Mike and Matt travel north on I-5 toward Oak Harbor, WA, to deliver to a Walmart store. Mike assesses a promising recent job interview, while commemorating his first unemployment cheque.
Matt discusses his recent replacement of a blown air line found during a pre-trip inspection, ensuring the brakes are in full working order again. Gazing upon rainbows, job prospects, and improved stability, they reflect on what they are thankful for before approaching a freeway weigh station.
(Mike & Matt sing along to “Let’s Have A Kiki” by the Scissor Sisters)
Girl, I don't even know what to tell you! So I hope you're off, chica, 'cause we are all coming over!
Lock the door, lower the blind, fire up the smoke machine and put on your heels, bitch! Exactly what we need:
Let's have a kiki! Locks the doors tight.
Let me have a kiki, motherfucker! Let's have a dive turn, let's have a twirl!
A kiki is a party for calming your nerves,
We're spilling tea and dishing just as you said!
Although the sun is rising, you may choose to leave,
So shake that honey, honey!
Mike:
Good afternoon, it is Thanksgiving Eve! It does not feel like a holiday at all, or that we're even getting close to a holiday. So happy Thanksgiving Eve, and/or hump day for those of you who don't celebrate Thanksgiving in America.
For those of you who've already celebrated Thanksgiving up in Canada about a month ago, happy hump day, happy Wednesday!
So this is Mike George and your wonderful driver...
Matt:
I'm Matthew Gutierrez.
Mike:
We are coming at you live from north of Seattle on I-5, pretty close to the Canadian border. We are on course to deliver our next load for the famed retail behemoth Walmart.
Oh, what is going on here? Looks like we are reaching a congestion point up here on this bridge.
Everyone's saying, 'Get me out of America for Thanksgiving,' right? We are thankful for Canada!
Matt:
I'm thankful for brakes!
Mike:
Yes, brakes are swell.
Today has been a fun-filled morning. We delivered to a Walmart location slightly northeast of Seattle, and now we're heading to Oak Harbor. We are crossing a beautiful little bridge here over a river that looks awfully full from all the rain we've been encountering.
Fresh from an Interview
Anyhoo, I just got done with my interview at the Bonneville Power Administration!
It was a phone interview that was scheduled for half an hour and went about an hour, so I feel like I captured their attention. This was for a role as a Senior Planning Engineer at Bonneville Power, otherwise known as BPA. They own and operate the Federal Columbia River Basin Transmission System that runs throughout the Pacific Northwest, as well as a 1,000-mile-long DC line connecting directly from the John Day Dam near Portland all the way down to Los Angeles.
I think the interview went wonderfully, and I feel really good about it. We threw a couple curveballs at each other — a fun little exchange with nothing too dramatic or ominous. Matt overheard part of my interview while I let him do his thing. Now the question is just how long it will take to find out if I got the job or if there's another step in the process.
I received my first unemployment cheque today, which was awesome! I'm no longer in the negative in my account balance, so I actually have a little bit of spending money of my own now.
Shoutout to the state of Ohio for their public services and the efficiency of their operations to get approved for unemployment benefits. As much as we like to pretend we hate government — especially in Ohio amongst all the Republicans here — the government worked for me, and hopefully pretty soon I'll be working for the government!
We're on our way to Oak Harbor, Washington, which is on a peninsula over the sound, so we have to go north, west, and then south.
Getting this planning role would be amazing because planning is the next step I've always wanted to take in my utility career—a good segue into business development or corporate work where I'd interact with large industrial customers plugging into our grid. I was interviewed by three department supervisors within the transmission planning organization at BPA, covering areas like reliability planning and service planning.
BPA is a really awesome organization with an advanced power grid interconnecting dams and natural resources, plus a huge commitment to environmental stewardship. They have big programs managing fish in the Columbia River, building fisheries and fish ladders so fish can bypass the dams.
Holiday Runs & Brakes Fixed
Matt:
Getting ready for the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday just means we're busy running freight—delivering foodstuffs to a lot of hungry people.
Thank god for pre-trip inspection, because I had a blown airline! I got a fix going yesterday, and now our brakes work awesomely and there's no more migraine!
Mike:
The day before yesterday, we got to see a beautiful rainbow over the Yakima Valley region of Washington State, and we got a little glimpse of a rainbow earlier on this broadcast leaving Seattle. Rainbows, kickass job interviews, the holidays coming up, and money in my pocket—I have a lot to be thankful for! Matthew, what are you thankful for?
Matt:
I'm thankful for a short Facebook video 'cause we're coming up to a weigh station where we can't record!
Mike:
The authorities are onto us! We have to pull over for a weigh station pretty soon, so we better get off here. Coming at you live from north of the Puget Sound, bye everybody!
