Getting back to my roots........

Since getting my hair done on Saturday, I've heard the following comments:
"I love it!"
"It's not as dark as I thought it would be."
"It's very fall-ish"
And my favorite:
"Wow!  It's soooo much darker.  It'll take you a while to get used to it, but you will.  I liked it better blonde, but you can always go back to blonde in a few months."

There have been a lot more "love its" than the vague or negative feedback, but it does kind of leave me wondering what happened to the "if you don't have something nice to say" way of thinking.  

So perhaps I won't have as much fun, but perhaps I won't make as many stupid comments and/or mistakes?  Time will tell. 

My S.E.L.F.

I attended two different management training sessions last week, and other than the books that the speaker promoted (7 Habits of Highly Successful People by Covey topped both lists) they both promoted the S.E.L.F. test.  So..........I took it.  I am an S.

I am actually a bit surprised by the result of this.  Based on what the speaker said on Friday, I was convinced I was an E with a lesser degree of S.  After answering the questions, it seems clear that I'm an S and the only letter that I do not identify with at all is F.  I ranked a 4 on both my directive  and affiliative score, so this made me an S with equal parts E and L.  Totally different from what I thought after leaving the seminar on Friday.

That said, some of the strengths of an S are: competitive, socially skilled and outgoing.  Some of the limitations: pushy, impatient and restless.  I'm sure most of you would agree that it's pretty accurate for me.

I've scanned in the questions and scoring instructions in case any of you are interested in checking your own results.  I would love to hear your results, and see how accurate the test is for you.

Before the ghetto blaster.......

There was the Fisher Price record player.  Yes, we had the "Change a Tune" player when we were toddlers......

The "Change a Tune" was great since all of your favorite tunes were stored in the convenient space on the back of the unit.  It had all of our favorite songs......."Humpty Dumpty" sounds great when picked out in the style of a music box. 

But this isn't the record player that I remember most fondly.  No, I'm talking about the "My Very First Fisher Price Record Player".  This was the real deal.  I think I was about six when we got this record player for Christmas.  Larkin and I had been allowed to listen to mom and dad's records on their stereo in the living room, but I guess they must have gotten tired of listening to "Rock Around the Clock" and "Leader of the Pack" over and over again.

With our new record player, we received two albums.  "The Fox and the Hound" and "Strawberry Shortcake".  These albums told stories and had colorful pictures on each side.  We were in the big time now.  Our very own record player! 

While we loved our storybook albums, they weren't as fun when sped up to 45rpm.  "Rock Around the Clock" sounds so much better when sped up just a little bit.  Eventually we ended up with some of our own albums.  "Bullfrogs and Butterflies" and "Mickey Mouse Disco" were favorites, but I was beginning to prefer songs I was hearing on the radio.  I would have given anything to have had "Elvira" by the Oak Ridge Boys on a 45 to play in my room........

And then my best friend introduced me to Michael Jackson.  I fell in love with the album "Thriller" immediately.  I had to have it, but mom wouldn't buy it for me.  I remember going to the bank in the NWA Mall (I think it might have been a Savings and Loan??) to get money out of my savings account to make my purchase. 

After that, there was no going back to the "Mary Poppins" soundtrack.....No more "Macho Duck" or "Welcome to Rio".  I began buying singles since they were much cheaper than the album.  I think that "You're the Inspiration" might have been the first single I purchased.  In 1984, I taped a penny to an order form and sent off for my membership into the Columbia House record club.  I couldn't wait until my Pat Benetar would arrive, and still can't believe mom sent back "Like A Virgin"! 

And while I enjoyed my record club membership, it wasn't long before I realized that tapes were now the cool thing.  I quickly canceled my membership, taped a penny to another form, and sent off for my 10 free cassettes.  All I needed was my very own tape player........

McRib

For years, I have listened as people I know talked about how delicious the McRib sandwich is. I can honestly say that the appearance in the advertisements was enough to make me cringe. Meat shaped to look like a rack of ribs, covered in sauce, and paired with pickles and onions on a bun? No thank you!

Well, things changed yesterday. Jonathan, Mk and I went to McDonald's and each had one of these "elusive" sandwiches. Mk opted for sauce only on her version, and I skipped the pickles. Jonathan, a true fan, swears that you cannot really enjoy the McRib without the pickles. Again, gag. Pickles ruin more things than they enhance, so I'll always pass on the cucumber's evil alter ego.

The sandwich really isn't that bad. It kind of tastes like their burgers covered in bbq sauce, which is somewhat frightening since it's pork instead of beef. I wonder how long it could sit inside its little cardboard container before it would mold...... would it last eternally as the fries and burgers do in the documentaries? I can't think about this because I do enjoy McDonald's fries, and will continue to eat them despite their scary non-deteriorating ingredients.  

While I did enjoy my dinner last night, I doubt I'll have another McRib before it disappears from McDonald's for an undetermined amount of time.  I'm happy with the standard Quarter Pounder with cheese on those occasions I do head for fast food.  I also prefer my bbq pork smoked, chopped and served with slaw and maybe potato salad.  That said.... the McRib is only served for about 6 weeks each year, so you need to move fast if you're interested in giving it a try.  You can track the McRib online at: http://kleincast.com/maps/mcrib.php.

Take me to the river........

