Saturday, November 24, 2012

Pretty Pink Tractor - Tim Hawkins








Yes. I went there.

A parody of a country song is as close as I'm willing to get to "country".

You'll find out why if you keep reading.


This week was crazy. Fun, but crazy.

We spent most of the week fixing up a facility that will be used for radio transmission to the Pacific.
We were working on top of a mountain and the wind was wonderful. Not as strong as in Hawaii, but just as refreshing (and the wind/sun comb was not as deceptive). We started working at 7:30 every morning, had an hour lunch break at noon, and continued working until sundown (about 5:15-5:30). We usually had a devotional after dinner as well.

The people we were working with recently built a new building for the radio facility so it had to be insulated and a bunch of other stuff. We took down a steel fence (i.e. tying wood for stability, cutting it apart, and moving it with a tractor). 

Pretty Pink Tractor was stuck in my head the whole time I drove the tractor. By the end of the week, I was known as the city girl turned country. Believe me, I still much rather prefer to do mental labor inside four walls than physical labor in the wide open. But if the opportunity to drive a tractor comes up again... I'm probably going to jump at it. 

By the way, Tim Hawkins is a comedian who also does pretty good song parodies. I saw him live in September. It was awesome. ^_^

We painted some of the studio rooms too. We didn’t get to much of the actual radio work, but we did a lot of the prep work involved in such a project. The closest we got to the radio stuff was on the last day when we recorded a few radio tags (i.e. “You’re listening to Pacific Broadcast Network…”).

The week I learned a bunch of stuff:

- How to insulate a building (with evil false cotton candy of death)
- How to cut through rusted chicken wire (gloves are optional, so is pain)
- How to lash wooden planks to steel poles (with rusted chicken wire)
- How to drive a tractor (Favorite part of the week ^_^ )
- Tubular steel fences are heavy (and hard to pull up from the ground, even with a tractor)
- Solid steel bars are heavy (especially when attached to a steel fence)
- Physical labor means moving stuff from over here to over there (wood, rocks, fences) 
- Meeting new people can be fun (Missionaries are awesome)
- Physical work makes you too exhausted for any mental work (or any mental function in general)
- Recording tags for a radio station is pretty cool (just don’t think about all the people listening)
- Poking people is entertaining (especially when everyone is tired)
- A "landing" actually refers to a place for boats, not planes (who knew?)
- Good friends are a gift (James 1:17)
- There is always hope (always)

Here’s a cool quote from an 8-year-old girl (taken entirely out of context).
“I need to learn how to use these wings before they go to waste.”

It’s always kind of amusing when I get back early and campus is still empty. I came back and I didn’t see a single soul in my whole dorm until a few hours after I arrived. 

Here's what went on in my mind when I got back:

5:30 - Oh, doesn’t look like anyone’s here yet. I should start unpacking
6:00 - Done. Wait, no one’s here… I can turn up the music and sing. ^_^
6:30 - Wow, I’m actually alone. I can sing as loud and as long as I want! :D
7:00 - *goes downstairs to do laundry* You know, this would be an excellent location for a zombie apocalypse. (OO) *hurries back to room*
7:30 - *turns down music, locks doors, and contemplates how long I can survive in my room with my current provisions*
8:00 - *hears shuffling and doors being opened/closed. Carefully peeks into the hall. Realizes that it’s a person and not a zombie. Closes door, locks it, and resumes normal function*
8:30 - *creeps downstairs to change out laundry* *Mentally prepares self in case a zombie suddenly emerging from the shadows… squeaks in terror at a roach*

Hehe... *ahem* Moving on.


This song came on the radio as we were driving back to TN and I thought it was fitting. This week was a good way to get away from school. I was stressed out right before the trip, down to the night before we left. Now that all that is out of the way and I’ve had a week off (without any chance to think about school and the stresses thereof), I’m ready for these last few weeks. 

I’m ready to go home, but I’m also ready to finish out this semester first.


~ Never Alone ~

No comments:

Post a Comment