Resolutions and Christmas lawsuits
|
However, I will say this. You know it?s time for a New Year?s resolution to lose weight when you?re wearing a yellow suit and someone two blocks away yells, ?Taxi!?
But I think we all know how New Year?s resolutions tend to progress. We stuff our face with junk food over the holidays and rationalize it by saying we?ll go on a crash diet in January. When January rolls around, well that crash diet doesn?t sound so appealing anymore.
Here?s how New Year?s resolutions tend to gently change as the years go by:
2001: I will read at least 20 good books a year.
2002: I will read at least 10 books a year.
2003: I will read five books a year.
2004: I will finally finish ?The Pelican Brief.?
2005: I will try to read the comics section on a regular basis.
If you?re concerned about weight loss, it?s so, so easy to let your goals slip as the years go by:
1999: I will get my weight down below 185.
2001: If I can get down to about 200 pounds, that would be a healthy weight for me.
2002: I?m always going to be a little heavy but maybe I can tone up a bit
2003: I will work out five days a week.
2004: I?ll work out twice a week.
2005: I?ll try to drive past a gym at least once a week.
If you want to strengthen your marriage, that?s a possible resolution too. But like weight loss, it doesn?t always work:
2002: I will try to be a better husband to Marge.
2003: I will not leave Marge.
2004: I will convince Marge to take me back.
2005: I will try to be a better husband to Wanda.
And of course no New Year?s celebration would be complete without a resolution about drinking:
2002: I will not take a drink before 5 p.m.
2003: I will not touch the bottle before noon.
2004: I will not become a ?problem drinker.?
2005: I will not miss any AA meetings.
Well I think that about covers it when it comes to resolutions. Our time is short and I don?t want to leave you on this historic New Year?s Eve edition of Business Pulse without at least one mention of a silly lawsuit. So here it is.
Amid all the holiday cheer this season, apparently things weren?t all so peachy in England. If there?s one thing I?ve noticed about the British it?s that they have an abnormally high number of weird stories.
The breaking news coming from Britain is that the U.K. Noise Association is currently considering a lawsuit against dozens of retail stores. The proposed litigation reportedly claims the stores are responsible for ?torture? for making their clerks and employees listen to non-stop Christmas music.
I agree the Christmas music can get annoying toward the end of the season ? especially when it starts before Halloween. But a lawsuit is over the top. And calling it ?torture? is absurd.
Adolf Hitler tortured people. Happy Christmas music may become tiring after three months, but it?s not torture.
Wait almost over for
Andy?s Country Buffet
Folks sure have a great deal of interest when a new restaurant is opening. I saw it with CiCi?s and I?m seeing it again with Andy?s Country Buffet, which will probably be known as the restaurant in the old Shoney?s building.
After a minor delay, Andy?s is having its official opening this Thursday, Jan. 4 at 11 a.m. Seating will be done on a first-come, first-serve basis.
?I hate that it took so long,? said owner Andy Kim, who has transformed the worn-down building into a restaurant that has that ?new? smell to it. ?I really feel good about the response we?ve gotten. Anytime we open a new restaurant, there are always people who stop in and ask us questions. But there have been more people to stop in and ask questions here than any restaurant we?ve opened.?
One thing Andy wanted to clarify is his price. It was previously reported in this column that the buffet, sweet tea or coffee, and sales tax would come to $6 even at the register. However, Andy says he is having to change that price to $6.50, which is officially $5.92 plus tax.
Andy says the reason is some unexpected expenses. He says his utilities are extremely high and that?s a continual expense. He?s also done considerable remodeling.
?I hope people aren?t mad,? said Andy. ?We?ve been able to do it for $6 at other restaurants, but with so many expenses I don?t think we can do that here. I?ve thought long and hard about this and $6.50 isn?t some magical number I just came up with. It?s what it?s going to take to make it work.?
The price is for the buffet bar with tea or coffee. A soft drink is 99 cents more.
Andy says there will be a mouth-watering feast for Thursday?s opening. The buffet will include fried chicken, baked chicken, pork chops and meatloaf as the meats. Other items include fried okra, pinto beans and macaroni and cheese. As always, the buffet will include salad, several desserts and soup.
Hours are 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Tuesday thru Saturday, and 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Sunday. Breakfast hours may be added in the future.
?If everything works as planned, I think I can stay busy for three meals a day,? said Andy.
Bogle delivers
retirement news
If you can remember McMinnville Post Office without Charles Bogle, your memory stretches back before May 1969. After over 37 years at the local post office and 40 years of total postal service, Charles is retiring this week.