As I sit and work on a purchase order today, the Talking Heads "Take Me to the River" begins to play on Sirius. I hate this song. I blame Billy Bass.



I cannot even guess how many times I've heard that stupid fish sing that song. Our former parts manager, Jim Reddin, had Billy propped up on the parts counter in our Westpark store. I wish I could describe what the parts department looked like and do it justice. If only I had taken more pictures of our former location. I described previously the old fashioned hardware store look of the store, but the parts department was really something.

The wall that was shared with our neighbor had been pushed forward in several areas as a result of their driving a forklift into the wall repeatedly. There were two giant hornets nests hanging from the ceiling. Each drawer had a number, and each part had a location. Jim had an index card system for tracking equipment sold to customers, even after we had added computers throughout the building. Oh yeah, did I mention that when I began working at Krebs there were only two computers in the building? There really wasn't a clear space on any flat surface, and in front of it all sat Billy Bass. Customers (and MK) could not resist that fish......and I hated it.

June 10, 2008

On June 10, 2008, I went to see the Indigo Girls in concert with Brandi Carlile as the opening act. At the time of the show, I was not very familiar with Brandi Carlile. I had fallen in love with her song "The Story", but had yet to really be pulled in by her other songs. I wasn't yet the fan I am today.



When we planned for the show, I ordered tickets for the couples that indicated that they were on board.....by the time the show came around, it was down to one couple and several girls. We met at Crush Wine Bar for meat and cheese plates and a few glasses of wine before the show. It was the perfect happy hour beginning to our girl's night out.

I was so excited about seeing the Indigo Girls. I have loved their music since high school. "Closer to Fine" and "Secure Yourself" were almost always used at some point during Search weekends, and "Kid Fears" had Michael Stipe singing backup. What wasn't to love? Oh, have I mentioned that I was also completely obsessed with Michael Stipe when I was in high school..... perhaps college too? Yeah, just a little bit. I think I was over that when I saw him live at the Pyramid in Memphis wearing a basketball jersey as a skirt.

Anyway, we get to Robinson and Brandi takes the stage. I've gotta say that she completely blew me away. When she stepped away from the microphone to sing "How These Days", I was amazed at how well her voice carried to the back of the room. Her entire set was great, and at times Amy and Emily would come out to join her.

Finally, the Indigo Girls took the stage. They played a lot of music from their newer cds that I wasn't as familiar with, but they didn't forget any of my favorites. Singing along to songs that I had loved since I was 14, I was having the time of my life........

We left after they said "Thank you! Goodnight!"......only to miss the encore performance of "Galileo". I was so thankful to January for calling me to let me hear it through the phone. What a great song!



I still love the Indigo Girls. Their debut album will probably be in my top ten favorite albums forever, and "Swamp Ophelia" was probably the most played cd I owned in 1994.....BUT Brandi Carlile remains in regular rotation in my cd player as well. Check her out if you haven't yet!

the store.

I'm guessing that most of you know that I sell kitchen equipment and gadgets, but I'm betting that most don't know the history of Krebs...... that we've been in business nearly 78 years.

Leo Krebs opened the original location in downtown Little Rock in 1933.  It was originally set up similar to a hardware store, but eventually transitioned into a supplier to hotels, schools and restaurants.

The store relocated to a top secret location off of 12th Street in the late 1970s.....  Ok.... it might not have been top secret, but it was hard to find.  I don't know how many conversations I had with people that were in our parking lot outside the building still unable to find us.  When they moved from downtown to the new location, the green shelves and several other fixtures featured in the above picture made the move to the new store.  These made merchandising a challenge, and the store still had the feeling of an old fashioned hardware store. 

With Helen & Pati.....the only other female employees when I started working at Krebs.

I had no clue when I began working at Krebs part time in 1997 that I would still be here 13 years later.  I had worked in restaurants for years, but terms like monkey dish, China cap, and disher were foreign to me.  Fast forward many price tags and a few months, and I now know the difference between a spoodle and spoonula.  I was learning things, and moved from inventory control into purchasing...... from purchasing into sales......and then, back into purchasing.  But my biggest transition was moving into store manager.......a store manager without a store.

We moved out of our LR location in January of 2006.  These are the last pictures I have from the old store.  It seemed so much bigger before moving to NLR.  Hard to believe that the old store, office space and warehouse would probably fit inside of the store we now have.

Krebs Westpark Showroom

My Westpark office.....with Wally's right through that door.

With Deanna inside old warehouse for one last look around.

So, we moved to NLR and I began helping make plans to remodel the portion of the building that is now the store.  It took two years to complete the remodel and get the store open. 

The above pictures were from January of 2007.  The first one is the view from the warehouse facing the entrance before we remodeled it.  The second shot is of an area that still had the office space intact.  By July of 2007, we had torn down all of the existing interior walls, the back wall finished and my office was in place.

The biggest change for me was when the windows were added! 

Once the windows were in, it seemed like things began to move quickly.  It wasn't long before we had shelving units going up, and merchandise moving into place.

We officially opened on June 30, 2008.  In addition to the commercial equipment and supplies that we had been carrying for 75 years, we added several retail lines that target the homeowner.  I'm proud of the work I've done......and continue to try to improve upon it.  It's amazing to look back at all of the pictures I took during the remodel.  We've changed a lot in just two years. 

Even Santa shops at Krebs!