Like so many others, Amanda Petrus got a bit lost after college. She had a chemistry degree and not a lot of direction. But she was able to find work at a juice factory in the vineyards of western New York. Her job was quality control, which meant overnight shifts at the factory, tasting endless cups of fruit punch and comparing them to the ever-evolving set of juice standards that they kept in the “juice library.”
She calls herself and “odd creature”, especially for the time and place: she was a woman working in a factory dominated by men, she was openly lesbian (and yet still rebuffing advances from her coworkers), and she was a lover of Richard Wagner’s—sometimes dressing up as a valkyrie.
Unfortunately, much of her time at the factory was characterized by the antics of her juice tasting colleague, Tim, who, in some ways, mirrored the traits of her favorite composer. He was incredibly gifted at understanding the flavor profile of fruit punch, able to predict the exact ratios of passion fruit, high fructose corn syrup, and red 40 needed to please the factory’s clients. But he also shared Wagner’s xenophobia and misogyny, with his own brand of paranoia, too. Often, Amanda was a target of his outbursts
This came to a head when Amanda was suddenly fired and escorted from the factory after Tim levelled an incredible accusation of conspiracy against her.
After this incident, Amanda got into grad school, and started her path towards teaching. She is now a professor of chemistry at the Community College of Rhode Island. She also runs the website Mail From A Cat where you can order mail...from a cat.
Producer: Jeff Emtman
Music: The Black Spot, Serocell, Ride of the Valkyries (performed by The United States Marine Band),Overture from The Flying Dutchman (performed by University of Chicago Symphony Orchestra), Prelude from Parsifal (recording from the European Archive).
Sponsor: Esoteric Bumper Stickers
Esoteric Bumper Stickers sells waterproof vinyl stickers can fit any feeling. Not just for cars, Esoteric Bumper Stickers can show the world your knowledge of the briny deep, your passion for flora, your love of claws in the dark, etc.
HBM068: The Wake Up Stick
HBM067: Dispatches From PestWorld 2016
HBM066: What Jacob Heard
HBM065: We Pay Them In Meat
HBM064: A Shrinking Shadow
HBM063: The Art of the Scam, by Malibu Ron
HBM062: The Near Death of Sir Deja Doog
HBM061: The Natural State of Hitchhiking
HBM060: The Predators of McNeil Island
Your Last Memory Of Being Free
HBM059: When Cthulhu Calls
HBM058: Kelly Is Cold
HBM057: Impostor in a Pink Pinstripe Suit
HBM056: It Works Better in Movies
HBM055: Ghost Tape Number Ten
HBM054: Flaming Sword of Truth
HBM053: Eleven Trips to Dreamworld
HBM052: Call 601-2-SATAN-2
HBM051: Sister Bethany, Proxy for the Dead
HBM050: The Scientist is not the Angel of Death
Create your
podcast in
minutes
It is Free
Left, Right & Center
Bookworm
Design and Architecture
All the Presidents’ Lawyers
Nocturne