TOW…oh no!! and a random act of kindness

Posted by random olio

So yesterday I was in Portland with the hat of jewelry representative. After venturing to a few boutiques I stopped to see my sister to pick up a book from her. I did not realize it when I was parking (I read the arrows on the sign wrong) and I ended up parking in a “no parking 4-6 PM” area. Ugh. I get back to my car as the tow truck is starting to put my front wheels on the tow truck.

I was flabbergasted. I thought I had read the signs correctly. I run to the tow truck and ask the driver why he is towing my car! He yells at me: “Look at the signs, you are not to park here between 4-6 PM.” I am obviously confused. I know how to read. I know how to look at arrows, but like we all do (or maybe it is just me) I read it wrong. Bummer. I must have had the most confused look on my face.

He yells at me, “Here is your ticket…get the @#$@#$!%$ in your car and drive away now, and I will not charge you for the tow.” Wow. That was the random act of kindness for me yesterday. Thank you, Mr. Tow Truck Driver. I appreciate your rather gruff affection and your walking away from taking more money out of my bank account.

Blindness, or misreading a sign = $90 for a parking ticket. Bummer. Gratefully, I only walked away with a $90 ticket instead of a $90 ticket AND towing fees. Yowsers.

the tow notice on my windshield

Happy day to all,

Paying more attention in Portland.

You are not a Wuss…

Posted by random olio

As a child, when I fell down or hurt myself my dad always told me to get up and buck up, that I was strong, and to brush it off.

I remember one time that I will never forget (and yes this story might sound strange). We were shucking dozens and dozens of ears of corn. I grew up in Indiana and yes the vegetable of Indiana is corn. Lots of it, everywhere. So the one fresh vegetable we always had in abundance was corn. We had a freezer in the garage that housed frozen corn and Icee pops (remember those)! Corn was at the time my favorite vegetable, considering that I disliked all vegetables with a vengeance. Now, things have changed and I rarely eat corn. I kind of think it just goes through you and does not do much for nutritional value. I like the darker, green, leafy vegetables at this stage in my life.

I digress. My sister and I were sitting on the front porch shucking corn ears. We had been through dozens of ears, when I felt a sharp pain in my thumb. There was a piece of glass in the ear of corn. How it got in the corn under the husk, I will never know or understand. I ran inside to put my bleeding thumb under the kitchen sink to clean it. I then passed out and was on the floor of the kitchen.

My dad comes into the kitchen where my sister has let him know I have passed out. When I came to I was completely freaking out about my thumb. It hurt a lot and was still bleeding and there was still a piece of glass in it. Once my dad gets the glass out, he sort of yells at me to stop being a baby. I think I always felt like he was yelling at me, and maybe he was, but now I wonder if he just wanted me to be strong. Compared to his capacity for pain as a contractor (nails in fingers, fiberglass, etc) this was nothing. To me it was such a big deal. To this day I dislike shucking corn.

So dad, while I did not appreciate it then, I appreciate your constant urging to be strong and to not cry over spilled milk or some blood. Although still to this day I pass out if I see too much blood. Some things never change, but some things do make us stronger.

me and my dad at my high school graduation

Do you watch Shark Tank?

Posted by random olio

So I really like the show: Shark Tank, especially with the addition of Mark Cuban. I love the banter and the bluntness of the judges. Since I have always been interested in the entrepreneur side of things, it is intriguing to watch different business owners (although some just have an idea and not functioning businesses yet) try to tell their story, their idea, themselves, and the worthiness of their product or company. Some guests are spot on with their approach: their ideas are clever, their sales approach is solid, and they get the money they need and the right investor to support them. Others are horrible. I guess like American Idol, there has to be a few that just miss the mark (and sometimes horribly so).

The show always makes me think about how I would approach the Sharks, and what savvy way would I try to win them over? Of course I would need a great business or product idea, but so much of the sales pitch is in the story and the confidence in which it is presented. Each judge has their own interesting nuances that you get to know over time. Mark Cuban has become my favorite judge, he is a bit cocky, but will also put himself out there for someone he believes really works hard and will truly make him money on his investment. Not all the judges will put themselves out there like that.

If you do not watch, it airs on Friday nights, and you can probably multi-task a bit while you watch (check Facebook, knit that hat, give yourself a pedicure). Yes, even some of you men should be doting on your feet, why not while catching up on your DVR?

the 'largest' shark tank

Enjoy!

Mmm…Girl Scout Cookies

Posted by random olio

You are in for a treat! Well, that or a good laugh. It is Girl Scout Cookie time! Yes, I was a Girl Scout. I went on the camping trips, did the work for badges and patches, rotated bringing the ‘treat’ to meetings, and sold Girl Scout cookies. I think my favorite part of all was selling cookies. Our troop was quite the adventurous bunch. After doing our regular door to door sales in our neighborhoods, many of us ordered cases and cases of extra boxes and we took them to local University dorms, fraternities, and grocery stores. This was successful because folks would purchase more when we had actual boxes in hand. One year I think I sold close to 3,000 boxes. The more you sold the better prizes you won (a trip to Kings Island, a 10-speed bicycle were two that I remember). I wonder if that would be the equivalent to a Wii or iPad today? I think when I started selling cookies they were $2.00 a box, now I think they are up to $4.00. Does that make me ancient?

Due to my many years of selling Girl Scout cookies, I can never resist buying a few boxes each year. The nostalgia I have of their taste is not the same, but I still cannot resist. I learned a lot about working an angle, selling, counting money, finances, sales goals, etc from my many, many years (was it 8 years, I cannot remember) of selling cookies. My one and only pain point for girls selling cookies today, is that each year I feel like the parents are doing the selling, taking the money, making the change. If I could give any piece of advice to troop leaders and parents, it would be to stop doing it for them. Let the girls do these tasks. I learned a lot and it made me that much savvier, smarter, and more knowledgeable about business transactions.

So now are you ready for your treat? The below video is me, age 9, on the local news channel. (It was a small town, so the news channel was small and very local). Be sure to watch to the end, and check out the old school computer and phone in the background.

Done laughing yet? I am off to my local Safeway to see if they have any Thin Mints, Tagalongs, and Samoas.

Do you remember Mad Libs?

Posted by random olio

Have you ever seen an “Ad Lib?” This week Title Nine inspired me. One of their emails had an Ad Lib (that is what I am calling it!) for your perfect day and they connected it to buying a bathing suit. It is February. I am not really thinking about buying a bathing suit at the moment, but nonetheless their ad sparked my thought. Gosh, it has been years since I have done a Mad Lib. Nostaglia of my childhood. Do kids even do those anymore? Maybe there is an app for that?!? Okay, so my research side went and looked just now. There are two apps called: Mad Lib in the iTunes store. One is free and the other is $3.99.

I wanted to grant your Friday with my own little Mad Lib for you, Tami style (I kept it easy so you will not have to think to hard, since it is Friday):

It is Friday and the weekend is almost here. Tonight you will [sassy verb] with your favorite [noun]. As you arrive at [favorite destination] you will slowly sit down, and say: “Ah–[adjective].” You are so excited it is the weekend, as you have so many plans for Saturday and Sunday. The first thing you are going to do on Saturday is [verb] with [favorite pet’s name] on a [noun]. Afterwards, you promised you would take care of your friend’s [happy noun]. On Sunday, you plan to excitedly [verb], but you are quickly apprehensive because your hair is [adjective]. You learn that the actual size of the [verb] you set out to accomplish is really much, much more [adjective] than you could have ever expected. Wow, do you have a [noun] to tell folks on Monday. Enjoy your weekend!