Keoki can connect you

The service installer has been bringing the world of cable to people for the past eight years

George "Keoki" Galas Title: Service installer Job: Installs cable and other services offered by Oceanic Time Warner Cable

George "Keoki" Galas is a service installer who loves bringing the human touch to a high-tech field. He enjoys meeting new people day after day as he hooks up their homes for cable and other services offered by Oceanic Time Warner Cable, his employer for the past eight years.

Galas, 43, moved to Oahu in 1983 from Molokai, where he had been a star player for Molokai High School's basketball team, the Farmers ("Does that strike fear in your heart or what?"). He moved here to attend Leeward Community College, because, he said, it was "something to do." He majored in teaching, but he hasn't graduated yet, he said, because "I'm on the 40-year plan for a four-year degree."

In the meantime, he has worked as a substance-abuse counselor for the YMCA, in sales for Honolulu Cellular, and now as an installer for Oceanic.

In his spare time, Galas is a dancing instructor who teaches ballroom staples through the 300-member Friends of the Ala Wai Ballroom Dance Academy, which holds classes at the Ala Wai Golf Course club house. His teaching partner is his significant other, Kimberly Suenaga, whom he met in dance class and with whom he lives in Moiliili.

Mark Coleman: What is your job title?

George "Keoki" Galas: I'm a service installer?

Q: Would that be "cable guy" for short.

A: Basically. (Laughter)

Q: How long have you had your current job?

A: I've been with the company for eight years in May.

Q: Do you know how many installers the company has overall?

A: I'd say maybe about 300. We use contractors, too.

Q: That's a lot of installers.

A: We're looking at statewide, too, yeah? But, yes, we have a lot. We have close to 950 employees, I think. We're not a small company anymore.

Q: What is your daily routine at work?

A: For me, we meet at our hub -- we call it our hub; it's our group -- and we meet at 7:30 in the morning at Ala Moana Center . We turn in our paperwork and equipment from the previous day, and then we pick up our equipment and work orders for that day.

Then we have a safety meeting, and discuss any information that is pertinent to what we're doing.

Sometimes we have little awards for people doing certain things in the company, to give them some recognition.

And then we're issued our work load for the day, and we find out what area we're working in and the group mates that we're working with that day.

Q: You don't go out in the field alone?

A: We do go alone. We have our own work orders, but we have a little group that we call if we need any help or we have free time to help the others.

Q: In how many homes or residences do you think you have installed cable?

Q: In the eight years? I don't know, maybe about 500. Because sometimes you have four appointments a day, and other times you can have as many as eight or nine.

Q: Do you ever have trouble with people's dogs?

A: Yes. I mean, I try not to, but, yes, I have trouble with dogs. And there are times we have trouble with the people, too.

Q: Like what?

A: Sometimes you run into people who could be on some kind of medication or drugs or stuff like that, so sometimes it's not safe for you to be there. Other times you have people that could be a little bit irate because the system is not working that well.

But it's like that in any kind of service job, that you'll run into these kinds of customers. So you really have to pay attention when you're out in the field with customers. It's a fun job, though.

You know what makes this job good, Mark?

Q: No.

A: We work with the latest technology -- Voice Over IP, high-speed Internet, digital video recorders, wireless, high definition. So what we do is work with technology, but we also work with the customer. So it's the best of both worlds: technology and the people. It's great. It has the human touch.

Q: I guess you've seen all kinds of homes: big, small, clean, dirty ...

A: Oh yeah, you see the whole gamut. But that's what I like doing. I like meeting the people. That's what makes this job fun and rewarding.

Q: So how did you learn to work with this technology?.

A: Through the company. They trained me. They sent me to school for three years. It's called the apprenticeship program.

Q: The classes are in Hawaii?

A: Yeah, at Honolulu Community College. We use some of the classrooms there. We meet twice a week.

Q: You still doing that?

A: I got done about a year ago. And yet, we always have, in our safety meetings, they refresh us on certain things, in our hubs.

Q: Do you also install cable for businesses?

A: I don't. We have a group that does, though. That's the commercial side. That's a little bit different.

Q: Why?

A: Because their demand is different. They're using it for different purposes, so it's a different group that goes and does that.

Q: Do you have to work on the computers yourself in the homes?

A: We do have to make sure that they are connected to the Internet, and that their e-mail is working. So there is some work on the computer itself. Not much, though.

Q: You have to know carpentry, too, yeah?

A: Yeah, you have to know a little bit of carpentry because you have to drill holes, and run cable lines and stuff like that. But you learn that in school, in the apprentice program.

You know, Mark, I'm a prime example of the system working for me.

Q: Why is that?

A: The reason is, I was hired as a salesman. I didn't know anything about cable. I just had to sell. But through the eight years, I've learned to do everything I've mentioned to you.

Q: Do you sell anymore?

A: You're always selling. Let's say a customer orders a digital box, but they don't have any premium channels, like HBO/Cinemax, Showtime. So you try to sell it.

Q: When you're there installing it?

A: Yeah. Then you call the office and they'll put it on for them.

Q: Does that rebound to help you financially?

A: Yeah. We get a percentage of what we sell.

Q: What kind of equipment do you use?

A: I got all kinds of equipment. I got cable boxes, cable modems; I have amplifiers, digital phone equipment, wires, splitters, fittings; I got drills, got hammers, ladders ... You look in my van, you'll go, "Wow, that's a lot of stuff."

Q: Have you ever seen the movie "The Cable Guy," starring Jim Carrey?

A: Yeah. He doesn't portray us very well. (Laughter) I get called that all the time, though. "Hey, Cable Guy!" And we're not like that other guy, the health inspector guy.

Q: That's Larry the Cable Guy (in the movie "Larry the Cable Guy: Health Inspector"). I was going to mention him next.

A: I headed you off at the pass.

Q: Do you plan to work as a cable installer until you retire?

A: This is a career job. Oceanic Time Warner is an awesome company to work for. The people that I work with, my group, they're very helpful, knowledgeable, so this is the one. No need to go anywhere else.

Plus you get free cable, yeah? That helps.