Our local newspaper, The Des Moines Register has a "can't miss" section, call "2 Cents Worth". It's a short anonymous blast by readers. Yes, the proverbial train wreck that one can't stop looking at. I admit it's a guilty pleasure of mine. Topics range from politics (local and beyond) to dog poop to thanks for turning that wallet in at the mall.
Recently a post (or a letter to the editor) blasted our local grocery store chain, HyVee, for changing. The poster thought they should "stick to just providing good food". Gee, I'll bet the brain trust at HyVee never thought of that... (this is what I do - read the posts and ridicule them).
The grocery industry is near to my heart because this was my first foray into the working world. Dateline: Gamble Robinson Company, May 1980, Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Unsuspecting young college graduate - fresh from four years of fun and "book learning". I quickly figured out that college accounting and economics had nothing to do with the real world of being an Office Manager at a grocery wholesale operation.
The other employees in the office (not 4-year college graduates) were kind enough to teach me everything I needed to know. It was a crash course in real life working world. I grew up a great deal during that year in Sioux Falls.
Today, Gamble Robinson is gone - swept up years ago by another, larger corporation. I miss the Snoboy fruits and vegetables logo! The second location I worked at, Gamble Robinson in Omaha, is now a parking lot at the Old Market.
My point? Times change. The grocery industry is really changing. Prepared meals are a big thing. Amazon purchased Whole Foods. If you don't change - you could become a parking lot. The Fareway Company (another grocery chain - sticks to food, not open Sundays) has a model of not changing. It has worked well for that company to-date. It will be interesting to see if Fareway survives with this MO as Millenials become the largest group.
Giving Back
It's been a while since I put myself out there, volunteering. I've been looking for opportunities and finally, thanks to a conversation with a co-worker, got hooked up with Lutheran Services of Iowa (LSI). I'm a rookie classroom assistant in their English as a Second Language program for refugees. After I contacted them about my interest in the program, the application process was fairly rigorous, including a TB test at the Polk County health center.
I volunteer once a week for two hours in a classroom with an instructor named Sue. She does a great job of being very inclusive - getting all the 12-14 attendees involved. For the first hour, we all work together as they practice listening, speaking and writing. For the second hour, I have had the chance to work one-on-one with a participant - using flashcards and worksheets. That has been especially fulfilling for me - though I need to work on ways to assist the person I'm working with better. I hope it comes with experience!
This Thanksgiving, I'm thankful for this opportunity to meet new people from places I've never heard of. Paul and I are off to Saint Louis to be with our family. I hope you have a lovely holiday!
Showing posts with label Des Moines Register. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Des Moines Register. Show all posts
Sunday, November 19, 2017
Sunday, August 25, 2013
Bringing the heat
Where was this heat last weekend? We could have used it down at Lake of the Ozarks - where it was down in the 50's at night. Of course when school starts, true Iowa weather hits - high heat (98 degrees today), humidity - it's all here along with a breeze. We're having the Diamond Brooke (our condo association) picnic this evening. At least it's in the shade. Last summer the weather was like this the whole time. This year I've had lots of good deck time, and yesterday a.m. it was nice until around 10.
I went to school back in the days before air conditioning did. I don't recall school officials dismissing us early for heat back then. We wore our little dresses in the 1960's - no shorts. I suppose skirts might have been cool with those cotton undies we wore! When the wind blew - it was "dress up day".
The DM Register recently wrote an editorial stating their opinion that schools should charge a little more for registration fees and require families to bring fewer supplies to school at the beginning of the year. I have to say I agree with that - especially after I saw what some of the 'burbs were requiring of their students! Boys: disinfectant wipes. Girls: Hand sanitizer. That kind of stuff has to be way cheaper in bulk! And does Crayola subsidize them or lobby to make sure students have to have 8 thin tipped markers, erasable?
I remember how upset Amy would get when Katie Deranleau would borrow a colored pencil and break it. Argh - "I don't have a good rosy puce anymore Mommy!" It was always a very important color making it necessary to purchase a new box of colored pencils!
I know schools are cut to the bone on budget - and they hesitate to charge more fees for supplies. It's a Catch 22 situation. But something does need to give. I must agree with the DMR here. I liked the letter to the Reg recently where the author said he didn't need to take no stinking tissues to school back when he was a student (he must be ancient like me). Boys wore long sleeve shirts in his day, he said - and that's what they used!
