Just wanted to take a few minutes to blog about my fantastic experience at Silver Lake Foods, a locally owned and operated grocery store here in Rochester, right on North Broadway at the Silver Lake Shopping Center. I'm going over to Matt's house tonight for his post-grad party, and had to pick up some hot dog buns for the event. I was contemplating where to go, either Silver Lake Foods, because it's right by work, or Wal-Mart, because it was mostly on the way to Matt's house after work. I ended up choosing Silver Lake because I had just enough time before I needed to be at work, and because of the size difference of the stores, when considering the one item I needed.
Here is my experience: I walked in the door, and less than five seconds after entering the store, I was greeted with a friendly smile by an employee who asked me how I was doing, and if he could help me. I told him I was doing pretty good, and that I was looking for hot dog buns. He smiled and said "sure!" and immediately left his job of stocking shelves to personally guide me back to the baked goods section, where he handed me a package of fresh baked hot dog buns that were delivered from the Gingerbread House that same day. I thanked him and walked up to check out. I found a totally empty aisle, and was checked out in moments. The clerk, who had returend to stocking his shelf, waved at me again as I was leaving, and I again thanked him for his friendly assistance. It was a fantastic experience, and as I drove to work, I reflected on how, in no possible way, would I have received the same quality or speed of treatment, had I gone to Wal Mart.
BUY LOCAL!
Thursday, May 21, 2009
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
Ten things going on in my life, most of which are mostly unlreated, except that they are going on in my life.
Oh dear, I KNOW it’s been too long since I’ve blogged when I can sit down and just scribble out no less than ten items, right off the top of my head, that I want to share with you, oh faithful or happenstance reader. I’m afraid I’m just not the caliber of blogger I aspire to be. *sigh*
Anyway, enough of the fluff, let’s get to the stuff!
1. When we last communicated, I was anticipating serving as a personal attendant for Michael O’Brien, the guest musical star touring with the Fresh Grounded Faith women’s conference that stopped in Rochester at the end of April. As it turned out, Michael is a delightful gentleman with a very likable sense of humor, and an approachable and easy going nature that made for a most enjoyable weekend. I didn’t score any of his old pop albums, but I did get fifty bucks for the weekend from the conference organizer. Not bad. I also made a couple contacts. John and Shelley Jennings. Shelley is a singer who used to be involved in the Passion movement with Louie Giglio, and is now a studio musician who sings backup for a lot of people you’ve probably heard of. Her husband John used to be really high up at Word Music. We’re all facebook buddies now. J
2. Amanda moved here around the beginning of May, and is living on campus over the summer, awaiting the start of the fall semester at Crossroads, where she’ll be majoring in Counseling Psychology. We’ve been having quite a good time of it (regardless that we’re no longer dating) playing some pretty fast-paced, intense ping-pong games in the student center. We both agree that we need to start keeping track of wins and losses, because lemme tell you, we play a LOT.
3. School finished up on April 30th and I got a respectable 3.49 GPA for the semester, bringing my cumulative GPA down slightly to 3.57 or something like that. I’ll get ‘er back up next fall.
4. Since school let out I’ve been given a new (full time) work schedule at Rochester City Lines, where I presently am. I work 7-11am and 2-6pm, Monday through Friday. I wasn’t super excited about it, since I was hoping to have four ten-hour days, but now that I’m into my third week of it, I really like it! I’m getting rather spoiled by a three hour lunch break.
5. While I am working full time and it is summer, I’m not slacking off on school at all. I’ve registered to take a CLEP test this Thursday morning, May 21. If you’ve never heard of CLEP tests, basically what they are, are tests you can take to get out of taking a full length class. I’m taking a test for Information Systems and Computer Applications, which meets the requirements and description of the Computer Applications and Business class at Crossroads. I have 90 minutes to answer 100 multiple choice questions, and if I get 52 or more questions correct on this $90 test, I pass the test and get full credit for the class! Pretty nifty if you ask me! I think that if this test goes well, I’m going to go for the Principles of Management test later this summer. Having some PSEO credits to get me going in college has really provided some motivation to get me through my four year program in 3 years. We’ll see how close I get!
6. Growing up in an entrepreneurial family, I have always kind of had a mind and an eye for business, and I recently completed my first real-live profit earning transaction! Last fall I purchased a 1996 Toyota Camry from one of the faculty at Crossroads, and brought it over to our family’s car lot Owner’s Auto Mart to sell. It sat for a month with zero attention, no inquiries, no test drives. I lowered the price by $350 and less than a week later it sold! After expenses, I earned a bit over $400 on it, which I’m not thrilled with, but pleased. Heck, it pays the rent for a month. Nothing wrong with that, especially since I only put about 4 hours maximum into the whole deal, start to finish.
