1 Down, How Many More To Go?

Soooooooooo, that was a long day of work. Officially ending the day at 23.oo local time, that would be about a 13 hour workday. The idea of writing an entry at this point is ridiculous, so I'll keep it short and sweet. In total, we had 4 trucks come in from two different vineyards. Two girls helping sort, 2 hired hands dumping from the truck onto the sorting table, another part time intern helping with sorting, Alberto (the guy that gets shit done), Bernardo (the new guy that has something to prove to the bosses), myself (the Californian with a funny accent), Sergio (Overseeing and pitching in here and there), Kirk and his wife Roxanna (helping with sorting and shoveling up the spewed stems), 3 dogs, 3 kids, Kirk's brother and wife (enjoying the show) and various truck drivers watch us in desperation hoping that we'd finish up sooner so they could go crack some beer on the couch.

What does that equal? 16,050 kg of grapes or about 18 tons.

WHEW!

What gets overlooked by the numbers is all the work that accounts for nothing, namely, the cleaning. Anybody that has worked a crush knows that at the end of the day, when you've spent the extra gas you were saving already, the thought of clean up is hideous. You all know that the savvy, slink off to the bathroom, find something in their shoe which won't come out and even take off. That is what happened today. Of all the people that we had today, the cleaning was performed by myself, Alberto the Rock, and one of the hired mercenaries. A 30 min clean up turned into an hour plus and if my body wasn't already pissed off at me, it finally starting putting its foot down and refusing to do as ordered as I swept up the days remnants.

The positive sign of today's events is that after one day, nothing has changed. I can see myself doing this exact same think for quite a few more. There is something very rewarding about busting your ass. Whether studying for a test, a tough day of basketball practice, a great class where you feel like people learned, or a great night of service, the feeling is similar. But when you do it while doing something you are coming to love, the feeling is only that much better. If I had a glass of wine, I'd raise and proclaim, 'Here's to another day tomorrow as good as today!'

Buenas Noches