This summer I will, again, be sharing my adventures with
Benny, and as you can tell, it won’t be in email form this year. That is why it has taken me more than a week
to post – because I did not want to have to figure this whole blog thing
out. But I did and here ya go!
Before I go into what has gone on the past week and a half,
I do want to say that the day I moved (Saturday May 12th) was also
the day my Grandpa passed away. I am so thankful that I was able to visit him just three weeks prior when he was still smiling and joking around with me. (There's a picture of us below!) Over the years, he has been the patriarch and the backbone to our family. He passed along so much knowledge and wisdome throughout the years. I loved to hear his stories, especially about how important family is and to cherish those who you do have with you in your life. I along with the rest of my family will miss him a great deal. I found out about my Grandpa the morning that I was leaving, which
made this move not your traditional move.
But, I had a schedule I had to keep and an apartment to sign the papers
for. SO. It was time for me to pack up Benny and hit
the road.
This year I didn’t have to bring everything with me because
I’m also on summer staff at school and was able to keep my same room. So, Benny was not as much of a low rider as he
was last year. Benny and I had an easy
drive to Davenport (its only an hour and a half away from Peoria) and after
dealing with the rental insurance company a bit, I had the keys to my new
apartment. I was initially supposed to
have a roommate, but it turns out she works at a different facility and she did
not have transportation, so she had to be moved somewhere that did. That being said – I have a 2 bedroom
apartment to myself (for the time being).
If they end up hiring another female intern, then I will get a roommate,
but it’s looking like I will be living it up by myself! (That means I have a
spare bedroom if anyone wants to come to the QC!)
So I get all of my stuff moved into my apartment and realize
I have to go to the bathroom (this is going somewhere, I promise). And then it dawns on me: I forgot toilet
paper. A real predicament, if you ask
me. I had seen a Hy-Vee on the way in,
and drove back out for toilet paper and groceries. (I visited the restroom as soon as I got
there, in case anyone was wondering). I
realized again, just how hard it is shopping for one person. You have to make sure you don’t buy too many
perishable things or else you won’t eat them all. You have to make sure you get things to wrap
the leftover food up in. I remembered
that if I wanted to make large quantities of things, that I would be eating the
SAME THING for EVERY MEAL for days. I
also did not know what kind of trash bags to buy; medium, large, scented,
drawstring, etc. This shopping trip
turned stressful to say the least. BUT,
I got everything I needed, including the freeze pops that everyone loves as a
kid, and I was set for the week. Once I got home, I put the groceries and started decorating with some of the things I brought with. I also eventually unpacked everything... including the shoes. There are a lot of shoes.
My first day was then on Monday and it went pretty
smoothly. (Actually, my entire time here
has gone smoothly). I was worried in the
beginning about the whole friend thing because I didn’t have any roommates (who
we all know become default friends immediately) and I am in an apartment
complex with no other interns. The first
week, I ate lunch out with my manager the first day and then ate with 1 or 2
interns the other days. I started to
make friends, slowly but surely.
The work side of things has been pretty awesome. I am in the Manufacturing Engineering
Department of the John Deere Seeding Group as an Industrial Engineering
Intern. Woohoo! My project that I’m currently working on
deals with the efficiency of the line and making sure all of the standards that
are used for payment of the operators is fair. Basically, I’m using a lot of
the same things that I just finished learning in my spring semester classes to
finish this project. Part of my training
the first week was also an “Industrial Engineering Basics” course. It is all online and the first part is taught
by a gentlemen named Larry Aft. The
introduction he made included the fact that he finished his undergrad degree in
IE at Bradley, and throughout his lecture, he included a few anecdotes from his
years at Bradley, which I greatly enjoyed.
The first adventure Benny and I took was to Chicago for my Grandpa's funeral. I left straight from work, hit
some traffic, and made it to the reception Thursday night. After seeing the grown ups, I got to see Robin and my little cousins, who are ADORABLE. (I added a picture of them too). Friday morning was the actual funeral and it was
a beautiful service with full military honors, 21 gun salute and the whole nine
yards. The whole family went out for
lunch and then we took a nap. And then
it was Italian for dinner for Aunt Beth’s birthday, and then bed time. Basically, we ate and slept – a lot. I enjoyed seeing and spending so much time
with my family. After a weekend of family, it was back to good ol' Davenport.
The other adventure Benny and I took was to Peoria on
Tuesday. I had forgotten some stuff in my dorm so I wanted to go back and pick it up and while I was there I got to see Cara (an RA from Williams last year) and see her new room. I also went to dinner with Anna (another RA!) and got my One World fix. Then it was back to Davenport that night. (It's kind of nice being this close)
Yesterday, I joined the gym at the John Deere location next door to where I work (the Cylinder Internal Platform, or CIP) and met up with some interns after work. Then another group of interns got together to play volleyball at a local park and we had over 20 interns there. Having upwards of 150 interns in the Quad Cities, I think I’ll be okay.
Then, I guess we're left with today! I went to work and then the gym after work and came home to do the dishes (wild and crazy, I know). So, that's what I've done so far. I plan on updating this weekly, now that I have actually started it!
Soooo, until next week, folks!
