One of the many cool things we got to do while in Florida was to take a tour of Nathan’s new workplace. (He works for the Florida Department of Agriculture.)
It didn’t take us long to figure out which desk belonged to him . . .
…. because of a certain set of Ping Pong paddles stuck in the corner. (He and his boss sometimes play on their lunch break.)
Seeing Nathan in the vicinity of sporting gear is a pretty normal thing. But seeing him in the vicinity of scientific equipment?
Not so much.
He carefully explained how each thing worked. I listened intently, observed carefully, and nodded appreciatively . . .
and understood approximately 5.7834% of everything he said.
He showed us the microscope and told us what we were looking for on the slide.
He invited us all to take a look but I delegated Sarah to go in my stead since a place that is filled with complicated instruments . . .
and math-y stuff . . .
makes me feel a wee bit twitchy.
Everywhere we looked there was stuff I didn’t understand.
But the main thing I didn’t understand?
It was how a person who shares my DNA, someone who came from my womb, someone who is so closely related to me . . .
could possibly understand it all so well!
Was he adopted? Switched at birth? How could any progeny of mine do so well in this technical world he has found himself in? I was confused. I also amazed. He’s only been working there two months and already knows how to do dozens of tests. It would have taken me ten YEARS to have learned all of that!
He continued to explain things. I continued to be befuddled.
But then? Something happened. Something marvelous. Something fabulous.
We came upon a highly specialized test that I could actually comprehend without undo mental, emotional, or psychological trauma.
And just what was this test?
It was performing the part of the overall quality/safety testing that includes tasting different kinds of ice cream!
Suddenly, I was tracking right with him. I had understanding. I had insight. I had knowledge. I had life experience.
I said, “Yes! I can do Nathan’s job after all!” (Ahem. Well, at least this part of it.)
Can you see my amazing aptitude for this highly specialized task just radiating from my person? I had most certainly found my calling in life.
Oh yeah. That part of the blog title referring to a stinky fridge? This is it.
Nathan says the smell is similar to dirty gym socks and he is exactly right. I think the odor has something to do with bacterial growth in test samples but don’t quote me on that. (Since I probably just made that up.)
All in all, it was a fascinating tour. When it was all over, Nathan, Steve, Meagan and Sarah walked out to the parking lot together.
They didn’t even notice that I had stayed behind. They didn’t even notice that they had lost an important member of their party. They didn’t even notice that I had returned to the building to perform further esoteric, extensive, double-blind, ice cream taste tasting experiments.
Because I wouldn’t want Nathan to get behind on any important parts of his job.
That’s just the kind of Mom I am.
What about you? Have you ever had an interesting/strange/unusual task to do on your job?
When I was in college I worked fro Gillette, and one of my many jobs was to review razor blade cartridges after they were used in product trials. People would send back their razors in little padded envelopes after a week (or a month) of use, I’d open them and inspect them, and rate the wear and tear on the little lubrication strip. Kind of gross to handle other people’s used razors, but somewhat interesting to see the “real life use” impact on the strips. I spent 2.5 years doing all kinds of experiments on those goopy strips!
Nancy
Well, I’ll have to say I’ve never before met a razor strip tester in my entire life! In fact, I didn’t even know razor strip testing existed. Thanks for broadening my world view. 🙂
Hi Becky: Is this job related to what Nathan studied in school? I know that if your economy is still like ours (Canada) you take what you can and tasting ice cream I would take!! I realize that that isn’t all there is to the job but to me that seems like the best part.
Mel,
No, the job isn’t what he studied for but, as you said, in down economy, you learn to be flexible! Although the ice cream tasting is a very small part of what he does, I agree that it’s the best part. 🙂
I too am amazed at the intelligence and skill it takes to work in anything scientific or math related – I could have assisted with the ice cream sampling. I cracked up over the ping pong paddle – so Nathan. As far as weird things at work, I work for attorneys…nuf said!
Mary,
Yes, I’m sure when you work in an lawyers office you can say that you’ve seen it all! You might need to throw a little ice cream tasting in there to lighten your load!
Becky, I’ve long thought that you’re an absolutely amazing mother; the sacrifices you make for your family are a marvel. But this… sampling ice cream to help Nathan in his job… you’ve moved to the prototype for Mother of the Century!
I had to make a great sacrifice for my job, once. I taught high school severely emotionally handicapped during the regular school year, but in the summer I taught primary grade language impaired, which was a vacation in itself. There were lots of field trips, and the final one was to a water park! I had to spend the day going from the wave pool to “Floating down the river,” to water slides. Poor me. 🙂 🙂 🙂
Jan,
It’s a tough, tough life! 🙂
Becky, I just got caught up on your posts, and am hoping you are feeling better. Sounds like a pretty stressful but enjoyable trip to FL. Thanks for sharing.
Liz,
Thanks for dropping by and catching up! We had a GREAT trip to Florida; so much fun to see everything and do stuff we don’t usually get to do.
so nice to see Nathan’s work place. I’m surprised they allowed the photos to be taken in there. Looks like Nathan has put on a little wieght since getting married – he and Megan both look great. I know you had an awesome visit. I assume you will be going back when the “wee one” arrives. Hope you are feeling much better.
Becky,
It’s funny you mentioned Nate’s weight; he had a bet going on with a few friends where they were trying to lose a certain amount of weight and he was trying to gain a certain amount. Sadly, he wasn’t able to gain the amount he was shooting for. 🙂 But he has gained a little since he got married, thanks to Meagan’s good cooking!
I also noticed that Nathan has “filled-out” a bit — in a good way. He’s looking more manly and less young man-ish.
Anonymous
I would definitely have to agree; he’s definitely looking more mature. Not sure where that little fella of mine disappeared to! 🙂 The “filling out” looks good on him.