What if you die and nobody knows?
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I hope to die peacefully in my sleep (as opposed to dying violently when I?m awake). And I hope someone, anyone, discovers my body in less than a year.
Some of you may remember a tidbit I featured in Business Pulse some three years ago about the New York office worker who was left dead at his desk for five days without anyone noticing. Co-workers explained the phenomenon by saying the dead guy was always the first into the office and the last to leave, and never socialized with the rest of the staff.
Here?s a story equally as bizarre. A Long Island, N.Y. resident was found dead inside his home last week and authorities say his mummified remains indicate he died over a year ago.
The body of Vincenzo Ricardo was found sitting in front of a blaring TV set, although it wasn?t revealed what show Ricardo was watching. Actually it?s possible the show he was watching at the time of his death is no longer on the air.
Police say because the house had very low humidity, it preserved the body. And because Ricardo was blind, neighbors assumed he left his home and checked into a long-term care facility.
What has me stumped is how the power company let the guy go for over a year without paying his bill and still kept the electricity turned on. It seems like I get a second notice if I?m five days late.
And what about a year?s worth of mail? Just the credit card offers alone would have created too many letters for even an elephant-sized mailbox to hold. And since I?m fresh off a trip to the circus Friday night, I can tell you an elephant is pretty big, and plenty smelly. It?s certainly not an animal with a pleasant aroma.
Based on the guy at his desk and the guy at his house, I?d say the moral of this story is not to live in New York because when you die there nobody seems to notice. Of course I can?t say that because then I might get the people from New York mad at me.
As for other news of the odd, strange and curious nature, it?s amazing what passes for art nowadays. I mentioned in this column about a year ago the artist who made an exhibit out of an empty room ? and the exhibit drew rave reviews. Visitors were asked to pretend they were seeing an actual art exhibit, not an empty room, and that was the so-called art.
Now the work of Marco Evaristti from Chile is drawing attention for his latest project. During an art show at a gallery in Santiago, Evaristti presented his guests with a special dish of meatballs that had been cooked from the liposuctioned fat from his own body.
Said Evaristti, ?The question of whether or not to eat human flesh is more important than the result.? He made sure to proudly proclaim his human meatballs as his latest art project.
?You are not a cannibal if you eat art,? he said.
If you think about the layers of thought involved, and the philosophic debate, this is actually a fairly deep project.
But I can?t give Evaristti too much credit. Remember this is the same guy who put 10 goldfish in 10 working blenders and invited museum visitors to push the button.
The stunt got animal cruelty charges brought against the museum curator, although he beat the charges in court. It was ruled there was no cruelty involved because it was determined the two fish who were blended died instantly.
Dollar General cuts miss Warren County
When Dollar General announced four months ago it was closing 400 of its stores, I got an uneasy feeling. With three stores in a four-mile radius, I figured there was no way McMinnville could emerge from the situation without losing a store.
According to Dollar General spokeswoman Tawn Ernest, I was wrong. I talked to her last week and she informed me McMinnville is not on the map of stores scheduled to be closed.
?We?ve begun closing our second set of stores and in that set there aren?t any stores in McMinnville, or any stores in Tennessee for that matter,? said Ernest. ?Looking ahead to the third set, I don?t see any stores in your area either so you?re in the clear as far as the 400 stores are concerned.?
Of the 400 stores that were announced to be closed, Dollar General decided to close roughly 133 at a time. The first round of store closings are winding up now and the second round is beginning. But apparently store officials already know all 400 that will eventually be closed.
?Our goal is to revitalize Dollar General by moving resources from low-potential stores and shifting them to high-potential stores,? said Ernest.
There should be much rejoicing from Dollar General customers, particularly the residents of Spangler Towers and Beersheba Towers who can walk to the downtown store. There should be a grand celebration.
However, I should mention this sidenote before the party rages out of control. Just as Ernest was starting to sense the glee in my voice, she interjected another comment.
?You didn?t have a store that was included in the 400, but there could still be one closed as a regular course of business,? said Ernest. ?We closed stores before the announcement and we?ll close stores after the announcement as a regular course of making business decisions.?
Wow, she could have held off on that statement until I at least finished my cake. But I?m not going to let that remark dull my enthusiasm. Warren County?s four Dollar Generals weathered 400 store closings. If they can do that, I?m inclined to believe they?re in fine shape.
A.O. Smith buildin draws some interest
Since I haven?t had any luck getting information over the phone, I stopped by the A.O. Smith building on Friday in hopes of changing my fortunes. But that didn?t happen.
