Good Times at BG

Today was my first day off, after a 7-day stretch. I did nothing. I'm back on an overnight shift, so with my sleep schedule, I didn't get up till 5PM, and at that point there's not a whole lot to go out and do. I tried to go grocery shopping, but the store closed at 8PM instead of 9PM like the website says, and I got there at 8:15PM. I did stop at Kmart for some spot remover for my carpet, and some insoles for my work boots. Exciting.

Since I have done nothing exciting lately, and have cooked and baked even less than usual, I guess I'll just fill everyone in on what I've been doing at work. I'm not sure what I'm actually allowed to tell people, since they're weird about social media and revealing company secrets and stuff.... But, I don't think letting people know what I actually do, and posting a few pictures of public park stuff will hurt.

 

         ^ Rhine River Cruise boats, covered in net lights and twinkle lights.


So when I got this gig, I'm not really sure what I was expecting. Some kind of park-wide backstage work, I guess. Which... is kind of what I do, it's just not really at all theatrical, and most of the time it feels like I'm on a construction crew or something. I basically work with an outside contractor that they bring in to do all of the decoration for the big park events. We just finished up Illuminights. It was 50 days long, with about a month of set-up before, and a week of strike after. It was kind of a celebration of light and an end-of-summer kind of thing, with fireworks at the end of every night. We covered trees, buildings, bushes, boats, and bridges in strings and nets of lights. Set up a few bubble machines. Blew up some big hot air balloons.

^ France! I spent half of install here, screwing in bulbs and hanging garland and Fleur-de-lis.


Once everything was in place and the event started, I was on the maintenance crew. We basically just walked around the park and replaced bulbs, fixed problems, plugged and unplugged stuff, etc. It was mostly just a lot of walking. I would say the loop in the park is over a mile and we would have to walk the whole thing anywhere from 5-10 times a night. Now you see why I didn't join a gym!

                             ^ Ireland. There was a bit of a rainbow theme.


A lot of the lights and decorations are on the sides or tops of buildings, so I spend a lot of time in aerial lifts, 30-60ft off the ground.  I also drive forklifts, and 12-, 16-, and 24-foot flatbed trucks. See where the whole construction crew comparison comes in?

^ Giant chicken coops in Germany. We had to replace strings of lights constantly. Pain in the butt.


While this whole thing might not be quite what I expected, at least it's close to my field, and I'm getting lots of new experiences. I like most of the people that I work with, and there's rarely a dull moment! I have come to realize that this probably isn't what I want to do with the rest of my life, but it'll be good for a year or two, and I can keep expanding my skill set, making connections, and looking for my dream job. Gotta start somewhere, and I do love the area. I think I'm where I need to be for the time being.

 ^ Fireworks! I didn't have anything to do with these, but they were pretty. :-)


Now that Illuminights is over and everything is taken down, we start install for Howl-o-Scream. None of that has gone public yet, so I can't reveal anything or post any pictures. It's pretty creepy, though. If you like the whole Halloween thing, you should probably come check it out. It runs Sept. 14-Oct. 28. If I like you enough, I could even get you a comp ticket. :-P