Well, I’ve come to the end of my time in Lowville. The eight months has actually gone by pretty quick. It’s been a good experience working in a plant and getting some operations experience. Maybe its not an experience I’d recommend to everyone, but if you’re working in some kind of white-collar job, I think it’s really invaluable to get out and work with the people who make the product that pay your bills. Really getting an in-depth look at how something is made is often the best way to learn how to make it better. Sometimes the idea that’s not obvious to the 24 year old engineer with a 4-year degree is as simple as tying your shoes to the guy who has a high school education but his been making cream cheese for 25+ years. If the bigwigs are smart they’ll keep doing things like this.

Of course, making my eight-month “exile” to Lowville a lot more bearable took a lot of help. Being able to talk to Marcie pretty much daily was a huge help, and it’s given me a much better appreciation for what it takes to make a relationship work. So, thanks sweetie! The folks I worked with were great, especially Tom, Sam, and Jake. Jake, sometime we’ll actually get 18 holes in at Brantingham without getting rained out. Tom, sorry I didn’t get all the beer in the fridge drunk.

Back to Chicago tonight. We’re closing on our house on Friday. More to come after that.