thetinymite.com

Two weeks of work are in the books, and I have a paycheck for services rendered.  So, I feel it’s time to give you, my readership of 3, an explanation as to what in name of Sam Houston a Texan is doing in Minnesota.

Andersen Windows & Doors (AW) hired me to work in their Logistics group to buy my supervisors’ lunches and donate my paycheck to those who presence I have the privilege of working in.  Or so I’m told.  In all actuality, my job for the next month is to put things in boxes!  Let me elaborate. 

All finished products from AW’s three manufacturing sites come to Menomonie, WI to be either cross-docked or placed in inventory.  Eventually they are loaded on outbound trucks headed to regional distribution centers or directly major distributors like Home Depot.  When a truck reaches a distribution center, it takes a long time to unload, and people are hypothesizing it has to do with the unloading of accessories like door handles (really any metal part).  Currently, these accessories are scattered throughout the truck to help fill up the truck.  My bosses think there might cost savings if we put the door handles and window trim in a separate container.  Like I said, I’m just putting things in boxes.

Honestly, I’ve had a great time working here in Stillwater…well, when I’m in Stillwater.  I’ve been to Wisconsin twice, two visits to the main production facility, and a field trip to a distribution center in Minneapolis.

As for the other 31 interns, I think they are all having a great time.  18 of us live in four different townhomes in the same retirement community.  Last weekend our elderly neighbor walked through our garage thinking that it was his house, despite the fact that he and his wife share one compact car, not the truck and SUV he walked past.   We’re a grab bag of Big 10 schools with a couple rebellious Big 12-ers.  The Midwest is the major contributor with a few from New England and we have three other foreigners from California, Florida, and Georgia.

If the job and the people aren’t enough justification for spending the summer in Minnesota, then the gorgeous weather and geography will surely win you over.  But to do that requires a visit to the Land of 10,000 Lakes.  So until then, you’ll just have to keep taking my word.

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Well, I’ve finally arrived in Minnesota.  After 1000 miles and 1.5 days of driving, my dad and I made it to the Stillwater - my new home for the next 12 weeks while I intern with Andersen Windows.  I’m still not quite a 100% sure what I’ll be doing, but I know that I’m working in the Logistics group and so far I’m not just the office slave like past jobs.  When I find out more I’ll update you all, but until then, why don’t you fill me in on your own summer, please!

I’ll have to admit these new iPods are really quite nifty. If I didn’t have this stubbornness about refusing doing the same thing everyone else does and didn’t own Dell’s knockoff iPod, then I’d be trying to buy one, too. But with the increasing availability of music, there is certainly a tragic loss of silence. I hear the question now, “What’s the point? Silence is awkward”. Well, to the American, maybe. Ask a Chinese a serious question, and he would stop to think about it, resulting in a long conversation-less pause. It’s difficult enough to talk to say hi to a friend you see walking on campus when he’s deaf to your existence because of an MP3 player. Perhaps, I’m only a bitter old man… most likely, but the problem, to me, is much larger than a mere downgrade in conversation.

Gone are the days when we spend time in quiet reflection. Gone are the days when we stop, and ask ourselves what we’re doing, where we’re going, and how to get there. How do you know yourself if there’s never periods of extended silence? And what of knowing God?

I guess this brings me to the main point: I LOVE our front porch. Even when the weather is not so pleasant, it’s shaded from the elements. Quite nice during this past week of rain and even more so when summer approaches. In general, it is so peaceful. Even with the occasional car motoring down the street, it is not comparable to the noise of the fans, refrigerator, and CPUs buzzing. It’s in silent moments like these that peace has a way of creeping in. It’s a small whispering voice of peace that I would not trade for any new Top 10 single, even if it’s newest acoustic worship smash mega-hit.

But maybe I’m just bitter for not owning an iPod…

Are Mondays allowed to be this good? The rest of the days of this week must tremble with the standard set by this Monday. Aside from seeing some long lost friends and having an extremly cooperative TA for Ethics, we had 16 new freshmen show up tonight to Journey!! That is 1-6, sixteen. After all the trouble we had losing freshmen, this is extremely encouraging. The only thing that didn’t happen today was training. Career Fair, how I wish you were on another day! Another edition of the Pieces are soon to come. So be on the ready.

Travis and Jeremy pondering which ‘Cream of…’ soup to buy at H-E-B.