J. R. D. Rubber

Down here at J. R. D. Rubber, we’ve been working out of K - 49 Model Town for a long time. It’s a residential-feeling area but we’ve got our little setup here. Rubber is one of those things people don't think about until they need a specific part or a seal. We spend our days surrounded by the smell of raw materials. It’s a smell you get used to after about a week, then you don't even notice it anymore. The shop isn't huge. We have a few machines and some storage racks that are always getting disorganized. We try to keep things tidy but when a big order comes in, everything goes out the window for a few days. Model Town is a nice part of the world to work in. It’s quiet enough that you can hear yourself think, usually. We’ve got a small crew, just a few of us who know how the presses work. Sometimes the power cuts out and we just sit outside on the steps and wait for it to come back on. We aren't trying to change the world, just making sure the rubber parts we produce are what the customer asked for. It’s honest work. Most of our tools have been here as long as I have. We fix things when they break and keep moving forward. That's about all there is to it, really.