Whataburger

At home, I feel like every other commercial is for Jack in the Box or Sonic but I never see them on the road.  Well Texas has their own major chain except it's the exact opposite.  I've never seen a Whataburger commercial , but I can't go two blocks in any direction without passing one by.  Which is exactly what I've been doing up until last weekend.  My last Texas stint was Whataburger-less, but Saturday morning my trainee buddies and I were in dire need of some Texas-style greasiness.  Enter, a #1 with cheese:

Whataburger = Texas

I'm definitely not as experienced in the burger department as I am with pizza so don't expect an in-depth review.  The food is what you'd expect from a place like this, although I should point out the burger doesn't come with any ketchup and the cheese isn't all that melted.  However, it definitely did the trick.  I felt like friday never happened...which was a good thing.

I'm lucky to have made some awesome friends when I was in Tyler and even luckier to have met up with them in Houston.  We had an awesome night out and finished off the weekend with a good ol' Tyler Tradition: Disc Golf.

L to R: Josh, Chastin, and Me on the disc course.

Texas Healthcare

When karma finds out you get to work in The Bahamas everything else just gets more difficult.  For instance, today I ended up at the shakiest doctor's office in America to get my medical certification.  It was miserable from beginning to end but I'll only share the worst part. 

So the doctor just left and I'm waiting for the nurse to administer a typhoid shot into my arm.  And I'm waiting, and waiting, and waiting.  Over a half-hour later I peek my head out and ask the nurse, "did you guys forget about me?"  She put down her Snickers (fun-size) and looks at the wall where my clipboard was being neglected, "Let's see," she says, "oh yes, yes, I'll be right with you..."  I stand in the doorway for ten more seconds, went back in, and it was fourteen minutes till she came back.  I gotta go back to work!  I know, waiting a long time isn't a big deal.  But, here's where the "fun" begins.  

The tardy nurse takes the syringe, holds it up like nurses do, flicks it, and squirts some in the air...RIGHT ABOVE MY PANTS!  Are you kidding me?!?!?!  And down comes a drizzle of typhoid juice onto my work pants.  Thats gag.  I was disgusted, so I stared at my pants in shock, looked back at her for a quick second, and looked back down.  She didn't even say anything except for "Ok, deep breath, 1, 2, 3..."  What a joke.  Now you know why I don't get shots.  Thanks Texas.

But wait, there's more.  After the shot, she gets her fingers all caught in the band-aid and it folds over itself.  So, by the time she unfolds it she looks like she just completed four Magic Eye puzzles and she says, "Ok, where's the mark now?  Ummmmm here it is (smack)."  Ya right.  Tomorrow I'm gonna wake up with a bruise above my band-aid.  No chance she found it.  Thanks again, Texas.

Addendum 1 - BAHAMAS

I'll tell you the latest news about my field assignment if you promise not to ask "when?" or "how long?"  We got a deal?  Ok, well today one of the project managers came by my cube and handed me a work-related "grocery list":

-(4) Passport Pictures

-Medical Certification

-Police Certification

-Various Forms and Papers

All of these items need to be taken taken care of before I can work outside the country.  I don't know, I just do what I'm told.  Attaining this work approval takes about four weeks so I imagine that will be right around the time I'll be leaving for the site...in The Bahamas. 

The Site. No, that's not The Atlantis.

I won't exactly be snorkling to the jobsite or drinking Bahama Mamma's at my desk...far from it.  My company doesn't build luxury resorts, we build massive, ugly, steel tanks.  Well, that's not all we do but that's what I'll be doing.  I'll also help construct a massive pipeline for these big uglies. 

This is all I know and all I need to know.  I knew before I arrived in Texas that at some point I'll be off to the field so it doesn't do any good to nag my boss for info or ask him thirty questions a day.  If i needed to know, I would know and if my boss knew, he would tell me.  That's just the way it is.  It used to be suspensful and make me lose sleep, but now I know it's just standard operating procedure.  Welcome to the Engineering and Construction Industry, Berto.

PS - The project manager on this job went to New Trier so I'll be answering to him the whole time.  I guess this is revenge since New Trier kids were at my mercy all throughout high school.  OOOOOOOOOOH.   Frickin karma, I swear.