little things like what I'll do tomorrow, I'm just trying to go with the flow and do whatever it is that I feel like doing and not dwell on it. Probably sounds silly but I'm going to see if it helps.
Well I think I've rambled enough for now...thanks again for your kind words and I hope everyone has a great weekend! :)
Thursday, July 5, 2007
Thursday
It's been about a week since I last blogged...honestly, I haven't felt up to it. I'm back to feeling that roller coaster feeling where I'll wake up in a good mood, then get sad and it'll last throughout the day. It hasn't been like this every day this past week but more often than not. Knowing that the 4th of July was coming up depressed me...for starters, one of my grandmothers passed away on the 4th of July 8 years ago so I always think of her around this time of year. Then just the fact that there was a holiday and knowing that usually Matt & I would do something for it got me down. It's not so much that I'm not with Matt, it's just that alone feeling when in the past I haven't been. Then next week, the 11th, will be 15 years since I got married and again, although I'm still confident in my decision to have left, it still bothers me to know that an anniversary is coming. I don't know how to feel about it. I honestly hope he doesn't acknowledge it but knowing Matt, he will and that is just going to make me feel worse.
I've never been through a divorce so although I think all of the things that I feel on a daily basis are normal, I'm not so sure as this is all new to me. Now that I've started a new job and am meeting new people (I'm in a classroom every day with the same 12 people so we're getting to know each other), it has really made me feel so out of the loop of life. I mean, I'm still not totally adjusted to living here...then I hear the others talking about what they did the night before, their boyfriends/girlfriends etc., and it just makes me feel so out of place. Most of the people in my class are at least 10 years younger than me so on top of everything else, I feel old. I feel like the girl with the pathetic story...35 years old, just left her husband, has no children, living in her grandfather's empty house with two cats and struggling to figure out her life. I try to put a positive spin on things and sometimes it helps but lately not so much. Hopefully these feelings will pass soon.
I'm happy to report that work is going well. For the past two weeks we've been learning about taking billing calls & requests for id cards, sounds pretty cut & dry but just like with any job there's different situations that can come up and with each state there are different rules. Plus geico is so strict as to the "flow" of the call, we are literally graded on what we say, how we say it and there is a call map for each type of call and we have to make sure that we have covered each point. I'm comfortable with being on the phones with customers but I really have never been monitored or "graded" on my calls, so this is very new to me and a little stressful. Don't get me wrong, I love it and think that it's awesome that they have such a high level of expectations when it comes to their customer service, it's just an adjustment for me. Tomorrow I have my first test...I'll be put into a room and one of the people from our quality team (we have a whole department of people who monitor calls all day long and grade the calls) and will be graded on my calls. If I pass this test then on Monday I will begin taking billing & id card calls for an hour or two each day, I won't be on my own and will have a "coach" next to me at all times so that will help. After we all get through this testing we will begin our next phase of training, I'm not sure what that is...I think it's understanding coverage and then learning how to make changes to a policy...but each of us will take maybe an hour of calls a day just to stay fresh on billing & id cards. If that makes any sense...I know I'm rambling.
I'm a little nervous about tomorrow, not so much on the material as I've gotten pretty good at navigating their system and have a decent understanding of the billing & id card process, it's just making sure I say things correctly and hit all of the major points of each call. Wish me luck!
I hope everyone had a great 4th of July and I'll write more this weekend.
Take care! :)
I've never been through a divorce so although I think all of the things that I feel on a daily basis are normal, I'm not so sure as this is all new to me. Now that I've started a new job and am meeting new people (I'm in a classroom every day with the same 12 people so we're getting to know each other), it has really made me feel so out of the loop of life. I mean, I'm still not totally adjusted to living here...then I hear the others talking about what they did the night before, their boyfriends/girlfriends etc., and it just makes me feel so out of place. Most of the people in my class are at least 10 years younger than me so on top of everything else, I feel old. I feel like the girl with the pathetic story...35 years old, just left her husband, has no children, living in her grandfather's empty house with two cats and struggling to figure out her life. I try to put a positive spin on things and sometimes it helps but lately not so much. Hopefully these feelings will pass soon.
I'm happy to report that work is going well. For the past two weeks we've been learning about taking billing calls & requests for id cards, sounds pretty cut & dry but just like with any job there's different situations that can come up and with each state there are different rules. Plus geico is so strict as to the "flow" of the call, we are literally graded on what we say, how we say it and there is a call map for each type of call and we have to make sure that we have covered each point. I'm comfortable with being on the phones with customers but I really have never been monitored or "graded" on my calls, so this is very new to me and a little stressful. Don't get me wrong, I love it and think that it's awesome that they have such a high level of expectations when it comes to their customer service, it's just an adjustment for me. Tomorrow I have my first test...I'll be put into a room and one of the people from our quality team (we have a whole department of people who monitor calls all day long and grade the calls) and will be graded on my calls. If I pass this test then on Monday I will begin taking billing & id card calls for an hour or two each day, I won't be on my own and will have a "coach" next to me at all times so that will help. After we all get through this testing we will begin our next phase of training, I'm not sure what that is...I think it's understanding coverage and then learning how to make changes to a policy...but each of us will take maybe an hour of calls a day just to stay fresh on billing & id cards. If that makes any sense...I know I'm rambling.
I'm a little nervous about tomorrow, not so much on the material as I've gotten pretty good at navigating their system and have a decent understanding of the billing & id card process, it's just making sure I say things correctly and hit all of the major points of each call. Wish me luck!
I hope everyone had a great 4th of July and I'll write more this weekend.
Take care! :)
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