Today at work I was trained in the use and operation of a Class 1, gas powered forklift.
Needless to say, this was a pretty fun day, and a nice break from the normal order of things behind a tasting room bar talking about wine. Wine, as we sometimes forget, is a business, and as often as possible I like to get behind the scenes and learn more about the every day creation of this beverage. In so doing you really get to see how simple wine really is. Despite all the high-falootin' words we use to describe it and all the romance that goes into its production, wine is still just fermented grape juice, and its everyday production is not all that glamorous.
Training began in the morning with a theoretical overview of the machinery. Essentially this was a review of Physics 101 and the concept of one of the most simple machines, the lever. We learned how to inspect a load and determine its center of gravity so as to not do this...
Then we watched a series of videos to hammer the concept home that you need to keep your wits about you as you operate these 8,000 pound machines around the winery. Such as....
So needless to say, we were very careful as we practiced moving some pallets around in the back warehouse before our practical DMV style test. What I liked most about this simple day of training was realizing how much of the world relies on this machine for its day to day operation. Right now across the globe millions of pallets of soda, computer chips, toilet paper, lumber, coffee beans, steel, electrical wiring and pepto bismol are being lifted and taken from trucks to warehouse to distribution centers. Being a part of this group of people that's now involved with one of the essential functions of business is pretty cool. The best part is learning how to use it to lift pallets of tasty, tasty wine.
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