Interview day

I spoke with two different news organizations today about two different topics. The first was getting my comments on recent security issues at a local high school in my CAC area. The second was about my inability to access the N.C. Employment Security Commission website to file my claim.

The first interview was for a local TV station. I put on a sport coat and met the photographer at nearby Lions Park. I don’t think my answers were as smooth as I’d hoped. I still get hyper when a camera’s in my face. Got to shake that habit, I guess. I didn’t see the segment on the 6PM news so I don’t know if any of it will be used.

The second interview came through a friend of a friend who is in the news business. The reporter was looking for people who were thwarted by the ESC website brokenness. Since I knew all about it, I happily agreed to share my experience.

Turns out I knew the reporter who called me. He’s the husband of a woman I used to work with years ago. It was at least ten years ago but I knew I had met him before. We had a good laugh about that.

That story just ran on the AP wire. Thirty-one minutes ago, to be exact. Here’s a link to the Google News copy, though due to the AP’s bass-ackward policy of not providing long-term links, here’s the part that includes me:

North Carolina’s Web site crashed twice this week under a rush of claims as that state set one-day records for both the amount of benefits paid and the number of transactions.

On Sunday and Monday, the number of North Carolinians trying to sign up online for new or continuing benefits was about triple what it was before the economic slowdown started, according to the state Employment Security Commission. That volume, together with a phone line problem, overwhelmed the agency’s computers and prevented some people from filing claims.

The system was working again by Monday afternoon after the agency added another server and demand decreased, officials said.

“Right now, everything is back to normal,” agency spokesman Larry Parker said.

Mark Turner, 39, of Raleigh said Tuesday that North Carolina’s site had an easy setup when he started using the site after he was laid off in November.

But on Sunday, he couldn’t logon to the site. “I basically gave up for the night at 10:30 after trying and not getting through,” he said Tuesday. “Once you get on the site, you can be done in half a minute. Apparently that was too much.”

Turner, who’s since landed a temporary job, suggested the site separate people trying to get recertified and people signing up for the first time. “I think it’s going to get worse before it gets better,” he said.

I wonder what papers this will be in tomorrow.