Hard Labor 5.2 – The Dull Drums?! – FeMike's (aka IronMikes) Blog

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Hard Labor 5.2 – The Dull Drums?!

I left you last time with me perched precariously on a scaffold, painting the longest and tallest wall known to mankind (or so it felt) at a plastics plant called PreMix. My painting partner, Jerry, and I had an 8-hour daily bonding experience that summer. Spending two months in tight quarters on a narrow scaffold means you either become fast friends or start fantasizing about “accidentally” tipping a paint bucket over the other’s head. Luckily, Jerry and I hit it off.

Jerry, it turns out, was in a similar lifeboat as me—kind of drifting, figuring things out. He was at a crossroads in college but, unlike me, he didn’t want to go back (and spoiler: he didn’t). His dream was to become an artist or a musician, which horrified his parents.

I, on the other hand, knew I was heading back to college – the where, when, and what being fuzzier than a moldy peach. Jerry’s idea of taking a gap year struck a chord. I could’ve gone back to driving a truck, delivering soda, and building retail displays for the bottling companies…this is a form of art, right?

When I floated that idea, my dad (Grandpa Tony) gave me his best disappointed stare—classic Italian dad mode. He eventually accepted the idea, but my mom (Grandma Joanne)? She unleashed a string of Nebaletan words that I’m quite sure could peel the paint off that PreMix wall.

Somehow, during our scaffold chats, Jerry brought up engineering, and I remembered something Dr. Lundgren once said. With zero knowledge of what engineers actually do, I decided that would be my path. Blind faith, right? I landed on Youngstown State University (YSU) because it had an engineering school and was cheap—the cheapest in the state of Ohio, maybe the country. I drove down for a visit, and the decision was made.

After checking YSU out, I called my buddy, Zet, a recurring character on this blog:

By that 3rd summer after high school, Zet had already transferred and settled in at YSU.

Zet and I go way back. First grade, to be exact. We started playing football together in 6th grade, and by senior year, we were co-captains of our high school’s State Finals team. YSU was already on Zet’s radar in high school, thanks to his older brother. Zet was being scouted heavily by YSU, while I was just tagging along for the snacks.

After high school, Zet took a detour to a big Division 1A (now BCS) school while I went off to Allegheny, where I was a less-than-glorified blocking dummy. Homesickness eventually brought Zet back to YSU. No fancy Transfer Portals back then—just good old-fashioned “wanna’ be home” vibes. To be fair, as Ohio’s reigning Lineman of the Year, Zet didn’t need much help getting back on the team.

With Zet firmly established at YSU, I asked if we could be roommates. He said yes, and that sealed the deal: I was transferring to YSU’s Engineering School. But first, I had to finish out my summer at PreMix.

Once Jerry and I wrapped up painting that endless wall, we got assigned to clean up the grounds. Armed with a fork truck and a lot of elbow grease, we tackled piles of garbage. One day, while driving out to the farthest corners of the property, we stumbled across a cluster of rusting drums hidden among the trees. Some had ominous goo oozing out of their lower rims. Jerry and I, being 19 and invincible, shrugged it off with a “huh, weird” and moved on.

Later that year, during a Chemical Engineering class, I learned about the Love Canal toxic waste disaster near Niagara Falls (see here – Love Canal – Wikipedia). The description of Love Canal gave me chills—it sounded eerily familiar to those rusting drums. My curiosity led me to spend an entire semester buried in the library, researching Love Canal for my final paper.

I could never have anticipated that toxic waste and environmental disasters would become recurring themes in my life and engineering career at Kodak. Over the years, I was exposed to toxic chemicals, then not considered toxic, which still affect my lung function today, designed chemical systems that may have could (did?) harm to others, and witnessed friends succumb to what likely was toxic exposure. These experiences have profoundly shaped my perspective on environmental safety and our responsibilities.

Nebaletan Word of the Day – MOPEEN!?

The Many Faces of MOPEEN

MOPEEN—a word that echoed through my childhood home like a commandment from above (or at least from Mom in the kitchen). It was a vocabulary staple, and like many words in the colorful Neapolitan language (yes, Neapolitan is a language, not a dialect…Nebaletan is a dialect), its meaning shifted depending on the situation. I love Nebaletan for exactly that reason!

