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Choice Mindsets

Choice Mindsets

Matt Hoying:
“The many uses of a Choice One pen.”

It’s been man versus chipmunk this past week in our Sidney office. Home for the summer, our favorite Spanish basketball star Ryan Bruns has been playing Wile E. Coyote to some chipmunks playing the parts of Roadrunner. In true Looney Tunes fashion, the feisty chipmunks, who have been tearing up our landscaping, have been taking the bait but not getting caught in the trap. Ryan has accused some of us of setting off the trap to tease him, but the likely suspects around here swear the chipmunks are doing the stealing.

Ryan has devised some alterations to his trap in hopes of preventing the chipmunks from stealing his sunflower seeds (and as Matt noticed, used Choice One pens to do so), but his modifications haven’t worked…yet. And while we feel Choice One pens are very useful (unless you don’t have anywhere to keep them), they are apparently not useful in the trapping of rodents.

We’re sorry about your frustration Ryan, but we’re so glad you volunteered to live-trap and safely release the varmints in the wild. There’s no question that the comic value of a frustrated professional basketball player being outmaneuvered by four-ounce chipmunks again and again provides more entertainment than Bugs Bunny and Michael Jordan in Space Jam. And in the end, we wonder which destruction is greater: the chipmunks’ moderate destruction of our landscaping or their severe destruction of Ryan’s ego.

Mindy McInturf, Ohio Parks and Recreation Association:
“You know it’s bad when engineers miss people!”

Working remotely is a challenge for many reasons, but an unforeseen challenge for Choice One was that many of us surly, introverted engineers and surveyors sorely missed each other and our office. And believe it or not, we aren’t too proud to admit that we didn’t just miss the office because we no longer had opportunities to bring in doughnuts to share (except Jeff Kunk) or suddenly had to remember long division while homeschooling.

Ms. McInturf hit the nail on the head, though, and put the situation into perfect perspective. Thankfully for those who’ve missed each other, Choice One is mostly back in the office and can rejoice, albeit with a little more distance between each desk. Thankfully, that space certainly won’t stop us from our usual bantering or rocking out to Kenny Rogers and John Denver—we just have to speak and sing a little louder to compensate for distance and masks. (Until our office dad Brian Barhorst reminds us to keep it down…)

Kyle “Sports” Siegrist (Designer and Sports Analyst for the Sports for Choice One’s Sports):
“My favorite sports player right now would be the lead sporter on the sports team owned by the sports owner who doesn’t play sports.”

While Kyle loves to participate in sports, watching and talking about sports is just not a pastime of his unlike a couple dozen of us at Choice One. Even without live sports and only replays of random events like the European Tram Driving Championships to watch on ESPN, many of our conversations at Choice One still revolve around sports (or the lack thereof), and Kyle recently told us his true feelings about sports talk.

We have initiated a few new pastimes here at Choice One that have filled the gap of typical sports chatter in recent days. We’ve been comparing masks and working out whose face covering is cooler (those with Cleveland Browns masks think they have some kind of leg up here, but we all know who has the best mask). Thanks to our Fast Food Bracket Challenge, we figured out that Raising Cane’s and Chick-Fil-A are our favorite restaurants (even though they don’t rely heavily on cheese). And most recently we’ve been making bets on whether or not Brian Goubeaux will remember to unmute himself on Zoom before he launches into a detailed description of his day in our regular morning meetings.

Kyle, we hope you find at least a little more enjoyment in the mask-comparison dialog or fast food chicken debate than in our endless sports talk. Because even though you told us that you “miss the sports fans sporting the sports and talking the sports” we’re preeeeetty sure you’re being sarcastic. We’ll be sure to get some Skyline Chili talk in when we’re all together again to make you less annoyed and feel more appreciated. Until then feel free to mute everyone (except Brian Goubeaux) when the sports talk takes over the conversation.

Brian Barhorst:
“I can’t believe you didn’t have a tiny pocket sewn on.”

