This August I will be riding in my 6th Pan Massachusetts Challenge (PMC).
The PMC is roughly a 200 mile bicycle ride from Sturbridge MA to Provinctown MA.
If you can, make a donation to the is great cause.
You can learn all about the ride and view my profile at:
http://www.pmc.org/mypmc/profiles.asp?Section=story&eGiftID=CR0028
Sunday, March 11, 2007
Tuesday, March 6, 2007
Not Made in China
Not Made In China.
Up until a year and half ago I was purchasing work boots made in the USA from Knapp Shoes. I would place a phone call once a year to a great little shoe store that has survived Walmart, Fred Shoes. Rick is the proprietor there. He knows me by name and by the type of boots I buy. Knapp Farm Boots, Chestnut 6” high. And like I said, Made in the USA. NOT CHINA. A week later I get a phone call from Rick to find out that my boots had come in. He told me over the phone that I was probably not going to be happy. The new boots were now being made in China and instead of $90 they were $129.00. What is wrong with this picture? The main reason they are not being made in the USA any longer is because Ironage Shoes bought Knapp boots. Way to go you fart baggers. I will never buy footwear from Ironage Shoes or their brands.
The Knapp boots that I had been wearing and ordering for the last several years are now being made in China and for a much larger price. What is wrong with these people?
The boots are not even close to the same quality as the old Knapp boots. They now have a 2-piece tongue. That’s right, right in the middle of the tongue there is a seam. They stitched 2 pieces of mush cheaper grade of leather together. No longer is there a very comfortable sneaker-like innersole. The famous 2-Shot Knapp sole has been replaced with some poor excuse of a sole.
So after viewing this poorly made pair of boots I pushed them back across the counter and said No Thanks. Can you get me a pair of similar pair of boots made in the USA? I purchased a Pair of Chippewa Boots. Not as comfortable, but well made, in the USA. They sole and leather are high grade. Don’t be fooled by all Chippewa Boots not all are made here, in the USA.
Ever wonder why gasoline is so expensive? Think bout it. It’s not about G.W.’s war. It’s about how much crap we are buying and importing. Well actually it is partly G.W.’s fault, he lifted the trade embargo on China in February of 2005. So greedy USA companies have been importing as much as they possibly can get. Like addicted drug addicts. So just think … how does all that crap make it here? By a win powered ship? NO. It all comes by oil-powered ships. They are buying the world’s oil supply. Not do they need oil for ships they need it to drive their cars they are building to drive the billions of people around. A few years ago China had about 5 million cars on the road and soon to have 25 million plus. They are consuming way too much raw materials and burning through the worlds oil supply faster than any other country presently or in the past. Be careful. China will drain the world of all its resources, Oh be careful of India they too are a headed in the same direction. They will surpass China’s population very soon. They may have done it while you have been reading this blog.
Just say no to China’s imported crap. Buying made in China stuff will not save you money in the long run.
I will continue to write about this.
I have printed, “NOT MADE IN CHINA” T-shirts on American Apparel T-shirts respond to this blog and I’ll send you one for 15 bucks.
Up until a year and half ago I was purchasing work boots made in the USA from Knapp Shoes. I would place a phone call once a year to a great little shoe store that has survived Walmart, Fred Shoes. Rick is the proprietor there. He knows me by name and by the type of boots I buy. Knapp Farm Boots, Chestnut 6” high. And like I said, Made in the USA. NOT CHINA. A week later I get a phone call from Rick to find out that my boots had come in. He told me over the phone that I was probably not going to be happy. The new boots were now being made in China and instead of $90 they were $129.00. What is wrong with this picture? The main reason they are not being made in the USA any longer is because Ironage Shoes bought Knapp boots. Way to go you fart baggers. I will never buy footwear from Ironage Shoes or their brands.
The Knapp boots that I had been wearing and ordering for the last several years are now being made in China and for a much larger price. What is wrong with these people?
The boots are not even close to the same quality as the old Knapp boots. They now have a 2-piece tongue. That’s right, right in the middle of the tongue there is a seam. They stitched 2 pieces of mush cheaper grade of leather together. No longer is there a very comfortable sneaker-like innersole. The famous 2-Shot Knapp sole has been replaced with some poor excuse of a sole.
