Young Carpenter and Business Man Leads Company with Heart

By ERIC WADE

Business Led with Heart

              

                On a frigid December morning, snow lightly floats to the ground. Thirty feet down on one side and 20 on the other, Kevin Gurski stands on a five-inch wall waiting for the next roof truss to drop into place—it’s not the long fall that bothers Gurski, but having the fate of 20 lives in his hands.

                At 32, Gurski is a young carpenter and businessman, younger than most of the men that work for him, but to him, age is only a number. Gurski merits skill and loyalty more than age and it shows by the respect he gets back from his skilled carpenters.

               "Measured not by what you do but by the company you keep," is a motto that rings true with Gurski, and he admits that without the people around him, his company would fall apart. At the same time, people in his company depend on him.

                On that cold December morning, Gurski had to make a decision that would affect four lives poorly, but if he didn’t, more lives could suffer. Four men hired onto his crew a week earlier. Some represented themselves for what they weren’t, and they were getting paid beyond their grade, putting the rest of the company at jeopardy by taking up funds and not performing.

                The choice was agony for Gurski. He wasn’t happy having to let people go. It was difficult, but he had to protect the livelihood of many by cutting loose a few—the four lied and wouldn’t take less money to do the same work.

                To lead is to put aside feelings and do what’s best for the group. Even at 32 Gurski knows what it’s like to have to do that. It’s not a long fall that scares Gurski, but letting down the men who depend on him.

Freedom of Education

By ERIC WADE

Freedom of Education

            Education is important. It’s more important than war. It’s more important than expensive social programs, but it’s harder yearly to get help with higher education, while public schools across the state complain that there is not enough money.

            Without quality education, America hires from outside its borders to fill high paying jobs that we’re not qualified for. Poor education creates a class system with lifelong depends on government programs. For some trying to get out of the life they were born into, the military is the only option with its promise of a college education on the chance they make it through war.

            Military men fight bravely for freedom, but freedom is much more than occupation of foreign countries. Freedom is living free of government influence. Freedom is going to a job that pays enough to survive.  Freedom is not having to check a food stamp card to see how much food can afforded.

            America has passed an age of our father and grandfathers. We are past the time when it took blood, sweat and tears to build this nation to what it is. It is past the large factories pumping out products bring this country prosperity.

            Now America is a country of coders, processes, and data-entrepreneurs, but our country is showing up late to the global game. Being secure in industrialism, we thought it would never end, but it has, and the people succeeding are the smart one—the ones with skills no longer learned on the factory floor, but in the classrooms of our country.

            With our future so deeply rooted in education, we sure have a funny way of showing that we as a country want to be the best.

             Ask an elementary school teacher about our education system, in a district with decline student population, and they will tell you about the cuts—the cuts that rob the new youth of art, music and gym. They say that what’s important are the core education of Math, English and science.

            Core studies are important, but it’s the other studies that keep kids interested in school. In some cases, the other activities may be the only thing that keeps them in school. The lack of interest in education goes beyond grade school.

            It is harder to get a good paying job without college and student debt is sky rocketing. Tuition is increasing, and interest rates on student loans are double that of 2012.  Higher education is needed more now than ever. We compete in many global markets, and the only way America will survive is by investing in the education it’s citizens.

            Unfortunately, higher education is not an option for many—it cost too much—they suffer and America suffers too, leaving behind many talented people.

            Our country and our planet are fixed in a world where the mind is more important than the body or how much we produce. In our world, it is a necessity to have an educated mind to survive, but as a country, we are not putting enough into our own education to survive well in the future. We need to invest in education, not fight wars or spend money on expensive social systems.

Ingredients Matter at Elevation Burger

By ERIC WADE

          

           Ingredients matter, 100 percent grass-fed and 100 percent organic, are on the signs all over Elevation Burger, that’s the message the restaurant wants you to see, but none of these words describes the actual experience of the burger joint.

Double Beef Burger

            A restaurant with the word burger in it should have good burgers, And it’s probably fair to expect that at a restaurant named Elevation Burger, you might actually have a heightened dining experience. That is not the case.

            Elevation Burger’s grass-fed, organic, free-range beef patties are dry, spongy, thin and overcooked. There’s a fine line between cooked and overdone, and Elevation Burger’s cooks crossed that line minutes before they pulled the patties from the grill, leaving the taste behind.

            Ingredients matter. They must matter to Elevation Burger to the point that they want to keep the ingredients for themselves. On a Burger with cheddar cheese, bacon and the standard veggies, the burger came topped with a slice of cheese, one piece of bacon, two torn pieces of light colored lettuce—not the dark, flavorful lettuce—and a thin layer of mayo. You’d expect a $9 burger to be piled high with toppings to make up for the lack of beef.

Veggie burger of unknown type

            You can’t mess up a milkshake, but my tongue would disagree. The force it takes to get hand-dipped ice cream through a straw is enough to give tongue hickies and throat cramps. Maybe some milk in the milkshake would help. To top it off, the ingredients in the chocolate, strawberry, cheesecake shake didn’t seem so fresh when the strawberries came up through the straw as tiny frozen chunks. 

            The staff greeted with enthusiasm, and the sustainably constructed building is spotless. Something the Elevation Burger has going is the sustainable business model. The floor and tables appeared to be made from a bamboo laminate. The food was delivered in metal trays, and the place mat on the bottom of the tray boasts Evaluation Burger’s recycling effort.

