Boy Scout Popcorn, 2008

Hi everyone! The boys are selling popcorn, just like a lot of other scouts. We are anticipating rivalry issues this year since we've added a salesman and the territory is the same. They have agreed to split the internet sales right down the middle.
The money really does stay in the district, so while the cost of the popcorn is higher than say Orville's stuff, it is a good value since half of what you pay goes to directly help the boys. I am off my soapbox.
Please review the offerings and if interested, please reply or post a comment that you are interested and we'll contact you privately.

Ian and Spencer Young Submitted: Boy Scout popcorn letter


HEY EVERYONE!!!
POPCORN IS NOW ON SALE!
WE HAVE ALL TYPES OF POPCORN!
WE HAVE:
CHOCOLATE HEAVEN: 5-WAY CHOCOLATE LOVER’S TIN
CHOCOLATE! CARAMEL! CHEESE; SAVORY & SWEET 3-WAY TIN
SAY “CHEESE”; IT’S THE CHEESIEST, 3-WAY TIN
**GET YOUR KICKS WITH OUR MIX!; PEANUTS, RAISINS, CRANBERRIES, M&M’S, ALMONDS AND CASHEWS
*COUNTY FAIR FAVORITE; 15-PACK KETTLE CORN. SWEET ‘N SALTY, MUNCHY AND CRUNCHY.
GOTTA HAVE MY CHOCOLATE!; CHOCOLATEY CARAMEL CRUNCH
GO NUTS!; GOURMET CARAMEL CORN WITH ALMONS, PECANS AND CASHEWS
LIGHTEN UP; CARAMEL CORN LIGHT
*OUR BUTTER MAKES IT BETTER; 15-PACK UNBELIEVABLE BUTTER
*TURN ON THIS LIGHT!; 15-PACK BUTTER LIGHT
CARAMEL & PEANUTS… YES!; OUR “ORIGINAL” CARAMEL CORN WITH CARAMEL-GLAZED PEANUTS
***THE GOURMET WAY TO POP.; ORIGINAL POPPING CORN

OVER 70% GOES TO A LOCAL SCOUT GROUP!!!
SUPPORT OUR TROOPS, AND OUR SCOUTS!!
THE GOAL FOR IAN AND SPENCER YOUNG IS $650!!!
THE GOAL FOR TROOP 282 IS $9725!!!
IF WE SELL ENOUGH POPCORN, WE GET TO HAVE A PIZZA PARTY FOR OUR TROOP!!!
IF YOU DON’T LIKE POPCORN, YOU CAN BUY THE TRAIL MIX, GIVE A SMALL DONATION, OR DONATE TO OUR TROOPS!!!!
THIS POPCORN CONTAINS NO DIACETYL, WHICH IS THE CAUSE OF CANCER FROM POPCORN.****0 GRAMS TRANSFAT IN POPCORN!!!
EACH POPCORN TIN COMES IN A CREATIVELY COLORED TIN.
TO SEE FULL NUTRITIONAL INFORMATION FOR ALL TRAILS END PRODUCTS, VISIT: TRAILS-END.COM

* MICROWAVEABLE POPCORN.
** TRAIL MIX
*** POPPING CORN
****EXCLUDES UNBELIEVABLE BUTTER AND 30 PACK MICROWAVE

Photo of the day, Saturday, 10/4/08

Last night Holly and I went to Frenz, a local coffee shop. One of our friends from church was slated to have his debut public appearance. Kevin is a twenty something surfer dude with bright white hair and beard. He's got a very soft spoken calming way about him and everyone loves him. From kids to us old folks. Since we like the guy and I'm always looking for a cheap date for me and the Hollister, I said we should go for it.

It was slated to run from 7 to 9 and so we arrived at 7. He was there and nervous as anyone would be when they were stepping out with their own music. We knew some of the people there, a few of the kids that I teach in Sunday school, an old BSF leader that Holly knew. I was struck by the fact that we were settling in nicely. It was amazing to see the connections that we had made, they run through out lives in so many ways, from work, to church, to scouts, to neighbors, and it goes on. Pretty cool. It was really driven home that we were well connected when Holly and I went to Meijer this morning. We ran into friends in produce, meats, snacks and deli. We finally had to keep our heads down and duck out to the check out to avoid seeing anyone else. Nearly anti-social in our behaviour, but our frozen stuff was melting and so we felt it was acceptable.

