Fashion Versus Function

“Megan doesn’t care about fashion, she cares about function.”
Jeff Puthoff

Yes, those are plastic shopping bags on Megan’s feet. And yes, she put those on her feet voluntarily (to keep her feet dry in the rain). And yes, she crossed a public street to reach Choice One. And yes, we laughed at her when she walked in.

 

Practical? Yes. Pretty? Um, not to everyone… (Sorry, Megan.)

 

To some, pretty is more important than practical. But around here, practicality generally outweighs beauty, as our clients are often in the business of saving dollars for themselves or their taxpayers. For instance:

• Tony facilitates the creation of simple zoning codes for municipalities and townships. Usable, functional zoning codes are easy to understand for residents, officials, and potential developers, making a municipality/township attractive to settle and invest in.
• Jeff Kunk buys everyone pizza when only five or six people are in the office, therefore spending less to buy “the whole company” lunch.
• Jeff Puthoff wears cowboy boots to save time--he doesn’t have to match his socks or tie his shoes (we’re not sure he knows how to tie shoelaces anyhow).

In closing, Jeff Kunk will only buy “the whole company” lunch once every 18 years, and fancy shoes probably wouldn’t help Jeff Puthoff be less awkward, but when it comes to being practical designers and engineers, the Choice One crew does pretty well. And, in terms of practicality, shopping bags will keep Megan’s feet dry. But we’re still going to laugh at her.

Blimps

TONY: "A 'blip'? Are you sure it's not a 'blimp'? You know, like the Goodyear Blimp."

KAYE: "It's definitely not a 'blimp.' What if it was the Hindenburg and came crashing down?"

TONY: "Well, that's why you want to watch out if it's a blimp!"

 

 

The context of the conversation above is not important. Well it might be important, but it involves Tony's poor spelling skills again, and we hate to embarrass him too much--we do quite a bit of that already (and as you can see above he doesn't need much help from us). What's important is that if there's a blimp in the air, it's apparently a risky situation.

 

At Choice One, we don't typically take a "the sky (or the blimp) is falling" attitude; we're more the down-to-earth type. Still, it's good to be prepared in case a fiery crash is likely. In Kaye's case it might be looking a little more carefully before making a left-hand turn into oncoming traffic in Ada with the brand new company car. In Nick Selhorst's case it might mean making sure the lid is screwed on tight on your travel mug. In Ryan Francis's case it might mean replacing the cap on the fluorescent marking paint before tossing it into the backseat of the truck.

 

Regardless of the bits of preparation we do, sometimes a blimp-full of crap happens. If we can laugh at it a little, perhaps we can turn the "blimp" into just a "blip."