A Tribute to Kentucky

I went back to Kentucky this past weekend. A mere three weeks had passed, but already a kind of nostalgia has set in. It's not the city I was raised in, but it certainly has its high points.

I'm not a horse person, but there is no denying the peaceful surroundings of horse country. Crossing through the Kentucky suburbs of Cincinnati the landscape slowly transforms into open, rolling hills neatly divided into parcels of land by stately uniform fencing. Horses stand in the well kept grasses, heads bent to taste the still green strands, or held tall warily watching the cars go by. Some wear horse blankets against the late winter cold, but most show off their glossy coats and flowing manes in the long winter sun. Everything appears postcard-perfect just feet beyond where the highway ends.

I don't really drink coffee either, but the presence of independent coffee houses, liberal social salons where people gather around their sugar concoctions and share in the knowledge provided by free wifi is still appealing. The city, although small by most standards, manages to boast at least three enlightened non-Starbucks options. At least one has a cute barista. These gathering places for the twenty something crowd are missed.

Food, I will admit, is a weakness of mine. I appreciate eating good food and making good food for others. Unfortunately when your options are 6 restaurants serving bar food and Walmart for groceries, both of these are hard to come by. There was German food and Chinese food and Indian food and Thai food. The Co-op made their standard southern biscuits and gravy for brunch and Liquor Barn was happy to be my provider for high-end baking chocolate. There was not enough time to eat all the tastiness that was being offered.

People are perhaps the greatest asset Kentucky has, and sadly is often the thing most made fun of. The people may be conservative, but if I put my car in a ditch, there's no one I'd rather have find me than someone from Kentucky. They may talk slower than the rest of the country, but they will certainly call you dear and make you feel like family. Guys don't let liberalism and gender equality stand in the way of chivalry. There's something familiar in the accents and the friendly driving and way people will just start a conversation with you at the grocery. The people are resolutely Southern in the best of ways.

There are so many other endearing attributes that it's impossible to do them justice. The dive bars and college parties, the hiking and picturesque main streets in small towns, the logically laid out city, the old, beautiful homes, the flaming yellow ginkgo trees in the fall, the farmer's market, the entire pace of life and how everything fits together - it all makes Kentucky a undervalued gem.

Kentucky may not be where I want to live forever, but I'm glad that I had the chance to dispel my preconceived notions and misperceptions. I would have been missing so much.

Welcome to Pennsylvania

I've been here for two weeks now, but yesterday I feel was my true introduction to Pennsylvania. I woke up early to shovel my drive and clear off my car. An hour later I had my 10 feet of driveway clear and was likely going to be later to work than I prefer. I was also alternately cold (toes, ears, fingers) and quite warm (core). I made it the 1.2 miles to work without incident and completed the day without thinking about the weather outside. Upon leaving the building, I noticed a snow mobile parked in the lot. Welcome to Pennsylvania.

It was the first real snow since my arrival in the state. I was probably much better off with the negative 30 wind chill than the snow, but I'm still thinking that the groundhog was right and spring is just around the corner. Soon it will be hiking season and there won't be enough time to do all I want. Until then, I'm working diligently and drinking with the coops on the weekends. Living here is cheap when the only options to spend money are Wal-Mart and Payless. The gym is well enough equipped and practically always empty. The whole situation isn't actually altogether unpleasant.

There are some things I could complain about here, like the girl upstairs who plays the same 4 rap songs very loud all the time, or the fact that I had to shovel out my driveway again after work yesterday before I could park, but I think they are nicely counterbalanced. I have a library card which allows me to check out mindless novels and German-on-CD. The kitchen is small, but I'm having a lot of fun learning how to make delicious things. It may be cold outside, but my heater works well and I don't have to pay the utilities.

Work has actually been much better than expected. I've been given as much time as I would like to wander the production floor and really get to know the processes. The people, both salaried and hourly have been friendly and helpful. My boss generally stops by my office just to chat for about an hour a day, then, since it's 4, tells me to go home. My office is actually mine, with the occasional need to share with the wonderfully German consultant. The department is close to gender balanced, a refreshing change from being one of two technical females in the entire plant. Everyone is laid back, taking a half hour break every morning to gossip about people in town. I probably couldn't ask for a much better working situation.

As far as my project, I am somewhat stressfully still beholden to my old plant, meaning that some weekend in the near future and perhaps more in the distant future I will be making the 500 mile trek back to Kentucky to oversee some testing. My project here, a continuation of the last project, hasn't really picked up yet, but appears to be reasonable within the time frame and involves a lot of hands on work. If nothing else, I get to do something new for awhile. I'm generally pleased with work in this small town.

I may live in the middle of nowhere, but at least it's not a bad middle of nowhere. Just a little snowy.

Tasty Souls

It turns out that I eat souls. Let this serve as a warning to you: Never date me. Although there are plenty of other reasons not to date me, the most current development is that it will make you willing to whore yourself to the oil industry. A recent survey of exes found:

1) One Project Coordinator for Exxon-Mobil's US production group.
2) One Energy Design consultant for FMC Technologies.
3) One Process Engineer with BP Refining.
4) One paralegal in Baker Botts energy division.
5) One research project (?) funded by Schlumberger.

And these are just the ones I keep track of. I fear for the current one. On the other hand, when they all run into each other at Oil Industry functions, they'll have something to talk about.

oh, Ohio

Today involved a 9 hour trip from Lexington, Kentucky to St. Marys, Pennsylvania. 9 hours with nothing more than the radio gave me more than enough time to think about the places I was driving through.

Kentucky: None of you can drive in the snow. None. We're not talking about a driving blizzard, but mere flurries, and still, accidents. On the other hand, you drive friendly and the only police officers I saw were helping with said accidents. Also, you have pretty horse farms and rolling hills on your side. Summary: Pretty in a Southern Way.

Ohio: Entering the state through Cincinnati, one might expect the entire state to be filled with picturesque cities nestled into a steeply hilly landscape. One would be wrong. The rest of your state is flat and rather ugly. Columbus, although it likely has many charming attributes and fun places to visit, just felt like exurbs, suburbs and despair from the highway through the snow. Your state troopers were out in force and pulled me over for going 70 in a 65, which is major negative points, but they are susceptible to flirting, for which they win some of these back. Summary: Flat.

Pennsylvania: I always imagine you to be a place of small, dignified northeastern-type farmsteads from the 1780's, the ones with small cleared fields bordered by dense, dark woods. In this case, you have not failed in the least. Perhaps these farms now have electricity and modern farming implements, but under the layer of snow and with a tiny bit of Photoshop, these western PA farms have it right, down to the neatly stacked firewood in the back and stacked stone walls surrounding the field. Your police officers were a pleasant mix of Kentucky's accident patrol and Ohio's speed patrol, proving that you are not too extremist. On the other hand, to contrast your prefect farms, I still haven't seen a city and you only had 15 exits in 101 miles of highway. Summary: There's nothing here.

I'm going to need to get used to this Pennsylvania is the middle of nowhere thing. I should also figure out a way to get around that stretch of heavily patrolled I-71 for the next few times I make the trip back and forth to Kentucky. I suppose they only give you a warning once.