I'm currently sitting in the airport, and am waiting for my flight. It's been a very eventful last month. I think I've done a lot of growing, and am certainly ready to have Shelli here with me. I'll be arriving in Mesa this afternoon, and will definitely be missing the 74 degree weather here in Eugene. I have made quite a few great friends since I have arrived, and all of which seem to be the long term kind of friends.
I have definitely been allocating my time here in a way that I didn't really miss much. From working in a winery, to dancing at a gay bar; biking around the city, and drinking around a bonfire as an extra in an indie film; learning how disc golf works, and exploring the local eateries...I pretty much got it all in there! I really have to thank my housemates that I roomed with, because Adriene and Will really showed me a good time- I really owe it to them!
I'm excited to get back and see all my friends again before we head off into the sunset (or sunrise-whatever), and am trying to brace myself for the emotional roller-coaster that I'm about to jump on. It'll be good to see everyone, though. I've got three and a half days to get as much arizona in as possible, and then we are heading out! It's pretty crazy for me to think about that, because it's actually a reality-not just an idea any more- I've been waiting to do this for a very, very long time.
This isn't the end of my journey though...I still have another 1300 miles to drive, and 6 weeks of Wine Harvest to report on. More to come!
Sunday, August 22, 2010
Getting broken in...
*Note* This was supposed to be posted a while ago, but was saved as a draft instead...Better late than never :)
I've been working at the winery for a week now, and it's finally Friday night! It's so nice to think about NOT working for two days. This last week has been a real learning experience. I have been working with the crew on getting last year's vintage into bottles. We bottle about 35 pallets of cases of wine each day. To put it into perspective, that equates to 60 bottles of wine per minute...That's a LOT of wine coming out of the bottling line- just as fast as you can imagine. My main job has been putting the cases of freshly bottled wine onto pallets and wrapping them with shrink wrap...not very exciting, but it's still experience in a winery.
I've been meeting some really great people, and have been brushing up on my spotty Spanish. There are about 5 out of 20 people that speak fluent English, so I'll be working on my Spanish in my free time. I have been casually been getting to know the owner of the winery, and I think he likes me all right. My direct boss, Chris, has been great at teaching by directing. He doesn't really answer questions when I have them, but I think that's for the better, as I learn best by actually doing. I've had a chance to use a lot of my warehouse experience, and it's been for the best. I'm also pretty sure that I might be getting trained on the coveted forklift. At the the end of the day today, Chris told me to go watch one of the other guys fill up the propane tank that fuels the forklift. This is exciting, because it means I will be able to do more things around the winery during harvest :)
I've been working at the winery for a week now, and it's finally Friday night! It's so nice to think about NOT working for two days. This last week has been a real learning experience. I have been working with the crew on getting last year's vintage into bottles. We bottle about 35 pallets of cases of wine each day. To put it into perspective, that equates to 60 bottles of wine per minute...That's a LOT of wine coming out of the bottling line- just as fast as you can imagine. My main job has been putting the cases of freshly bottled wine onto pallets and wrapping them with shrink wrap...not very exciting, but it's still experience in a winery.
I've been meeting some really great people, and have been brushing up on my spotty Spanish. There are about 5 out of 20 people that speak fluent English, so I'll be working on my Spanish in my free time. I have been casually been getting to know the owner of the winery, and I think he likes me all right. My direct boss, Chris, has been great at teaching by directing. He doesn't really answer questions when I have them, but I think that's for the better, as I learn best by actually doing. I've had a chance to use a lot of my warehouse experience, and it's been for the best. I'm also pretty sure that I might be getting trained on the coveted forklift. At the the end of the day today, Chris told me to go watch one of the other guys fill up the propane tank that fuels the forklift. This is exciting, because it means I will be able to do more things around the winery during harvest :)
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