I'm always one to celebrate the more obscure holidays. After all, they receive the least press, the least Hallmark coverage, and most importantly, the least amount of employers willing to accommodate a paid vacation day. I'm always one to shoot for the underdog, the least privileged of the group -- because after all, if I can open someone else's eyes to something new or surprising, and it doesn't break my bank, why shouldn't I?

Today was "Bring Your Audience to Work Day," definitely one of the more obscure occasions of note. Created by a leading young visionary in the online blogosphere, this special day aims to shed light on the professional lives of bloggers, authors, and even stage professionals who have unusual day jobs.

This summer, as in January, I've perched myself atop the flat terrain of Fort Worth, Texas, as I continue to explore the complex field of freight railroading. I'm not out working in a rail yard -- I've actually got a desk job at the BNSF Railway's national operations center, working in the area of Service Design. (Basically, figuring out how to make trains move more quickly, efficiently, and cost-effectively along BNSF's 25,000-mile railroad.)

I thought that, as part of today's underappreciated holiday festivities, I would bring you a window into my daily commute (sadly, by automobile - but at least it's not too long) and into my work surroundings.

This morning, I woke up late, thanks to two conflicting alarm clocks, one of which somehow reset itself to Eastern Time when I hooked it up via Bluetooth to my GPS. I had to get out of bed and look at the microwave clock to realize that I got up a whole hour early, so I went back to bed and woke up 45 minutes late. No matter - this is the first time it's happened since my arrival, and I stayed late today to compensate. :) (Despite being a performance-oriented shop, work's a very laid back atmosphere, with fun projects, personable supervisors, and pleasant co-interns. Most of them attend universities within a 200-mile radius.)

Good morning, I'm so happy to be awake at 8-in-the-moooorning!





Yeah, it's trash day.



This attractive housing tract in North Fort Worth provides a predictable, neighborly base for my summer lodging.






Well, it looks like I've been stymied by a recycle bin. I had to throw the e-brake and move the darned thing!






Yeah, there is a full-fledged elementary school within the housing subdivision. I couldn't believe it, either.












A tad agrarian, no?



























That's a Starbucks. Never seen one before, honest.



A Whataburger and a Waffle House.







































Beep! The gate opens and I am granted entry to the automobile kingdom.











































































I sit right between Jacob (junior at Texas A&M) and Sarah (junior at Texas Tech).









Sodexho calls this the "Smoke House Club." It was pretty good.

We have pretty cool courtyards with rail cars, fountains, landscaping, the works!

Sorry guys, no pictures of my messy bedroom.

Comments (Closed after 30 days to reduce spam)

Very nice courtyard indeed!

Posted by: Edgar on July 3, 2007

PICTURES!!!!!!!

Wow, sounds like an interesting way to spend the summer =) Tell us more about your work when you can!

Posted by: Wings '11 on July 3, 2007

you're lucky there wasn't much traffic, there are a lot of pictures on roads

Posted by: sarah '11 on July 3, 2007

I always miss all the cool holidays.

Good stuff Anthony, enjoy your well-deserved summer break.

Posted by: Paul '11 on July 3, 2007

Today is also Stay out of the Sun day. Who would've thought the two coincided?

Posted by: Jess on July 3, 2007

I am soooo... Happy!
I got accepted into University of Melbourne,,,,, So if I don't make it to MIT for class of 2012 atleast I ll have a good uni to go to!!!!

NIce pics by the way!!!

Ankit Chandra
Gaborone, Botswana

Posted by: Ankit Chandra on July 3, 2007

Whataburger, yeah! I am gonna miss it in Cambridge. =(

Posted by: Zaira '11 on July 3, 2007

Texas is so flat, you can see so much sky. Here in northern Georgia it's very hilly (bad for biking) and there are trees everywhere, so I can't see the sunset and the sunrise.

Posted by: Maia '11 on July 3, 2007

hahah, i had mistakenly skipped your specifying the location of your internship, but a look at the pics was enuf to understand it was Texas! :D

Posted by: intl'11 on July 3, 2007

I feel like the intent of the bollards was cancelled by your thorough documentation of entry/exit points.
Nice work!
Yay for the flat, flat one-story South!

Posted by: Ruth '07 on July 7, 2007

Comments have been closed.