Sheep burps and ways to quit smoking
If you didn’t make it down to the Standard office Friday for your free banana split, don’t worry. I ate it for you.
I must admit I’m still riding somewhat of a sugar rush from eating ice cream with chocolate syrup, eating bananas with chocolate syrup, and then when the ice cream and bananas ran out, eating plain ol’ chocolate syrup.
I ate enough ice cream to make myself burp, which just happens to be my first Business Pulse stop this week. Believe it or not, German scientists have developed a serum which they say will help reduce sheep from burping by 8 percent.
Why anyone would waste their time worrying about how much a sheep burps is the most pressing question related to this story. For anyone interested, the magazine called Technology Review will report the scientists’ findings in its July edition.
As for other odds and ends, I stumbled upon a bunch of things this weekend (mainly because the banana split sugar rush wouldn’t let me settle down so I spent much of the time combing through Associated Press wire stories instead of sleeping).
I discovered firefighters in Dallas returned to their station Thursday night to discover the station was in fact on fire. The fire caused about $125,000 in damages mainly to the kitchen and living areas.
The cause of the fire? Firefighters left a pot of potatoes cooking on the stove when they left. Dallas fire officials used the accident as an opportune time to remind the public not to leave food cooking when they leave the house.
And I just love the mode of operation of a 44-year-old man who is drawing attention for his anti-smoking crusade in China. The man, Zhang Yue, has an extremely unique way of getting his message across: He walks up to smokers on the street and slaps the cigarettes out of their mouths.
Zhang Yue spent a good portion of May showcasing his anti-smoking technique in Hong Kong. Officials say while it’s a bit rude, the method is strangely effective. There’s no word on how many fistfights Yue’s actions have triggered.
And finally, I have to tell you about the Catholic clergy, which has been bombarded by prayer requests in these trying times of international conflict. There have been so many prayer requests, clergymen say they simply can’t handle all of them.
Their solution? Like the rest of the country, they are outsourcing their prayers to Catholic clergy in India. Just when you thought not all of our jobs could be sent to Mexico, China and India, think again. If the Chinese ever figure out how to write Business Pulse, folks I’m in trouble.
Dollar General to open in Morrison
Warren County has three Dollar General stores going on four. As of this Thursday, the county’s newest Dollar General will open its doors in Morrison. To the residents of Morrison, this means great joy and happiness.
In addition to that joy, it also means a few more jobs. Including manager Teresa Moore, who many people may know from her years at A.O. Smith, the store will have eight to 10 employees.
As for whether the store will be able to meet its Thursday deadline to open, Dollar General officials are confident that will happen.
“The shelving is already up and they’ve been out there working six days a week stocking the store,” said Joyce McCurry, who is the manager of the Dollar General on Sparta Street. “They will actually pick the store employees from the people out there stocking right now.”
I think Dollar General has stumbled on a great concept. Get about 35 people out there to stock your store and tell them to work as fast as possible. The fastest 10 workers get permanent jobs. It’s a way to get your store stocked in a jiffy while also finding the best long-term employees.
What will make Dollar General handy for the Morrison folks is the way it continues to evolve into more of a grocery store. In addition to its traditional merchandise, Dollar General has added coolers in recent years and now sells milk, eggs, bacon and sausage, ice cream and luncheon meat.
Sylvia Stevens calls it a career
When it comes to department stores in McMinnville, you’d be hard pressed to find a person with more experience than Sylvia Stevens.
Sylvia has worked at Cook’s Department Store, and at JCPenney’s when the store was still on Main Street. For over 20 years, she has worked at JCPenney’s at Three Star Mall.
But Wednesday will mark a new stage in Sylvia’s life. After 35 years as a JCPenney’s employee, she is retiring, and on her birthday no less.
“It used to be we did all of our own ordering,” said Sylvia when asked the differences between now and when she first started at Penney’s. “We stocked our own store. Around here, we carried overalls for the farmers back when overalls were about all the farmers ever wore. Now all the ordering is done from a central location in Dallas, Texas.”
Sylvia had worked at Cook’s for three years when she took time off to have her two children. She had been back on the job a few months when the store burned all the way to the basement. For decades, that spot on Main Street was known as “The Hole” but it has since been cleaned up and now even has grass.
Sylvia says she went to work at Penney’s when Cook’s burned. That was back in 1969 when Penney’s was located at the end of Main Street where the Dollar General store is now. In March of 1981, Penney’s moved to the mall.
Asked what sticks in her mind most about her 35-year career and Sylvia has two answers.
“I’ve seen a lot of good high school students who have come to work here and who have worked through college and gone on to be successful,” said Sylvia. “That’s been awfully nice. I’ve also been fortunate to work for only three managers here, Frank Doorman, John Stender and Jamie Dowdy.”
As for what she plans to do Thursday morning when she wakes up and no longer has to go to work, Sylvia said, “When the kids holler and ask if I can be a baby-sitter, I’ll be available.”
Service Transport not trucking out of town
I’ve had some questions about the Service Transport trucking company in Morrison about whether that company is ready to hit the highway and head out of town. Manager George Sparkman tells me there is no danger of the business closing, although he has heard the rumor himself.
“I don’t know how that got started, but this office is not going anywhere,” said George. “We’re having trouble with the terminal in Chicago and we’re going to eliminate that run, but we’re not going to close this place.”
I’d say the rumor got started because Service Transport is stopping its run to Chicago. George said two of the company’s 18 drivers make regular trips to Chicago. Those drivers will eventually make runs to Cleveland and Detroit and the other drivers should continue their runs business as usual, according to George.
A business that really packs a kick
It had been years since I mentioned a karate studio in Business Pulse until two weeks ago. Now, I’m talking about my second martial arts studio in three weeks, which may lead some people to believe this will one day become Karate Pulse.
Don’t worry. I’m not going that far. But I will tell you about Mark Johnson’s new karate studio on Spring Street called M.J.’s Family Martial Arts Center. It’s located in one of the three buildings recently renovated by Bobby Kirby.
“I was teaching out of my garage my first year,” said Mark, who has been in his new location about a month. “It’s what I call a low-overhead start. But I’ve grown to the point where I could start something else.”
Mark said his first two months of teaching martial arts he was without a student. Now he has 23 and teaches classes six days a week.
“I think this location will really work for me,” said Mark. “I’m looking forward to growing and running out of space here. That will be a good problem to have.”
Mark currently works at Carrier and teaches martial arts on a part-time basis. He says it will become a full-time job when Carrier closes.
“I was going to teach classes and work at Carrier, but Carrier made the decision for me,” said Mark. “This is what I really like to do. This is my passion.”
Mark says he’s been involved with martial arts for 16 years and he’s been teaching, in some capacity, for the past 12 years. He favors the tae-kwon-do style which is about 75 percent kicks and 25 percent upper body work.
For more information, Mark’s phone number is 507-4657.
That’s all folks
If you have business tips, I’d like to know. Give me a call at 473-2191 or send me an e-mail at standard@blomand.net.