This was planned out very well.

Those that know me personally know that the township I live in (Lee - Midland County) is in the process of installing city water this summer.

For a time last week, they were working in my immediate neighborhood therefore I had to work around some detours as I left the house. One day last week, there was a set of interesting road closures near where I live. This was not planned out very well.

Obviously the road is closed on West Chippewa Rv. Road past South 8 Mile...

Therefore traffic was being detoured up South 8 Mile. Sounds good except for one thing...
South 8 Mile was closed too.
If you were one of those trying to navigate the neighborhood for the first time that day last week, I certainly hope you found your way otherwise you would have been screwed.

A Tale of Two Burgers

I admit it. I'm a burger person. You set me at a table with two food choices, a steak and a burger, I will choose the burger. I'm that kinda guy.

In the last week, I had a chance to try two different burgers at two very different places.

First up - at a new Midland restaurant called "Ice Cream Social & Grill" I tried a burger called the "Juicy Lucy". Now I am familiar with the concept. On Travel Channel's "Man vs. Food", I learned that a Ju(i)cy Lucy is two burgers with cheese melted inside. In theory, when you take a bite cheese comes oozing out all over you.

Next - McDonald's launched a new burger that's been in the works for sometime now, the Angus. The big draw here is that it's a third of a pound of meat loaded up with a variety of toppings. There are 3 different kinds to choose from. It has only .08 pounds more of meat than the traditional quarter pounder though doomsdayers like you to think it has 8 pounds more meat.

Critique - Juicy Lucy...

1. What this is not is a true juicy lucy. The cheese is not trapped inside the two burgers creating the oozing effect.
2. What this is is actually a tasty burger. Most of the products here are home made and aren't shipped in from someplace unknown. Combined with the homemade fries pictured above this makes a very tasty meal. Final Cost just over $10.

Critique - Angus burger

This is a huge improvement over their traditional mainstay, the Big Mac. In recent years, the BM just felt small. Having the Angus makes the experience feel substantial at only a dollar more than a BM. It too is a tasty burger and plan on having more as time and finances permit.

Two very different burgers and two very different businesses. The end result is the same for me - taste satisfaction. Try 'em!!!

Having a little fun! Rachael Knight, hope you like this...

Having a little fun with some photo software I got for the computer recently. The edited photo below does reflect a bit with how I feel about the company featured.

It's not professional quality, but I'm working on it...

Beauty - a lost generation!!!

One of my facebook friends is a wife, a mother, and I believe a grandmother now. On her profile page is her profile photo that I want to use as the basis for this blog entry.

The profile photo is one of her and two of her friends as teenagers on vacation upnorth in the early 70's wearing only their bathing suits. It took me a while as to why this photo impressed me so much. It brings a much broader message to us...

I feel a whole generation has lost meaning of what it means to be beautiful.

Starting around this time period, we started the focus on our women to feel sexy (which I feel is a step beyond beautiful only).

This is an attitude that has been demonstrated by those in the media, and they have started to hype up the next stage...

The next stage beyond feeling and looking sexy is looking slutty. Gee, thanks Brittney and friends. Now a significant portion of North American young girls are looking like they are going to be ready for sex that moment.

Only as a demonstration - the teens in the profile photo are all wearing 2 piece swimsuits but the area they cover is (in some cases) significantly more than they do today. I've even seen swimsuits that only cover areas between their butt cheeks. I joke with people that they cover less area than my underwear (which has doubled at times as a swimsuit).

I'm not advocating a return to days where women wore dresses that took 2 people and six hours to put on. What I am advocating is a return of innocense to a new generation of young women who can frolic freely like the 3 young women in the 35 year old photograph in their bathing suits.

A joke that came to the store the other day!

"A Sunday School teacher was discussing the Ten Commandments with her five and six year olds. After explaining the commandment to "honour" thy Father and thy Mother, she asked, 'Is there a commandment that teaches us how to treat our brothers and sisters?' Without missing a beat one little boy (the oldest of a family) answered, 'Thou shall not kill"

I know it's an oldie but it's still cute...

Image is everything...

A co-worker and were both witnesses to the following incident:

I was patronizing the Speedway gas station (1215 S. Saginaw, Midland) last Saturday (05.31.09) when I noticed an irate customer. This customer, a driver for the Shining Star Taxi company in Midland, has just purchased some stuff from the store and went back out to his van only to it blocked in. Now if this driver was a regular at the store, he would have realized that the parking lot at this Speedway is small and extremely poorly laid out. Not so with this customer.

He walks back into the store and tells the employees the truck needs to be moved. Walking back into the store moments later, he says (his words), "This is bull****" and that he gave 5 minutes for the truck to be moved or he was calling a wrecker to move it. Never mind the fact that this truck probably belongs to another customer who probably understands what I do about this parking lot. Of course by the time I left, both parties had left.

Here's what I understand:

If you are out in the public eye conducting business for your employer, you are being watched. They notice that you are wearing the uniform, whether on your body or vehicle or some other place, therefore they are watching you to see if you are someone to do business with. In my business as a pizza delivery driver, sometimes I am the only person that customer sees.

Because I am the only person they can see, I have to give the best impression I can. This is true whether everything is going right or if the customer is acting like a complete and total jerk. If I give a positive impression to my customer, the likelyhood they will order again increases dramatically. If, like the Shining Star driver, I come to you start making demands, complaints, and cussing then the chances of you wanting to do business with me decreases dramatically.

