On the Audit trail and lunch in Pella

Team Pirate is on the Environmental Management System (EMS) Audit Trail in 2014! Yes...I can practically hear the excitement in your eyeballs as you read this! You'll be following the scintillating tales of our group's madcap antics across Iowa. No not really. That's why I decided we needed a theme this year - thus Pirates, argh! We've been doing these audits four years. Team members put their foot (feet?) down regarding costumes though. Not even eye patches.

Team Pirate - on this end of the table.

We met last week in preparation for this year's audits. I wrote the meeting agenda in Pirate Language. I must admit I cheated and Googled words. Did you know there are Pirate dictionaries? I think "Talk Like a Pirate Day" has aided the popularity of this activity. Me Mateys were amused. (or pretended to be)

Scott asks a Q, Jen RV looks at notes, Becky is taking notes and Jeff is thinking deeply

During the audit we ask landfill staff members about their EMS implementation. I won't bore you with the details, but these folks are doing stuff way above and beyond trash ya'll! And they are putting in procedures explaining how they do things and are documenting results. That helps justify programs and to know how to best help the public. And...when staff members leave - the important stuff doesn't leave with them.

rolls to die for!

Today (Thursday) we went to the South Central Iowa Solid Waste Agency Landfill (SCISWA) in Tracy - 12 miles south of Pella. Me buckos and I spent the morning with the staff there - hearing about the progress they've made. It made me miss working at a landfill - for a short time anyway! Then the feeling dissipated. Poof.

We stopped in Pella for lunch - such an amazing little community. They just held their tulip festival last weekend and the flowers were still showing off. SCISWA staffers had recommended the Italian joint (in a Dutch town??) in town. It was molto bene! Very good. And I liked the Italian guy's accent. Sexy. The bread was fab too.

so pretty!

After lunch some my co-workers headed towards the Jaarsma's bakery. I headed the other way to get a pic of the giant windmill in town. I discovered there are big shoes to fill there! I asked an older gentleman to take my pic in them...he obviously wasn't familiar with Smartphone cameras. He got me getting into the giant clogs and more! Then he pretended to run off with my phone. Funny, oldster. I would have kicked his ass..with giant clogs on. haha

Aren't these clogs a hoot?

I caught up to my co-workers and purchased some scrumptious baked goods for the DNR motor pool guys back in Des Moines. I picked up the van we took this morning at 7 a.m. - right when they opened. They were very polite and friendly. I appreciate that. I dropped the bag of goodies off when I took the keys back with the mileage/gas sheet. They were happy!

Good trip today - it was nice to get out of the office with some scalawags!

Scott pays for his Jaarsma purchase...Becky and Jen at left wait to buy theirs - mouths watering!

Other notes:
My new fave show is on - Rehab Addict! It's on HGTV - follows the house flipper Nicole Curtis - a cute blond gal who lives in the Twin Cities area. She's got one of them Minniesoda accents. Like my friends the Behrs...

In tonight's show Nicole took an old cast iron tub to the recycler and touted the benefits of this place, because it took household hazardous materials. What a pitch woman! They had a "Swap Shop" there too - just like the facilities we work with do. They take materials people deliver that are still usable and put them up for adoption. Nicole selected a product to take home with her - some home fixer upper product. Free. Boom!