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June 7, 2004 - So busy

So things have been insanely busy around here since the last update. I have some pictures to post, hopefully soon, but since I'm on my laptop right now, it's 10:30 at night, and I'm insanely lazy, it's not getting done this update. But day by day, let's give the breakdown for those who care:

• Tuesday, June 1 - Solomon and I went for a 20 mile bike ride ... man, was I sore the next day. This RAGBRAI thing is going to kill me.
• Wednesday, June 2 - This is my birthday! My folks came out here, which was awesome of them, and took me to dinner at a place called Udder's where you grill your own steaks. It was awesome, although I have to admit that it was a little strange to drink a Coors Light in a restaurant. But yeah, my folks did the whole birthday thing to an awesome degree, with decorations and champagne and cake and the the whole shebang. Again, very cool of them to come out.
• Thursday, June 3 - After a long and semi-boring day of work, Marie, Solomon, and I hit up Edmundsen golf course in Oskaloosa. It's a real nice course: very open, very forgiving, a little on the short side, a par 71. I really enjoyed it, though; somehow I managed to rack up three pars (which is really good for me) on the way to a 48. Take out some of those three-stroke chips and four-putts and it'd be a bit better, but I'll definitely take a 48.
• Friday, June 4 - Pella reserved the "leadership ropes course" at the YMCA camp in Boone, IA for us for the whole day, and we took a company-sponsored trip up there for the day. It was actually a lot more fun than it sounds, despite being a lot of work. There were a lot of different things to be done: leadership excercises, teamwork stuff, trust stuff, etc etc. Quite a workout for all involved, and again led me to being a bit sore the day after.
• Saturday, June 5 - Nick Williams, our head intern/co-op organizer guy, put together an awesome series of stuff for all of us to do on Saturday morning, collectively called the Intern Olympics. With a lot of teamwork-based challenges spanning a whole range of disciplines, it was quite a workout for all of us. After the four-hour event, about a dozen of us stayed and played a couple of extra hours of snad volleyball, which was an amazing time. Then after a quick lunch and a shower, it was time to leave for the I-Cubs game, which Ryan joined us at, which was also awesome. We volunteered a bit before the game and helped put Pella logo temporary tattoos on kids as they came in the gates; that was a good time. And when we got back from that, it was Tiffany's 21st birthday, so there was a bit of a party for that also; definitely a good time.
• Sunday, June 6 - After getting up at noon (yes!) and doing some of the necessary things (you know, bills, emails, phone calls, yadda yadda), a dozen of us played an hour or so of Ultimate Frisbee before Marie, Jeff, and I hit up Edmundsen again, this time for 18 holes. I hacked my way to a 95 (that's 46/49), with five pars along the way. I have to say, I'm pretty happy with the way I've played the last 27 holes; four-putts notwithstanding, of course.

June 8, 2004 - *groan*

Solomon and I rode 28 miles today. That's two solid hours of pedaling, in eighty-five degree humid air. I hurt. Thank you, that is all.

June 13, 2004 - Some actual work!

Hey hey, check this stuff out. In addition to updating this with my normal, inane stuff, I've managed to bust out a little bit of legitimate site work! I've made a much-needed, long-overdue change to the About Me page, and I updated part of my work section with some more recent information. Enjoy those; actual site work is becoming a bit rare around here, it seems.
This weekend has been awesome. Most everyone I know real well around here left, so I basically sat on my ass the whole weekend. And let me just say that it was awesome. With the exception of the 17-mile bike ride I took (by myself, no less!) on Saturday, I almost literally did not get up this weekend. I took a much needed nap on Friday night from 5:30-8:30, then slept until noon on both Saturday and Sunday. Right now, it's midnight Sunday night, and I still haven't eaten dinner.
On the plus side, I did manage to do a little bit of work for B & B this weekend, and it was nice to fall back into that routine a little bit.
But this is the first five-day work week we've had in awhile, since last Thursday was an all-day intern event with speakers and diversity activities, followed by a "here's how to eat" etiquette dinner. Good times, though it makes five consecutive days of work look real long.

June 16, 2004 - Recreation abounds

So, probably my favorite things about this summer are the forty-some-odd fellow interns and co-ops who live in the same apartment complex that I do, and all the stuff we get together and do. Prime examples: Monday night, we all went out to eat, then after coming home, a dozen or so of us played four games of sand volleyball. Lastly, after a quick shower, we played a solid hour or so of peanuts before giving up for the night at 11:30 or so. Tuesday, Marie and I went golfing (back to Edmundsen again; shot a 46 this time, which was splendid, save about three shots) and then ate dinner. Today, seven of us played an awesome game of Ultimate in the rain, which was a massive amount of fun, and then six *different* people got together, hung out, and ate Lisa's very good homemade pizza. And on the docket for tomorrow, we have Marie, Chris, and myself working at a booth at Thursdays In Pella, a 'family-friendly' party that happens every week in the square. Saturday we're slated to golf and then work 'community outreach' (not sure what that means, but hey) at Juneteenth in Des Moines.
So I've certainly been keeping myself busy, and it's been great. I am really digging this summer.
Oh, and you should really check out the QOTD, too.

June 23, 2004 - Technical Difficulties

Consider this a placeholder for a future post that doesn't suck, if these miserable failures ever make my internet work again. Thank you.

June 26, 2004 - Activities

I'm leaving that placeholder up - with the exception of the last hour, we've had probably 5% uptime on our internet this week. Yes, five percent. Way to provide crappy service.
But, that aside. Life out here is more of the same; go to work, come home, do a lot of fun things, go to bed, do it again. It's really a quite enjoyble thing; this summer is pretty much my ideal life, I think. Some of the highlights of this week include a couple Ultimate Frisbee games, two nights of grilling out, a photo scavenger hunt (pictures pending), volleyball, cards, and a whole lot of DDR, since I got my new pads in on Monday. And then today, Marie, Ryan, Katie and myself took part in the Pella golf outing at Edmundsen in Oskaloosa, a four-person best-shot tournament. We had a lot of fun, shot a 66 (that's four under, with five birdies and a bogey), and beat the two other intern groups soundly. Good times, even if I did have to get up at 7:00 on a Saturday to do it.
Work was interesting last week. They put me on a BPI team - that's Business Process Improvement - with a dozen other people, sat us down in a room for the week, and had us analyze and improve a process that happens somewhere in the company. The whole point is to get some outsiders in on it too, so they can have an objective look at things and point out some obvious inefficiencies. It was pretty cool - we worked with the Lowe's credit process, from the point that a damaged or wrong shipment arrives at a Lowe's store, through the communication and processing, to the point where Pella issues a credit to the store. It did get a bit tedious near the end of the week, but we got free breakfast and lunch every day, and a really nice shirt at the end. It was awesome to be more or less fed for a week, and to be up and on my feet, going to and from peoples' desks, through the factory facilities, etc. A very unique perspective on another aspect of the company that I would otherwise never have thought about.
As a sidenote, I'd like to mention that some of my friends' websites need to be updated. *ahem*
I'm thinking the color scheme needs an update for summer, but I don't have any ideas, really. Hook me up if you do. Until then, get outside and enjoy summer!