            The fresh-cut French fries are delicious. The thin cut fries cooked in olive oil and dashed with sea salt have a unique and great taste.

Other veggie burger of unknown type

            With the quality meat that Elevation Burger claims to have, it keep the prices about the same as Five Guys and Fries.

            If you’re into veggie burgers, Elevation Burger offers two different types. One of the veggie burgers was packed full of flavorful vegetables, pressed into a patty with what looked like rice. The other veggie burger looked like a sawdust patty mixed with rice and tasted like wheat mixed with beef flavoring.

            The problem is that the food was delivered without indication of which burger was which, so it’s a mystery of which burger was the delicious burger and which was the sawdust patty.

            The premise of Elevation Burger is great. Restaurants need to think more about the environment and the conditions of where food comes from, but Elevation Burgers overall experience is poor. So, unless you’re more concerned about the environment then you’re taste buds this place needs to be avoided.

            It’s said that Five Guys and Fries have a good burger for around the same price.

Insanity in the circle

By ERIC WADE

Insanity in the circle

           Getting off southbound U.S. 23, on to Geddes Road I approached the roundabout on my way to class at Washtenaw Community College, and I knew I was in trouble.

                Most days it’s a glance left and a zip around the two circles and I’m almost to school. Noticing a beat up red car two spots in front of me breaking heavily without any cars coming from the left, I knew this was going to be challenge. The jalopy slammed on their breaks for the yield sign. The driver behind the red car paying more attention to the clear opening on the left, and not expecting the red car to stop nearly rear ended the red car. This should have been the end of the troubles, but when the red car gathered enough courage to enter the roundabout, they decided to be nice. The driver stopped for the other drivers waiting to enter. Traffic gathered behind me. The system broke down and came to a crawl.

               Roundabouts work smoothly or they quickly become chaos, depending on the other drivers trying to use them. I’ve had so many close calls from other drivers darting out in front of me that I’ve thought about having one of those big metal moose bumpers installed on my truck.

State of Michigan

               Roundabouts are easy, efficient and safe, yet aggressive, inpatient and ignorant drivers make them agonizing to use.

           The concept of  Roundabout are simple. It is a circle with cars traveling in a clockwise direction. Those not in the circle wait for a break in traffic to enter. Handy yield signs are even provided to let drivers know they don’t need to stop if traffic is clear.

           So what’s the problem?

           Foreign and different from what drivers know; roundabouts are intimidating to some. It’s terrifying to do something new. Changing jobs, meeting new people, diving into the deep end of the pool when we don’t know how to swim, it can be scary for some. Roundabouts are the same, but if they’re between a driver and work, school, or wherever, They need to be used or avoided which could add minutes and miles to the trip.

           Ignorance plays another major part in the calamity that plagues roundabouts. Normally found in parking lots, old city neighborhoods, and low traffic areas, the yield sign is somewhat of a rare sign to begin with. Put that sign in high traffic roundabouts and chaos ensues.

            Not all, but the few that don’t know how to use a yield sign, adds to the frustration of other misfortunate drivers stuck behind the clueless. With colors of red and white being the same as a stop sign, and a mere additional letter to the wordage, I can see the confusion. But, with the similarities ending there, the yield sign is a triangle, so to you geometrically impaired that is an astounding five less sides. Unlike the word stop, which clearly means to cease from or discontinue, or face traffic infraction, the yield sign means that if there is no other traffic that affects you then you don’t have to stop at all. Stopping unexpectedly when there aren’t cars in the traffic circle, could cause a rear-end collision.

           Yield, a helpful acronym to remember, You’re Impeding Everyone's Lovely Drive. It’s a stupid acronym, but it’s all I could come up with, but there’s no reason to stop when there isn’t traffic.

           Perhaps it’s not even the sign, but the word yield that Is the cause of the trouble. The word yield not only means to wait, but in a sense means to admit defeat, and we all hate to lose. Maybe there needs to be another sign for roundabouts. Something that fits the thought of “it’s okay you were here first.” Maybe the sign should say “after you”, or “no no, you go first, I insist. I’m polite” although, the last would be a little too long for a sign.  And, change the color from red as to not anger raging motorist more. Maybe a nice earth tone would be better.

           Raging and entitled drivers commonly, disobey the yield sign completely disrupting a normally peaceful trip on the merry-go-round. With a true sense of entitlement and inpatients, raging drivers, frequently dash into roundabouts, causing innocent commuters to lock up their brakes sending morning drinks and afternoon lunches flying. You do need to stop for the drivers in the roundabout.

           Mutable lane roundabouts bring another breed of offenders. Circle Hogs, these drivers try to straighten the road by weaving from outside lane to inside lane, with little care for the vehicles sharing the space. The theory here is if these Road Hogs can shorten the trip through the roundabout, by making it as straight as possible, they can get to work or school 20 minutes earlier or maybe a few milliseconds-- In a busy world, every millisecond counts.

            Before roundabouts life was more relaxing, there was time to stop and ponder the wonders of the universe. Before roundabouts, there were traffic lights. Motorist could take minute long breaks from their commutes doing fun activities such as hair or makeup, important text about a date last night, or homework that’s due in class today. It’s unfortunate that roundabouts sprouting up. Drivers will miss the entertainment of high-speed side impact collisions, blocking their route, that so frequent its traffic control counterpart that is the traffic light. Pedestrians will not have the joy of playing a lively daily Dodge-car game while crossing the wider intersections.