Continuous Observations

I have described my job as: watching other people do their jobs, taking notes on how they do their jobs, and analyzing how they can do their jobs more efficiently. It's a daunting explanation that really makes no sense. But I'm an industrial & systems engineer, we tend to not make sense. Below is an image of basically anything I might ever do with my degree.

Today I did a continuous observation -- I basically stood at one machine post and watched an operator do his job from 6:50 am to 4 pm while I pressed buttons onto my PDA application (Work Study). I ate my two morning meals & my lunch & one of my afternoon snacks with him. If you've ever gone through recruitment or rush, you can get a sense of what it means to stand up all day on an uncomfortable floor without the ability to sit down after you've gotten basically no sleep the night before. Add whirring sounds, the smell of rubber & chemicals, having an awkward space to stand in... And it's like a day at the beach! The nice thing about working on a plant floor is that it's slightly inconvenient to talk. You get good at reading lips, body movements, signals, and head nods. The bad thing is that you only have your own voice in your head.... That is not good for me.

Today I thought about tattoos, piercings, marriage, children, Orlando, Harry Potter, Peggy Lee, Bobby Darin, The Beach Boys.... and more. I had conversations with myself, I talked about how I was going to write this blog.... 9 hours is a long time to hear yourself speak.

On tattoos: you are not allowed to wear metal on the plant floor, so if I ever get married, I won't be able to say 'hey, you forklift operator, don't try and flirt with me I'm married!' with a huge engagement ring & a wedding band. And I can't exactly say that either because I'll say it 15 times before whoever it is I'm speaking to will register my words... I end up not saying anything after the 2nd time -- "No no, it's not important... Excuse me sir, YOUR SHOE IS ON FIRE. Not important..."

So, to display that I am married, IF i happen to marry, I'm thinking about getting a tattoo on my ring finger in the shape of a band. But I cannot bring myself to put a needle close to my skin willingly & not in the name of medicine.

ORLANDO tomorrow!

The song I was singing almost all day... One of my FAVORITES! Louis Prima & Keely Smith -- Jump Jive & Wail