Tuesday, June 7, 2011

Return to Tobacco Road

Today marks the beginning of vacation (even though I've only been working a little over 2 weeks).  Tomorrow I will be flying to Oregon to see my half-sister graduate high school.  But first, I had to get through a long day of work.  Got in the office at 6:30 AM as always and began working.  Struggled to get to lunch, but time flew by after work, even including the hour of overtime, and I was out the door.  Threw all my stuff in my car, and southbound I headed.  It was a 6 hour drive which was a little rough, but I made good time and somehow kept myself occupied. 

I stopped at Dave's by JMU which has the best food ever for a gas station.  Got my favorite Gyro (for all you shoobies out there, it's pronounced yee-row, not as it looks) and was back on the road.  Needed the help of an energy drink to stay awake, and those things make me a little loopy.  So as I was driving, I was going a little crazy.  But with the help of my favorite CD ever, Tom Petty & The Heartbreaker's Greatest Hits, some Lady Gaga (The Edge of Glory is one of the best songs ever), and a few random Virginia radio stations, I made it home with all my sanity.  It was really great seeing my mom, and I look forward to spending some time with her tomorrow before I leave.

It was cool when I was driving, because three times I passed equipment that JLG (the company I work for) manufactures.  The first was an Arial Work Platform (see previous blog with pictures if you don't know what these things are), the second was an M-ATV (which is the new government humvee, extremely badass), and then a telehandler, which I have been working with directly.  I would have never noticed these if it wasn't for the internship, and it gave me a sense of pride to see these being shipped to various customers.  During orientation, they said how much the employees of JLG took pride in their products and jobs, and how it showed in the end result.  This has become very apparent through first hand experience.  I find it very important that your career is something you truly enjoy, and most employees feel this about JLG.  I am not sure if this is where I want to work after I graduate, due to the location, but this has shown me how important loving your job is.  If you do not have a passion for what you are doing day in and day out, you will not be happy and it will show in your work.  There are too many people without jobs now-a-days, and companies cannot afford to pay someone who is not taking pride in their work.  If I am not happy wherever I am working post-graduation, I hope I have the courage to just leave and find somewhere that will give me the chance to be happy.  There is a sticker on every JLG machine that says
"made with pride in the USA."  It is my favorite part of the machine, and it is 100% the truth.

My quote for the night comes from my favorite song of all time, "Just like Heaven," by The Cure.  Not entirely sure what it means, but I think it is great.  This comes to mind as it was one of the last songs I listened to on the way home. haha  I've attached a link to it below.  The quote comes from the end of the song.  I have listened to this song so many times I could never begin to count.  I will occasionally just leave it on repeat, because I always find something new when I listen to it.  I think that is the mark of a great song.  You may not like it, but music hits us all in different ways.  For whatever reason, this song hits me.

"You stole the only girl I loved
And drowned her deep inside of me"

Monday, June 6, 2011

"Somebody has got a case of the Munndaysss"

I did not actually have the case of the Mondays, today was a good day. Back to work after a good week.  Woke up a little late today (5:22 am instead of 5) which led me to be a little rushed this morning.  Have no fear, got to work right on time (6:30 AM).  Work went by pretty quickly today as I kept busy updating those SWIs.  Before I knew it, it was time to get off.  It was really hot out but I went on a run anyway.  Saw that the interns were playing tennis on my way back so played a few games.  I thought after watching all that tennis this weekend, I would have learned a few things.  I was terrible.  Lost both games.  Made a solid dinner and then it was Jeopardy time as always.  The guy that won was a total douche, but he started to grow on me.  Came back to skype a few people and now here I am.  Don't have much to say in terms of deep thought, considering I just blogged a few hours ago.

Here is a quote I try to live by daily, I hope it helps you out in whatever voyage you may be on.

"When life hands you melons, you may be dyslexic"

Sunday, June 5th, 2011

Late again.  I'm terrible at this.  I do have an excuse if you stick with me.  Yesterday was a great day.  I literally did nothing for a majority of the day.  Watched like 4 hours of tennis, read about 10 chapters of harry potter 7, made a grilled cheese, etc.  It was a great day.  Now that I am a working man, I do not feel bad about doing absolutely nothing on my days off.  The evening was much of the opposite though.

