alabama

I went on a work trip last week to Alabama. The place I was in is literally in the middle of no where (you should look at the google aerial link I have above). I really don't know where they get the people to work there. I stayed in Meridian, Mississippi, which was about a 50 minute drive and there are quite a few of the employees that live there, too. I can't imagine driving that far every day.

I thought about taking some pictures of some of the dilapidated houses that I saw near the mill, but I didn't have time, plus I didn't want to give everyone an impression that all the houses look a certain way. I did see some nice houses, too. I'll try to take more pics on my next trip.

I only took this one picture of the sun setting off of the freeway entrance, the calm after the storm. This was the day that it poured the entire day, I had to go to Wal-Mart and purchase a cheap rain coat, so I wouldn't get drenched when I walked into the mill. There was some heavy lightning from this storm, too. There were a few strikes that were right above me while I was driving, kind of scary and they kept having tornado warnings on the radio. I'm glad I didn't see any of those.When I'm in paper mills, I normally don't ever see the end product, the paper. I spend most of my time in the pulp mill. But this time, I was lucky to be given a tour inside. They make tissue at this mill (tp, paper towels, napkins). The tissue-forming/drying machines are much more compact than a paper machine that makes paper that you write on or paper that is used to make boxes. And they move a lot faster. I then saw the area where they cut the rolls down to size and package. It's all automated, even the fork-lift trucks were automated. I felt like I was on the Discovery channel's, how it's made show.

While in Meridian, I ate at a Thai restaurant that was recommended to me by an engineer at the paper mill. I had my doubts, since I've found that a lot of Asian restaurants in the south aren't that great, but she told me it was really good. After getting lost trying to find Faraway Places, I found it in an industrial part of town. I still had doubts when I pulled up, since it's in a double-wide and when you first enter, you can see a living room area with tv and couch in the corner. I thought, this is a weird place. I still decided to stay and ended up having some spring rolls and a red chicken curry dish. It was great, just as good as a Thai place in Seattle, but with very nice Southern hospitality. The owners are Thai and the wife told me her daughter lives in Seattle. I was also told to try this Mexican restaurant while I was there, but knew it would be just like any other Mexican restaurant in the south, bland. They don't use anything to flavor their chicken or even their salsa. The salsa is like tomato sauce. I guess they cook for the southerners, but I don't understand why they don't like any flavor and have to use lots of cheese. Maybe I'll find a good southern Mexican restaurant someday....