Back to the coffee shop experience. As we were headed there all I could envision was a 50's or 60's theme of French beret wearing people, bad poetry and snapping fingers rather than clapping. I was pleasantly surprised when everyone looked normal, the music was written by the artist and while folksy, it was really nice and we clapped and didn't snap our fingers to show approval. As I was in a bad poet mood, I came up with the following to show that bad poetry wasn't forgotten.

Coffee shop entertainment

an experience to be savored

like a strong cup of coffee

on a crisp October morning.

I know, it's not really a poem, but you have to remember, I am an engineer.

Here's a self portrait that I took tonight of Spencer and me. Ian is out and about with a friend. As you can clearly see, we are two of the best looking folks in our neighborhood.

Have a great day,

Pat

Photo of the day, Thursday, 10/2/08

This and that:

The transition to the blog site continues. I will continue to send an email out with a link to this site for the rest of the week.

If you have technical issues, let me know, I will get our tech support right on it. By the way, I have committed to keeping jobs in America and so Holly will remain as the Tech Support Specialist and so India will have to find another job.

I just turned 10,000 miles on my little Ford Focus. Not bad, it's 15 months old.

Aunt Sandee, we got your note, thanks for stopping by.

I had dinner tonight with the sales manager for our competitor. It was kind of interesting. We had a really nice visit and we each learned a bit about the other. It kind of felt like business espionage. I have to admit, I have the strangest job I could have ever imagined.

I am watching the VP debates while I type this, thus the sound bites. Who should we support? Can we get an option that we all could trust?

Here's an oldie and a goody. Pictured are John, Grace and Sue Bell. As I look at this I am impressed that someone paid to have this taken. It must have been pretty expensive back in the day, but it was professional, that's for sure. Additionally, those of us related to these wonderful folks can clearly see where our good looks come from.

Have a great day,

Pat

Photo of the day, Wednesday, 10/1/08

A new experiment, many short paragraphs instead of 2 long ones.

Happy October!

Man, I love fall, is one of my favorite seasons, right along with Spring and Summer and Winter. Oh, yeah, I am a 4 season man.

Tonight we had a soiree at Tim's house, Tim and I work together every day. It was quite the affair, he even rented outdoor heaters, a really strange item that allowed us to eat out on the deck. comfortably in 50 degreee weather. It was awesome.

It was a sad day today, the Twins lost last night. Baseball has lost it's meaning to me.

I was with a customer, at their site, looking for cost reductions from 7:30 to 2 today. Imagine that, nearly 8 hours in the enemy camp. Why is it I don't get combat pay again?

How do I tell a story with these short blurbs?

Maybe I should take a writing class to learn about story development and basic sentence structure.

OK, enough of this craziness.

I just heard from a good friend that all is well in Ohio. Once Wendy moved there, I had no doubt it would be all good for them. Wendy and I worked together while I was with Robertshaw, which became Invensys. We had some great times, and she was the best Admin I have ever worked with.

Anyway, here's what she wrote about today's photo:

"Here is a pic of us at Cedar Point a few weeks back - I am sure you can point Steve and I out – I am holding Jake up and Matt has the Michigan yellow shirt on as he still chooses his Michigan roots over Ohio! Thank God I caught Jake on time, at least I have 1 of each, pretty even I think. M.C. (you met) behind me, her daughter Rachel and our neighbor Al with his boys. My boys did the Dragster which scared the heck outta me so I was a spectator."

Wendy and Steve Peterson, you have a great looking family! Thanks for sharing.

Have a great day,

Pat

Photo of the day, Tuesday, 9/30/08

We got home early from the trip and so I could take Holly and the boys out to our favorite hangout, the Corner Bar. It was comfort food that I was after and it was comfort food that I got. The all beef hotdog plate was totally awesome. We were in a silly mood and the waitress just as into the humor as we were. We were jabbing at the boys about all the cliques that the have now, Emo's, Skaters, Jocks, Nerds...Ian has been coaching me on the finer points of all these folks so that I can pick one out in a crowd. I haven't done so good just yet. For example, Emo is short for Emotional, where I guess they are pretty delicate. I call them Emu's and ask if I can get a feather. I don't think this is helping me bridge the generation gap, do you?

I am watching the Twins vs. White Sox game. The Sox are pretty good so far, getting on base and all, so I am going to get this posted so I can concentrate on the Twins. Dang, they walked another guy.