This girl (from the first blog post) and I wanted to be able to see each other for one last time before I am gone the next few weekends, so we though of what to do.  I thought it would be cool if we met halfway between where her and I lived.  Turns out Frederick, Maryland is right in the middle.  Neither of us have ever been to this lovely little town, so it was a little bit of a gamble.  One that as you will see, paid off.  This town is a quaint little historical town with a personality.  The main street is full of unique restaurants, bars, and stores.  I wanted to go somewhere unique, so we hit up a place called Isabella's, which was a tapas bar.  Tapas, for you uncultured folk, are small dishes that are meant to be shared.  You order about 3 or 4 each (which turned out to be too many) and mix and match with each other.  Simply the delicious, especially the pork (maybe chicken?) on bread thing.  After a lovely meal, we decided to cruise around good, ol' Frederick.  Somewhere past the christian-science bookstore and the adult video shop, we found a cool canal that looks just like the one in Venice (or so I could imagine).  Bridges, fountains, musicians, and drunk sketchballs surrounded the canal.  It was really cool just walking around this place checking it out, as I am sure I would never have a reason to go there otherwise.  An hour drive back and I was too tired (and I had to be up in less than 5 hours) to blog.  Sorry 'bout it.

Which leads me to my thought of the night (can't take too long as Wheel of Fortune is about to come on).  Never turn down a chance to try something new.  Opportunities will come to you every once and a while and you will have to decide whether to take the easy route that you are comfortable with or take a risk and step outside of your comfort zone.  I say take the leap.  Following the same route day in and day out will never allow you to discover new things that can become an integral part of your life.  The example I often use (oh crap, have I already blogged about this? ruh row) is how I got a flyer to join the club rowing team.  I decided to take the leap and join and it turned out to be amazing.  Your parents always told you as a kid, "you'll never know you won't like something until you try it."  The same holds true in life as in eating brussel sprouts (sorry Dad, I'm pretty sure I don't need to try those to know I won't like them).  It can be scary, but will almost always pay off in the end.  And if it doesn't, just learn from the experience.


Be back in a few hours to blog about today, I gotta catch up.  But for now, it's Wheel and Jeopardy time!  Since I'm reading HP, here is a quote from the author herself,

"It matters not what someone is born, but what they grow to be." - J.K. Rowling

Sunday, June 5, 2011

Saturday, June 4th, 2011

Yeah, so I kinda forgot to write yesterday.  And all of today until now.  Whoops.  Yesterday consisted of a somewhat lazy day.  Hung out around the townhome for a majority of the day.  Hung out at the pool, etc.  The night was quite a crazy one, as the other interns and I went out for some pizza and drinks in Hagerstown, MD (the only decent sized city around) and then came back and drank at the apartment.  I haven't gotten that drunk in a long time, phenomenal time.  After a long week of work, a weekend where you do nothing is appreciated.  While Jagerbombs are almost always a good idea and I could never regret drinking them, they made this morning a little painful. 

Remembered about this cool website called www.oneword.com.  Essentially it gives you one word and you write for a minute about it.  Then you can see what others wrote and what not.  Used to do it in class all the time.  Great time waster.  I am substituting this in for the deep section.  I did today's word and attached it.

Plaid:

"Oh plaid.  Plaid shirts remind me of hipsters.  Gotta love hipsters.  Which reminds me of my friend steve who is a wanna be hipster.  Oh and it reminds me of forestry majors like my roommate from last year.  Plaid just wishes it were as cool as madras or seersucker.  ahh out of time!!!"

haha that was weak.  it is a lot harder than it looks!  I've got to go though, got a big date tonight.  Enjoy the quote of the day!

"You get what anybody gets - you get a lifetime. — Neil Gaiman"

Friday, June 3, 2011

Friday, June 3rd, 2011

Friday at last.  Today felt like the longest day all week because I didn't have any meetings for once, which meant I worked straight through the day.  8 hours of updating SWI's will make for a long day.  As soon as it was 3 PM, I was out of there.  I originally planned on working Saturday, but I need to sleep in.  I got a lot done today and it felt great, I'm just tired.

