Choice Mindsets

For the past four years, Kaye has teamed up with Erin from Beavercreek at the annual Ohio Parks and Recreation Association Conference to take a ridiculous (i.e. fabulous) photo compliments of a sponsored photo booth. And really, whatever the rest of this Mindset says doesn’t matter, as we’re pretty sure you’re just going to contemplate the distinctiveness of these photos for the next few minutes rather than read on.

In case you’re still reading and want to try to understand what’s going on here, we have to be honest: neither Kaye nor Erin really remembers the original motivation for the first photo (the kangaroo). All they know is that they can’t NOT take one every year at this point. And while there are many outstanding photo booth backgrounds to choose from each year (like “Running From a Train” or “Standing on a Volcano”), Erin and Kaye have repeatedly chosen “Staring Oddly into Space Straight-faced” while “Riding an Animal” and “While Holding Equine Masks” (except the elephant year when the unicorn was missing and Kaye, sadly, had to hold the pug dog face instead).

No matter the original inspiration of the photos, we’re confident the results of Erin and Kaye’s friendship is definitely… original. Indeed, even the photo booth operator, who takes thousands of photos in this profession, is routinely puzzled each year by these poses. But Kaye and Erin don’t care—they’ll keep taking these photos—and they’re banking on a rhinoceros or manatee to ride in 2021!

It was just an ordinary Thursday afternoon at Choice One , and suddenly, out of the green, a thrilling piece of correspondence arrived via the US Postal Service. Pictured above, for the world to behold, is what we received: a beautiful, handwritten, “wish you were here” postcard from abroad. Ok, from Ontario… Ohio.

Choice One surveyors Eric Kuck, Craig Frilling, and Kole Egbert traveled to Ontario (near Mansfield) for a few days to perform an extensive topographic survey for an upcoming school site design project. Believe it or not, they thought of all of us back here at the office while they were out seeing the world! How generous of them to remember their warm, dry colleagues while they were touring the muddy countryside, staying in a plush Hampton Inn, and eating at exotic restaurants like Red Lobster and Olive Garden. And—the true sensation here—can you believe they had a stamp?!

Eric, Craig, and Kole, we so appreciate you thinking of all of us back at the office while you’re out seeing the world (or at least the sites of Richland County). Thank you for taking time away from home to take care of that survey, too. We hope the mud was only knee deep, the Hampton’s pillows weren’t lumpy, and the unlimited cheddar bay biscuits and breadsticks filled you up!

As 2019 wraps up, we at Choice One have been reflecting on what we are grateful for, including our families, friends, and the joy of the holiday season. Additionally, we have a few personal bits of thanks that need special mention, including Nick’s above. (In case you don’t recall what he’s referring to, we’ll just leave this link riiiiight here so you can all accurately remember.)

Craig Eley is thankful for Starbucks iced coffee—because not having to wait for coffee to cool is worth the extra $1.15 for the ice. Jake Bertke is thankful for his perfect pop-a-shot shot. Brian Schmidt is grateful for super-elevated roadways and the Loveland Skyline’s inverted chili cheese fries. Conversely, Kyle Siegrist is thankful that there is no Skyline in Sidney, because “that place is garbage.” And Jeff Puthoff is, as always, thankful for shirts with pockets.

No matter our individual gratitude for things brewed cold or adequately pocketed, we can ALL confidently say thanks to all of you for allowing us to be a part of your 2019. We hope your 2020 is successful, enjoyable, and, heck, occasionally cheese-covered. And let’s be real, Nick, everyone is grateful that you are not wearing a bathrobe in the Christmas card this year.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from everyone at Choice One Engineering!

It wouldn’t be Christmastime without a Choice Mindset centered on our annual Christmas card signing. It’s not that we feel obligated to provide a Mindset about the cards, it’s just that there’s so much good Mindset fodder produced when we undertake this yearly hand-cramping experience.

Thanks to the traffic engineers’ careful time-keeping and card-counting, we know that the maximum capacity of this Christmas card roundabout is about 12 cards signed per minute. After further analysis, we noticed that the system does experience occasional backups (with peak hour volume of nine cards per minute), caused by bathroom break queues, signers using cell phones, and disagreements over radio stations. And like any roundabout, safety is enhanced, as there are no drinks on the table; we clumsy engineers know that spills are inevitable.

In any case, we encourage you to take a moment to appreciate the signatures on the card when you get a chance—both the efficiencies (Jeff Puthoff’s quick scribble and Dan Perreira’s teeny-tiny print) and the lack of coffee stains. Just watch out for perspiration stains, as Jonathan claims he broke a sweat keeping up with that blistering 12 cards-per-minute pace.

*Clockwise from top left: traffic engineers Mike Goettemoeller, Brad Walterbusch, Craig Eley, and Jonathan Murphy, who isn’t technically a traffic engineer, but who says he took some traffic engineering classes in college.)

She may look cheery in the photo at right, but imagine a blunt object in Choice One controller Caray’s hand and that image feels a little different. Caray is absolutely amazing, but to do her job best she needs all of us to do–at the very least–one important thing: enter our hours into our time tracking software. And when we forget, well, Caray’s officemate Holly may hear some “select” phrases that are not in Caray’s typical angelic vocabulary.

We don’t mean to intentionally frustrate Caray (at least not about this particular matter), but sometimes entering our time takes careful deliberation. For instance, how do we specifically record scaring people, talking smack about the Cleveland Browns, or finding an open bathroom? Is picking on Jeff Puthoff a different category from picking on Jeff Kunk? And does hand-signing Christmas cards go under “holiday events” or “competitive contests”? (Get excited… they will be in the mail soon!).

Rest assured, Holly. There are a few tasks around here we do so well that Caray will never need to cuss about them: wearing green, helping her when she needs her car jump-started, and most importantly, appreciating Caray’s double-awesomeness. Because not only do we want Caray to get to heaven someday, we would like our paychecks processed, too!