This is something Shining Star needs to convey to its employees. Right now businesses need every customer they can get. Conveying the positive image will go a long way, not only in getting the business but in retaining the business too.

My take on... Star Trek

Caution - this blog entry may contain SPOILERS. You have been warned!!!

It's probably been the most eagerly anticipated movie to come to theaters in 2009 and it's here - Star Trek. Released just last week, it's been the subject of intense discussion by Trek fans and nonfans alike. And why not? This is the first Trek of any kind since the end of Enterprise in 2005(?). At this time, the concept had grown so stale that the franchise already had one foot in the grave and the other foot on it's way.

Enter J. J. Abrams, the mastermind behind the hit TV show "Lost". He had been given charge of the franchise. His task - to relaunch the franchise with fresh life while keeping the best of what everyone knew.

Last Tuesday, I went and saw the movie. Let's just say that Abrams succeeds in giving Trek new life.

Here's a point by point look at key features of the movie...

• Plot - two stories are at play here. First is the maiden voyage of the Enterprise (NCC 1701, no bloddy A, B, C, or D) with the crew we have come to love coming together for the first time. Second is a story of revenge from the key villian of the movie. He achieves his goal in a big way.
• Canon - Abrams & Co. has tried to maintain 43 years of established Trek history. Movie viewers will notice some changes and that is nicely explained.
• Characters - a fresh take on characters we've known over the last 43 years. Kirk - a strong rebellious nature we never saw before. Spock - still struggling with his Vulcan / human heritage. McCoy - viewers know right away who they're watching. Scotty - as an eager young engineer who's still working out a few bugs. Sulu - still wet behind the ears but his love of fencing comes out. Chekov - that Russian accent is overdone and almost annoying. Uhura - never looked better in her undies and bra.
• USS Enterprise - 1701 really started to look ancient even compared with it's predecessor, the NX-01. The ship, and any Federation ship, looked great. I would love to see some pics of the entire bridge.
• Nice touches - Leonard Nimoy, who plays a key role as old Spock. Much more than a cameo appearance. Majel Barrett also voices the Enterprise computer one last time, as she passed away just after it was announced that she provided the voice over. Watching the credits at the end, look for the tributes to Gene & Majel.
• Nitpick - Ken Jennings (game show legend) bought this up in his own blog entry about the movie, where in Iowa does one find a deep vast canyon like the one where the Corvette goes over the cliff.
• What next? (aka the future) - There have been some timeline changes. What does that mean for worlds and people encountered in the original series and movies? And what about the 24th Century? Everything is wide open now.

All in all, this was a fun movie to watch. I'm going to say that there is a little something here for everyone.

Grade - A+, the best Trek I've seen in some time.

Disappearing Automotive Features

I've been a bit of a car guy for some years now. I've noticed for some time that the trend in equipping cars has been to introduce new features all the time - keeps everybody up to date. Yet amongst all the new features that would make a luxury car from the 70's green with envy yet are so common place there has been some equipment in cars that has had to disappear.

This caught Yahoo! Autos attention and wrote an article about it. Read about it here and don't forget to read on about my take.

My take on the list...

• Non-power windows - you know, the kind you have to crank by hand. This is the reason for the phrase "roll up (or down) the window". Still common in the smallest cars. My last 3 cars have (had) power windows though.
• Cassette tape decks - Once common in the post-8-track era, now you're lucky to have one in your car. I was surprised to get one in my '01 Malibu and really surprised and lucky to get one with my CD player in my current '07 Grand Caravan.
• Keys, locks, etc. - I'm committed to my Grand Caravan for the next 4 years and 11 months so, for me, the key won't go away yet. However, my key thingie has remote control for opening the two sliding doors and unlocking all doors.
• Center seat lap only seatbelts - I don't notice this as much as I'm usually the only person in the car.
• Cars costing less than $13,000 - Gee, my 2 year old Grand Caravan only cost me $12, 650. Oh yeah, they're talking new right.
• 85 mph speedometers - Like I'm going to be taking my Grand Caravan up to 120 mph.
• Power antennas - Despite what the article says, they really don't extend rather they just come up from the fender. It did help with reception from next to nothing to something. The last car I had with one was my '76 Ninety-Eight.
• 3-Speed Automatic Transmission - How about 3 speed any transmission? The last car I had with less than 4 speeds was my '87 Skyhawk with a 3 speed automatic.
• True compace pick-ups - anyone remember the Luv?
• Six-passenger, rear-wheel-drive, body-on-frame cars - I agree. Just seems so impractical now. In pizza delivery, rear wheel drive is so impractical anyway in rough weather.
• Honorable mentions include:Trunk releases in the glove box (hey, my Malibu had one), Full-size spare tires (which are still much better than the donut crap out there now), Floor-mounted headlight dimmer switches (I haven't seen one in many, many years), and Completely manual mirrors (better yet, how about just one outside mirror - on the driver side only).

Haha! Hope you enjoyed the list as much as I. Remember, all these cool features on cars now will one day be obsolete too. One day our children will be reading articles like this about obsolete CD players and 6 speed transmissions too. :)

Has Papa John's Pizza lost their way?