7. Just to make SURE that I’m keeping myself busy this summer, I started a facebook group called (Re)Discovering Rochester. I spent quite a bit of time a couple weeks ago scouring web sites like ExploreMN.com and the Rochester Convention and Visitors Bureau’s web page looking for anything and everything to do in Rochester that looks remotely cool or interesting. I am pleased to say that there are no less than 21 members (myself not included) have agreed to let me message them about said stuff to do in Rochester. I’ve had two events so far, and the most I’ve had attend it two people. Hopefully those numbers will increase.
8. Dad’s birthday was yesterday, and I celebrated it my going to his house and enjoying some amazing chicken from St. Charles, asparagus from next door, and chocolate brownie cheesecake from the kitchen. Fantastic meal! I love my mom, she’s such a great cook! After supper we watched Horton Hear’s a Who, which I must say is a good movie! I love the monkeys, and the social/political commentary on the character interplay between the kangaroo and Horton is just fabulous! Watch it if you haven’t seen it, and if you have, watch it again some time. J
9. What has certainly been a highlight of my summer so far was last weekend. I had the opportunity to be reunited with 4 of my former scouting buddies and current, fellow Eagle Scouts, Aaron Walker, James Roepke, Austin Zeller and Andrew Stammer. Aaron, James, Austin and I met Saturday morning to perform an opening flag ceremony for the MN-SD-ND regional gathering of the IAAP, the International Association of Administrative Professionals. Basically it was a smallish meeting of middle aged, female secretaries. Our job took less than 10 minutes, which in itself wasn’t really worth it, but what made it worth it was the free breakfast afterward (thanks to Mrs. Zeller for giving Austin her credit card)! We went to Panekouken in downtown Rochester, and I had an amazing nine dollar omelet, and took a giant muffin for later. Many good laughs were shared as we recounted scouting memories and caught up on what we’re all up to now. I expect great things from each of them. After breakfast I had a great time over at Andrew’s house. He’s working in Wisconsin all summer, and was only home for this week between school and his summer job, so it was a true joy to be able to see him before he left. We played a game of Stratego, which he most definitely schooled me in. I’ll get him next time… maybe.
10. Tenth and finally, I am seriously looking forward to a family vacation to California! We leave on Friday, May 22nd, and will be returning June 2. We’re still not sure what route we’re taking to get there, but I can guarantee you that whatever way we take, we will have FUN! I haven’t been on a full-fledged family trip since summer 2007, when we hit up the east coast (D.C., Gettysburg, Hershey, PA, etc.). I’ve been doing some research for some interesting places to stop at along the way, and so far I’ve come across some interesting ideas, courtesy of roadsideamerica.com. I’ll do my best to write a blog or two during the trip, but given my track record of blogging, don’t bet on it. Heh.
So yeah, there’s a run down of wassup.
Anyway, enough of the fluff, let’s get to the stuff!
1. When we last communicated, I was anticipating serving as a personal attendant for Michael O’Brien, the guest musical star touring with the Fresh Grounded Faith women’s conference that stopped in Rochester at the end of April. As it turned out, Michael is a delightful gentleman with a very likable sense of humor, and an approachable and easy going nature that made for a most enjoyable weekend. I didn’t score any of his old pop albums, but I did get fifty bucks for the weekend from the conference organizer. Not bad. I also made a couple contacts. John and Shelley Jennings. Shelley is a singer who used to be involved in the Passion movement with Louie Giglio, and is now a studio musician who sings backup for a lot of people you’ve probably heard of. Her husband John used to be really high up at Word Music. We’re all facebook buddies now. J
2. Amanda moved here around the beginning of May, and is living on campus over the summer, awaiting the start of the fall semester at Crossroads, where she’ll be majoring in Counseling Psychology. We’ve been having quite a good time of it (regardless that we’re no longer dating) playing some pretty fast-paced, intense ping-pong games in the student center. We both agree that we need to start keeping track of wins and losses, because lemme tell you, we play a LOT.
3. School finished up on April 30th and I got a respectable 3.49 GPA for the semester, bringing my cumulative GPA down slightly to 3.57 or something like that. I’ll get ‘er back up next fall.