Last night I attended my first Iowa Cubs game since Judson David was in Little League in Creston and the whole gang attended a Cub game. Our realtor Marg called last weekend to say she and daughter Holly (her partner) won a box seat and would like to invite us to attend a game Saturday night. It was fun and the Cubs beat the Memphis Redbirds, though I must confess I didn't pay too much attention to the game until the last couple innings. I was having too much fun chatting with the other guests - who included my boss Alex and wife Julie. That was after we found the place - we wandered around most of Principal Park before we found out the Box we were looking for was in the outfield! By then I was hot and thirsty. Thank goodness for the cold beer on ice waiting for us.
It was Alex who introduced me to Marg and Holly a year ago when we started this great journey, a huge change in our lives! Paul accepted the job with NRCS in DSM just before he left for his elk hunting trip in Colorado last August. I asked Alex if he was happy with his realtor back then, because I knew he had recently bought a new home in town - and he was so enthusiastic about this pair I emailed them right away. That was a decision we really nailed! Here we are a year later, and they are still inviting us to events. Nice people. If you're looking to buy or sell in the area: Marg and Holly Iowa Realty
And they didn't ask for this plug either.
Of course I spent some time talking shop with Alex. He recently was promoted to Bureau Chief from Section Supervisor - so I don't get to talk to him much anymore. He now supervises 4 sections - around 50 people! Not bad for somebody in his mid 30s. We talked about a meeting we both attended Friday with an outside consultant. Alex's wife Julie is a Beford native (my old Prairie Solid Waste Agency stomping grounds) - so of course the discussion revolved around the jailbreak and resulting hostage situation there earlier in the week. She knew the cop who was shot, and had been fearful when the bad guy was on the loose as her fam lives in town. She knows the nice people, held as hostages, who eventually took out the criminal with a shotgun. She said a fundraising effort is going on the send the people to see their daughter who lives a few states away - so they can get away from being in the house where it happened etc.
We also met a very interesting person named Sally who Marg helped find a new home a year ago when she moved back to Iowa from South Carolina. Sally (in her late 60s?) grew up in Charles City - but - small world department - her grandma lived in the house next to the one we lived in at Osage. Sally was married to a guy who was a long time writer/editor at the Waterloo Courier. He quit at age 55 and attended Iowa to get his Masters Degree so he could teach and they moved to S.C. and he plied that trade for a few years. She is a UNI grad and was a fundraiser for the Cedar Rapids arts - music scene prior to moving and did similar work in S.C.
After a few years they retired and moved to the Charleston area to a beach home - and six months later Sally's husband was diagnosed with heart cancer (very rare) and died 2 weeks later. Geez! How many times do you hear of that? So tragic at any age. Sally continued to live in S.C. for 13 years but decided a year ago to move back to Iowa - where property taxes are 4x higher but property insurance is much lower (no hurricanes). Her daughter is Elisabeth Reynoldson - attorney, who used to be an Assistant U.S. Attorney General, but who is now working with her husband in his law practice in Osceola. Their children are at that age - where one wants to be there for them. Sally is an interesting lady - and is a good friend of former Lt. Gov. Joy Corning. It was fun talking with her.
Paul enjoyed talking to Bob who is an anaesthetist. He and his wife are good friends with Holly and her husband Fritz. Bob lives on the edge of a part of DSM that is overpopulated with deer, so he bowhunts in his yard. They talked hunting for a long time! Of course Paul is getting jacked up for his elk hunting trip - he heads out Thursday a.m. early. Today is the Diamond Brooke picnic - it should be fun in this heat. I need to go make the Chinese Slaw - decided to go with something cold.
At Mass at St. Francis last night (before the game) we saw Todd Dunphy and Tim Root - nice to say "hi" to those Crestonian friends!
I went to school back in the days before air conditioning did. I don't recall school officials dismissing us early for heat back then. We wore our little dresses in the 1960's - no shorts. I suppose skirts might have been cool with those cotton undies we wore! When the wind blew - it was "dress up day".
The DM Register recently wrote an editorial stating their opinion that schools should charge a little more for registration fees and require families to bring fewer supplies to school at the beginning of the year. I have to say I agree with that - especially after I saw what some of the 'burbs were requiring of their students! Boys: disinfectant wipes. Girls: Hand sanitizer. That kind of stuff has to be way cheaper in bulk! And does Crayola subsidize them or lobby to make sure students have to have 8 thin tipped markers, erasable?