I had a conversation with a co-worker yesterday who had done some research into the original mission of Papa John's Pizza. Being a long-time employee of Papa John's, we sometimes forget that the original mission was to keep it simple - a limited menu and limited number of toppings that help create a better pizza. It is my co-worker's belief that Papa John's has completely destroyed that mission.

For a better understanding of what Papa John's was, let's look at the menu when I first started in June 1998...

• Pizzas - sizes small, large, extra large and thin crust...
• Toppings - fewer than today
• Breadsticks
• Cheesesticks, and
• 20 ounce and 2 liter coke, diet coke, and sprite.

That's it.

Numerous product changes have occured in the last 10 years. Some of these have met with the approval of customers such as the chicken products (wings/strips) and garlic parmesan breadsticks. Numerous specialty pizzas have come and gone - does anyone remember the meatball pizza? Products have come through that really didn't live up to the potential. Anything dessert related had potential but they were too small to have mass market appeal. A few experiments even completely bombed. Papa John's salads were so poorly executed that they were just that - executed.

If your local Papa John's store is suffering through flat sales right now, then the more products you offer fragment your customer base and create lower sales for all the items on your menu.

On the other hand, were all the changes necessary in the last 11 years I've been around? Yes! The only reason is this: everyone else was upgrading by adding new products and services. Essentially, in business, if you don't change and adapt to current economic conditions then you die!!!!!

Back to my co-worker's original premise - that Papa John's Pizza has lost their way by destroying their original mission. That Papa John's had to move away from a simple menu is a sign that the company has been looking for ways to keep themselves competitive, especially in these challenging economic times.

In an extremely competitive industry such as pizza, this is the approach that has to be taken.

Now that Chrysler has done the once unthinkable...

...by filing for bankruptcy protection, there are those who wonder what the future lineup will look like for the company once the link-up with Fiat occurs.

Here is Detroit News' Auto Critic Scott Burgess' take on what the lineup could look like by 2011.

Coming:
Fiat 500: A small, fuel-efficient car that could quickly be imported once it passes U.S. safety and emission regulations.

Fiat Grande Punto: A small curvy car that can reach more than 40 mpg.

Alfa Romeo Spider: Fiat's luxury sport brand could resurrect the affordable Italian sports car in the U.S. The Spider comes with a variety of engines and extremely good looks.

Alfa Romeo 159 sedan: A compact sedan with strong lines and luxurious looks. Its platform could be the base for a new midsize car by Chrysler after 2011.

Dodge Circuit: Chrysler still plans to introduce an electric car in 2010. It has not named which vehicle it will build.


Going:
Dodge Caliber: A compact car that never performed well in the market.

Dodge Nitro: A bland, compact SUV.

Jeep Compass: The first Jeep without a trail rating.

Jeep Commander: Stole too many Grand Cherokee customers.

Chrysler Town & Country or Dodge Caravan: Two minivans may be too much for the future Chrysler.

Chrysler Aspen: Like a dinosaur in a hostile climate, it's too big to live.

Chrysler Sebring: The midsize sedan that lacks style and performance.


Staying:
Chrysler 300: A fresh design could help bring back customers.

Dodge Avenger: Could serve as a stopgap until a redesigned midsize car arrives around 2012.

Dodge Charger: A redesign in the coming years could keep this car alive.

Dodge Challenger: Debuted last year and will remain in the lineup.

Dodge Ram: The highest volume and biggest money-maker stays put.

Dodge Journey: Has potential overseas as a rugged crossover.

Jeep Grand Cherokee: Redesigned and coming out later this year. Needs to be a hit.

Dodge Durango: Could survive if built off the smaller Grand Cherokee platform.

Jeep Wrangler: The quintessential Jeep, it stays.

Chrysler Sebring convertible: Could remain in the lineup.


In limbo:
Jeep Liberty: Fills a need but built along side the Dodge Nitro, which is going.

Dodge Hornet: A subcompact built with Nissan Motor Co. Plans are on hold.

Dodge Dakota: Small pickup that continues to sell.
Source: Detroit News research

Any thoughts?

a diversity of friends...

You gottta love the diversity of friends you have.

I was reviewing the recent posts of my Facebook friends last night when these consecutived posts popped up.

#1 - "Arrived in Dubai and it is 32C. Getting settled in for the next 9 days!"

This friend is a native of western Canada who I'm sure had a tough winter worse than we did here in this part of the country. The celcius conversion comes out to around 90 degrees F. I'm guessing they're still in the 30's yet.

#2 - "thinking it is too damn cold outside!" Disclaimer - her words not mine!

This friend lives in the same town as I where temperatures yesterday were in the low to mid 60's.

I think it's time to send friend #2 to western Canada for a while.

Spring is Springing!

There is now no doubt that after the long winter here in Michigan and in the Great Lakes Bay Region that spring has arrived. Can summer be far off? This was the high temperature as registered by my van's thermometer earlier today.

By the way, a cool down is expected by late weekend.

Food for Thought

I wish I can take credit for this but I can't. I found this on the back page of the "White Lake Area Visitor's Guide" that i picked up yesterday. No name is given for credit.