I made an awesome dinner tonight for my roommate and I after work consisting of jerk chicken, green beans, and my favorite potato dish.  Needless to say, we enjoyed it thoroughly.  After a short nap followed by jeopardy/wheel of fortune, we headed out for the night.  Now going out really doesn't consist of much around here.  So by going out, I meant we went to another intern's apartment and drank.  Watched a movie, hung out.  I was exhausted from being up all day, but that was not going to stop me from causing a little mischief this evening.  This other guy and I (everyone else either bitched out or fell asleep) hopped the fence of the pool and took a little dip in the hot tub.  Felt great after a nice booze session.  Naturally, we were not allowed to be there considering it was after hours, but who is going to catch us.  Then all of a sudden the security guard rolls up.  Thanks to the ingenuity of my friend and I, we were able to escape.  And here I am.  Literally falling asleep as I write this.

I am going to make this part short and sweet because I really want to go to bed right now.  The lesson for the day is simple, sometimes it is best to wait things out.  We had a nice, in depth conversation while at the hot tub this evening, and it made me realize this.  Most of this spurs from his personal relationship with his girlfriend and how it is struggling due to the long distance, but I found multiple instances where it applied to myself.  Sometimes, we get so caught up in what is going on right now that we lose focus on the future and what lies ahead.  While we may be going through a rough patch at the time, it will almost always surely benefit us in the long run.   It takes courage and perseverance to get through those tough times, but it is almost always worth the wait.  This does not just relate to men/women.  Many instances we fall to our surroundings instead of looking on the horizon.  My advice is to never forget what lies ahead and always keep track of where you are going.  Otherwise, you will settle for the present, which is often less than you deserve.

Apologies if that didn't make a whole lot of sense, as I told you I've been drinking.  Goodnight, hope you enjoy the quote of the day:

The preppy asshole from every 80's movie. TFM.

Ok so it's not really a quote, and it's not the best TFM, but like I said I am drunk and tired, give me a break...

Thursday, June 2, 2011

Telehandler Thursday

What a day, what a day, what a day.  Worked from 6:30 AM till 4:30 (two hours of overtime, hell yeah), went on a run, watched the wheel of fortune and Jeopardy (I do this every day, I shouldn't even have to tell you anymore), and made an incredible snack of grilled cheese and arnold palmer for dinner.  As I lay in bed blogging before bed, I am content with the contents of the day (and the use of a homonym in that sentence).

You would be less than entertained if I continued to talk about my day, so I am going to jump right into the meat of today's blog.  What is on the docket you ask?  I have been putting this one off for a couple days so I am quite excited for it.  Due to an undisclosed person, I have decided to make a list of things I would like to do before I graduate.  This is just a preliminary list, as I would be disappointed if I did not expand on it.  I am a person who believes it is always good to have goals, so I figured this cannot hurt.  I am always looking for new ideas so please help me out if you have any good ideas!


-leave personalized graffiti somewhere around Blacksburg. (After seeing Exit Through the Gift Shop, I decided that I want to leave my mark on Blacksburg in a physical manner.  I have yet to decide what I want to paint, but I want it to be unique and reflect me)
-Run a half marathon (I love running, and it is a matter of time before I actually compete in one)

-Run a marathon (this one is a little bit of a stretch, but I think I can do anything I put my mind to)

-Go backpacking in New Zealand (I think it is the coolest place in the world and I want to go there more than anywhere else.  I figure there are few better ways to check it out than backpacking through the backcountry)
-Be an Orientation Leader (Two of my biggest loves in life are my school and helping people.  To me, this position seems like the perfect way for me to embrace those things.  All the OL's I know are amazing people and truly leaders on campus.  I will have to give up the chance to get another internship, but it is something I have wanted to do since I went to orientation so I figure it is worth it)
-Hold a position in the fraternity (I am involved in various things around campus, but my favorite extracurricular is my fraternity.  The friends I have made and opportunities I have gotten have made it more than an extracurricular, it has become a way of life.  Holding a position would allow me to give back to the guys that have given me so much)
-Fall in and out of love (I can honestly say I have never been in love, which means I have never fallen out of love either.  It is not like this is a goal, just something I hope to experience at some point.  And I am not saying I want to get my heartbroken, but something I should experience eventually, so why not now)
-Leave an impact on the school (I do not really want to have my name all over where I have been, but I want my hard work while at school to leave positive things behind for others to enjoy.  So this may be through Ring Dance committee, through the fraternity, or just how I interact with others)
-Regret as little as possible (I am not going to be someone who says they "live life with no regrets" because I am pretty sure that is impossible.  But when I graduate, I want to look back and know I spent the last 4 or 5 years the best I could)
-(possibly)Hike the Appalachian Trail or Pacific Crest Trail (I don't want to go all out and set this as a goal right now, because I like to be set on something before I commit to it.  But I think it would be the most rewarding experience I could ever take part in.  Living out in the wilderness for upwards of 6 months would have the power to define a life.  Think about it, you might life till 80.  Taking 6 months off is 1/160th of your life, or .625%  Really not that big of a deal considering how much of an impact it could have)

