Sunday 2
The summer before I left for Japan, Chris and I came up with a harebrained scheme to brew mead. I went to a local homebrew store, bought a small set of equipment, and that summer Chris’s apartment smelled like honey for a month and a half while the batch fermented. The finished product was drinkable, just, but we enjoyed the accomplishment and shared the fruits of our labors with friends and family. When I saw the Maine Mead Works, here in Portland my curiosity was piqued and so I decided to pop in and see what it was like.
I had arrived just in time for a tasting and then a tour. The mead itself tasted delicious, a far cry from my own production, and along with the dry mead there were a variety of other brews and flavors, everything from blueberry to apple to lavender. The tour was also fascinating. Instead of the batch process that I was familiar with, the Works had devised a constant fermentation system, a method only used in two places in the world, Portland and South Africa. Over the course of the walk-through the man giving the tour mentioned that the business was rapidly expanding with their production doubling in the past six months and slated to double again over the course of the next year. I made a snap decision. After everything was over, I asked him if they wanted any extra help. I explained that I was in town after hiking the AT and that I was looking for work. And so I came by one of my jobs.
That same day, after I had left the Mead Works, I walked into a temp agency, conveniently located in the building next door and asked about employment. I was handed and application, and told that there were positions currently open in the company next door, an independent research firm called Market Decisions. If I was interested I could work in the call center there, conducting surveys over the phone. The hours were fairly flexible and the pay was decentish. I agreed and came by the second of my jobs.
Of the two, I enjoy the Mead Works more. The process itself is fascinating, and as I gradually became more familiar with the people and the atmosphere there I found it suited me well. The work I’m doing, labeling bottles, processing ginger, cleaning the warehouse, is fairly menial, but seeing the business grow and expand before my eyes and being a part of it make me eager to come in and see what will happen next. The phone work, less so. Although I have realized that the survey itself changes my opinion of the job immensely. While calling Massachusetts residents on behalf of the Department of Public Health I hated every minute of it. However now that I’m calling Maine residents for a completely different survey I find the conversations to be much more interesting and engaging.
I hope over the coming months to move to full time at the Mead Works and gradually phase out Market Decisions, although at the moment I need both to get by. Who knows, maybe some day soon I’ll be able to walk into a grocery store back in Cincinnati and see our brand “Honeymaker” adorning the shelves.