Food for Thought

• Can you cry underwater?
• How important does a person have to be before they are considered assassinated instead of just murdered?
• Why do you have to "put your two cents in"...but it's only a "penny for your thoughts"? Where's that extra penny going to?
• Why does a round pizza come in a square box?
• What disease did cured ham actually have?
• If a deaf person has to go to court, is it still called a hearing?
• Why are you IN a movie, but you're ON TV?
• If Jimmy cracks corn and no one cares, why is there a song about him?
• If the professor on Gilligan's Island can make a radio out of a coconut, why can't he fix a hole in a boat?
• If corn oil is made from corn, and vegetable oil is made from vegetables, what is baby oil made from?
• If electricity comes from electrons, does morality come from morons?
• Do the alphabet song and Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star have the same tune?
• Why did you just try singing the two songs above?
• Did you ever notice that when you blow in a dog's face, he gets mad at you, but when you take him for a ride, he sticks his head out the window?
• If Wile E. Coyote had enough money to buy all the ACME junk, why didn't he just buy dinner?
• Why is "bra" singular and "panties" plural?
• How is it that we put man on the moon before we figured out it would be a good idea to put wheels on luggage?
• Why is it people say they "slept like a baby" when babies wake up every two hours?
• Can a hearse carrying a corpse drive in the carpool lane?

Think about it for a while, but not for too long....

Something I previously did in Dec. 2002...

...was purchase a car. It was a 2001 Chevy Malibu sedan that I purchased with only 27,700 miles for only $9,200 from Suderman's in Midland. It served me well for a long time. There were times I had to push the car through some tough conditions but it came through everytime - those as the car got older I think it protested a bit.That was then.

Now, the car has nearly 182,000 miles with new little glitches happening frequently. This last week, I found some new rust and realized that the power mirrors no longer worked. I already had been looking for a bit for the next vehicle but by the time I found the latest glitch its fate was sealed.

Enter Suderman's again... Once again, they had their eyes out looking for another vehicle for me. This time I was looking for something different. My vehicles over the last 10 years have been sedans or the equivalent so it was time to head in a new direction -- minivans. I wanted a van over an SUV for the mileage and safety factor and I chose one over crossovers for the room and versatility. They found one for me - a 2007 Dodge Grand Caravan SXT with 48,000 miles that I ended up buying for $12,656. Five years of payments should end up around $246 monthly which I think is a bargain though I understand used cars are starting to become less of a bargain then they were. I think I got this in time...

Here are the first set of photos of the van I took yesterday and today alongside the final set of Malibu pics I took yesterday before trading it in.

Front

If you look closely, you can see rust on the hood of the Malibu that started around 80,000 miles ago.

Front tires were new just before the snow arrived.

Rear

Cargo Area

The van has "Stow-n-Go" which allows the back seats to be folded into the floor. With the rear seats up, this offers storage below the floor as shown here. I have a few things there already including geocaching stuff and bottles to take back to the store.

Dashboard
The steering wheel was already starting to be worn on the Malibu when I got it at 27,000 miles. I'm already used to not having the shift lever on the floor.

Gauges

Both are simple and direct with speedometer, tachometer, gas gauge, and engine temp gauge. They say at nighttime you can't tell those are white gauges. They're right.

Miles

Malibu miles --> 181,956

Grand Caravan miles --> 48,361.

I've been averaging 25,000 miles a year.

Stereo System / Climate Control

I was lucky to even get a cassette deck on the Malibu, now I have a CD too. I'll like the seperate driver / passenger temp controls. There's one for the rear seat passengers too.

Engine Compartment
Everything on the Malibu was easy to reach but was never able to access the transmission fluid (by GM's design). Some might be a little tougher to get to on the Caravan but everything looks like it's marked in bright yellow.

That's all for now. I'm sure I'll be keeping y'all appraised as to how the van is coming along in coming years.

Time to be fair... :)

Recently I had a chance to pick on a store sign near where I work. It seems that anytime the display showed the time & temperature, the temperature always seemed to be screwed up somehow.

Since that original post, I somehow suspect that someone at Walgreen's caught wind of what I had said in this blog. A few days after the post, I noticed that the sign no longer showed the time & temperature. The feature has yet to return...

To be fair, I'm not going to pick on the sign this time. Rather, it's time to show that they are using the sign in a positive way.

In a time when some are starting to discuss the effectiveness of the Amber Alert system, it is a good system used in the recovery of missing children. The sign (below) at Eastlawn Plaza might be the only one in Midland that displays the information. To all, please tell me if another location in Midland displays alerts. Also, I don't know how many Walgreen's stores actually participate in the program.

This particular Amber Alert was the second one I have seen posted. I have used the information in these alerts to share with my fellow drivers at my store. Unfortnately, I don't think most of my fellow drivers give a rat's hind end about this whole thing.

To Midland Walgreen's - I think you took the easy way out of solving the temperature issue with the sign out front (by removing the information), but you're doing the right thing by displaying this information when you need to.

An end to a costly habit...

No, it's not smoking or drinking or gambling, or anything like that.

I decided yesterday it's time to stop buying my newspapers to read. It's not because I think the papers have some kind of "liberal" agenda or that any of the columnists are socialists or communists. Rather, the decision was based entirely on economics.

Every newspaper I read has a presense on line. Everyone I do business with has their ads online. I am the kind of person the newspapers are learning to hate. They are going through their toughest business climate in years with a number of papers in Michigan planning on cutting back on the number of days they publish. Everything online will be kept current though.

Let's break my newspaper purchases down...

