Choice Mindsets

Choice Mindsets

19 Oct

Posted at 12:47h in Uncategorized
“Tony, you should call Angela and tell her you can finally talk, but only for two minutes because that’s all that quarter is going to buy.”
-Brittany Clinehens




If you tried to call Choice One a few Mondays back, you wouldn’t have gotten through. Our phone company, who shall remain nameless (ahem, Time Warner), has had a recurring problem communicating between departments, which apparently leads to our phone being shut off. The trouble has been resolved (Time Warner has apologized profusely), but not before our friend Angela from the Village of Ada tried to call unsuccessfully.

This is not the first time a client has given us a hard time or connected with us about non-work matters:
  • To a certain Village Administrator, Kaye is known as “The Survey Princess” (not queen, because queen implies “old,” thank you very much).
  • A certain Safety-Service Director couldn’t wait to tell us all about his inability to swim across a boating channel (just to save money) and his subsequent need for rescue.
  • A certain municipal staff practices for weeks prior to Choice One’s annual Municipal Cup Cornhole Challenge (mark your calendars for March 27, 2013, everyone!).

Altogether, this relentless harassment and these good-humored friendships make working together more fun. And gives us more Choice Mindsets fodder, too.

There’s probably a reference to be made here about a Travis Tritt song concerning a quarter and nobody caring, Angela, but we appreciate your donation. It could get Tony half a soda in the Choice One Canteen, but he might just keep it to memorialize such a “generous” friend.

05 Oct

Posted at 12:49h in Uncategorized

“You know it’s bad when Jeff Kunk is making fun of you.”
–  Megan Bornhorst

 

We’re not sure if Megan’s proclamation is a compliment to Jeff Kunk or not. Is he too polite to make fun of anyone? Or is he so awkward that anyone he’s making fun of must be REALLY awkward? Either way, it’s not a good omen for the one being teased. (It may not come as a surprise that Mr. Kunk was comparing Mitch’s height to that of a fourth grader. Sorry, Mitch.)

If Megan’s statement above is true, then Jeff is in the minority at Choice One. If you haven’t caught on yet, we like to pick on each other, to the point of doing so publicly in these Choice Mindsets. What Jeff, Mitch, and the rest of the Choice One crew knows, however, is that our ability to laugh with each other and at ourselves is a big key to making our organization a fun place to work for and (hopefully) enjoyable to work with.

We might even suggest that if there’s no razzing going on among us, then something is wrong. Likewise, our beloved clients tend to get the same treatment, as we’ll see in some future Choice Mindsets. Not that any of you should be nervous [evil laugh].

21 Sep

Posted at 12:51h in Uncategorized

“What doesn’t the ‘L’ stand for? Loser?”

– Wes Goubeaux

Loser, Wes? “L” stands for Loveland! Duh.

Every year on Choice One’s “birthday,” October 24, Brian Barhorst makes little “1” cookies to celebrate. In fact, this upcoming October 24, will be Choice One’s 18th birthday. Bring on the lottery, cigarettes, and finally moving out of our parents’ house!

Now that the Loveland office has been up and running for a year, Brian decided to celebrate its first “birthday” on August 30. Not wanting to make “1” cookies for Loveland, Brian made “L” for Loveland (c’mon, Wes, the only losers around here are the Chicago Cubs).

We want to make a pretty big deal that Loveland Choice One has turned one, especially considering the music academy directly above the office features beginner clarinet lesson each week. They’ve made new friends like the City of Loveland and Clermont County, completed some great projects, and successfully eaten at every restaurant within walking distance of 203 W. Loveland Avenue.

So happy birthday Loveland Choice One. Who doesn’t love celebrating birthdays? Well, probably not Tony or Jeff Puthoff, because they’re old.

07 Sep

Posted at 12:56h in Uncategorized

“Two heads ARE better than one!”

– Megan Bornhorst

It’s really best NOT to ask about the story behind this particular photo, its corresponding glasses, and weird Kaye mask that Brittany has donned. Suffice it to say that there was once a terrible cellphone camera photo taken of Kaye in said glasses that just keeps popping up in various places, including a Choice One bathroom cabinet, a laser tag facility in Indianapolis, and, obviously, on Brittany’s face.

Regardless of the origin of the photo, it’s important to note that two Kayes would definitely be better than one for several reasons. First of all, these Choice Mindsets would get really off-the-wall. Second of all, the annual Cornhole Tournament would be more elaborate and our clients would have to throw cornbags in even more ridiculous ways. Finally, having two minds and two different viewpoints to consider and debate an issue typically leads to a more practical, useable idea, solution, project, or plan of attack.

 

Of course, one has to look at the negatives, too. Naturally, Kaye is (or thinks she is) always right, so if she had two heads they would always agree with each other. Which kind of defeats the purpose of putting two minds togethering in the first place…

24 Aug

Posted at 13:03h in Uncategorized

“You know, when Nick started here he was a nice, respectable guy. It only took seven years to corrupt him to be like us.”

– Jeff Puthoff

We all have our share of bad days full of mishaps. But engineer Nick Sanders has bad days and makes the mistake of sharing his misadventures (and sending photos of himself yelling in the car after a particularly frustrating event, even knowing it may end up in a Choice Mindset).

 Let’s see… There was his wife’s parrot that attacked him, the gas pump line he tripped over (causing a severely sprained elbow, which in turn caused him to miss watching the OSU-Michigan football game), the curtain at the blood drive he fell into and knocked down, the dead bird in his toolbox, the search for his grandfather’s severed arm in a cornfield…

 

Despite all of the screaming in the car, in reality, Nick is willing to share his mishaps and commiserate with us about occasional unfortunate luck because dealing with frustration is easier when you can laugh at the situation.  Perhaps a little Choice One sarcasm has rubbed off on him (as Jeff pointed out), but really, Nick’s the type of guy that won’t let a mistaken drug bust along the highway in Colorado* get him down.

 

*Yes, this really happened. While on vacation with his family, Nick was pulled over and his van, packed to the brim for a road trip, was completely torn apart by the State Police who for some reason thought he was part of a drug cartel. He’s a suspicious-looking guy, don’t you think?

10 Aug

Posted at 13:14h in Uncategorized

Jeff Puthoff: “Why is only one of your toenails purple?”

Kaye: “It’s a shout-out* to Choice One.”

Jeff: “You’re weird.”

This, coming from the guy who wears a Choice One Engineering shirt to Christmas mass…

You’d think we’d get tired of seeing green and purple around here, but obviously we don’t. It’s kinda been drilled into our brain, like those weirdoes who only wear green shirts because wearing a red shirt might imply that they like Case IH tractors over John Deere tractors (see “guy who wears Choice One shirts to Christmas mass,” above). It’s actually to the point to where when we see each other outside of work (and therefore not in green), we don’t recognize each other.

 

The purpose of the constant green is twofold. First, it’s really handy for when you’re trying to find each other in a crowded seminar. Second, wearing the same color makes us recognizable, equal, and unified. And as the old saying goes, “There is no “i” in team, but there is a “u” in skunk.

 

*This little piggy went to market, this little piggy stayed home… And this little piggy cried “Choice One!” all the way home! Now that’s a real shout-out to Choice One on your toes.