Jake Cordonnier: “Aaron misses Dan so much today, he had to Facetime him.”

In our world of field surveyors and the in-office surveyors who support them, sometimes it just helps to show the person in the field what you’re seeing on the screen. For field surveyor Dan Perreira, that meant answering a Facetime call from survey coordinator Aaron Plas, all while battling nature during the survey a brushy field for a future subdivision.

Our famous field surveyors often perform in scenarios straight out of action movies, where the hero must concentrate on the ultimate mission while fending off some kind of adversary. In Dan’s case, this meant dodging honeysuckle, wiping sweat from his eyes, and avoiding angry insects, all while trying to comprehend the point Aaron was trying to make over a video call. True to his action hero tendencies, Dan was probably thinking, “If I don’t make it out of this field, at least I’ll go down doing what I love: discussing subdivisions with Aaron…”

At Choice One, where teamwork sometimes means navigating both AutoCAD and gnat swarms, it’s good to know that face-to-face connections are still worth the risk. Indeed, nothing says “collaboration” like a video call to a coworker entangled in a thorn-infested wilderness. So keep calling Dan daily, Aaron. Whether it helps you miss Dan less or not, it’ll definitely keep Dan from getting too carried away in that “nature” he clearly loves so much.

Gideon Siegrist: “Dad! I found your coat!”

Last week, Kyle Siegrist’s son Gideon (pictured with little sister Elodie) visited the Choice One office and assumed that every green jacket he saw on the back of a desk chair was his dad’s. With enthusiasm, he pointed out, “Dad, I found your coat!” repeatedly. Perhaps this proves that “misplacing” things happens frequently for Kyle in the Siegrist household?

At Choice One, our daily dress code is simple: wear a Choice One logoed green shirt. But for Gideon, every green jacket sighting is another chance to lend a hand to his dad. And since we work in a veritable “COE-Sea” of green, it probably took Kyle and Gideon quite a while to travel across the office with all the pointing and excitement over finding so many “lost” jackets.

Despite our monochromatic wardrobe, however, it’s our company culture that truly adds color to our workplace—even our office plants flourish on the fun! Thanks Gideon, for reminding us that while we may wear green every day, it’s the fun and connections that really keep us vibrant!

Andy Shuman: “We will designate this corner the “Caray/Kari Corner.”

The Choice One name game continues, as now we have two gals named Caray/Kari (although we previously had two Carays for a short time once…) to add to the multitude of multiple names here at Choice One. Caray and Kari sit just around the corner from each other and designating this angle in the office the “Caray/Kari Corner” only makes sense.

We compared the attributes of controller Caray Schmiesing and new graphic designer Kari Meyer, and we have to say, new Kari has some work to do to live up to the accomplishments of existing Caray (notice she’s not “old” Caray, even though Caray suggested that this Mindset should mention that she’s older than new Kari by a few years).

1. First, new Kari has to see how many cartwheels it takes to get down the Choice One hallway.
2. Second, new Kari has to be willing to learn new—or old—technology.
3. Finally, new Kari has to prove she’s amazingly practical, resilient, and tough.

After all this thought, we don’t want Caray and Kari to be alike—we love them both as they are! Caray, thanks for all of your hard work to keep Choice One running smoothly in the accounting department, and welcome Kari—we hope you are excited to make your own “name” at Choice One!

Nick Sanders: “Kinda think it makes sense to go out for Japanese food since we’re Team Japan.”

The 2024 Choice One Office Olympics have concluded, and after fierce competition and some creative self-scoring, the team from Ireland was declared the winner. Regardless of placement, each team enjoyed a celebratory lunch together to honor a successful competition, minimal injuries, and admirable team spirit. To keep the international theme alive, a portion of the team representing Japan (l-r: Nick Sanders, Wes Wolters, Kaye Borchers, and Matt Lefeld; not pictured Caray Schmiesing and Mike Francis) headed to a local Japanese restaurant for their lunch.

While Team Japan somehow excelled more at toothpick javelin and cotton-ball shot-put than at eating with chopsticks, the lunch was still quite enjoyable. Cheers to the conclusion of the Office Olympics, and back to the everyday routine of swimming through field surveys and relaying projects from concept and utility modeling to design and construction. Let’s hear it for the potential of Choice One Office Winter Olympics in 2026… Office chair curling, ice cube hockey, and freestyle snow angel-ing, anyone?

Megan Bornhorst: “All I keep hearing are grunts and the occasional ‘ouch.’”

Let the games begin: the Choice One Summer Office Olympics are back! As you can tell from Megan’s comment (and much like Choice One’s 2021 competition), there were feats of incredible athleticism, controversial scoring inquires, and minor injuries.

Similar to the real deal in Paris this year, there were many highs and lows during Choice One’s week of competitive events. The highs included a 15-foot toothpick “javelin” throw by co-op Nick “Scooter” Schmidt, Steve Goessling’s incredible accuracy and perfect score in rubber band archery, and a high-scoring, innovative throwing [and grunting, apparently] style in cotton-ball shotput by Kyle Siegrist.

And then, the lows: a sore elbow from so many toothpick “javelin” throws by Adam Gill, a disappointing team score of 2 in water polo-pong for the team representing Jamaica, and a devastating -1 score by co-op Caleb Sutherin due to spilling too much water from his cup during the track and field water race.

As we reflect on our week of Office Olympics, we find that we probably lack the finesse of the pros in Paris. Still, we certainly have the competitive spirit of those elite Olympians—even if our victories are rewarded with nothing more than plastic “gold” medals and bragging rights… which we all know around Choice One are preeeetty important and way better than any cash prize.

Adam Gill (from bathroom): “Schmidty, you wanna bust up a toilet?”
Brian Schmidt (from across the office): “YEP!”

Brian “Schmidty” Schmidt is always up for good times: reviewing plans with vigor, eating (anytime, anything), and, apparently, busting up broken fixtures. So when one of the toilets in our Loveland office needed to be put out of its misery, Brian didn’t hesitate.

We like to take things into our own hands. We have our own popcorn machine. We do our own heavy lifting. We do our own scaring. Heck, at this point, plumbing seems simple (unless you’re Tony, of course). Plus we design sanitary sewer on the daily—those two things are the same, right?

Whether its snacks or sledgehammers, doughnuts or destruction, it’s all in a day’s work for Schmidty—he always manages to turn a messy situation into a memorable moment. Thanks, Schmidty, for flushing another crisis away!