Monday to Friday

1. USA Today - $1.00
2. Saginaw News - $.75
3. Bay City Times - $.75
4. Midland Daily News - $.50

This comes to $3.00 a day or $15.00 for these 5 days.

Saturday only

1. Saginaw News - $.75
2. Bay City Times - $.75
3. Midland Daily News - $.50

I spent $2.00 on Saturday papers, and from Monday to Saturday this figure rises to $17.00

Sundays only

1. Saginaw News - $2.00
2. Bay City Times - $2.00
3. Midland Daily News - $1.50

On Sunday papers, this figure rises to $5.50 for that day's news. Add this to the previous figure and you look at $22.50 per week.

You hear me correctly - $22.50 per week. Do the math and you're looking at something like $97.50 per month and $1170 per year (based on 52 weeks).

That's mind boggling. This can be used in many ways. $97.50 can go toward various bills I pay. I'm planning on getting a car soon, so that can be a half a payment a month on what I expect to spend. Maybe I can invest someway or another. The possibilities are almost endless, and that's the point.

Buying and reading all those papers in a year --> $1170

Reading all those papers, and even others online --> priceless

A new burger...

This is one that Adam Richman (Man vs. Food - Travel Channel) can love.

The West Michigan Whitecaps minor leage baseball team is introducing a new burger to be sold at its home games this year. Named after the team's stadium (5/3 Field), they introduce the 5/3 Burger that weighs over 4 pounds and has almost 5000 calories. Yes, you heard me correctly.

Here's a description from the Minor League Baseball Website:

"is five-thirds of a pound of grilled hamburger topped with lettuce, tomatoes, nacho cheese, chili, salsa and crunched corn chips. Holding it all together is an eight-inch sesame seed bun."

Oh, did I say that you can buy this for only $20.00!

Read More --> Here!!!

Just for fun!

I don't know how many of you readers are going to care about this entry but I thought it was cool. This was my odometer reading the other night (only 2 numbers are involved). Enjoy...

Another car face...

Just when I thought I could put the car face issue to rest. I found this behind a car dealership in Saginaw the other night. It's the new 2009 Pontiac G3 (essentially a Chevy Aveo). What do you think?

Don't we wish...

If only this were true (that diesel price). Actually that price was only $2.199. Find this at the Mobil station on M-47 in Freeland.

Views...

There aren't too many places where one can really get a good view of Midland. One can go to the top of one of the Dow Buildings at the main plant or at the Corporate Center. The problem here is that access to Dow is so fortified anymore that unless you're an employee you can't get in. Forget about bringing a camera.

You can try "The H" (formerly the Ashman Court Hotel) or the future Holiday Inn under construction behind the mall but those view won't be enough.

To get a really good view, one needs to visit a place where one can see from 6 floors and up. Introducing the Green Hill old people's apartments. The tallest building in Midland one can legally go to, it is 8 floors up. The view in the photo below is one taken from the 6th floor looking toward Midland High School. Enjoy the view...

Wave bye, bye trees...

I come to the conclusion recently that these trees need to come down...

Find these trees at the corner of Lindy and East Ashman streets in Midland.

Reason: visibility was almost next to nothing. As I sat at this corner waiting to turn, this is what I could see. I had to pull further into the intersection so I could see the cars that were well on there way to meet with me.

Deceptive advertising :-)

I was recently putting the truck away at work when I found a box of peppers with this label...

Now I know very well that when I open this box I'm going to see a box of green peppers because this is what we sell. I can see someone opening a box like this and automatically assume they're going to find a box of red peppers regardless of whether they sell them or not.

So, what did I find when I opened the box?

The cost of "free"

The word "Free" is used quite often in our vocabulary anymore. In this era of recession, many of us are more price conscious than we ever used to. In some instances, "free" may be the best deal out there. Then again maybe "free" carries some cost with it too. Here are 3 recent examples of "free" that happened around me.

1. I talked recently in this blog about my visit to Denny's on the free Grand Slam day. I didn't mention it at the time, but there are costs involved with this too. There's the cost of gas travelling from Midland to Saginaw on a snowy day, the time waiting outside in the cold during lunch hour with TV cameras hovering mere feet away from you, and (probably my least favorite) realizing that Saginaw County restaurants (unlike Midland County's) are not smoke free. Definitely some costs there, not all of which are in dollars & (s)cents.
2. A family member (not me) received a free car recently from a friend. That family member (and the person giving it to them) knew of some faults with the car, so (after a lengthy delay) the car was able to be driven to the family's repair shop and repair the car. After hundreds of dollars just to get it on the road, more work was discovered and added hundreds of dollars more in repair work. Obviously, the family member will not be keeping this car. In this case, "free" came at a very high price.
3. Our local newspaper has a coupon for a free something (from a local business) on the second page of each day's edition. Usually, this is for something like a candy bar or a fountain drink. Several pizzas have even given free breadsticks as part of this deal. Usually the item being given away has a retail value of less than $2.00, so it doesn't give the store a huge loss unless there's significantly more demand than normal. Here again, are the costs of travel (especially if you're going out of the way to get this free item), and the cost of the newspaper ($.50 daily / $1.50 Sunday).

There you have it, three examples of free and their mixed results. As always, do your own research for the best deal you can get. Maybe it's free. Maybe it's half off. Or maybe it's paying full retail price. Point is - you never know until you know.

