CAROLINA MY HEART
Quick week in Portland, check. Bags packed for another 6ish months away, check. Tickets for a red-eye to Charlotte, check. Time to hit the road again.
Well I gotta say, Southern Hospitality is still alive and well. I got a very nice taste of it as I got off the plane through Tracy, the super helpful lady at the rental car desk. We had some small talk going on and she helped me get all squared away for my trip. What a great talk. Additionally, they even gave some reading material for George for the flight!
Oh, and meet Wheels. He was my ride for two weeks. Quite a nice little car too. He's pretty much Marvin's great grandson. Not a bad little guy.
Landed and now mobile in the South, and what do I do first? You're damn right. Waffle House. Omnoms like WOAH. They had some super sweet waitresses there and the food, as always, killed it. I wish they had these everywhere. Especially wherever I happen to be.
Then later on, another lady out of the blue gave me a sweet smile and said hello in passing. It just brightens your day seeing such great attitudes from other people. It's a shame that kind of good demeanor towards everyone isn't more present. But, as they say, be the change you want to see in the world. So this is going to be something I'm gonna work on - being more welcoming and happy towards everyone.
After filled up and ready to go, I drove into downtown Charlotte and wandered around for a bit. It was a beautiful day to drive and walk around.
After seeing a bit of the city, and stumbling upon a random connection between Charlotte and Mecklenburg-Vorpommern in Germany (quite a random coincidence), I decided to find a coffee shop and try to do some work on my blogs. Well, the blog stuff didn't get done, but I got in some hardcore relaxation in the sun with my smoothie.
Before I headed up to my hotel in Mooresville, slightly in the middle of nowhere, I met up with one of my mom's friends from Milwaukee. We had lunch at their place, and then they took me up to Lake Norman and show me around a bit. A nice little segway to keep me from going to bed a 4pm, and it was a great way to enjoy the absolutely gorgeous day we had!
Work - Week 1
My purpose for being in the Charlotte area was one of the phases of the CAReer Program. You are supposed to work in a manufacturing facility for two weeks to get some actual on-the-line experience in actually putting our vehicles together. For this, I had to go up to Cleveland, NC (the very middle of nowhere) to our assembly plant there.
The first two days were a little slow for me. There wasn't a structured plan of where I was going to jump in and get my hands dirty, so being a bit of an introvert, I was a bit reluctant to approach people and say 'hey, I'm here to do your job for the day', especially considering 1/3 of the plant's workforce was laid off the week before.
The first two days I just walked through the line in a slow manner and saw all of the different processes. It was cool to see the overall process and, as always, I was impressed with everything that goes behind putting something like a truck together. The numerous different parts all built into different sub-assemblies fed into the main line and everything comes together one right after the other. It's pretty damn cool.
I had a desk in the liaison engineer office, and interacted a bit with them to start. But to be honest, it was kinda weird working near them, as we had very little in common. All they talked about was cars, go-karts, motorcycles, trucks, hunting, and work. I really enjoy interacting with the many different people I've come across over the last few years, but with these guys I really had nothing to interject.
That said, the guys were super nice, and I went out and grabbed lunch with them the first two days. Well, living up to one of the biggest stereotypes of the south, they were still a bit salty about the Civil War, or as they referred to it, the War of Northern Aggression. This is no joke, they were a bit salty about this, and it was an actual discussion we had. Progress is still a little slow, I'd say.
Well, Wednesday I worked in pre-paint chassis, bolting on cross-members and brackets to the frame. I met a nice dude named Big Will, as he was wearing a Packers hat and was automatically the coolest one at the station. Thursday I jumped over to After-Treatment modules, and assembling them before going back over to the pre-paint chassis line and bolting them onto the frame.
On Friday I had some of the best damn beef jerky I've ever had. I was working with Ray at the Fuse/Relay install and ECU Flashing station, and he got some beef jerky from a lady at the plant's husband, two different kinds, hot and regular. I had the hot (duh), and it was amazing. Dry enough to stay for a while, and hot enough to make your tongue tingle. Ooooooh baby was it good.
I spent the whole day with Ray talking about food, and my mouth was watering the whole time. Damn the South knows how to do some good food. The discussion was almost exclusively about barbecue. He talked me into getting myself an early dinner at College Barbecue in Salisbury before heading home. It was pretty good. I'd never had red slaw before (not really my thing, but good to try), and the Eastern NC style vinegar-based barbecue was also a good experience (not my thing, but I definitely enjoyed it).
The Southern Carolina
Being in the Carolinas, an area I'd been able to explore a little bit while I was in school via frisbee, I figured I needed to make a little trip out of it. So, on a good recommendation from Zack, I headed down to Charleston, SC for a nice day trip on Saturday. And it turned out to be a wonderful day!
