Let's Get Brainwashed.

I am finally done with the group project, which was getting frustrating. When people are learning something new, there can be a lot of uncertainty and hesitation with doing something because there is a fear of doing it wrong. Well, multiply that by 3 people and 1 anthropologist, and it gets to be too much.

Last night I had room service for dinner - pizza and wine!

I am awake the earliest I have ever been here so that I can pack up and leave right after class. I have a presentation to do today about my project. I worked on that last night too. I'll be back in about 3 weeks for part 3!

Today we spent going over basic statistics. Fun! When was the last time I did manual calculations of standard deviation, variation, mean, mode, and median?

Here it is! Our device to kill the vermin. Today we practiced using it and took measurements.

Look what I got today! What a surprise gift to find waiting for me at the front desk. They're great. Merci, mon ami mon amor! You're the best!

A pipe burst in the kitchen, which is right next to our training room. So we are being moved to another conference room, named Dolores. We get a half hour break as they move our stuff from Abbey South to Dolores. It was funny because my group's tables were right next to the door to the kitchen and all we could hear was a loud jackhammer. My group wondered about the noise: is that how they make our Tuesday lunch? I thought: is that how they make the biscuits? And then the instructor found out it was because of a pipe.

I did a funny thing tonight: I went to the university and ate dinner in the student union food court. Now, this is especially funny because when I was in college I had too many issues with eating and being alone, and never did such a thing. I could not eat food when I was alone and in public. It caused many problems because when I get hungry I cannot concentrate at all, so it amazes me that I was able to pay attention in class and go the whole day without eating back then. Look at me now! What a difference a near-decade makes.

Then, I went to the library and found a quiet desk on the third floor and worked on a short story. It was so delicious to sit there, surrounded by Italian books (I happened to be next to that aisle). Unfortunately a group of kids came up to my floor and took over a table and decided to debate something for one of their classes. One kid dominated the conversation - he was lecturing the rest of them. I bet he'll be a professor when he grows up.

Now I have homework for my training. I have to calculate Takt time, OEE, and more for the group project.

Each week we have a group project to work on. This week is the Stat-a-pault, a device that is supposed to kill varmint in a grocery store. Now, first off, I though varmint was a misspelling on our handout - but I later found out that this is an Americanized term of "vermin." The device needs to kill 300 vermin a day, so we have some statistics to work out, and later this week we will actually get to test a real device and shoot little ping pong balls. Are you jealous?

I went for a run and feel much better. The daylight lasts longer this month. Many people in the class are from cold regions, so they are loving the 70-degree daytime temperature.

It's week two for my training/education in problem solving, so I am back at the same hotel, with the same folks, and the same menu. The newness has worn off, so I was not very alert this first morning. We studied material replenishment this morning - exploring such things as having the right amount of inventory at the right time, meeting demands, and the ideal situation of having a pull system. Boring stuff, right? It will be hard to be an anthropologist this week.

The only highlight this morning is that this time we are in a different conference room with a door that opens directly to the outdoors. (Last month, we had to go inside a hallway to get to the conference room.) On our break, someone propped open the door and 3 sparrows flew in seeking out food. It startled a few of the ladies, who screamed when one bird flew toward their table. By the way - an observation - this time a clique of women chose to sit together. The instructor noticed and pointed out their table is all women, and almost all from the same company. He thinks we should all take turns sitting with different groups. No one moved, so he dropped the issue.

I just had lunch. Apparently the restaurant has a menu for 1 week. So every Monday they serve the same food, every Tuesday the same, etc. So I know that tomorrow they will have biscuits. They're quite good.