So after viewing this poorly made pair of boots I pushed them back across the counter and said No Thanks. Can you get me a pair of similar pair of boots made in the USA? I purchased a Pair of Chippewa Boots. Not as comfortable, but well made, in the USA. They sole and leather are high grade. Don’t be fooled by all Chippewa Boots not all are made here, in the USA.
Ever wonder why gasoline is so expensive? Think bout it. It’s not about G.W.’s war. It’s about how much crap we are buying and importing. Well actually it is partly G.W.’s fault, he lifted the trade embargo on China in February of 2005. So greedy USA companies have been importing as much as they possibly can get. Like addicted drug addicts. So just think … how does all that crap make it here? By a win powered ship? NO. It all comes by oil-powered ships. They are buying the world’s oil supply. Not do they need oil for ships they need it to drive their cars they are building to drive the billions of people around. A few years ago China had about 5 million cars on the road and soon to have 25 million plus. They are consuming way too much raw materials and burning through the worlds oil supply faster than any other country presently or in the past. Be careful. China will drain the world of all its resources, Oh be careful of India they too are a headed in the same direction. They will surpass China’s population very soon. They may have done it while you have been reading this blog.
Just say no to China’s imported crap. Buying made in China stuff will not save you money in the long run.
I will continue to write about this.
I have printed, “NOT MADE IN CHINA” T-shirts on American Apparel T-shirts respond to this blog and I’ll send you one for 15 bucks.
Do you need change?
Do you need change?
I’m not very old but it seems to me that today’s etiquette is becoming more compromised every time you turn around.
Can you remember the last time you went in to a restaurant, ate, paid the bill and the waitress responded, “Do you need change?” How very presumptuous of them to assume that their tip is already in the check holder. How about a response like a good old fashion, thank you. Plain and simple, with no sugar coating or creative alternative is needed. It seems as though many waitresses and waiters feel it necessary to try and come up with alternative sayings because they are simply bored with the conventional responses. They usually don’t peek in the check holder to see what’s in there. There could be a credit card, or $100 bill for a $48.25 bill. But even still they shouldn’t look in there until they have reached the register. That too shows a great lack of professionalism.
I will usually deduct 5% off the tip total for the proverbial, “do you need change?” It’s hard to believe that wait staffs of many restaurants are not instructed with the use of good quality manners.
Another classic mistake phrase used is, “Can I take that plate for you?” I always think to myself, “Am I supposed to take the plate to the kitchen?” … As I look at my plate and there is not an ounce or a one morsel of food on my plate and the waiter is asking to take my plate. I think that there is fine line for this situation, but a great waiter will instinctively know when is the perfect time to take a patron’s plate.
May I suggest to restaurant owners, servers and wait-staffers that you could eliminate having to ask, to take, an individuals plate by having people order dessert when ordering their meal. You will make more money. Your tips will be higher. Your customers will be happier. After all the best time to get to someone’s wallet is by getting to him or her when they’re still hungry.
Things that really make my visit to a restaurant enjoyable are, courteous and polite staffers who provide exceptional service. Filling water glasses before they are empty. Paying very close attention to specific requests and fulfilling the requests without any negativity. I really enjoy it when a waitress or waiter has gone far and above the call of duty for a guest. I have paid as much as a 50% tip for exceptional service. Simply because the followed the rules of common etiquette. Without trying to put their spin on it.
So when the money walks through the door (money=customers) learn how to get all you can by simplifying your approach. Always use please and thank you. Never use the phrases No problem or you are welcome. Please and thank you are the only to needed to serve. Opening greetings should be something like, good evening. Good morning, good afternoon. Not hi guys, or what’s up folks or even hi boss. Good (what ever part of the day it is) followed by how are you, and how many will be dining with you?
I’m not very old but it seems to me that today’s etiquette is becoming more compromised every time you turn around.