4. Since school let out I’ve been given a new (full time) work schedule at Rochester City Lines, where I presently am. I work 7-11am and 2-6pm, Monday through Friday. I wasn’t super excited about it, since I was hoping to have four ten-hour days, but now that I’m into my third week of it, I really like it! I’m getting rather spoiled by a three hour lunch break.
5. While I am working full time and it is summer, I’m not slacking off on school at all. I’ve registered to take a CLEP test this Thursday morning, May 21. If you’ve never heard of CLEP tests, basically what they are, are tests you can take to get out of taking a full length class. I’m taking a test for Information Systems and Computer Applications, which meets the requirements and description of the Computer Applications and Business class at Crossroads. I have 90 minutes to answer 100 multiple choice questions, and if I get 52 or more questions correct on this $90 test, I pass the test and get full credit for the class! Pretty nifty if you ask me! I think that if this test goes well, I’m going to go for the Principles of Management test later this summer. Having some PSEO credits to get me going in college has really provided some motivation to get me through my four year program in 3 years. We’ll see how close I get!
6. Growing up in an entrepreneurial family, I have always kind of had a mind and an eye for business, and I recently completed my first real-live profit earning transaction! Last fall I purchased a 1996 Toyota Camry from one of the faculty at Crossroads, and brought it over to our family’s car lot Owner’s Auto Mart to sell. It sat for a month with zero attention, no inquiries, no test drives. I lowered the price by $350 and less than a week later it sold! After expenses, I earned a bit over $400 on it, which I’m not thrilled with, but pleased. Heck, it pays the rent for a month. Nothing wrong with that, especially since I only put about 4 hours maximum into the whole deal, start to finish.
7. Just to make SURE that I’m keeping myself busy this summer, I started a facebook group called (Re)Discovering Rochester. I spent quite a bit of time a couple weeks ago scouring web sites like ExploreMN.com and the Rochester Convention and Visitors Bureau’s web page looking for anything and everything to do in Rochester that looks remotely cool or interesting. I am pleased to say that there are no less than 21 members (myself not included) have agreed to let me message them about said stuff to do in Rochester. I’ve had two events so far, and the most I’ve had attend it two people. Hopefully those numbers will increase.
8. Dad’s birthday was yesterday, and I celebrated it my going to his house and enjoying some amazing chicken from St. Charles, asparagus from next door, and chocolate brownie cheesecake from the kitchen. Fantastic meal! I love my mom, she’s such a great cook! After supper we watched Horton Hear’s a Who, which I must say is a good movie! I love the monkeys, and the social/political commentary on the character interplay between the kangaroo and Horton is just fabulous! Watch it if you haven’t seen it, and if you have, watch it again some time. J
9. What has certainly been a highlight of my summer so far was last weekend. I had the opportunity to be reunited with 4 of my former scouting buddies and current, fellow Eagle Scouts, Aaron Walker, James Roepke, Austin Zeller and Andrew Stammer. Aaron, James, Austin and I met Saturday morning to perform an opening flag ceremony for the MN-SD-ND regional gathering of the IAAP, the International Association of Administrative Professionals. Basically it was a smallish meeting of middle aged, female secretaries. Our job took less than 10 minutes, which in itself wasn’t really worth it, but what made it worth it was the free breakfast afterward (thanks to Mrs. Zeller for giving Austin her credit card)! We went to Panekouken in downtown Rochester, and I had an amazing nine dollar omelet, and took a giant muffin for later. Many good laughs were shared as we recounted scouting memories and caught up on what we’re all up to now. I expect great things from each of them. After breakfast I had a great time over at Andrew’s house. He’s working in Wisconsin all summer, and was only home for this week between school and his summer job, so it was a true joy to be able to see him before he left. We played a game of Stratego, which he most definitely schooled me in. I’ll get him next time… maybe.
10. Tenth and finally, I am seriously looking forward to a family vacation to California! We leave on Friday, May 22nd, and will be returning June 2. We’re still not sure what route we’re taking to get there, but I can guarantee you that whatever way we take, we will have FUN! I haven’t been on a full-fledged family trip since summer 2007, when we hit up the east coast (D.C., Gettysburg, Hershey, PA, etc.). I’ve been doing some research for some interesting places to stop at along the way, and so far I’ve come across some interesting ideas, courtesy of roadsideamerica.com. I’ll do my best to write a blog or two during the trip, but given my track record of blogging, don’t bet on it. Heh.
So yeah, there’s a run down of wassup.
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