Wednesday will be the last day for the local postmaster and an all-day celebration is planned in his honor from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Depending on the refreshments, I might stop by two or three times. If there are heavy snacks involved, a man could make lunch and dinner out of this celebration.
But I shouldn?t let my feeble attempt at humor detract from Charles? accomplishments. He worked his way up the ladder all the way to the top ? and he did it with honesty and integrity. Charles said he planned to be postmaster for three years when he received his promotion in October 2004, but cut his plans short just a bit.
?I?m looking forward to this and it feels like the time is right,? said Charles. ?And much of that is because things are in such good shape here. We have some great employees who really take pride in doing their job.?
Charles says he plans to devote more time to his church, Central Church of Christ, play a little more golf, and enjoy the slower pace that retirement provides.
?My wife is retired and she thoroughly enjoys it,? said Charles, referring to his wife, Rosene. ?It will probably feel like a long vacation in the beginning.?
Like the rest of the world, the postal service is relying more and more on automation. Charles says the technology never ceases to amaze. He says he remembers when the post office was trying to introduce technology that would read and sort mail with an electronic eye. Like many people, he doubted if the system would ever work. Now such machines sort millions of letter each year.
Charles says McMinnville Post Office is always abuzz with activity and its 23 routes stay busy.
?Locally, we?re one of the few post offices that always breaks even and always does well,? said Charles.
Don?t forget to stop by the post office and bid farewell to Charles this Wednesday.
Main Street Christmas
not full of retail cheer
All this talk of phase II of the downtown revitalization project has caused me to seriously contemplate phase I. Sure Main Street looks great ? I?m not about to argue otherwise ? but where is the revitalization?
The Christmas shopping season is always a solid gauge of retail revitalization and Moody Stinson of Diamond Jewelry has been at the same Main Street location for over four decades. He?s a good person to ask about these sorts of things.
?Christmas hasn?t been as good this year,? said Moody, who wasn?t quick to blame the problem solely on sluggish downtown shopping. ?When they opened up Main Street, they closed down Carrier. I don?t know who is doing as well as they did when Carrier and the other factories were open.?
Moody said one customer told him that he didn?t spend as much on Christmas this year because he was spending a large chunk on gasoline because he has to work out of town. Moody said he noticed his lower-priced items moved well this year while his upper-end merchandise was stagnant. He also noticed another disturbing trend.
?We had more credit card purchases this year than any other year,? said Moody. ?Even a lady that had an $8 repair and another customer who bought a $4 battery, they both paid with a credit card. That shows me they don?t have the cash in reserve.?
At the other end of Main Street, Monty Wanamaker didn?t pull any punches when asked his thoughts about the direction of downtown. As the owner of the Southern Museum and Gallery of Photography, he said this was a horrible Christmas season for him.
?We did worse this year than we did last year when the road was closed and nobody could get down here,? said Monty. ?This Main Street project came with a lot of projections, but those projections have nothing to do with reality. The people who think they have a view of downtown are up in the clouds.?
Monty?s museum is located on the same side of the street as First National Bank but it?s sandwiched between two vacant buildings, including one with plywood over the entire front.
The other side of the street, which used to have Fraley?s and City Drug, is now virtually a ghost town. Corky Keel was busy moving the final pieces from his store, D&G Antiques, on Friday to make that side of the road even more desolate. Monty echoed feelings that Corky voiced to me a few weeks ago in this column.
?When New York Grill closed for lunch, that stopped a lot of the traffic down here,? said Monty. ?They might not have been making enough money to keep their doors open but they were sure bringing a lot of business to us.?
As you might expect, Monty did not provide a glowing overall review of the Main Street project.
?All the renovations they?ve done have not made one iota of difference to the businesses here,? said Monty. ?I?m not trying to be a cynic. I?m trying to look at it realistically. What has it done??
I?m by no means trying to criticize city officials, who I think should be applauded for their vision to improve downtown. I think it was the right move.
However, I do have one concern I wish would be addressed. Main Street was completely reopened one week before Christmas last year. That means there?s been a full year for the area to develop.
Is Main Street in better shape than a year ago? It may look a whole lot nicer, but is it really in better shape than before the Main Street project?
Before, it was an ugly street with struggling businesses. Now it?s a pretty street with struggling businesses. The first step has been taken but the problem is far from being solved.
That?s all folks
The number to call with your business tips is 473-2191.