Can you remember the last time you went in to a restaurant, ate, paid the bill and the waitress responded, “Do you need change?” How very presumptuous of them to assume that their tip is already in the check holder. How about a response like a good old fashion, thank you. Plain and simple, with no sugar coating or creative alternative is needed. It seems as though many waitresses and waiters feel it necessary to try and come up with alternative sayings because they are simply bored with the conventional responses. They usually don’t peek in the check holder to see what’s in there. There could be a credit card, or $100 bill for a $48.25 bill. But even still they shouldn’t look in there until they have reached the register. That too shows a great lack of professionalism.
I will usually deduct 5% off the tip total for the proverbial, “do you need change?” It’s hard to believe that wait staffs of many restaurants are not instructed with the use of good quality manners.
Another classic mistake phrase used is, “Can I take that plate for you?” I always think to myself, “Am I supposed to take the plate to the kitchen?” … As I look at my plate and there is not an ounce or a one morsel of food on my plate and the waiter is asking to take my plate. I think that there is fine line for this situation, but a great waiter will instinctively know when is the perfect time to take a patron’s plate.
May I suggest to restaurant owners, servers and wait-staffers that you could eliminate having to ask, to take, an individuals plate by having people order dessert when ordering their meal. You will make more money. Your tips will be higher. Your customers will be happier. After all the best time to get to someone’s wallet is by getting to him or her when they’re still hungry.
Things that really make my visit to a restaurant enjoyable are, courteous and polite staffers who provide exceptional service. Filling water glasses before they are empty. Paying very close attention to specific requests and fulfilling the requests without any negativity. I really enjoy it when a waitress or waiter has gone far and above the call of duty for a guest. I have paid as much as a 50% tip for exceptional service. Simply because the followed the rules of common etiquette. Without trying to put their spin on it.
So when the money walks through the door (money=customers) learn how to get all you can by simplifying your approach. Always use please and thank you. Never use the phrases No problem or you are welcome. Please and thank you are the only to needed to serve. Opening greetings should be something like, good evening. Good morning, good afternoon. Not hi guys, or what’s up folks or even hi boss. Good (what ever part of the day it is) followed by how are you, and how many will be dining with you?
Can I help You? No Problem.
When did, “can I help you?” be come the new hello?
And when did, “no problem”, become the new thank you?
Ever go down to your favorite retail store and spend hundreds of dollars and find yourself saying “thank you”, only to receive the response of, “no problem”?
Why exactly is it a “problem” that you spent a few hundred dollars? The clerk should respond by saying; thank you. Not your welcome or no problem, the line should be and has always been, thank you. After all it’s the person receiving the money that should say thank you. It should be the first thing said. Even if a customer says “thank you” the money taker should respond “thank you” also.
It could make you wonder … is it a problem that they are in business? Or that he/she’s job could be a problem. It’s no problem at all. So why mention it? The first and only response should be started and ended with Thank you. You’ll be surprised at how many more smiles you will get when you say “thank you” verses the proverbial “no problem”.
As for the greeting, “can I help you?” It could probably be the number one turn off of all time. Think about when you’ve been asked if you need help … you’ve probably quickly responded, “No, I don’t need help”. But if asked how you were, or greeted with hello, you might just start a conversation with that person. Try using a less confrontational greeting, like one that would you use to address friends or family … a hello, that would make anyone feel welcome.
Being nice is a very profitable way of life. You never really know how what you say will affect someone. It will be a memorable experience either way.
It can either help or haunt you.
And when did, “no problem”, become the new thank you?
Ever go down to your favorite retail store and spend hundreds of dollars and find yourself saying “thank you”, only to receive the response of, “no problem”?
Why exactly is it a “problem” that you spent a few hundred dollars? The clerk should respond by saying; thank you. Not your welcome or no problem, the line should be and has always been, thank you. After all it’s the person receiving the money that should say thank you. It should be the first thing said. Even if a customer says “thank you” the money taker should respond “thank you” also.
It could make you wonder … is it a problem that they are in business? Or that he/she’s job could be a problem. It’s no problem at all. So why mention it? The first and only response should be started and ended with Thank you. You’ll be surprised at how many more smiles you will get when you say “thank you” verses the proverbial “no problem”.