Ok, well I have either forgotten the other ones or I am done with the list for now.  I might update things every once and a while.  Someone showed me a new place to get quote so I am going to give you one from there for the day.  If it is not as good as the usual ones, blame her.

The secret to life is meaningless unless you discover it yourself.

Wednesday, June 1, 2011

Wednesday, June 1st, 2011

Today was cool because I finally started actual work.  I know it is my 7th day on the job, but it has taken this long to truly start working independently on something instead of sitting in a classroom or following people around.  The big project that I will be working on over the course of the next few weeks is updating SWIs.  What are SWI's you ask?  Standard Work Instructions.  At JLG, they make various machines.  One line is devoted to assembling telehandlers, which are essentially giant forklifts that can put pallets and other various objects up a few stories high.  These badass machines can lift up to 12,000 lbs 55 feet in the air.  Standard Work Instructions give you step-by-step instructions on how to assemble them at each station.  Pictures, directions, arrows, and colors are all used to help the worker understand as much as possible.  Naturally, many of these guys have been doing this for years and certainly do no need these.  But anytime someone new comes in, or substitutes for them, these SWI's are very important.  Also, during the occasional audit (god forbid), they are vital.  Almost all of these SWI's are outdated and I am the lucky one who gets to update them.  What I do is look at the old one and work with the guys on the line to find the discrepancies, and do what I need to do to fix them.  It is a lot of work, but fairly interesting.  It is cool because I have to understand as much as anyone what is required to build these machines.  So if you want to know how to build a JLG G9-43A, I will be able to tell you.  The challenge of interacting with the men and women on the line, as I discussed last week, is certainly coming into play with this project.  So far, almost all of them have been helpful and it has been a good experience.

After work, I had to go to Hagerstown, MD (30 minutes away) to take care of a few chores.  I took my mom's car to get an oil change and they said it would take an hour and a half, so I walked over to the mall to hang out.  I saw a bookstore and decided to go in so I could get a gift for my sister for her graduation.  Right in the front delay were two of my all time favorite childhood (and maybe current) books: The Giving Tree and Oh, the Places You'll Go.  So without even hesitating, I took the books and found an empty isle to sit in.  Plopped myself on the ground and started reading.  Memories of laying in bed and having my Mom or Grandma read these amazing stories to me flushed through my mind.  I liked them back them because of the cool artwork and comfort of my family.  Now, I understand what those stories truly mean and I love them just as much, if not more, than back then.  Just like when you go back and watch a kids movie from your youth and pick up on so many things you didn't before, I started realizing why my family read these to me.

Reading these stories reminded me of the saying "all I ever need to know I learned in Kindergarten."  So True.  The values of perseverance and caring taught by these books are among the many things taught to us at a young age that are more important to our success than any college degree can ever give us.  The golden rule, what is right and wrong, and how to tie your shoes.  What else do you need?  A person that can utilize what is taught at a young age is much more likely to excel in life than someone who disregards all of that but can do higher level calculus statistics.  Essentially what I am saying is not to forget your foundation.  Without a good foundation, any good structure will fall (you don't have to be an engineer like me to know that).  The same is true with a person.  I believe that the foundation of a person is in their beliefs and values, and if we cannot maintain those, we have nothing.  I am not saying turn around the way you are living live, just always remember what your parents and kindergarten teacher taught you and you'll be just fine.

Couldn't find a good quote from my limited source of quotes (my imagination and twitter), but I think this TFM applies to me and my newfound corporate setting,

"Straight shooter with upper management written all over him." TFM.