My little field service engineer's club

There are a few co-workers that I have enjoyed the company of(:) in my tenure, who are not ignorant rednecks, and one of them is Josh, who is also in Orlando doing this session that I am a part of.

Josh is genuinely better at what we do than I am, and he is only 25.

I will not admit being worse at what I do than someone else too very often, but in this case, I will. Because it is true, in this one rare occasion.

Josh has been the engineer on the opposite shift of me on many many jobs in the last couple years, and he always has the answers I was wondering about, when 7AM shift turnover rolls around.

Plus, Josh has a lazy eye and he slaps you like the bitch you are, if you're accidentally talking to him while looking at the wrong one. I always liked that.

Josh is getting married in two weeks. He has a house and he enjoys working on crappy trucks and motorcycles, and he is actually very mechanically inclined, which is fitting, since he is a mechanical engineer.

I have a mechanical engineering degree, but I'm not very mechanically inclined. Or actually, I sort of am, except I have not taken an out-and-out interest in my ability to be mechanically inclined, because I am too busy collecting records and finding meaning in Holden Caufield and just generally being questionably masculine.

But Josh is a mechanically-inclined mechanical engineer. He is looking for a new job, too. He says that he can't think of anyone in our little group who ISN'T looking for a new job. Which gave me the courage I needed to apply to two more companies, today.

And just like anybody, Josh likes a good deal.

We went to eat at Hop's for dinner. And the waitress absolutely recommended the $19.99 for two steak dinners and dessert. It was agreed by all three of us, that this was truly a good deal.

I think I nodded a Daffy Duck sort of nod.

We got the good deal.

But after the steaks, the dessert was a medium-sized key lime pie, placed strategically in the center of the table, with one spoon given to me, and one spoon given to Josh.

Josh's slightly agape jaw was hinting to me that he did not like the idea of romantically sharing a key lime pie.

I was going to ask him if he would like me to spoon delicious mouthfuls onto his waiting tongue, but I wasn't sure if he would laugh. Plus, the dude's getting married in a few weeks, so...

I asked the waitress to fetch us two smallish plates, in my feat of assertiveness for the day, and blamed the whole thing on silliness, and the key lime pie ended up being delicious!

Josh, I raise my pint of delicious Hefeweizen to you, in a sort of beer-ovation of workerly respect! You will be one of five or six people that I will remember from this job with fondlingliness. Or fondness. Oops.

Huzzah!