As for the greeting, “can I help you?” It could probably be the number one turn off of all time. Think about when you’ve been asked if you need help … you’ve probably quickly responded, “No, I don’t need help”. But if asked how you were, or greeted with hello, you might just start a conversation with that person. Try using a less confrontational greeting, like one that would you use to address friends or family … a hello, that would make anyone feel welcome.
Being nice is a very profitable way of life. You never really know how what you say will affect someone. It will be a memorable experience either way.
It can either help or haunt you.
Wednesday, February 14, 2007
Concrete Countertop
Just completed a concrete countertop project for my kitchen. What a great process and a real nice alternative to the usual solid surface. I've worked with concrete before, for sidewalks and foundations, but never like this. I basically formed and poured roughly 40 square feet of concrete countertops for the kitchen. In the spring I plan on making a new vanity top for our downstairs bathroom plus, an outdoor wet bar and table for the deck. I think we are going to use colored broken glass and white crete for the Bathroom vanity top accented with a colored glass bowl sink inset.
Will post photos shortly of counter tops.
The kitchen project left us with a beefy look and warmer feel then naturally formed stone. If you do it yourself expect it to cost about $25 per square foot at the 40 square foot mark with materials, rental tools and the purchase of a wet polisher and diamond pads. (you can always resell the polisher on ebay and get almost what you paid for it provided you take real care and keep it clean.
You can never have enough roll plastic on hand for this kind of project. You'll need some good muscle lined up to help with install. You want a real good method for vibrating the crete. if pouring for the first time a large piece have 2 additional people to help with the pour.
Would like to hear about your concrete projects. Maybe exchange tips and ideas.
Will post photos shortly of counter tops.
The kitchen project left us with a beefy look and warmer feel then naturally formed stone. If you do it yourself expect it to cost about $25 per square foot at the 40 square foot mark with materials, rental tools and the purchase of a wet polisher and diamond pads. (you can always resell the polisher on ebay and get almost what you paid for it provided you take real care and keep it clean.
You can never have enough roll plastic on hand for this kind of project. You'll need some good muscle lined up to help with install. You want a real good method for vibrating the crete. if pouring for the first time a large piece have 2 additional people to help with the pour.
Would like to hear about your concrete projects. Maybe exchange tips and ideas.
Sunday, February 11, 2007
Preparpring for the Pan Massachusetts Challenge
A couple of weeks after Christmas 2005 my mom asked my sister Katelynn and I to talk with her because she was sick again with cancer. She told us of the severity of her cancer, that the prognosis was grim. That her doctors had told her she had a very short time, maybe a few months, maybe six, at the very best a year. Mom had already been fighting the awful disease on and off for 13 years (even though she'd been told at when she first got cancer and went through her first course of treatment she would only live five years). She tried to seem optimistic. But for some reason, I knew that this time it would not be long. I could see how tired she was. She had not slept a full night's sleep in years. Her skin color was light grey and her hands were cold and shriveled. Mom had not been eating very much at all. She could not sit or stand or lay down for long periods of time. There was no comfortable position for her. She tired quickly. Mom was still smiling…but I could see her holding the tears back behind her blue eyes. She knew, too. She just didn’t want my sister to worry about her; she didn’t want anyone to worry about her. She did not want to burden anyone—as usual.
Almost 5 months from the day we spoke, on June 16, 2006, around 6:00am, mom suffered two strokes as she lay in bed. She lost the use of her right arm, she had tunnel vision, her speech was slurred. But still she managed to get up and Kate helped her down the stairs and called 911. Mom was determined to get downstairs to make it easier on the paramedics. She was taken by ambulance to BayState Medical Center. There, she underwent a series of tests, but began to have seizures. Mom was given an IV to prevent them. She resisted the installation of the IV, she always hated having them and she'd had way too many over the years. Saturday evening she began to sleep and she continued to sleep. She slept until Monday. Mom hadn’t slept that well in years. She had been given drugs to make her very comfortable and to keep her pain-free. By noon on Monday she began very deep and labored breathing. A very gracious nurse took us aside, talked with us and told us that her body was shutting down. It would not be much longer. Around 3:00pm Monday afternoon, June 19, mom died. She was just 51 years old.