Mom’s Classic Uses of MOPEEN

The “Real” Italian Meaning
- Mappine – the real Italian word meaning dish towels or rags
- In my youth, MOPEEN was pretty much interchangeable with any cloth that Mom deemed fit for wiping up after my disasters.
- A classic scene:
  - Mom (yelling from the kitchen): “Michael, go grab a MOPEEN! I need to clean up the mess you made with the milk!”
  - Me (already halfway to freedom): “What milk?”
The More Abstract, Dramatic Meaning
- Feeling like a MOPEEN meant being completely wiped out, exhausted, or drenched in sweat.
- Perfect example – It’s 90% humidity, and I’m melting like a gelato in the heat. “Ugh, I feel like a MOPEEN!”
- It’s the kind of word that perfectly captures that end-of-a-long-day, flopped-on-the-couch, send-help feeling.

The Capos’ Contribution

After consulting the great scholars (aka Capos Donnie and Carm), I discovered another use:

Per Donnie – he’d describe someone worn out or downright spineless as “a real MOPEEN.”
Example: “He’s a real MOPEEN!” (said while watching someone give up mid-argument or fail to carry groceries up one flight of stairs).

I also found these in a simple search

Mapeen/Mopeen/Mappin’ – napkin/towel (moppina) [maa-PEEN] (from American Italian: Dictionary )
“mappine” (pronounced mappéen), which is the way napkins (and rags) are called in Neapolitan [language] (from – https://forum.wordreference.com/threads/mapeen.23748/). “

So there you have it – a homage to the ever-versatile MOPEEN, a word that could clean up your mess, convey your exhaustion, and even reflect on someone’s lack of backbone. Cheers to Nebaletan ingenuity!

Pizza Review – Wegmans Heat and Eat

Sometimes life takes you on unexpected adventures, like a quick trip to New York to get your furnace fixed. Nothing says “exciting travel story” quite like an HVAC emergency, right? I landed mid-afternoon, stomach grumbling like my furnace at full capacity.

After a quick stop to say hello to my HVAC contractors, I made a detour to Wegmans. For the uninitiated, Wegmans is a food wonderland where you can find everything from sushi to artisan cheeses.

I strolled through the premade foods aisle, hoping for inspiration to strike. But alas, nothing whispered “buy me, buy me” to my appetite. Then, there it was—a Wegmans Heat and Eat pizza. “Salvation?” I thought!?!?!

Normally we enjoy Wegmans pizza New York-style that is baked in their ovens: thin crust, generous toppings, the works. And while it’s not bad, I’ve always found the dough a little on the “heavy” side—classic short fermentation, same-day dough.

But hey, hunger and the need for speed won out over judgment and patience. Instead of waiting for Wegmans to bake the pizza, I decided on a “Heat and Eat”version” which is a par cooked pizza that needs to be finished in your home oven. Let’s hope “Heat and Eat” yields similar results as their store baked version.

Date	January 2, 2025
Pizzeria	Wegmans
City/Neighborhood	Webster, NY / Holt Road Wegmans
Website	Pizza & Wings \| Wegmans
About Us	Doesn’t everyone know Wegmans and their story? If not, here’s a synopsis, a multi-billion dollar private, family owned company that prints money at the expense of it’s customers due to lack of competition.
Style	New York-ish It’s not a true New York Style in that it was a little too tick in the center whereas a true NY would be much thinner.
Ambiance	No place like home! Except there was no furnace, and it was “as cold as a witches you know what!”

Shape	Round
Dough/Crust	Tickness – Medium to Tick Cook – Soft and chewy although over cooked on the top and not cooked on the bottom. Followed the directions on the packaging “400F oven, directly on middle rack without pan, 8 -10 minutes” Flavor – the dough really had no flavor on its own, another indicator of a short fermentation – that’s cheap and easy, but not flavorful, to be generous, maybe a slight yeasty flavor
Cornicione	Soft and chewy with a slightly crunch in the bite, same lack of flavor of the dough
Toppings	Ample Pepperoni and Cheese Fresh – No
Sauce	Although sparse, it was pretty good! Wish there was more. Tangy, Spicy (likely from the pepperoni oil), on the thicker/richer side adding a nice flavor
Cheese	Cheese Type – Moozedell Cheese Distribution – All over Over cooked and burnt, causing excess grease, but it maintained its stringiness, Salty
Cheese to Sauce Ratio	Sauce – just a little Cheese – medium to a lot Balance – way out, why is it necessary for me to feel the need to reach for my Statin after this type of pizza

Value	Great at $16.50 for a 16″ which is $9.25 for a 12″ equivalent, too bad the rest of the pie doesn’t hold to this standard…looks like in this case, you get what you pay for
Overall Rating	Meh – I debated on this. The cooking instructions partially lead to an undercooked crust while overcooking the top and cheese. It would be better to have a lower temperature oven, a longer duration, and a lower oven rack. Together, these would’ve improved this pizza, but “would’ves” don’t count!
Would I Go Back?	Likely no