Happy New Life!!!

I left The Times on 12/21/2007. I'd come slightly over 30 years earlier as a part time Customer Service Operator in Circulation. I needed part time because my son was very young. My husband Reg kept an eye on him while I worked those few hours. I found I was good at talking to people on the phones. We weren't able to solve many problems, however, because we had NO control over the delivery of the newspaper.

I learned a lot about The Times during that period. I became a supervisor and we all got to go out with carriers to throw newspapers and visit delivery spots to learn what agents had to deal with. Newspapers get to them very early in the morning. They assemble and bag the papers, check route lists and get the papers out by the biggest deadline at the paper, getting the paper on the driveway of our readers before 6:00 a.m. That department was eventually outsourced, but I had left years before. 10 years was long enough working with angry subscribers.

After that, I went to work with the telephone operators in Telecommunications. I learned a lot about the paper, but I mostly used my brain with my son's life. It didn't require much of my brain to work. In the last year there, I got to work on special projects. I helped put together a phone book that still exists. That was pretty fun. It was there that I learned that I was really good with computers. But while I was touring France for the first time, they eliminated my department. I learned a lot from the experience, especially about using all resources. A cool job in the Human Resources department was available and I got it. I still remember my horrible interviewing skills. Luckily, Jeanne could see through the "who cares" attitude.

I went to manage the Learning Center. That department grew hugely while I was there. We acquired the task of teaching all computer classes from, of all places, the HelpDesk. I set up a training center, hired a company to teach the classes and managed that process too. I even taught a couple of classes. We would go to the different printing plants to the satellite learning centers I set up there. I learned everything about printing the paper while there. My post was the San Fernando Valley plant. I'd go there once a week and learned all about web breaks and bundling the papers.

More fun was taking over the Summer Jobs Training Program. We hired young people from the community who had "high potential and low opportunity." I would eventually hire all the people who came into the program. We organized employees as mentors and supervisors to these kids and monitored their activity. We had classes and learning center time for them. We had a special orientation that was always a day of fun in the mountains. We also set up brown bag lunches so interns could learn about all the different jobs at The Times and the training or education needed to get those jobs. Was this the best job ever?

It was a magical few years. But one thing I've learned at The Times is that nothing stays the same. It was even before Tribune that Times Mirror decided to strip the Training and Organization Development department. My fabulous boss chose to leave instead of lead a stripped-down department, all the good stuff was eliminated. In my view, another department was worse than outsourced, it was keelhauled, thrown on the trash heap. I have never met a stupider group of people than those who made that decision. I limped through with them for several months until the HelpDesk picked up this Survivor from her raft.

I've been at the HelpDesk for over 7 years. And now its been outsourced. On the day I left, Sam Zell bought the Tribune Company. It looks like more fun things are around the corner for this great newspaper. I always said I wanted to leave before I closed down the newspaper instead of just a few departments. Does the sell count? I'm going to count it. It's quite a record.

My friends threw a great party. Clif and Idalia above helped see me off. Many more pictures are on my Picasa web site.

http://picasaweb.google.com/pnorman811

When you leave the day before Christmas vacations, you don't get a lot of people at your going away party. That was okay with me. I'm too old to have too many people around, it confuses me. I was happy to see all who came by to say good-bye. Harriet gave me a lot of things to help me emulate my wonderful experience in first class. Cute. And many contributed money to see me on my way. It came in handy on my trip north. Thank you all. And thank you all for a wonderful life at The Times.