On Thursday, June 22, at 11:00am Kate and I went to the Springfield Crematorium, which is inside a centuries-old stone chapel. Kate wore a bright yellow dress and as we entered the chapel she held my hand. They brought mom out inside a white cardboard box with wooded batten boards atop a stainless steel gurney. We stood by her for a little while, until it was time for her to go into the crematorium. Kate and I went for a walk around the cemetery. It all seemed a little too surreal. I never really thought that at the age of 31 that I would be holding my sister’s hand at our mom’s cremation on the second day of summer.
Mom underwent many, many hours of radiation treatment to a point where she could not receive any more. She had Lymphedema in her right leg, a condition when the fluid within soft tissue does not drain naturally and causes severe swelling. She had way too many surgeries to remove cancerous tumors and some organs that were attached to the cancer. When you add up the entire time mom spent in the hospital for treatments, surgery, doctor visits, and recovery days it was well over two years.
I really don’t think I fully knew the gravity of what she meant to my life until months after her death, when I picked up the phone to call her to tell her about something that happened to me. Mom was one of the strongest and bravest people I have ever known. And I miss her a lot.
This August, to honor my mom, I’m riding my bicycle for the sixth time another 200 miles in the Pan-Massachusetts Challenge to raise money for the Jimmy Fund and Dana Farber Cancer Institute. And I need your support because no one should have to watch their loved ones suffer or die from cancer. I’m trying to raise $6,500 for this great cause. Even if you can only give a little it will be much appreciated.
Your support means a lot,
Christopher Rawson
To donate visit www.pmc.org my Rider number is CR0028
Almost 5 months from the day we spoke, on June 16, 2006, around 6:00am, mom suffered two strokes as she lay in bed. She lost the use of her right arm, she had tunnel vision, her speech was slurred. But still she managed to get up and Kate helped her down the stairs and called 911. Mom was determined to get downstairs to make it easier on the paramedics. She was taken by ambulance to BayState Medical Center. There, she underwent a series of tests, but began to have seizures. Mom was given an IV to prevent them. She resisted the installation of the IV, she always hated having them and she'd had way too many over the years. Saturday evening she began to sleep and she continued to sleep. She slept until Monday. Mom hadn’t slept that well in years. She had been given drugs to make her very comfortable and to keep her pain-free. By noon on Monday she began very deep and labored breathing. A very gracious nurse took us aside, talked with us and told us that her body was shutting down. It would not be much longer. Around 3:00pm Monday afternoon, June 19, mom died. She was just 51 years old.
On Thursday, June 22, at 11:00am Kate and I went to the Springfield Crematorium, which is inside a centuries-old stone chapel. Kate wore a bright yellow dress and as we entered the chapel she held my hand. They brought mom out inside a white cardboard box with wooded batten boards atop a stainless steel gurney. We stood by her for a little while, until it was time for her to go into the crematorium. Kate and I went for a walk around the cemetery. It all seemed a little too surreal. I never really thought that at the age of 31 that I would be holding my sister’s hand at our mom’s cremation on the second day of summer.
Mom underwent many, many hours of radiation treatment to a point where she could not receive any more. She had Lymphedema in her right leg, a condition when the fluid within soft tissue does not drain naturally and causes severe swelling. She had way too many surgeries to remove cancerous tumors and some organs that were attached to the cancer. When you add up the entire time mom spent in the hospital for treatments, surgery, doctor visits, and recovery days it was well over two years.
I really don’t think I fully knew the gravity of what she meant to my life until months after her death, when I picked up the phone to call her to tell her about something that happened to me. Mom was one of the strongest and bravest people I have ever known. And I miss her a lot.
This August, to honor my mom, I’m riding my bicycle for the sixth time another 200 miles in the Pan-Massachusetts Challenge to raise money for the Jimmy Fund and Dana Farber Cancer Institute. And I need your support because no one should have to watch their loved ones suffer or die from cancer. I’m trying to raise $6,500 for this great cause. Even if you can only give a little it will be much appreciated.
Your support means a lot,
Christopher Rawson
To donate visit www.pmc.org my Rider number is CR0028
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