The man I talked to told me he could not reveal any company information and promptly closed a window in my face. And people think this job is glamorous. This comes after company officials at the headquarters in Milwaukee stopped returning my calls over a month ago.
What I?ve heard from various sources is the plant has halted local production and is now in the process of removing equipment. The A.O. Smith lease expires at the end of June.
?They?re taking lines and equipment out,? said director of economic development Jeff McCormick. ?They have quite a lot of equipment in there.?
Even though A.O. Smith is still on the premises, Jeff has managed to show the facility to a couple different companies. He says one drawback is the building has 16-foot ceilings throughout most of the plant, which is too short by today?s standards.
Since there are still four full months before A.O. Smith is expected to be out, Industrial Development Board members are focusing on getting a brown field designation for the facility. What that means in condensed form is a new tenant will not be responsible for any environmental issues that were created by a former tenant.
Drive right into the store at the Smoke Shop
If you think getting out of your car is somewhat of a hassle, look at what the Smoke Shop on Sparta Street has in store for you. Owner Mike Sheath has designed a store that allows you to drive your vehicle right up to the counter and tell the clerk what you want.
That?s right, you drive your car inside the store. What a concept!
?The customer sits in the car and the employee serves you,? said Mike. ?It?s an idea that?s really popular in places like Texas, Florida and Ohio, and I think it will catch on here.?
Mike says the concept is great for people who don?t want to drag small children out of the car for only a gallon of milk. That?s because you don?t leave the car. All you have to do is roll down your window.
?We?ll have drinks, beer, ice, milk, chips, candy, tobacco, and even a few lottery tickets,? said Mike. ?The only thing we won?t have is items from our deli. You?ll still have to come in for that.?
Mike says to look for his drive thru store to be open in around a week to 10 days. I say if this idea works, we should incorporate it into every aspect of our lives. We could have dentistry work done from the comfort of our driver?s seat. We could construct churches like drive-in movie theaters so we never have to leave the car.
We need more businessmen like Mike with a vision ? a vision to let people stay in their cars.
Look, up in the sky! It?s Air Evac Lifeteam
I did a story a few weeks ago about Pro-Med, a new private ambulance service that located in Warren County. This week it?s a story about Air Evac Lifeteam, a membership-supported air ambulance company that?s making frequent flights into this community.
One of Air Evac?s 69 bases is located in Manchester, which is why the company is looking to establish more of a presence in Warren County.
?The people who we life flight, not one of them ever thought they would need our service,? said Air Evac representative Gary Cope. ?One of our mottos is to be the best thing that happens to you on the worst day of your life.?
For a small fee of $50 a year for a single person, up to $60 a year for a household, you can become an Air Evac member. That membership means you are never billed in the event you are transported by an Air Evac helicopter.
?The average airflight bill is between $8,000 and $15,000,? said Gary. ?Insurance usually only covers a portion of that, and if you?re a member you?re never billed for the rest of it. Even if you don?t have insurance you?re not billed if you?re a member. It?s a phenomenal service for a nominal price.?
Each Air Evac flight includes a pilot, registered nurse and a paramedic. The main advantage to life flighting is saving time. Physicians commonly refer to the ?golden hour? which refers to the first hour after a person suffers a major injury of medical emergency such as a stroke.
My main question is how do medical professionals on the ground know to call Air Evac if you?re in an accident and are critically hurt? Air Evac provides decals for your car, an ID for your billfold, and stickers to place on the doors of your home.
Even with those precautions, no system is perfect. Gary admits some Air Evac members are mistakenly flown on other helicopters and those companies do not get reimbursed by Air Evac. But the system works most of the time, Gary said.
To find out more information, call Air Evac at 800-793-0010 or Gary at 417-274-7901. The Web site is www.lifeteam.net.
Jennifer Walker joins Mortgage Connection staff
Jennifer Walker is no stranger to the real estate business having sold houses before. Now she?s focusing on a different aspect of the process ? providing financing with Tullahoma-based Mortgage Connection.
Even though the company is about 45 minutes away, Jennifer is the local representative. She can meet with loan customers right here in McMinnville and she?ll do all the legwork so you don?t have to travel.
?It doesn?t have to be painful to get a home loan,? said Jennifer. ?You can pre-qualify in 30 minutes and we have very competitive rates.?
Mortgage Connection offers a wide variety of programs such as 100 percent financing with no down payment, 40-year loans, and loans to high-risk customers.
?We specialize in helping people with less-than-perfect credit,? said Jennifer. ?That includes people with bankruptcies.?
You can reach Jennifer at (800) 454-0713 or 273-6377.
That?s all folks
Call me with your business news at 473-2191.