Choice Mindsets

Choice Mindsets

13 Apr

Posted at 11:15h in Uncategorized
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.

30 Mar

Posted at 11:15h in Uncategorized
Josh Craig:
“Just like in the movie, Goose bites it and Maverick lives on.”

Charity Cup Champions City of Greenville (l-r Steve Willman, Curt Garrison, Chad Henry, and Choice One’s Wes Goubeaux)

Great balls of fire! This past Wednesday, March 28, was the Top Gun-themed Sidney area Charity Cup, and once again our friends are the “best of the best” when it comes to helping us raise funds, have a good time, and compete in a dogfight of a bucket ball tournament.

 

As usual, the night was filled with friends, fun, and tomfoolery. Our resident Maverick and Goose, Choice One’s Wes Wolters and Kyle Siegrist, respectively, thrilled the crowd with their Navy pilot bravery and charm (and as noted by Josh in the quote, Wes’s team beat Kyle’s). Tennis balls soared like F-14s towards their targets… or at least towards the general vicinity of their targets.  And at the end of the night, the City of Greenville won the tournament, beating a solid team from the Village of Anna in the final game, but in reality, the MVDSA and several soldiers with local ties were the ones that really came out on top.

 

We are once again blown away by the amazing generosity of our friends. Thanks to your bigheartedness, we raised $5,000 for the MVDSA’s annual family picnic at Young’s Jersey Dairy*, and send 11 boxes to support US soldiers and their families (for a total of $7,330.00 raised!). THANK YOU from the bottom of our hearts for attending and participating in the event, and for supporting such wonderful causes. For that, you can be our wingmen anytime.

 

*Save the date–07/21/18–if you’d like to attend this MVDSA’s family picnic–you’re all invited!

16 Mar

Posted at 13:15h in Uncategorized
Nick Selhorst:
“I bet Matt’s parents were confused.”

Every week or so Brittany writes a fun question on our break area whiteboard to help us learn more about each other and to have a little fun. We felt this one solicited quite a few entertaining answers (and at least one eye roll…).

So how did Choice One itself get named? Back in 1994, the original founders and owners didn’t want to use their last names for the new company, as they planned to add more owners as the company grew. (What foresight!). So, as the legend goes, the founders wanted something positioned at the beginning of the alphabet, because, you know, the Yellow Pages still mattered then. (What foresight?)

Brittany, maybe next week you can ask a follow-up question on the whiteboard: Why didn’t your parents name you something else? Didn’t they know that you’d work for Choice One someday and we’d have too many Jeffs, Allan/Allens, Nicks, Craigs, Brians, Ryans, and Michaels?

P.S. Don’t forget that we’re approaching the Sidney-area Choice One Charity Cup–join us March 28 for an evening of fun!

02 Mar

Posted at 15:54h in Uncategorized
Matt Hoying:
“I find it ironic that Megan has a file folder marked ‘Paperless’ and… there’s paper in it.”

 

While tracking down what was surely a truly thrilling portion of the Engineers Joint Contract Documents Committee Standard General Conditions of the Construction Contract (even the name is long, legal, and boring…), Matt came across one of Megan’s files that, well, seemed like a bit of an oxymoron. The paper in the “Paperless” file is, coincidentally, more legal-beagle language: the portion of the Ohio Revised Code that dictates which kinds of documents can be kept electronically and which must be kept as hard copies.

At Choice One, we’ve noticed a few oxymorons within our line of work. Like how sewer smoke-testing smoke comes as a liquid. Or how traffic engineers perform “speed studies” with the expectation of slowing drivers down. And that sometimes there’s more right-of-way on the left side of the street. Shoot, even our industry is an oxymoron—is there such a thing as a “civil” engineer?

Matt, if you’re looking for more irony concerning paperless-ness, perhaps you could calculate how much paper was used by the State of Ohio to ascertain if a bit of information had to be kept on paper or not. We’re guessing the amount of paper devoted to becoming paperless at the state level is “seriously funny” compared to Megan’s single sheet of printed text.

 

16 Feb

Posted at 11:15h in Uncategorized
Bruce Metz (Jackson Center Village Administrator):
“Do you know what I’m pointing to?”

 

No, Bruce is not pointing to his warm, friendly heart or his stylish (albeit green-less) shirt. He is pointing to his Jeff-Puthoff-style pen placement, because he knows how much Jeff Puthoff misses his precious pocket.

While many of us at Choice One often keep a snazzy, blue-ink-only Choice One pen in our pockets, a few of us carry (or in some cases don’t carry…) more distinctive items:

  • Dane Sommer keeps two pennies from the year he was born in his pocket for good luck.
  • Brian Barhorst has old 50/50 tickets. He says he never wins, but we know better—he just doesn’t want to buy us all lunch.
  • Andy Shuman keeps pepperoni and cheese in his pocket. His Hot Pocket, that is.
  • Kaye Borchers doesn’t keep spare change, although she clearly should. Dane, do you have a couple of cents (or sense?) she could borrow

 

Bruce, thanks for so kindly sympathizing with Jeff on the lack of personal storage space. Pocket or not, however, let’s make sure that pen you carry is one of those snazzy, blue-ink-only types. We’ll have Jeff drop one off if he remembers to tuck an extra in his… padfolio.

P.S. If you haven’t submitted your team for the Sidney Charity Cup, sign up before the March 1 deadline!

02 Feb

Posted at 11:15h in Uncategorized
Kyle Siegrist:
“To be clear… I can grow a mustache, it is just very blonde and thin.”

 

Do you feel the need? The need for …a thin blonde mustache?

If that statement makes no sense to you, it’s probably because you haven’t seen the 2018 Sidney Choice One Charity Cup Invite. If you can’t tell from the invitation, this year’s theme is all the US Navy F-14s, volleyball on the beach, mirrored aviator fun from the 1986 movie Top Gun you can handle. Designer Kyle Siegrist is our resident “Goose” on the invite. Just without the mustache part…

Kyle, maybe your lack of a Goose-style mustache is due to the fact that you weren’t yet born in the height of the Top Gun era. But it’s ok, you were born in a MUCH better year: 1994. You know, the year Choice One Engineering was founded. Good things clearly come from the year 1994, so we know that despite his lack of facial hair in the upper lip-ular area, Kyle is still one of “the best of the best,” like the pilots from Top Gun.

So if you’re not busy on March 28, and don’t mind getting the song “Danger Zone” stuck in your head, come out to the Sidney Charity Cup. We can’t promise our version of Goose will have a mustache, but we’re pretty sure we can promise good food, good competition, a good cause, and a lot of Top Fun!