Anyway, the last two days have been grand. Yesterday marked my first classes and my first trip to my six sigma company. My team is assigned to an Irish pharmaceutical company and my first impressions tell me that we'll have a cool project. Sure, we did have to sit through some long training videos on good manufacturing practices and go through some fairly boring standard operating procedures, but the guys at the company are really friendly. They'll talk your ear off if you let them.
In order to tour the plant we had to "gown up" which meant put booties over our shoes, wear long lab coats/gowns, and don shower cap-esque head gear. Everything is documented in incredible detail and the production lines move at warp speed. Some employees' sole purpose is to pick products off the line and place them in boxes. There's no way I could spend 8 hours a day doing that same repetitive motion, but these people do it five days a week, all year long. We haven't been fully briefed on our project yet, but our next site visit is on Tuesday. That's when we'll start delving into the details.
I was still in a bit of a groggy stupor after the site visit. It's taking my body a couple days to completely get adjusted to the time difference.
Last night, the program arranged for a welcome dinner at a place called Mess McGuire's (locals call it The Mess). We had delicious pork, potatoes, and chocolate cake. I also tasted my first true Irish Guiness last night and, let me tell you, it is SUPREMELY better over here. It's so creamy and smooth it's like drinking a glass of milk. Apparently the FDA is to blame for why it tastes so different in the states. U.S. law requires all imported beers to be pasteurized before coming into the country. The Irish don't pasteurize it here, so the fermentation process goes uninterrupted, giving the Guinness it's bold flavor and smooth as silk texture.
Speaking of Guinness, I toured the Guinness Storehouse today. The storehouse itself is very touristy, but we got to perform taste tests and see (sort of) how Guiness is brewed. I was a little disappointed because I thought we were actually going to get to tour a part of the brewery. The storehouse is more of a museum that details the brewing process. I did get to learn how to pour a perfect pint of Guinness though :) I even earned a prestigious certificate. It should look very nice hanging next to my diploma. The woman who was teaching the ways of the Guinness complimented me on my pour, saying "That's the best pour I've seen all day, we ought to give you a job here!" So if the whole MBA thing doesn't work out, I guess Guinness bartender isn't a bad plan B.
Fortunately, Dan captured a pictorial play-by-play of my pour de perfection so I can show you how it's done. It takes precisely 1 minute and 19.5 seconds to pour a Guinness.
Step 1: Hold glass at a 45 degree angle to the tap. Quickly pull the tap down toward you and fill the glass to the midline of the harp (on the official Guinness pint glass of course)
Step 2: Set the glass down and let it sit for one minute to settle out the bubbles. (this is where the official Guinness lady first noticed my beer pouring talents)
Step 3: Top off the beer by holding it in the center of the tap and "Back-Tapping", which means pushing the tap backwards to pour pure Guinness (without carbonation):
Step 4: Admire the masterpiece! BRILLIANT!
Step 5: Imbibe the masterpiece in the SKY BAR!
That's it for the perfect beer tutorial. I'm going to the Wicklow Mountains on the morrow and I'll have plenty more to post over the weekend, so stay tuned!
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