Makes you wanna go, WHAT?!?!?!?!?

Ordinarily, I try to avoid politics in this blog but even this caught my attention.

For some years now, the city of Detroit has been caught in a battle with Wayne County over control of the city's Cobo Hall (where such events as the Detroit Car Show are held). Yesterday, it took a rather nasty tone as city councilwoman Barbara Rose-Collins launched a tirade at yesterday's meeting. Read about her tirade here in the Detroit News. Be sure pay attention to the comments about God and about racism (fortunately not in the same sentence).

It's just a building folks!

Big City politics at its best (or worst)?

Abandonment

Yet another story of a good building gone bad, once it's abandoned.

Today, in the Detroit Free Press, is an article about the abandoned Highland Park (MI) Municipal Building complete with a slideshow from forgottenmichigan.com.

Visitors to the abandoned building reveal in photographs the decaying state of parts of the building. What surprises me, as in any urban exploration tale I read like this, is just how much stuff is left behind. Items of all types such as old police records and even old guns are in plain sight for the taking.

Rather than commenting further, let me take you to the page in the newspaper. Right here.

Time to try something new...

I've been following the Sudoku craze for some years now. I've seen the many variations used but what I saw today tops all that...

Called "KenKen" (not to be confused with TomTom GPS devices), it is the latest twist to Sudoku. Using the cover of the magazine pictured here, a 6 x 6 grid is created. As before, only numbers 1-6 (in this example) is used and the placement is determined by how the numbers create a math problem whose solution is shown in certain adjacent squares.

Using one of the cover's examples, one would need to find out how 3 squares added together using only 1-6 to come up with 13 and where they fit. The puzzles in the magazine start out easy and get harder the further in the book you go.

I'll keep y'all appraised as to my progress (or lack of) in this book.

By the way, if you stumble across this blog entry and your name is Ken, sorry this isn't about you. And I do know a Ken that could potentially read this entry.

1st visit to... Midland's new Qdoba

This is a restaurant I've been wanting to check out since it opened here in Midland a few months ago - Qdoba Mexican Grill. Rather than indulging myself on Fat Tuesday pastries and get immensely fat later, I decided to try this place out.

Located adjacent to the Midland Mall, Qdoba is in a standalone building that it shares with Petsmart. It is the former Toys R Us building.

I arrived just after 1pm after all the lunch crowd went back to work. There were a few people left over enjoying what was left of their lunch but no one in line. That allowed me time to scan the menu and pick what I want.

I chose the fajita Ranchera Burrito with chicken. The description in the menu says: "red onions, bell peppers and our zesty Ranchera sauce (no beans)." That actually worked that way. I loaded it up with extras and also the 2nd hottest salsa they had there (I'll go for the hottest one next time). Complete with a fountain drink, I ended up paying $8.03 for my meal. And don't let the picture fool you, this is a meal in and of itself.

Being only one of a few people there, I had my pick of seats. I chose one of the tables over the benches only because the benches were snug though spacious (family size).

I ate my meal and decided to wait a few minutes before leaving. I took a few photos pretending I was doing something on my phone (which I was - surfing the web). Then I left. I plan on coming back again sometime and try something else.

Grade - A (plenty of choices for a meal in and of itself). Only demerit was the fixed bench seating.

The face of cars (revisited)

It's time to revisit the blog entry where I mention about how it seems like cars have faces anymore (the original Dodge Neon, etc). To further prove my point, here is a co-worker's Chrysler Town & Country minivan.

Think about this one: The headlights are the eyes, the grille is a sizable nose, that long slit at the bottom (between the fog lamps) is the mouth, and the two narrow slits above that and below the grille could be considered a moustache.

See it?

In Memory of Socks

I have some sad news to report. It has come to my attention that one of the more colorful characters of the Clinton White House has passed. Well, maybe not colorful as he had only 2 colors.

Socks the Cat had to be put to sleep at age 18 following a brief illness. For the official article posted on Yahoo! News, read below...

Socks, the Clintons' White House cat, dies

Sleep

Would someone explain this, please...

I can go to bed at night, sleep for many hours, dream lengthy dreams, and when I find myself waking up I think it's close to sunrise and therefore it's almost time to get up. When I turn over to look at the clock on my phone, it's usually been (at the most) about three hours since I went to bed.

This has happened more than once. As one would expect, the idea is worse this time of year because of the later sunrises.

Floyd Church Adult Winter Retreat Part 1 - Storm before the Calm

“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times” - naah, sounds too much like a chiché .

“It was a dark & stormy night”. - not even close. It was too nice this weekend.

Here’s the basics. I attended my church’s annual Adult Winter Retreat this last weekend at the Springs Christian Camp near Gladwin, MI. That’s the easy part. The hard part is coming up with the spin to put on it.

Do I share how it was a life changing experience? About how I managed to sled down the hill around 10 times this year? About how I managed to look iky in front of my friends playing some silly game in the Friday night follies? Or do I share about my victorious conquest in this year’s Carpetball tournament?

Answer: No. Because none of it happened.

My main goal of the weekend was to relax for a while because that’s exactly what I needed, and that I ate a lot. That’s the spin this’ll take.

