Hoists and Cranes and Robot Arms - Oh My!

One of the weirdest things about this internship is not something I even considered going in, and it's simply this -  that everybody seems to be married, or close to it. I'll admit that that should not have come as a surprise to me - I'm working with mostly older people who have been established for a while, but it was still a bit of a shock to go from an environment full of horny college kids to an environment where people ask about your kids. Even the intern who is one cubicle over has a wife and two kids (he is a bit older, though). It's a total change in attitude.

The internship is going well on pretty much every front. My manager likes me, my group lead loves me, and I'm getting a lot of good work done. My lead wonders how I get so much done, but I've gone from juggling a lot of classes in hard majors, having leadership positions in two clubs and being fairly active in two more, and trying to have a social life - to focusing on one or two things at a time and having my social life pretty much handed to me (the other interns are much better at planning stuff to do than I am, and my housemate has connections). Also, I don't have the experience to know how to responsibly procrastinate (yet) and I like what I'm doing much better than the stuff I'm doing at school. So yes, I do good work and I'm enjoying myself immensely. I'm definitely having a good experience

I'm still working mostly with cranes, hoists, and manipulators, and all of those can be more intricate than you'd think, especially if the operator can't be in the room with them. Some of the cranes in black cells, where no one will be allowed after the plant starts up because of intense radiation, have some pretty cool configurations that involve cameras and lasers. When I've visited the site, I've seen that there are two colors of cranes. The yellow cranes are permanent, and the blue ones come out after construction is done. There are a lot more permanent cranes in the buildings than temporary ones. 

Outside of work, I've been pretty active. My housemate is training for a triathlon, so I've been tagging along when she goes to the gym. I'm still biking a lot, more out of convenience than for exercise. I've gone out hiking a few times. Some hikes have been spectacular, some have just been so-so, but it's fun getting out with friends. I've also gone to a few more Tri-Cities Dust Devil baseball games, but they've lost every game I've been at, so I might stop going.

I've gained a guard dog. My housemate has two small poodles, and I've won the loyalty of one, D.O.G. (emphasis on the "O"), by virtue of my generosity with belly rubs and treats. He's quite the funny puppy.  

I missed 4th of July at home. In Washington, I saw some fireworks, and had some awesome ribs and a pint ..... of blueberries (still not quite drinking age). I miss the pageantry, and the awesome fireworks from back home, but nothing can quite compare to those on the coast.

TLDR: I'm doing fine, people like me, I like people, 4th of July at home is better.

Have a great week!