Choice Mindsets

22 Jun Dreams Really Do Come True

Matt Hoying:
“He even doodles roundabouts.”

The “he” in question is transportation engineer Dane Sommer, and, yep, while learning about Traffic Control Measures, he doodled roundabouts. Like, for fun. And let’s be realistic—if Dane is doodling roundabouts, he probably dreams about them, too. The sign of a true engineer.

What else are Choice One’s engineers dreaming and doodling about? Traffic celebrity Craig Eley surely dreams nightly about flipping the “on” switch to activate a brand new traffic signal. We know they’re all dreaming about doughnuts. (Same shape as roundabouts: not a coincidence.) And, heck, Brian Schmidt can’t even get to sleep because he’s too excited to “Schmidty all over” a set of sanitary sewer plans he’s reviewing.

So if we assume Dane does, in fact, dream lovingly of roundabouts (and really, what self-respecting transportation engineer doesn’t?), what might his nightmares be? Long traffic queues at busy intersections? Malfunctioning vehicle detection? NO ROUNDABOUTS?! Let’s hope not. Not only would that be terrifying, we also need Dane to get plenty of rest. That way he stays attentive in seminars.

08 Jun Expansion Team

Matt Hoying:
“I don’t know what the big deal is. Choice One brought MLS to the Cincinnati area way before FC Cincinnati did.”

When Major League Soccer recently announced that a it was accepting FC Cincinnati as a new MLS expansion team, we were pretty confused as to why there was so much excitement. Choice One brought MLS to the Cincy area over a year ago. Major League Soccer… Michael Lewis Seeger… same thing, right?

Our use of initials in our day-to-day work is nothing new in our company or even our industry. But because we’re Choice One, it’s probably no surprise that we would associate certain strings of letters with certain people here at Choice One. For instance, engineer Casey Reichert (CCR) is now synonymous with Creedence Clearwater Revival. And how could we forget that Wes Goubeaux (WDG) is a Worthless Dumb Guy?

We guess that now Michael will be the equivalent of Major League Soccer for the rest of his engineering days. Makes sense though–we’re preeeeeetty sure his arrival as a project manager in Loveland trumped the fanfare generated by some measly major professional sports organization. It’s only fitting: Major League Soccer encompasses amazing feats of athleticism and a worldwide audience of passionate fans. Juuuuuust like Michael does.

25 May Royal Colors

Jeff Stewart, Bellbrook-Sugarcreek Park District:
“The Queen most certainly owes Choice One royalties.”

Photo copyright: PA Images

If you got up early last Saturday to watch the Royal Wedding coverage at 4:30am (which is still probably later than Jeff Puthoff got up), you may have noticed, Like Jeff Stewart did, that a certain high-ranking wedding guest “borrowed” Choice One’s color scheme on an international stage. Talk about a royal scandal!

Although we lack scandals at Choice One, we do have some royalty. Kaye Borchers has been referred to as the “Survey Princess.” Michael Seeger was once the Shelby County Fair King. Brittany Clinehens was the Anna Homecoming Festival’s Queen. And, how could we forget that Matt Hoying is a royal pain in the…neck?

We can’t blame the Queen of England for choosing such a stylish color combination—we’re rather partial to it, of course. Perhaps we can even take a page from Her Majesty’s book and add a few more jewels and feathers to Choice One’s wardrobe (or at least encourage Michael and Brittany to wear their crowns on a daily basis). If nothing else, bling like Queen E.’s could cover up the place where Jeff’s sorely missed pockets used to be.

11 May On Safari

In honor of Choice One’s Kristi Moorman heading to Africa on a 10-week mission trip, Inquiring Mindsets want to know:
“Would you rather have an elephant trunk or a giraffe neck?”

	Caray Schmiesing, Controller “Elephant trunk—an easy extra grabber.” (Another tool to keep your kids from doing something silly, Caray?)
	Jake Bertke, Project Design Engineer “Elephant trunk. To make it easy to pick up all the food I drop.” (At least dropped food is less messy than spilled drinks, right Nick Selhorst?)
	Troy Niese, Project Design Engineer “Giraffe neck so I don’t have to get out of my seat every time I check to see if Jeff Puthoff is here–I’d be able to see over the cubicle wall from my seat.” (You mean you can’t hear the awkward clump of his cowboy boots, Troy?)
	Megan Bornhorst, Administrative Assistant “Giraffe neck. I’d look great in turtleneck sweaters.” (Both functional AND fashionable, Megan!)

27 Apr Three Little Words

Brian Schmidt:
“I wonder if the three words ‘Choice One Engineering’ are as meaningful?”

Let’s see, at first glance, the one direct correlation we can pinpoint between chocolate chunk cookies and Choice One Engineering is that we’re both full of sugar.

When engineer Brian Schmidt saw these three words on the wall at a Penn Station restaurant, we’re pretty sure they made him happy. That got us thinking: what three words bring us happiness at Choice One?

• Free lunch included.
• Just made coffee.
• Green version available.
• Kunk bought doughnuts.*
• Roundabout option selected.
• Beer’s on Mitch.
• Cleveland Browns win.*
• Bathroom is open.
• Rock, paper, scissors
• Canteen’s free today.*
• Pockets are back!*

As Brian has implied, we hope that the three words “Choice One Engineering” bring happiness to others (or at least a smile from time to time). And no matter the three-word phrase on the wall, Brian should bring back cookies from Penn Station for the rest of us for fear that we use another three-word phrase: “Typical Kunk move.”

*Could bring happiness, if it ever actually happened.

13 Apr File 13

Jason Brown, Ryan Homes:
“I’m concerned. It looks like Michael is literally one step away from being ‘trashed.’”

Our friend Jason Brown is at it again, picking on defenseless engineers like Michael Seeger.  But considering Michael placed his own photo near his trashcan, maybe Jason isn’t picking on Michael, but rather warning the rest of us…

We have photos of ourselves near our desks at Choice One to help our new hires, co-ops, and visitors know who sits where among an intricate arrangement of open desk spaces, stacks of construction plans, pre-modeled SmartWater bottles, countless body spray scents, and heaps of pens without pockets to reside in. When everyone has the same shirt on (not to mention the same names), it can get a little confusing for newbies to determine who each of us green-shirted nerds are, and the photos help.

We wonder if Michael thought that putting his photo near his wastebasket would help others recognize him, or if he just didn’t want to let it compete with his handmade P.E. certificate. However, if Michael wanted to help co-ops and visitors out more, perhaps he should put his photo near the Loveland office’s coffee machine where, he is more likely to actually be found.