My workweeks start on Wednesday, and I knew right away something was up. I started to develop a case of the sniffles and started coughing and sneezing more. I knew I needed to shake this right away before Friday rolled around. Which, by the way, did not happen.

When I put in to take that Saturday off, I thought nothing of Friday night. I figured I’d end up working til 7 then go home, get my stuff together, feed the cat, then drive up there possibly catching some of the Friday night activities. That’s exactly what happened except 7:00 ended up being just past 8:30 because we were extremely busy. Oh, and did I mention that when I went to Burger King afterward to get a quick bite to eat that my order was goofed up.

Everything was settting itself up for a long evening.

I arrived by 11:15, the last to arrive for the night. The Friday night follies had long finished (which I could care less about anyway) and many had settled into their rooms for a short night’s sleep.

My mother had previously called me already and let me know that we would be rooming together. Another youth group was using the rooms we’d normally use separately and I guess that probably meant we’d be using one of the married couples rooms.

Much to my surprise when I dragged myself and my stuff in that the room we were using was roughly a couple hundred square feet in area more than that of my house. The bunks in the room were arranged in a way that it look like we had two separate huge rooms.

After visiting with a few people and getting settled in, I decided it was time for a long deserved bedtime. It was around 12:15am.

Floyd Church Adult Winte Retreat Part 2 - Time to Relax

For our church’s stay at The Springs in 2009, the cost was a mere $98. This is a bargain by any standard. But by the magic of fundraisers (bake sales, etc.), the cost was lowered to a mere $75 per person.

Now just what does one get for that $75. Two nights of sleep in our rooms, or in my case two nights in my “house” (see previous entry). $75 also went toward the five meals we were treated to. Each of these meals is expertly prepared by the very talented chef Meredith and her crew of expert, um, volunteers.

I won’t go into detail about the meals except for one - Saturday afternoon’s pizza meal. I’ve worked with pizza for the last 10 ½ years. I guess that makes me an expert, right? Well, maybe in pizza whose toppings and dough and cheese and sauce are sent to us from other places and is made exactly the same way every single time - the cookie cutter approach. But I do know good pizza when I taste it, and The Springs makes pretty darn good pizza.

Several kinds of pizza were offered to us in both round and square varieties. I found later the round crust was made onsite while the square was already premade. This explains why the cheese and the pepperoni pizzas whose sizable slices I enjoyed were understandably my favorites. The taco pizza was good, though I felt something was lacking about it. What surprised me was the one pizza that impressed more people than anything else - the chicken alfredo pizza. That was actually pretty good with real chicken chunks and a good sauce. I can actually see why my employer stopped offering its own c.a. pizza, because it was rather tame by Springs standards.

Now, no church winter retreat wouldn’t be complete without services wouldn’t it? Isn’t it an amazing coincidence that during an adult retreat held during Valentine’s weekend that the focus of discussion would be on relationships? No, really! Being the only single guy there amongst all the married couples, divorced, and widowed people I should have (and probably did) seen this coming.

First on deck. Saturday’s morning service was led by the youth pastor of the Faith United Church of God in Grand Rapids - Matt Stone. To any Floyd Church alumni that read this, it is that Matt Stone. Matt and his wife Kristin joined us where he led a discussion about “…beginning and new relationships in our lives”. These are the words copied from the program and not my own. Not having seen much of Matt’s growing up, it’s nice to know that the kids we do know now eventually grow up.

I wish I could say how great the evening service was that night led by church member Kevin Kindy. I’d be totally lying to you because I wasn’t there. I decided to take temporary leave after dinner to take care of a few things at home, such as the feeding of the cat.

This leads to the rest of the day. Ah yeah! That original plan was to get some rest and take it easy. Easily done. While Friday for me was working with the craziness of the real world, Saturday was simply R&R for want of a better term. During the afternoon free time, I checked in with what was happening around the building and was simply starting to tire of it. Did I mention earlier that I wasn’t feeling well headed into the weekend? I decided it was best to do my own thing, you know the photography thing, a little reading and a few games on my own.

Come to think about it, that’s how the evening went after I returned to camp. Activities were split between watching the movie “Fireproof” and the annual carpet ball tournament. Me, well I was simply content in doing my own thing such as reading in bed (a rather dangerous activity).

What can be better than this?

Floyd Church Adult Winter Retreat Part 3 - Time to Go Home

All good things must come to an end… Or how about the song I heard as a kid about having to come down from the mountaintop experience back down into the real world. Whatever the favorite way to express it eventually any good adult retreat held at the Springs must come to an end.

First up, the sun. Sunday had the only visible sunrise that weekend. Out with the camera and in search for a good spot to shoot. In previous years, I sought out the most likely spot that would have an open view of the sunrise. Sunday, I chose a spot in my own room to take pictures of the sun coming through around a bunch of branches. In other words, I chose a spot that would stretch my skills as a photographer a little further. And it worked. Some of my best sunrise photos came out of that shoot. I can honestly say this though this photo doesn't show it.

One more service to go… Sunday’s service was led by former Floyd Pastor, Jim Shanks. Pastor Shanks has been Senior Adults pastor at cross-town church Eagle Ridge Church of God for the last 15 years. But he, and his wife Maudie, still feel connected with the folks at Floyd and thus were able to join us for the whole weekend. The printed material says he talked about “sustaining relationships in our lives”. What I will walk away from that service with is the realization that Pastor Shanks actually tells funny jokes. This is the same person who my sister says she can almost predict what he says next.

