Apparently there are lots of Amish in the area but we didn't get to drive through some of the little towns. Interesting story about that from one of my colleagues. He saw an Amish girl at the airport using a cell phone and playing video games. Not what you would expect from a culture that tends to shun modern devices. I didn't realize, like most people, that the Amish don't reject all technology. In fact there are lots of things they do use, in some cases computers and cell phones. In some of the towns it is about certain voltages and electric current, in others it's more about outside power and being self-sustaining. Either way it was eye opening for me.
Flying to Fort Wayne was interesting. To get there I went through Cincinnati and expected delays and huge crowds, it being American Thanksgiving weekend and all. In the end it was fine. The plane was crowded but at least I wasn't sitting next to the fellow behind me who prayed with his wife on the phone for about five minutes before the plane took off. He was noticeable nervous about flying and pretty much shared his whole conversation with everyone. The return trip was even more annoying as a hot-shot business man sitting next to me proceeded to converse on his Bluetooth headset about all his business deals to the point someone had to ask him to be quiet. (The lesson here is to respect others while on the phone in a confined space.) He also kept complaining about being in a the last row by the lavatory. At least he was going home, which is more than some people. I thought he would never hang up but finally did when the plane started moving. The flight attendant gave him a nasty look and that pretty much sealed it.
Getting home I flew through Atlanta and just missed Jane as she was headed to Orlando for FLOREX (a stamp and philately show.) In Fort Wayne security at the airport was very friendly but I can honestly say it was the laxest I have ever seen. The fellow in front of me got a lighter through and didn't even try to hide it. It went through the x-ray machine in plain sight and no-one said a thing. I'm sure the TSA would love to hear that.
In the plant things went well. I didn't have much time to spend seeing other processes but did get a pretty good feel for the size of the plant. The thing was huge. One thing I knew going in was that they make the tires for the US Military's HumVee. The neat part is how they name them. In the plant each tire has an alphanumeric code. The codes are used to identify the tire and appear as six inch letter on the tread. In the case of the two HumVee tires the codes are HONOR and HERO. No matter what your stand on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, I appreciate what little things like this can do for the moral of individuals overseas when they see the tires arrive it must be neat.
Food in Fort Wayne was pretty good. I ate at Hall's Gas Town and had a fillet steak and a crab cake with German fried potatoes (very sweet adn tangy). I also ate the best gumbo in the north east. It was so good we went back another night for more. They also had the best raspberry sweet tea. Another good spot was Paula's Seafood. Now I know what you are thinking, seafood, that far away from the ocean, can't be good. Well I fancy myself a little bit of a connoisseur when it comes to fish and it was very good, and fresh. The mussels were from PEI (which didn't hurt) and the clams and crab were excellent. The place had a fish market too that had all sorts of good stuff in it. I can honestly say I was very pleasantly surprised since I wasn't expecting great things. Too bad I won't be going back anytime soon.
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