The drive down was gorgeous and went by super fast (podcasts are definitely the best accompaniment for a road trip). I even met some Buckeye golfers at a gas station along the way! I pulled into town, stopped at the info center to pick up a map, and then let the exploring and adventuring begin!
Being the frugally-minded person I am, I went down to the free parking at Battery Park and decided to just walk around from there. Great choice.
As I said, it was an absolutely beautiful day, and walking along the waterfront in Charleston turned out to be the perfect start. From Battery Park up to the main part of town is a great little street with a ton of awesome houses along the way. It's really prime real estate, with a great view of the harbor and water. What a cool place to live and relax.
I did a lot of random exploring. I found a number of really pretty alleyways...
... really enjoyed walking along the harbor front...
... loved the quaint feel of the streets down town with the beautiful buildings...
... and almost went out to Ft. Sumter, the location where the Civil War started. But I figured the info booth was close enough to spending 2.5 hours for a quick walk on the island. Mission accomplished-ish.
Overall, Charleston is a very beautiful city. It's small, so there's not a whole lot of commotion, but it's quaint. The atmosphere is welcoming and warm, it's relaxed, and it's just in a great spot. To wrap up my wonderful day there, I hit up the South End Brewery and Smokehouse (also at the recommendation from Zack, kinda the main reason) and dined on some amazing Beef Brisket and beer. Ohhhhh boy.
Great day experienced, delicious beer enjoyed, a wonderful city explored, I enjoyed the sunset at the boardwalk, and then drove back up to Charlotte.
Work - Week 2
Before the actual work week started, I spent Sunday back in Charlotte. The Panthers were hosting the divisional round, and despite the heartbreak from the night before, I went down and tailgated with my mom's friend. Another great day, with some DELICIOUS homemade barbecue sausages and chicken, and then some football with friends rounded off a great weekend.
Monday I worked with Heather at the final ECU flashing station, making sure all of the electronics systems are prepped and ready before the end of the line. Tuesday I joined Ray working on the overhead console station. Then on Wednesday and Thursday I was out at offline and alignment doing the initial radar alignment and wheel alignment. With the big storm coming in, and NC's governor declaring a state of emergency for the state, they shut down the plant on Friday, so I had one less day I had to be there. Woot!!!
Thursday after work I did a good bit of driving. At the suggestion of my mom's friend's husband, I had to get up to Winston-Salem and try one of his favorite barbecue joints. Bib's Downtown is known for their Smoked Meatloaf and GAWDDAYUM am I glad I went and tried it. It was absolutely killer.
I was absolutely satisfied with that amazing entree. So satisfied I ordered one to go for the weekend. WORTH IT. But after that I had to drive back down to Charlotte to exchange rental cars (can't mix business and personal travel). Finally done with that, I drove back up to Mooresville to get some sleep before an early start.
Quick Hit
Talking to a lot of the people at the plant really helped me realize what all I have to be thankful for. It was hard talking to people who'd been there for 20-something years and they can talk about all 5 times they've been laid off. I am extremely thankful and blessed be where I am in life.
I don't have to worry about getting laid off (at least not as seriously), I'm not stuck at a dead-end job just trying to scrape by, I have the flexibility and the knowledge to find a job where I want, I am a (somewhat) valuable resource to a company, I don't have to worry as much about big expenses (one because I'm stingy and two because I've got a decent-enough income to take care of emergencies). All of this thanks to how my parents set me up in life, and then having the initiative and drive to take off and run with the opportunities that presented themselves to me.
Wrap Up
"It's not Good, it's not Bad, it's just Different."
The South isn't a different country, but it is quite a different culture. So in the spirit of those CBYX words to live by, here's my short list of the Good, Bad, and Different for the South:
The Good
- Barbecue. Dear god try the barbecue from the south. It'll change your life.
- Everyone is extremely hospitable and welcoming. They aren't afraid to be human to the people they see, and it's pretty awesome.
- Not only are they hospitable, but most are pretty well natured and humored. They aren't afraid to crack a few jokes to keep the mood light. Also pretty awesome.
- Food in general in the South is amazing. Cole slaw, potato salad, biscuits and gravy...
- ... Hushpuppies... if you've never had hushpuppies, you should change that. They're deep fried corn bread balls and they will blow your mind!!!
- ... Waffle House... seriously. They need to expand to everywhere already.
- Similar to Ohio, the wide open spaces are something pretty cool.
- Yeah, you can find this in tons of other places in the States, but there was the first time I'd experienced that in quite a while. It was pretty refreshing.
The Bad
- Confederate stuff is still a thing. I counted only four flags hung outside of people's homes while I was there, but seriously? Are you guys still stuck in the Civil War? The overall close-minded and illogical nature of some people down there is quite befuddling.
