August 2018 Membership Update

By Hylan Joseph

We’ve all been here. You’ve hit a wall with the repair. The customer is giving you the zombie death stare and somehow you managed to cut yourself in the weirdest yet most painful possible place. I was there, in that spot, standing out by my van in torrential rain and my solution was to call my Dad.

Yes, it was an odd choice and not one I had tried before. I called him and feigned calling just to say hey and, being my Dad, the first words out of his mouth were, “What’s wrong?”

I laid out my story and he replied by telling me he had some great advice. This was on top of all the other great advice he gave me like wash your hands before driving and never trust a doctor who wears oxfords.

“Honey, just remember, at the end of the day, just say to yourself, 'It really just does not matter.'”  I slapped my forehead, sighed, and muttered several expletives similar to what the hell was I thinking and I'm 46 and calling my daddy.

He jumped in, “Let me ask you a couple questions... Is there anyone dying?” Well my arm felt like it, but no. 

“Are you doing your best?” Obviously (maybe). 

“Have you exhausted all your options?” Boom, there was light at the end of the tunnel. I had not exhausted all my resources. There was a field tech who I knew had 20 years of experience with these machines and I let my stress get ahead of me and forgot about him. I called him, and the solution was there

Ultimately, really, it just doesn’t matter is terrible advice. Sorry Dad. But the questions that came with it were not. Sometimes stepping back from the problem and asking the right questions will get you where you need to be. Or maybe call one of your parents

With the guild, our goal is to create an environment that has a lot of options. As a member there are resources for you.

• With the upcoming CTG Summit, our focus is basic training and best business practices.
• Through Slack, we are trying to provide an always on-technical resource for members to get you out of a bind (in lieu of calling your dad).
• With the Newsletter, we are trying to get technical content for members mixed with a bit of other stuff to keep it interesting. But here’s the deal, we need to hear from you about what you want and need.

The CTG Summit will be a great place to give that feedback, but you can also go here and tell us. We can’t give it to you if we don’t know you want it, so please let us know.

Thanks, and if you have any membership questions please contact me a hylanljoseph@gmail.com