We can all agree that Jeff Puthoff looks great in his new Choice One mask (fashioned from an old shirt). We’ll keep to ourselves as to whether it’s more that it’s branded Choice One or because it hides half his face. However, based on his many statements about missing his shirt pockets, it is a little surprising that he didn’t have one sewn on.

Let’s speculate what Jeff might keep in a pocket on his mask if it had one. Perhaps a tiny bottle of hand sanitizer? A few folded squares of toilet paper? A quarter to call home if he’s stranded on the roadside (ok, that one just shows some of our ages…)? [any other suggestions reviewers—I tried to make it quarantine stuff?]

Although it doesn’t have a pocket, it’s worth mentioning that Jeff’s mask reverses to John Deere fabric. As springtime approaches, he’ll be able to switch between his two favorite working roles in the blink of an eye, just like Clark Kent and Superman. Although let’s be real, Jeff is probably a little more Clark Kent than Superman

*All joking aside, as we look towards a lifted stay-at-home order, we want to let all of our clients and friends know that we take COVID-19 very seriously. We are following the published guidelines on in-person work and in-person meetings both inside and outside of Choice One. We are always happy to meet you in person, online, on the phone, or however you feel most comfortable, now or anytime in the future.

Choice One Zoom Chat conversation:

 

t probably comes as no surprise that many of us Choice Oners are missing sports these days. Between the Browns fans, the anti-Browns fans, the baseball fans, and the anti-baseball fans, a good majority of us follow professional and college sports. But with the cancellation of the Men’s NCAA basketball tournament, another of our favorite pastimes is gone: friendly wagers on bracket pools.

 

This year, then, we have put together a “Fast Food Bracket Challenge*” pitting some of our favorite local and national eateries against each other to not only make friendly wagers, but to resolve a few things once and for all. For instance: is Hothead Burritos better than Chipotle? According to our picks, the answer is “no.” Is Skyline Chili really the best thing ever (most likely also due to the apparent importance of cheese)? Spoiler alert: IT’S NOT, and we can prove it with the brackets now guys. Give it a rest!

 

Whoever wins, it’s really not a victory. We all know the pool winning individual is going to have to buy lunch for everyone from the winning restaurant once we’re all back in the office. Will it be Chick-Fil-A or Raising Cane’s? Al’s Pizza (local to Sidney) or Papa Johns? To be honest, it won’t really matter: the real win will be just being back in the office together!

 

*Disclaimer: Not a Choice One original idea. Totally stole it from the internet. Want to run a tournament of your own? Download our bracket (which we modified to include restaurants specific to west-central Ohio) here.

Jake Cordonnier:
“The strangest thing I’ve watched while home? The European Tram Driving Championships. Belgium won in a nail-biter.”

We couldn’t let the current remote working environment pass by without commenting in a Choice Mindset. So here are a few of our collective favorite and least favorite parts about working from home.

The best parts of working from home:

  • Sweatpants!
  • I get to turn up the heat so I can actually feel my fingers and not get yelled at by Brian Barhorst (until my dad gets home and yells at me). I guess that makes Brian my work dad…
  • No Cincinnati traffic and being 13 steps from my family all day…

 

The worst parts of working from home:

  • …being 13 steps from my family all day.
  • My new coworkers argue and fight MUCH more, although my new coworkers only cry SLIGHTLY more than my Choice One coworkers.
  • I had to re-paint the inside of my house green just to get in the spirit of it.

 

What do you miss most about the office?

  • Dane complaining when John Denver is played over the office sound system every single morning between 8:34 and 8:37am.
  • No pop-a-shot game of P-I-G during lunch.
  • Free Flaming Hot Cheetos and Funyuns from The Canteen. Oh, and my coworkers.

 

Yeah, we kinda miss each other. So much so that you’ll notice that we’re all wearing green in the online, Brady Bunch-esc meeting above and NOBODY TOLD US TO. We just do that. We can’t help ourselves!

Stay safe and healthy all!