This Will Be One HELL of a Weekend

"CounterTorqueSteer" (countertorquesteer) 01/22/2016 at 17:02 • Filed to: Snow

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I work as a Live Event Operator (Master Control) for Verizon Digital Media Services out of Ashburn, VA. I, along with about 50 of my co-workers am responsible for distributing the live stream of ESPN games on the Watch ESPN app and ESPN-go. This week is the Australian Open, easily one of our busiest weeks in the year.

We are a 24 hour operation, so despite the incoming blizzard, we still have to come in to stream the games live from Australia. Verizon has rented out a hotel for us this weekend, so that we can get to and from work. My shifts this weekend are: Friday 6pm-3am, Saturday 12:30pm-8:30pm, and Sunday 2pm-9pm. The hotel has claimed that they will be running a shuttle to and from the office so that we don’t have to attempt to drive or walk in the blizzard. Basically, I will never be leaving this office. AMA/HELP.

thebigbossyboss > CounterTorqueSteer 01/22/2016 at 17:08

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What is the open? Tennis?

CounterTorqueSteer > thebigbossyboss 01/22/2016 at 17:11

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Yep. Men’s, women’s, and junior’s.

Spoon II > CounterTorqueSteer 01/22/2016 at 17:12

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This will get you there no problem

For Sweden > CounterTorqueSteer 01/22/2016 at 17:12

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So you keep the satellites up?

thebigbossyboss > CounterTorqueSteer 01/22/2016 at 17:18

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Oh I see. I have never watched nor played tennis.

Matt Nichelson > CounterTorqueSteer 01/22/2016 at 17:18

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How long have you been working there? Do you enjoy it? I’ve heard working at ESPN can be brutal but it sounds like you are just contracted by them?

CounterTorqueSteer > Matt Nichelson 01/22/2016 at 17:22

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Correct. I am a contractor for Verizon who has a contract with ESPN. So far, I really enjoy it. I get along with all of my bosses and most of my coworkers.

CounterTorqueSteer > For Sweden 01/22/2016 at 17:23

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Nah. I communicate with the Directors who are at the sporting events. I tell them when to start the broadcast and when to take commercial breaks. I also operate the back end application that captures and streams the events on the app.

Matt Nichelson > CounterTorqueSteer 01/22/2016 at 17:25

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Awesome. Sounds like a pretty sweet gig. So the Australian Open is really that big huh? Any particular reason?

jariten1781 > CounterTorqueSteer 01/22/2016 at 17:25

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My wife works at a vet hospital so she’s holed up in a hotel as well.

House to myself equals eating pizza and sleeping for 3 or however many days.

gin-san - shitpost specialist > thebigbossyboss 01/22/2016 at 17:29

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Tennis is actually pretty decent to watch. I don’t really have anything invested in it but I do like to watch my fellow Canadians play when possible. Like other sports, you do see dominant play from some people like Lewis Hamilton, Sebastien Ogier, Rafael Nadal or Novak Djokovic (I think they’re still at or near the top, anyway) but it’s neat to see the upsets as well.

gin-san - shitpost specialist > CounterTorqueSteer 01/22/2016 at 17:30

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Do they comp your meals, too? It'll be a hell of a weekend but hopefully they give you a proper weekend break following all this.

AM3R shamefully returns > CounterTorqueSteer 01/22/2016 at 17:32

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Nice, ihop on me if you make the trek to Centreville lol

CounterTorqueSteer > Matt Nichelson 01/22/2016 at 17:36

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Mostly because there are SO many matches. We cover every single one.

CounterTorqueSteer > gin-san - shitpost specialist 01/22/2016 at 17:37

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Yeah, they have a room already stocked with days-worth of food and desserts.

Nibby > CounterTorqueSteer 01/22/2016 at 17:37

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My job is similar. Right now I’m doing PGA golf and tomorrow I got a couple of NHL games

CounterTorqueSteer > Nibby 01/22/2016 at 17:46

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Oh cool. What company, if I may ask?

Textured Soy Protein > CounterTorqueSteer 01/22/2016 at 17:52

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I’m flying out to DC next Thursday. Well, I’m supposed to. I’m not entirely confident it’ll be dug out from this storm by then. Here in Wisconsin if we got 20" of snow we’d be good to go in like, a couple days, but out there they don’t know how to handle that kind of snowfall.

gin-san - shitpost specialist > CounterTorqueSteer 01/22/2016 at 17:56

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That’s decent. The Friday-Saturday stint is going to be rough since you basically only have time to go back to the hotel Saturday morning, sleep, and go back to work in the afternoon. At least you can have a bit of time for yourself Saturday night - hopefully it’s a decent hotel and you can make use of its facilities.

CounterTorqueSteer > gin-san - shitpost specialist 01/22/2016 at 17:59

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The problem is that if we get as much snow as they expect, the shuttle won't be able to operate. I'll be stuck here at work.

Nibby > CounterTorqueSteer 01/22/2016 at 18:03

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Neulion

pip bip - choose Corrour > CounterTorqueSteer 01/22/2016 at 18:55

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i’m only 100km/62miles roughly from where the tennis is being played.

enjoy the snow.

Verdog ~ manual Bro, Bro - HellHawk Equipped > CounterTorqueSteer 01/22/2016 at 19:00

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mmmmmmmm

Matt Nichelson > CounterTorqueSteer 01/22/2016 at 20:56

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Ah ok. Makes sense then.