Frustration

"You know, when Nick started here he was a nice, respectable guy. It only took seven years to corrupt him to be like us."
- Jeff Puthoff

 

We all have our share of bad days full of mishaps. But engineer Nick Sanders has bad days and makes the mistake of sharing his misadventures (and sending photos of himself yelling in the car after a particularly frustrating event, even knowing it may end up in a Choice Mindset).

 

 Let's see... There was his wife's parrot that attacked him, the gas pump line he tripped over (causing a severely sprained elbow, which in turn caused him to miss watching the OSU-Michigan football game), the curtain at the blood drive he fell into and knocked down, the dead bird in his toolbox, the search for his grandfather's severed arm in a cornfield...

 

Despite all of the screaming in the car, in reality, Nick is willing to share his mishaps and commiserate with us about occasional unfortunate luck because dealing with frustration is easier when you can laugh at the situation.  Perhaps a little Choice One sarcasm has rubbed off on him (as Jeff pointed out), but really, Nick's the type of guy that won't let a mistaken drug bust along the highway in Colorado* get him down.

 

*Yes, this really happened. While on vacation with his family, Nick was pulled over and his van, packed to the brim for a road trip, was completely torn apart by the State Police who for some reason thought he was part of a drug cartel. He's a suspicious-looking guy, don't you think?

"It's Not Easy Being Green"

Jeff Puthoff: "Why is only one of your toenails purple?"

Kaye: "It's a shout-out* to Choice One."

Jeff: "You're weird."

This, coming from the guy who wears a Choice One Engineering shirt to Christmas mass...

You'd think we'd get tired of seeing green and purple around here, but obviously we don't. It's kinda been drilled into our brain, like those weirdoes who only wear green shirts because wearing a red shirt might imply that they like Case IH tractors over John Deere tractors (see "guy who wears Choice One shirts to Christmas mass," above). It's actually to the point to where when we see each other outside of work (and therefore not in green), we don't recognize each other.

The purpose of the constant green is twofold. First, it's really handy for when you're trying to find each other in a crowded seminar. Second, wearing the same color makes us recognizable, equal, and unified. And as the old saying goes, "There is no "i" in team, but there is a "u" in skunk.

*This little piggy went to market, this little piggy stayed home... And this little piggy cried "Choice One!" all the way home! Now that's a real shout-out to Choice One on your toes.