I remember how upset Amy would get when Katie Deranleau would borrow a colored pencil and break it. Argh - "I don't have a good rosy puce anymore Mommy!" It was always a very important color making it necessary to purchase a new box of colored pencils!
I know schools are cut to the bone on budget - and they hesitate to charge more fees for supplies. It's a Catch 22 situation. But something does need to give. I must agree with the DMR here. I liked the letter to the Reg recently where the author said he didn't need to take no stinking tissues to school back when he was a student (he must be ancient like me). Boys wore long sleeve shirts in his day, he said - and that's what they used!
 |
| Outside the stadium |
Last night I attended my first Iowa Cubs game since Judson David was in Little League in Creston and the whole gang attended a Cub game. Our realtor Marg called last weekend to say she and daughter Holly (her partner) won a box seat and would like to invite us to attend a game Saturday night. It was fun and the Cubs beat the Memphis Redbirds, though I must confess I didn't pay too much attention to the game until the last couple innings. I was having too much fun chatting with the other guests - who included my boss Alex and wife Julie. That was after we found the place - we wandered around most of Principal Park before we found out the Box we were looking for was in the outfield! By then I was hot and thirsty. Thank goodness for the cold beer on ice waiting for us.
 |
| We found it! Holly and Fritz were outside |
And they didn't ask for this plug either.
 |
| Paul chats with Alex, Marg and Julie |
Of course I spent some time talking shop with Alex. He recently was promoted to Bureau Chief from Section Supervisor - so I don't get to talk to him much anymore. He now supervises 4 sections - around 50 people! Not bad for somebody in his mid 30s. We talked about a meeting we both attended Friday with an outside consultant. Alex's wife Julie is a Beford native (my old Prairie Solid Waste Agency stomping grounds) - so of course the discussion revolved around the jailbreak and resulting hostage situation there earlier in the week. She knew the cop who was shot, and had been fearful when the bad guy was on the loose as her fam lives in town. She knows the nice people, held as hostages, who eventually took out the criminal with a shotgun. She said a fundraising effort is going on the send the people to see their daughter who lives a few states away - so they can get away from being in the house where it happened etc.
 |
| You can see the river from theses seats! |
We also met a very interesting person named Sally who Marg helped find a new home a year ago when she moved back to Iowa from South Carolina. Sally (in her late 60s?) grew up in Charles City - but - small world department - her grandma lived in the house next to the one we lived in at Osage. Sally was married to a guy who was a long time writer/editor at the Waterloo Courier. He quit at age 55 and attended Iowa to get his Masters Degree so he could teach and they moved to S.C. and he plied that trade for a few years. She is a UNI grad and was a fundraiser for the Cedar Rapids arts - music scene prior to moving and did similar work in S.C.
 |
| Cubby made me blink! |
After a few years they retired and moved to the Charleston area to a beach home - and six months later Sally's husband was diagnosed with heart cancer (very rare) and died 2 weeks later. Geez! How many times do you hear of that? So tragic at any age. Sally continued to live in S.C. for 13 years but decided a year ago to move back to Iowa - where property taxes are 4x higher but property insurance is much lower (no hurricanes). Her daughter is Elisabeth Reynoldson - attorney, who used to be an Assistant U.S. Attorney General, but who is now working with her husband in his law practice in Osceola. Their children are at that age - where one wants to be there for them. Sally is an interesting lady - and is a good friend of former Lt. Gov. Joy Corning. It was fun talking with her.
 |
| self portrait at game - heat, wind, humidity! |
Paul enjoyed talking to Bob who is an anaesthetist. He and his wife are good friends with Holly and her husband Fritz. Bob lives on the edge of a part of DSM that is overpopulated with deer, so he bowhunts in his yard. They talked hunting for a long time! Of course Paul is getting jacked up for his elk hunting trip - he heads out Thursday a.m. early. Today is the Diamond Brooke picnic - it should be fun in this heat. I need to go make the Chinese Slaw - decided to go with something cold.
At Mass at St. Francis last night (before the game) we saw Todd Dunphy and Tim Root - nice to say "hi" to those Crestonian friends!
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