The Cleanest Tastee Freeze in Town

Posted on October 30, 2003 by Steve Mays

In 1987, Jeff Salzman co-authored a little book entitled: Real World 101: How to Find a Job, Get Ahead, Do It Now, and Love It! A year or two later, Salzman spoke to a small group of our company managers and told what I think might be the best management story I ever heard.

It’s the story of a Tastee Freeze, the man who cleaned it and his boss. To insure the Tastee Freeze was cleaned properly, the manager made a list of all the necessary cleaning products and tools; drew up a little chart showing where everything in the supply closet went (color coded); and made a numbered list of the proper order for cleaning the Tastee Freeze. He couldn’t understand why the cleaning guy had trouble following his carefully thought out plan.

One day a new manager showed up at the Tastee Freeze and asked the cleaning guy what he did at the Tastee Freeze. The cleaning guy showed him the precisely organized supply closet; the list of approved mops and buckets; and the printed list of steps for cleaning the Tastee Freeze.

The new manager immediately tore up the lists and told the cleaning guy, “Look, I just want the cleanest Tastee Freeze in town. I don’t care how you do it or what supplies you use. If you run into a snag, let me know and I’ll try to help.”

I must confess that I was too often the first type of manager during the 25 years I “managed” others. All I really wanted was a clean Tastee Freeze but it was so much fun to pick out the mops and make the lists. Alas.

The wire service of tomorrow?

Posted on October 30, 2003 by Steve Mays

The Associated Press has unveiled more details of the forthcoming shift to eAP, the Electronic Associated Press, a new initiative to make AP a more interactive network of multimedia content. [CyberJournalist]

When the men with the swords come, run away!

Posted on October 28, 2003 by Steve Mays

“When the men with the swords come, run away! Especially if they’ve got Bibles, too.”

— Neal Stephenson’s Quicksilver (pg 400)

October 28, 1978

Posted on October 27, 2003 by Steve Mays

It was a Saturday. Barb and I got married in her parents’ living room just before kick-off of the Missouri Tiger game. There was probably less than a dozen of us in the room since we limited the attendees to immediate family only.

Reverend Paul Harlan rode his bike in honor of the beautiful fall day. The ceremony couldn’t have taken more than 15 minutes. The “reception” was held on the Miltenberger patio and featured Igloo coolers full of beer. Late in the afternoon, everyone when home to get into Halloween costumes for the big party. I persuaded Barb that sending out engraved invitations was a cheesy plea for a gift. Our Halloween Party invitation did double duty. It was a great wedding…a great party…and every day of the past 25 years with Barb has been great. [Larger image]

Mom is not gonna be happy about this

Posted on October 23, 2003 by Steve Mays

“The first time we drove by your old house we saw some very strange looking construction – boxes on poles in the back yard. The next time we drove by there were about 12 – 15 birds in the street. At first we thought they were small chickens they looked more like chickens that pigeons but later deduced they must have been pigeons and must reside in those strange looking constructions in the back yard.” — Buddy Shively on recent visit to Kenentt

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Google IPO?

Posted on October 23, 2003 by Steve Mays

Plans are still in the early stages for the (Google) IPO, which could value the company at more than $15 billion.

Evan Williams on blogging

Posted on October 22, 2003 by Steve Mays

“The whole “do not be evil” thing, and sort of a democratic approach to how information should be distributed and available for us. We’re all about giving anyone a voice, and Google’s all about finding out what’s important on the Web by what people link to and what people say.”

— Evan Williams (C|Net’s News.com)

Is life worth living without fried foods?

Posted on October 22, 2003 by Steve Mays

I haven’t had a french fry or ham and eggs since August. In fact, I haven’t had any fried foods. My doc was concerned about my cholesterol level and had me try the DASH diet to bring it down. My “bad” cholesterol was 150 and he wants it under 100. Two months of fruits and veggies has brought it down to 130. So, no pills for now. I’m vain enough that this might be easier if I was trying to lose weight but I’m 160 pounds. I might actually kill someone for a Sonic chilli-cheese dog.

Live blogging from the courtroom.

Posted on October 17, 2003 by Steve Mays

Kerry Sipe, online news coordinator for The Virginian-Pilot is using wireless technology to file minute-by-minute Weblog updates on court proceedings in the trial of John Allen Muhammad (DC sniper). Something no other reporter in no other medium is doing because cameras are not allowed in the courtroom.

Web-based video ads to dominate.