I have a like/hate relationship with this town.

I work in what I would call a "big-small" town. It's about 26,000 people, which is twice the size of Rolla (which isn't saying much). We have a Wal-Mart, two Walgreens and a race track. There are a few churches and a few 'mom and pop' resturants. The downtown square is undergoing a major rehab and is actually a fun place to go. So here's the real reasons why I have a like/hate relationship with this town.

1) I'm here. By myself.
I didn't think it was going to be a huge deal moving to a new town. I usually make friends pretty easily and try to get along with the people around me. I did it before in Kansas City, so no big deal, right? Well, I forgot that this was rural Illinois. A place where most everyone in the town grew up with everyone else and I don't know anybody. Sure, I hang out occasionally with my home brew club or some of the guys from work but not only are they in their 30s to 50s, but they just don't stack up to the amazing friends I've had over the past few years.

2) This job is boring.
When I was in school, no one ever told me that you could be paid to design ditches, the same ditches, over and over again, for 4 months. If they had, I would have run away screaming. So guess what I do at work? I design ditches. That's it. I almost like it because it's super easy but I hate it because it's super easy. The first assignment I got, my (awful) boss told me that engineering takes time, so don't rush it. I get that, but I'm not the kind of person that does things slow. I take an hour long test in 20 minutes and still get a good grade on it. So when I finished my first task "too quickly", he was really surprised and said, "Are you sure you did it all correctly?" And then made me redo it. I didn't change a thing, sat on my ass for about 2-3 hours and then gave it back to him. He reviewed it and told me how well I was learning. WTF. Since then, I've learned to space out my ditch designing. I'm really not the type of person to enjoy working at a leisurely pace. I love it when I'm on a deadline, I have to make it to a meeting, or have oh, I don't know, ANY responsibilities of any sort. I have none of that here. I guess I should be happy that I'm getting paid to do virtually nothing, but it feels kind of stupid.

3) I get paid.
I really quite like this aspect of being out of college and my job. Who wouldn't? It allows me to take my parents out to dinner/beer festivals/whatever, buy almost whatever beer/beer making equipment I want, buy a brand new car, live in a nice part of town, etc, etc. (Please don't take this like I'm bragging about the money I make.) I don't actually make a lot, but when you don't have kids/responsiblities/a spouse, it's hard to spend it on something worthwhile. Which brings me to my next point.

4) This place is CHEAP.
Rent and housing here is ridiculously inexepensive. For instance, you can buy a house in the historic district for around $100k. Something like that would cost anywhere from $500k upwards in the St. Louis area. In fact, a co-worker just sold his house (albeit run down) in the historic district for $15,000. I literally bought my car for more than that. WTF. Also, pints of beer at bars are $2.50 on FRIDAYS, and not during happy hour either. That's like Grotto prices. Although, the price of a six-pack of Schlafly Pale Ale is $10 at the liqour store. I might like Schlafly, but there is no way in hell I'm paying $10 for six of them. I'll wait until I get into St. Louis.

5) Traveling.
Because I don't spend a lot of money here, I have the amazing oppourtunity to travel the country. I probably wouldn't want to travel as much if I lived in St. Louis, but I can always go for an excuse to fly to Denver to visit breweries or KC to hit up the Flying Saucer!

6) Traveling.
Because I live in rural Illinois, I have to travel to get anything or see anyone of even remote importance to me. Let's say that I want to buy fresh ginger root for a beer I'll be brewing. Or I want to find some simple lab equipment for harvesting yeast. I can't get it here. I have to drive at least 30 miles to the nearest city or wait until I'm in St. Louis again.

7) My workplace
Beyond my glorious and highly regarded duties as a ditch designer, my workplace is strange. Which sounds weird, but let me explain. First off, you would actually have to try to get fired from this place. At first this sounds like a great thing, but it's a real motivation killer. For instance, the fat guy next to me told the Preseident of the company that he wasn't going to clean his desk(s) because he thought it was stupid. (Side story: his office looks like it could be on an episode of Hoarders. It has even spilled over into two of the offices across the hall.) Had that been said to any of my other bosses, well, it wouldn't have been pretty. Promotions are based on how you know the President of the company and not work performance too, so there's another motivation killer. Secondly, we have scheduled breaks at 9:30am and 2:30pm, a scheduled lunch from 12pm to 1pm and can only work from 8am to 5pm. Flex time is HIGHLY frowned upon. I've never worked anywhere that hasn't encouraged flex time. I'm sorry if I am more productive at 6am than I am at 5pm, I figured you would want me to work when I am most productive. No? Okay then... anyway, I have to nearly beg my boss to let me come into work early for an hour so I can leave an hour early on a Friday. And then when I do, I get shit about it all day from nearly everyone. It's not like I'm a doctor that is scheduled for open-heart surgery all day, I design ditches. The office will still keep chugging along if I come in early and leave early. GEEZ.


All in all, I think I would like this place a lot more if I wasn't in my 20s and single (because it's actually a nice, inexpensive, crime-free town) and if I wasn't designing ditches for a company run by the 'good old boys'. But for now, I think I'll stick to livin' cheap, making beer and having weekend adventures.

233 days until my lease is up.