Here's a shot that I took of the boys today. We'd just gotten back from dinner and they were really easy to pose. I wonder how that works sometimes.

Go Twins!

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Have a great day!

Pat

Photo of the day, Monday

Today I am in Iowa visiting customers. It was a pretty good trip so far, it rained pretty good, but I was playing around on my computer while a friend was driving, so I could see the screen better in the dark We went to our favorite restaurant in the Quad Cities, called Thunder Bay Grille. It's a pretty good steak house and the service is always good and we're far enough away from our customer that we can relax.

Interesting feedback was received concerning yesterday's PotD. It seems a dear old friend also knows of Maynard Aakerman and is very in on on the whole trenchless digging thing. It was within minutes of me sending that email out, she told me that she works with the owner of the magazine that covers this technology. Here is the link and thanks a ton Wendy, I think it's totally amazing that we know the same person. This time I have Maynard's photo, courtsey of Trenchless Technology Magazine and Wendy.
2008 Person of the Year:
Some people search their whole lives to discover a career they love and want to do every day. Whether the quest involves flip-flopping between jobs or pursuing different degrees, people invest months and even years finding what they are meant to do in life.
http://www.trenchlessonline.com/index/webapp-stories-action?id=473

Fortunately for Maynard Akkerman, president and owner of Akkerman Inc. and Trenchless Technology's 2008 Person of the Year, his career found him at the ripe old age of 8 and has kept him on his toes ever since. A passion for the trenchless industry first grasped Akkerman when he witnessed his father succeed with his first tunnel boring machine and it hasn't loosened its grip yet. Read More



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Have a great day!

Pat

Photo of the day, Sunday, 09/28/08

I have heard from a number of you, but as a reminder, I will be stopping the manual email version soon and will be posting it as a blog. The site can automatically send you an email once you sign up. There are more complicated ways to go too, but let's start out easy.

This weekend we had a boy scout campout and an inventory event. We sent the boys up with the troop and I did my job with the inventory. After inventory I came home and took a quick nap and then headed up. I printed some really crude directions and that was all I had, oh, I was taking the company station wagon since I was going to Iowa very early on Monday. The directions were sketchy, the roads were closed due to construction and the cell phone coverage was spotty at best. I got dismally lost and ended up at Big Bend Campground, not sure where that is, but it's near a dam that is locally famous. I stopped in the office and talked the office worked into help me with map quest, while she's activating her dial up, I locate a flyer that talks about the constrcution and has alternate routes, perfect. (a very unusal side story was in play while I was in the office concerning a young woman, maybe another time.) With my flyer, the original direction and a fresh sense of can do, I head out, confident that all is well. Not so far down the road I find the road that I need. Awesome! I head north, because I now have this renewed faith in my directional ablities, I know that north is where the camp is. Good thing no kids were with me because it wasn't long and the yellow sign signaled, pavement ends. Rats, oh well, base on my judgement, I was within 2 miles of the camp entrance. 1-1/2 miles later a sign announces that the road is seasonal and not maintained. Sure enough, I am pushing this station wagon through some really rough roads, to the point the car is bottoming out and then there was the spot where it was pretty much just a loose sand road, really tough to go with that station wagon. Soon enough though, the road improved and I popped out right where I thought I was going to and all was well. Well, sort of, there was a leak but with a bit of JB Weld and some new transmission fluid, all is well. Thanks to Todd, the man with a plan, I was able to repair the vehicle and enjoy the time with my boys and the rest of the scouts.

The following was taken from the Austin Daily Hearld and sent to me by my brother David. The company, Akkerman, Inc designs and builds large boring machines used all over the world. The reason it was sent to me was that about 30 years ago I did my internship at that company as a drafting student. I remember thinking then, wow, what a cool and yet pretty weird machine. Anyway, the Austin Daily Herald said:

Maynard Akkerman, president and owner of Akkerman, Inc., said Akktoberfest was worth it. "We've been so blessed over the years," said the man named Trenchless Technology's 2008 Person of the Year. "Obviously, I'm very proud and happy to be here today with 35 years behind this second-generation company," he said.
Photo by Eric Johnson (Note, Maynard is not in the photo and here is a link with the whole story; http://austindailyherald.com/news/2008/sep/26/akkerman-celebrates-35-years/ )

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Have a great day!

Pat