Since I still fashioned myself as an athlete...

The Accident (summary)

Just to save you from having to read every entry in this silly blog, I will quickly summarize the tail end of a previous (Video) Adventure - I was training on my bicycle at night, and a driver who thought a STOP sign was a suggestion, struck me. I (obviously) survived and was taken to a local hospital. Nothing was broken, but I did have a concussion, plus a lot of pain (mainly in my back).

I couldn't walk very well, but I needed to see an orthopedist to treat my back injury. I looked around and found Sports Orthopedic And Rehab (S.O.A.R). They had treated several San Francisco 49ers & Giants players and, since I arrogantly saw myself as being an athlete, I made an appointment to go see a doctor there.

Instead of surgery, they prescribed physical therapy and pain pills. I went to my PT and took (probably) too many pain pills.

Months wore on, and bills piled up...

Just two of the titles that got a lot of play while I was injured

A New "Career" - Watching Movies & Playing Games

In between appointments with the Physical Terrorist (oops...I meant "Therapist"), doctor's appointments at S.O.A.R., and taking (probably) too many pain pills, I watched a lot of LaserDiscs & played a lot of computer games. There really wasn't too much else I could do at the time.

Days turned into weeks...which melted into months...I was getting around a little better, and found my way toward taking fewer (but probably still too many) pain pills.

Since this was WAY before the internet, and I couldn't go out on too many optional trips for much more than checking in occasionally at Bullwinkle's to see my friends / former co-workers, most of my games & movies were ordered over the phone (or I pleaded with my friends to go and bring them to me). One of the games that I just had to have was Ultima IV - Quest of the Avatar!

"The Holy Grail" (wait, that's a different mythology...)

Since I had played-and-completed Ultima I, II, and III, there was absolutely no way I was going to miss out on playing Ultima IV as soon as I possibly could. Since Electronic Arts was the distributor of Origin Systems products, I called in to EA's phone order line to place my (horribly over-my-limit-even-before-this-purchase) credit card order. They took my order, and told me that I would receive it in 3 - 5 business days (thank goodness the transaction went through or the story would end right here).

Three-to-five business days passed...no shipment arrived...I waited a little while longer...

An additional week passed before I called EA's phone order line to see where my order was. They assured me that it had already shipped, and that I should get it in another day or two.

Another week passed...no shipment arrived...

I called EA's phone order line again. This time I was informed that my order hadn't even shipped yet, but was in a stack right in front of the representative I was talking to, and that it would ship that very day. As with my original order call, I was told to wait 3 - 5 business days for delivery.

Another three-to-five business days passed...no shipment arrived...I waited a little while longer...

Another additional week passed before I called EA's phone order line again. This time I was told that my order had been returned to them as "undeliverable". After re-confirming my address, the representative told me they would ship me a copy that day. As with previous calls, I was told to wait 3 - 5 business days for delivery.

Yet another three-to-five business days passed...no shipment arrived...I waited a little while longer...

Yet another additional week passed before I called EA's phone order line again. On this occasion, the representative told me that he showed my order as "shipped, but not received". They told me to wait for another couple of days before they would ship me another copy.

Two days later - Ultima IV arrived!

• Insert (very-limited-by-back-injury) "Happy Dance" Here -

Great!!! Wonderful!!! It's finally here!!!

Then I looked at the packing slip - the Shipment Date was the date of my last phone call - two days earlier. Needless to say, I was a little pissed-off when I read this. I wanted to call them immediately to complain, but two things stopped me:

• It was after business hours, and I couldn't call at that particular moment
• I wanted to play Ultima IV right friggin' now!!!

After playing Ultima IV until I passed out in the middle of the night, I called EA's phone order line the next day. While the representative I talked to apologized for the issues I had with my order, I demanded to speak to a Manager.

When the Manager got on the line, in addition to not apologizing for the issues I had with my order, he informed me that the package I had received was the first one they had ever tried to ship to me. After picking my jaw up off the ground after being told this, I resolved to call Electronic Arts' corporate number to complain about their mail order department (since I didn't get any satisfaction from the person managing their mail order operation).

When I called EA's corporate number, in addition to receiving the first sincere apology I had received for my order issues, the receptionist asked me if it would be okay if she passed along my information to another person so that they could talk to me directly about what had happened. I said "sure!" and ended my conversation.

Honestly, I never expected to receive a phone call from anyone else at EA, but then...

The Great Dungeon Master In The Sky Rolls The Highest Number Ever Recorded (at least for my lifetime)

...my phone rang (a couple of days later). The gentleman on the other end of the line identified himself as Dave Koch from EA and, in addition to apologizing profusely for all of the problems I had with my order, informed me that the mail order number I had called was for an outside agency and one that was not directly controlled by Electronic Arts. He went on to say that EA was going to be forming their own internal mail order department in the near future. As a lark, I asked Dave if they were hiring...he said, "Yes, we are."

I told him about my history working at The Video Adventure, and that I was very interested in applying for one of these new mail order department positions. He relented, and scheduled a time for me to drive up to EA's corporate HQ to discuss possibilities with him.

Now I needed to get prepared - I created my first-ever resume (on my Commodore 64 dot matrix printer), checked to see if my one-and-only suit still fit me (it did...barely), and canceled my PT appointment for the day of my interview. I also had to get a street map of San Mateo County so that I could find my way to 2755 Campus Drive (remember folding paper street maps???...how the hell did we get anywhere before map apps???).

The day arrived, I drove up from San Jose, and got to EA HQ an hour early (I have always hated being late). Since it was too early to even go in and sit in the lobby, I sat in the parking lot and sweated...a lot...

Just before I had the opportunity to "See Farther"

When I finally did go in, I was stuck by how intimate everything felt - I thought that Electronic Arts was a HUGE entertainment software company...I was learning how their (very effective) corporate marketing had affected me - this was a small(ish) company!

After what seemed like an hour waiting in the lobby, Dave came out (on time...I was just nervous), introduced himself, and took me back to a conference room. I handed him my dot matrix beauty of a resume, and we talked for awhile. When he was done with me, he introduced me to the real head of Electronic Arts' new Fulfillment Department - Sharon Haug. She grilled me with more specific questions than what Dave had, and I tried not to stammer too much when answering. We parted company, and they told me they would call me soon to let me know if I was going to be hired.

I drove toward home just in time to hit rush hour traffic. That's okay...this gave me plenty of time for me to lambaste myself regarding how poorly I had done during the interview(s).

A few days later, Dave called to tell me that I was hired, and that my first day would be in a few weeks. After thanking him for what seemed like hours, Dave got the chance to ask me if I was going to be working between that day and what would be my "real" first day. I said "no", and he asked if I might be interested in doing a little temp work between now-and-then.

For the next couple of weeks I would stuff envelopes with 3.5 inch discs containing Deluxe Paint v1.2 for the Amiga. They did not "See Farther" enough to provide me with an envelope moistener until Wednesday of the second week. No problem...I had a job, and it was at a company that I already had great respect for plus experience with (as a reseller & consumer).

The future's so bright....(wait a second...we aren't there yet...and that one really isn't my story to tell...)

I still don't know how a complaint phone call turned into me being lucky enough to become "Employee #53" at Electronic Arts, but it did.

Wait a second...I can hear The Great Dungeon Master In The Sky preparing to roll the dice for me again...I wonder how that will turn out???

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For those of you still reading - thank you so much for doing so! I truly appreciate it.