so i have halfway written five posts. yes. five. i am lacking commitment right now. my mom would you tell you it is a flaw of mine. i would argue that it is an isolated flaw. or that maybe the true flaw is lack of persistence. or maybe it all depends on your reference of to what i am persistent or committed. regardless of what it may be, it is a flaw none the less. and mamma is always right.

but you did not come here to read a philosophical debate of whether i struggle with the state of being committed or the act of perseverance. so i am going to tell you about my choo choo train instead.

i was placed for my four month project in st. louis, missouri, the birthplace of budweiser beer. the flagship brewery of our company. where budweiser was created. raised. and sent off into the world from. and it was originally sent off by railcar. the development of the refrigerated car and use of pasteurization, pioneered by Mr. Adolphus Busch in the early 1970s, was a tipping point in the history of beer. no longer was beer a local commodity. it could be national. it could be safely transported to far off regions for each and every consumer to enjoy.

well i work in logistics now. i love logistics. i love math. i love optimization. i love efficiencies. it is how i am programmed to think, feel, and act. now call me a nerd. go ahead. do it. i will wait.

now that that is out of the way.

so in the st. louis brewery, we are (once again) utilizing railroad transportation to ship beer to designated regions for distribution. we are fickle souls here. we filled the rail pit with concrete in 2011. yes. only four years ago. i am telling you. fickle.

well my part in the implementation is to assist with the layout of the rail pit and surrounding area. which is interesting because i know very little about shipping beer over rail. or rail in general for that matter. my cousin works in the rail industry. and does quite splendidly. he knows far more about rail than i. but alas, i was challenged with the task instead. to help me learn, i guess.

and learn i have. the dimensions and variations and figures constantly swirl through my head. i even had a dream about railcars the other night. of course it was a runaway car that broke from the engine. and of course i was trapped and could not escape. and i am sure there is some subconscious meaning to it all. but i really think it just means that i spend too much time thinking about railroads.

so my typical day looks like this:

my day starts early. before the sun has has shown its face. but i love the look of the hot steam rolling off the brewery in the dark.

a little of update this. report that. email them.

and then my shoes are usually discarded for my steel toes.

and my jewelry is left on my desk.

hopefully a safe distance from my piles of blueprints.

my personal protection equipment is donned. including my three sizes too large neon yellow, reflective safety vest. if the minimum safety requirement is determined by body surface to vest surface, i believe i am well covered.

and i head to the warehouse. where i wander among stacks and stacks of beer. it is quite a sight to behold 650,000 cases of beer anxiously awaiting the glorious steed (aka trailer) that will whisk them away to their love’s (aka consumers) arms where they will be held, kissed, and then unceremoniously tossed aside (hopefully in a recycling bin) for a newer, younger version of themselves. i tell ya. it is a cruel world out there.

but now they await a new steed! a graffitied hunk of metal. but do not let his tough exterior fool you. he takes the same gentle care and sweet rocking. but it is always nice to know he is in for the long haul.

so mostly i measure. observe. pester people with questions. and then come back to crunch the numbers. and though i never imagined this as part of my future, i really do enjoy it.