The first half of 2013 has been a bit rough. Charleston is a charming city, but its charm is — in my opinion — best experienced with friends rather than alone. Working somewhere around 50 55-hr work weeks (which doesn’t include meal or commute time!) in the span of a year isn’t conducive to a healthy social life, so I’ve gradually begun to develop a case of Wanderlust that I so happily nurtured in 2011. Luckily, I have always had an overzealous shutter finger to remind me of easier times and an overactive imagination to dream of when I can do this again.

Germany

The Autobahn and good drivers, the happiness and fun-loving nature of Munich, and a sunset in a small village not so far away from Stuttgart.

Switzerland

Oh, the mountains of the Bernese Oberland. Even in summer, they’re so majestic yet so peaceful. In their shadows, I can quietly contemplate my insignificance in this world.

Mt. Rainier

My first love is a rock. That should speak volumes about my mental condition.

Fortunately for my travel insanity, I was told that I would go to Germany in June, thereby breaking me out of my stuck-locally spell. Unfortunately for my travel insanity, there is an overuse of the word “should” in the world of manufacturing. It’s most prevalent with technical discussions. The laws of physics undoubtedly still apply, but because our machine design isn’t done locally, we interject “should” into most descriptions of simple tasks to express cautious optimism. Here are some innocuous examples:

“Well, we cleaned one torque gun already, so the others should be easy to clean.”
[oops, the other torque guns were made with a different drawing revision, so cleaning them was trial by learning.]

“We already inspected the station, so alignment shouldn’t take more than 30 minutes.”
[the dowel pins supporting the anvil were missing, so setting the final alignment took four hours.]

Unbeknownst to me [sarcasm], this verb also finds a home in the world of planning: I was supposed to go to our German leadplant with three projects;

“All three should be ready by the time you arrive. Book your flights accordingly.”

The irony is of course that my travel was postponed by a week due to the same modifier as the one used for technical guarantees, but the good news nevertheless remained that I’d be able to wander again. In the meantime, the nostalgia of The Time of Many Trips and Mountains would have to wait one more week before being satisfied…