Michelle's rad new house
Rob and Michelle went up to Syracuse, New York last weekend, where Michelle's going to school in the fall. On the way back to Pennsylvania they drove through wine country near Lake Cayuga, one of the finger lakes. Michelle did the tasting and Rob the driving, as he deferred to her very educated opinion in the wine purchasing. They also found a super high waterfall in a gorge, and as they were gazing up at it, some crazy guys hollared and jumped off off the cliffs above, parachuted down to the ground, and immediately packed up their gear and ran away before the park rangers could get there. They had cameras on their belts and helmets, so Michelle and Rob may be spotted on some kind of MTV extreme reality show, looking shocked and confused. Here are some pictures of Michelle's super cool new house.
Michelle will have 3 roommates, from Peru, Somalia, and Vietnam, but she hasn't met them yet. Rob is thinking of ways to be able to move up to Syracuse to be with her. His ideas include: landscaping, shoveling snow, picking apples, or living in a tent in Michelle's backyard. Please comment if you have additional ideas. Actually please comment regardless as your comments are much funnier than the blog....
Jacob, if you read this, what is your firsthand opinion of doing migrant work in the NE? Should Rob chance it?
posted by Michelle & Rob @ 7:03 PM
3 comments
3 Comments:
Hi Kids! Happy to read about your lives in the NE! I don't think I've met you, Rob, but I'm sure you're a swell cat.
Migrant workers face some hard realities, but the work itself has it's merits. For most people, pay is not one of them, but other people make large gains in short periods of time. Some veteran rakers at my camp are making over $300/day! I'm sure apple-picking is available around Syracuse, but most farm work is seasonal. If you're lazy, you could claim to be "seasonally unemployed" during winter months and get checks from Uncle Sam of up to $300/week! In Machias, ME, the migrant workers spend the winters manufacturing decorative wreaths by hand. How are your wood-braiding abilities?
Most workers are in decent shape and have bitchin' tans, though back pain is regarded as an incurable fact-of-life. On the plus side, drinking Pabst Blue Ribbon all day is acceptable in the workplace and helps deter the back aches for a few hours.
The most confounding thing about migrant work, however, is the unfortunate similarities to corporate and suburban life. Corporate representatives visit the fields and try to inspire us with anecdotal stories, empty threats, and promises that "the next field will be better". The jargon is a few nouns removed from a corporate earnings report. Probably similar to your corps experience, your evenings are dominated by routine cooking and cleaning duties and then sleep as you try to recharge yourself for the next day. You might enjoy a little hiking or reading on weekends, but otherwise inane tasks like laundry and grocery shopping consume your one day off per week.
I can only imagine that the northeast fosters a better environment for migrant workers than other states such as Texas, California, and Arizona. Our crew is an interesting aggregate of hippie/punk/drifter kids, town locals, illegal Mexicans, and the originators of blueberry raking, the Micmac natives from Nova Scotia and New Brunswick. Of the states in the northeast, I think Maine must offer the most liberal variety of services for migrant workers. To my surprise, the law guarantees that we receive free housing, hot showers, and a minimum number of flush toilets. The camp is actually very comfortable. At the regional rakers center, we can get free light medical care, counseling, child education, and even free food! Unfortunately, Maine lacks widespread wealth (over 25% of residents are on the state healthcare program, MaineCare) and the services have further drained the dwindling state budget.
If you are in search of migrant work, there's a geographical circuit most workers follow, that's mostly word-of-wouth with the exception of this website: http://www.corn-jobs.com/
Why do you need a job, anyway? I heard Michelle is going to support you with the fortune she'll make as a TA :)
-jacob
Michelle, I just wanna know what happened with the pie... - Bruce
Wow! What excellent and useful comments. Well, Bruce, I didn't make the pie last night as we drank a bottle of Cheap Red Wine (that's the brand) instead. So I made it today and it's a little brown on top but hopefully will taste delicious.
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