We all packed our things and loaded our vehicles up for the trip home. We all had our laughs at one last meal. Then that was it. Time to leave. I purchased a new ball cap then waited until almost everyone was gone before taking leave myself.

What a beautiful place that God has given Michigan. This is a wonderful place that has a wonderful ministry, not only for the people that have retreats here but for other programs such as the annual summer camps. I look forward to coming back here as often as I can for many years to come and watch this place grow and develop.

An aerial shot of The Springs, from Yahoo Maps…

Visit The Springs website à http://www.thespringscamp.com/

Who am I?

Who am I?

I am a rear-drive subcompact from Chevrolet. I was made from 1976 to 1987. I started out life as a 3-door hatchback but for '78 a 5-door hatchback was added. My standard engine averaged in the upper 20's mpg (under 2008 standards) but the really optional limited edition diesel engine in the early 80's pushed that number well over 30 mpg. Forget about optional equipment. I was sparcely equipped but that didn't stop nearly 2.8 million of me produced through those years (more if you count my nearly identical sister car at Pontiac from 1981 to 1987). I was about as basic as you get in a car. Oh, if you set a 3-door '76 and '87 model of me next to each other they're essentially the same (only the grille and taillights were different).

Figured it out yet?

I am the Chevette...

(79 3-door pictured)

This really was about as basic as you get. No frills and even fewer thrills. And it was still a decent car for the time period. I know that since my late grandfather had 2 ('78 & '85 3-door models) and they served him well for many years.

It's been 22 years since the last one rolled off the assembly line yet they're still around. In recent weeks, I've seen at least 3 driving around or through Midland which isn't bad at all. What this shows me is this: 1) Chevette owners are an obviously loyal group or insane group. They'd clearly have more than one of these models handy which leads to... 2) They are obviously still easy to maintain after all these years with parts readily available from their junk Chevettes within arm's reach.

Today's generation of subcompacts are generally more safe to drive, better equipped with luxury features, and get just as good or slightly better gas mileage on a front drive platform. Get them on a race track next to a quarter century old Chevette though and I think the Chevette can still teach them a thing or two.

What to do when it is too late!!!

I've been wanting to do this entry for two weeks, but I only found my notes for this in the last few days. Let me set this up...

In addition to what I do at my home church, I maintain a foot in the door at the previous church I went to since I still know a lot of people there. How I do this is attending one of the church's small groups that meet, usually, every other week. The current focus of the group is studying and disecting the pastor's sermon from that morning. I'm usually at a disadvantage since I never hear the sermons unless I'm given a copy of the sermon in advance.

That week's sermon was from a story in the book of Jeremiah that I don't recall ever reading. All points that follow are not mine but belong to the pastor that gave the message. The commentary is mine though...

1. Real hope begins when other options have been taken away. In chapter 32 verse 2, the Babylonian army is at Jerusalem's front door and Jeremiah is watching events unfold from his jail cell at Jerusalem Gitmo. It's the end of the world and Jeremiah is watching his options fly out the window faster than a fender rusting on a Chevy Vega. What options does he have left, wait and see?
2. Real hope is not always popular. The next set of verses (3-5) tell us the reason Jeremiah is in jail is because of his delivery of an unpopular message to the king - your kingfullness, Jerusalem is about to be destroyed. It's a common fact that doing the right thing is not always popular, so I sense that doing the right thing is where real hope begins and is the option left to us in such circumstances? Next, God tells Jeremiah what to do next.
3. Real hope must be acted upon. Jeremiah is in jail and the city of Jerusalem is about to fall. What does God tell Jeremiah to do next? Buy a thousand shares of GM stock? Starting in verse 6, God tells Jeremiah to buy land. The text goes into detail as to the steps that go into buying land, but the message is clear - look past the Babylonian army and find hope for the future in your own country and land.
4. Real hope must be explained by anyone who has it. In verses 37 to 40, God promises a future for his people in the land even though it looks like the end of the world to them now. One day, Jeremiah's family will occupy the land that he had just bought.

The sermon closed with a couple of questions. 1) Is there some property (not necessarily land) that you need to buy? Is there something God needs us to have done looking past the sour economy and falling stock prices in the process? 2) Is there someone in your life who only sees the Babylonian army outside the walls? Face it, all of us know at least 1 pesimist amongst us.

Free Grand Slam Day

I braved snow, ice, cold, and the presence of TV reporters but I did it. I decided to take advantage of Denny's Free Grand Slam Day today.


I made it to the closest Denny's in Saginaw right around noon. It was later than I planned but I found out that was actually a good idea. There was a line headed out the door and down the sidewalk but at 6am the line stretched much further than that.

I had to wait outside for approximately an half hour for enough people to leave. A television reporter from the local ABC affialate was talking with various people. That's how I found out that at least 1 person just in front of me actually came from New Zealand to be here today.

Security people were handling the flow of traffic into and out of the building, which I noticed as I approached the building. I was eventually seated at the bar stools next to others who had been waiting for a while.

By the time I got my meal, another half hour later, more people left and others replaced them. I just went on my way and ate my Grand Slam. As you can see in the photo, it was worth the wait.

A couple dollars worth of tips for the waitress, and I was on my way by 1:30 pm. I should come back some time...