Howdy from the Innovation Pipeline!

As the title of today’s post aptly suggests, this blog is about stories from the IP! There have been some pretty funny moments in this internship.

The first story happened on my first day of work. Because I’m working as a city employee this summer, I get to drive a city vehicle. There’s nothing a Texan loves more than being told she can drive an F-150 whenever she’s on city business. So, my boss came to me and let me know there was this great truck for me to drive. She told me that I can use the truck any time I need to do errands for the IP or meet business partners. At that point, I was so excited – actually, super pumped. My boss then casually mentioned, “Oh, and sorry to tell you but the truck you get to drive actually says ‘City Cemetery!’”

My excitement ceased to exist. Yes, that was a pun. Anyway, it turns out that the truck actually didn’t say ‘City Cemetery’ anymore. It now says ‘Parks and Rec’. But still, it was a pretty hilarious way to start my first day.

Another great story happened a few weeks ago. Since the building for the IP is still being renovated, I’m working out of the Parks and Recreation Admin. office this summer. The first person I met there was Samantha – the awesome Parks and Rec secretary. I say awesome because, besides being great at her job, Sam literally saved me one day. Well, she sorta saved me. The story is as follows:

One morning, I was just minding my own business, getting ready to run to a meeting. I was about to grab my bag, which contained my laptop and notes, when this massive, I mean Texas-sized cockroach jumped into my bag! It’s the time of year when these nasty critters try to beat the heat and take advantage of civilization’s invention of air conditioning. I almost can’t blame the little nasties – it’s almost July in Texas and therefore pretty toasty outside. Alas, my work bag is certainly no place for a brown, crunchy terror.

Of course, I reacted to this situation how any young, professional, lady would when she sees a roach crawl in her bag. I screamed. Yep, I sure did scream and alerted the entire Parks and Rec office to my severe disdain for cockroaches. This, however, is the part where Sam came in. She literally walked into the office and, after determining that I was, in fact, not dying, proceeded to pick up my bag, carefully empty its contents, shake out the roach, and squish him dead. The woman is basically fearless.

This may not have been an entrepreneurial milestone in my life, but when faced with another similar situation, I shall remind myself to Keep Calm and Act Like Sam.

In other news, I finally got to see the IP building renovation, as it’s in progress! Next time, I’ll give an update on how it’s going and what it’s like to work with the folks in charge of the renovation.

Don’t let the critters bring ya down,

Megan