BUSMAN'S HOLIDAY

BUSMAN'S HOLIDAY definition:

I have taken numerous plant tours because I am fascinated how things are made and how people work.  From widely varied manufacturing environments such as meat-packing, pet-food, soft drinks, cosmetics, paper, corrugated materials, tool-making, automotive and aircraft, all were very interesting.

The requirements for manufacturing pet food are stricter than rules for foods for human consumption, but do you really want to know how many "roach bodies" are allowed ppm (parts per million) are allowed in food products for human beings?   After touring the pet food plant, I said, "You COULD eat off the floors there!"  After seeing sausage and hot dogs being produced,  I laugh when I tell people, "I still eat hot dogs after seeing them be made!"

It was thrilling to see Corvettes being built and final assembly of aircraft.   My brother says I'm probably the only person who wants to go to art museums and manufacturing plants with the same enthusiasm.

One of my favorite tours was at the Sunbeam plant in Olathe, Kansas.  I actually took my mother's still-operational Sunbeam Mixmaster which she had told me had been bought "after the war.";  they verified that the mixer had been manufactured in 1947.  It still works!  It is in our garage, because I can't stand to get rid of it!  When I married I received a chrome Mixmaster and toaster as wedding presents and we retired Mother's Mixmaster to a cupboard, keeping it "just in case" something happened to the new one.  We used the chrome Mixmaster until we moved to our present location in 1984 and purchased the red Kitchen Aid, but we keep the chrome Mixmaster, "just in case"!

I loved the television series How It's Made on the Science Channel and How Stuff Works on the Discovery Channel.

I always liked it when customers visited our plants and enjoyed answering questions.