Random Thoughts

I was waiting for the bus this afternoon after class. It was chilly out and I was bouncing from leg to leg to stay warm. Luckily, I had something to distract me from the chill. About ten feet away from me there was a bit of construction going on. Iowa State seems to constantly have some sort of construction project that blocks your way as you go to class. Anyway, this project intrigued me. It consisted of three guys and two large machines. As I arrived they were working on pulling a pole out of the ground. If you aren't familiar with ISU's campus, we have these poles everywhere that are connected by two chains. One fastened at the top and one at the bottom. They create some sort of fence to try to keep fellow students off the grass. They pulled and struggled with this pole, one machine was completely chained to it, probably by its own chains, which seems slightly ironic. It wasn't until both machines used their powers together did the pole budge from the ground. After the pole was successfully removed, the two machines worked on filling in the gigantic hole. I was also very intrigued by this. One machine piled the dirt in, while the other vibrated viciously to pack the soil down. The vibrating was extremely loud and made the sidewalk within a 20 yard radius vibrate as well. As the dirt relocation was going on, I happened to notice one lone shovel leaning against a caution cone. I felt sorry for the shovel. Its work seemed trivial compared to the two machines. It would only be used to scrape up the little mess left behind. Nonetheless, the bus arrived and I welcomed its warmth and promise of home. I was so interested by what I had seen that I had to tell someone. And since there will probably be no one that actually reads this, I felt safe in sharing it here.
In other news, I found out my student teaching placement yesterday and I am pleased to announce that I do not have to commute to Des Moines. If anyone happens to read this, drop me note. :)