- Extra obesity is quite prevalent. It makes sense given the delicious food, but it's also pretty disturbing seeing how wide spread it is there.
- It felt like every third person I saw there, especially in the plant, chews tobacco. Not exactly appealing...
The Different
- Rather than stick shift or manual, the call it a straight drive. I'd never heard that before.
- Although the accent is pretty cool, sometimes it's damn near impossible to understand what someone is saying.
Blizzard Beware
Well the damn Jonas Brothers (Storm) decided to blow up the East Coast the day I was driving from Charlotte to DC. No worries though, with an early rise and a bit of luck I'd make it. No sweat.
Well, there was a little bit of sweat involved. The roads were covered with snow, and every idiot that didn't know how to drive decided it was a good morning to go to their grandma's. The roads really weren't all that bad, but some people were just making it hell. I had a couple of nice stretches behind a big semi, paving the way for me, but for the most part, I was just trying to steer clear of all the people that clearly had no idea what to do.
The scariest moment was somewhere along the drive, I looked in my mirror at the exact right (wrong) moment. Some guy started slipping, jammed the brakes, did a 180 in the middle of a three lane highway, the spun more and slammed right into the side guardrail. All of this was no more than 300m behind where I was at. A bit of a hair-raising sight.
Getting from North Carolina to Virginia, there was a clear difference in storm preparation and road quality. Namely, the roads were actually plowed! What a concept! Eventually I needed to stop and take a break, so what better place to do so than Sheetz!!!
I eventually made it to Reagan and dropped off my car and then Peewee came and picked me up. Long time no see! She had a bit of work to do, but that night we wandered around the absolutely bare city and metro system to go meet up with Katherine! She recently moved to DC, so it was good to introduce Paula and Katherine to each other, get caught up with what Kat's been doing, and hang out with her and her roommates for a bit.
As I said, it was super cool outside that night. The snow was coming down, there were very few people out and about, and it was just awesome wandering around that night.
The next day, BAM! Snow like woah. We got hit with a ton overnight, and so me and Peewee made the right choice (unlike her roommates) to go out and explore a white DC. Definitely the right call, we even got interviewed by John McDonnell from The Washington Post! (Unfortunately no five seconds of fame for us).
This was definitely the best way to take advantage of the day. It was absolutely gorgeous out. Snow was constantly falling for us, it was a bit gloomy and grey, but it was so peaceful at the same time. We wanted to walk through Arlington Cemetery and see the Tomb of the Unknown Solider, but they closed the whole cemetery. :-(
Undaunted, we decided to walk down to the National Mall. Lincoln's Memorial, the Washington Monument, the various War Memorials (WWII, Vietnam, Korean, WWI), and all the other merry snow-wanderers were there and making a great day out of the blizzard.
At some point though, the cold and wind started to crank up a bit. That's when we decided to trek back to her apartment. It was a bit of a long walk, but still awesome. With snow coming in sideways and crazy, and visibility going to almost zero, it felt pretty awesome and epic.
The next day the skies cleared and we got to see the total damage done. Never had I ever seen so much snow on the ground in my life. We had a good 24" or so at her apartment, and it was more in other places. I was SUPPOSED to have a flight out that night to Germany. So me and Peewee got to work shoveling the driveway, and we even made our own snow mountain in the process!
After all of our hard work and a bit of lounging around, we went out for a drive. It was cool to see the town covered in snow, especially with a beautiful sky to enjoy along with it. Then we polished everything off that night with some Yuengling and a damn good bowl of Chili. Woot Woot.
As they say though, all good things come to an end. And that weekend was definitely a good thing. It was really great to see and hangout with Paula for a couple of days. We had a helluva good time adventuring and exploring through the blizzard, she got to meet Katherine and get a short glimpse into my time in CBYX, eat some delicious food, and overall have a fairly low-key time. It sucks being so far away from family all of the time, but it makes visiting just that much sweeter. :-)
Wishing to Help
Paula's pretty new (a few months in) to her new job, and right now she's smack in the middle of 'busy season'. While I was there, it was hard to see her having a rough time with shitty managers and a couple other air-headed people in her life. It's clearly taking a toll, and I wish there was something I could do to help. But she's a damn strong and smart woman, and I know she'll power through to a better situation. What a trooper. Keep killin' it Peewee, you're doing awesome.
Dear Readers...
First off, thanks for reading! This blog has been a nice means for me to go through the stuff I've done and reflect on all that goes on. I honestly have no idea who reads this, but it seems like the more people I talk to, there are actually some more people than my mom and sisters that care about this.
So with that, thank you! Wherever you are reading this right now, I hope you're having a great day and maybe learning a bit about me, my life, or even hopefully about yourself too! Keep enjoying life and getting better at something every day. :-)
Original Publish Date: January 31st, 2016