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Category Archives: Personal History
The Cleanest Tastee Freeze in Town
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.
October 28, 1978
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
“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
Scary week.
Our oldest pup got really sick on Monday of last week. Took her to the the local vet and by Wednesday it looked like we might lose her. Thursday morning Barb suggested we take her to the MU vet school where they found a nasty thing on her liver and did emergency surgery. Still not out of the woods but looking better every day. When I get really sick, this is where I want to be taken. This is great facility with really smart, caring people.