Hi Folks,

John, my friend, my client and my mentor lives in the Foothills and donates to One Can A Week nearly every session we have. He buys those handsome food packs of soup, peanut butter or fruit you find at Costco. Out of respect and gratitude, I always place them in the upper right hand corner of the shopping cart so he can quickly spot his donation. (See photo below.)

Ultra thin MacBook Air

For many months now we have been switching John’s electronic media from PC to Mac starting with the iPad. He got an iPhone next and just this past Friday, a MacBook Air. The transition has been fun and interesting, like Go Daddy doesn’t handle iPads well so we had to move John’s company website. (Bluehost.com is the answer for those interested techies.)

This whole move is possible because Microsoft Office now works well on Macs. Consequently, it makes no difference what operating system you have; you can Outlook, Word, Excel or PowerPoint to your heart’s delight on either system.

What turned out not to be so much fun were the glitches on the retail side. I suggested John buy his new computer at Simutek on Ft. Lowell because I’ve known them for years and I like their style, not to mention, the lines are much shorter there.

We wanted the Office Suite loaded on the machine when we picked it up, but this did not happen. Then when I tried to download the software at John’s home, the Mac was password protected. Son of a …!

“Call Simutek,” John quietly suggested as I tried a few generic passwords and several more colorful words. My frustration was growing because John is really important to me, and too, I do not suffer incompetence well.

“Call Simutek,” he said again handing me the phone.

The person who answered my call had no idea what the password might be and the person who would was off.

As I packed up the computer John said, “We cannot let our frustrations get in the way; we just have to get it done.”

“I’m just venting, John,” I replied. “Of course I never talk to people like that. It’s counter productive.”

There was a young woman behind the counter when I arrived at Simutek. After my brief, smileless explanation, she quickly apologized and went into the back to get the generic password because she did not know it either.

Upon her return, she gave me the password and then asked me if I wanted to speak to the owner. “We, and especially the owner, pride ourselves on how we handle our customers,” she said.

“No,” I replied smiling now, “John and I never think we hit the lottery because someone messes up. That’s just not right to take advantage of people like that. What I would like you to do is take responsibility for this situation and talk to your boss. Inform everyone about generic passwords and train staff to do what they say they are going to do. It appears that folks here aren’t really working as a team. Nothing seems to be passed on.”

Before we parted, she asked me for my business card so she can put it in their book of computer instructors. The only card I give out these days is One Can A Week, which I realized, will really stick out among all those techie designs. Maybe I will win a few new clients from this experience. Even if nothing happens, it is so much better than winning a gotcha-lottery.

Little Boy Blue
Jeff and Emily opened the door and there stood their little blond hair blue-eyed baby boy dressed from head to toe in a blue jumper. He handed me a can of beans and said “Bye.” Got to remember to bring my camera on my Sunday rounds.

We collected a total of 206 lbs. of food. The money we donated amounted to $36.50, a $25.00 check and $11.50 in cash.

See you Sunday,

Peter

Hi Folks,

Adam (left) thinks that if people have an internet, then why can’t dogs have a barknet. Outside is his Starbucks café where he can’t wait to connect with all of his doggy buddies in the neighborhood.

The alley was a bit of a mess following the Brush and Bulky pickup earlier in the week. After my stint at the Rincon Market on Saturday I decided to rake it back into presentable again. Adam, my 9-year-old Westie wasn’t happy with the scraping sounds and a cat or two that sauntered by. So he barked and barked some more.

Every few minutes I checked on him to quiet him down. But then he’d start up again. I finished my raking in about 45 minutes and walked back into the house. It was then that I noticed the ground was wet and my artwork table under the canopy was covered with big droplets of water. I checked my pups and felt water on Molly’s back but nothing on Adam. (That’s the way it always is. Adam starts something and poor Molly takes the brunt.)

My first thought was the garden hose next to the gate ruptured again. Nope. That wasn’t it. Then the slow dawning… Oooh, my new neighbors, Melissa and Sean in the big house, sprayed water over my fence to quiet the barking. The wet artwork disturbed me but the attack on my pups was infuriating. Somebody accosted my dogs when I was just 50 feet down the alley.

An ultrasonic biofeedback device that turns barks into sounds only dogs can hear.

I flipped the water off the two posters I had recently printed and calmed my self down. In about three minutes I had a plan.

Melissa answered the front door and I apologized for Adam’s barking. I knew that was the reason for the sun shower because she had yelled at Adam from inside her home months earlier when he was particularly noisy.
Melissa said that Sean was trying to take a nap and Adam was thwarting his efforts. I love naps myself so I understood but suggested next time instead of spraying water and ruining a couple of Rincon Market / Community Food Bank posters, she should call my cell which I always carry. I gave her my card and said I want to make her life here as comfortable as possible. Actually, I thought that would be the end of it.

Sunday morning just before I started my rounds, I check the mailbox. Inside was a Bark Off package with a green note card envelope taped to it. When I opened the envelope and took out the card, inside was a $50 check and a note.

“Thank you for giving me your card today,” Melissa wrote. “Please find enclosed a donation to your “One Can A Week” program. I hope it helps replace any water damaged posters. P.S. Perhaps this (Bark Off) would be another non-invasive way to hush the repetitive barking from your dogs? If you are willing, we could give it a try.”

I had that Bark Off up and running a few minutes after I stopped for lunch. It will take a week or so for the ultrasonic sound to affect Adam, as the package insert warned, but in this case, whether the product works or not, it’s the thought that really counts.

There was a situation. The people involved decided not to bark at one another and instead put aside emotions to consider each other’s concerns. This is my kind of world.

Ready to Hit the Books

A number of students just got back from vacation so we collected a whole bunch more food this week. And the good news is they well be here until late May.

We collected a total of 194 lbs. of food. The money we donated amounted to $76.75, two checks for $75.00 and $1.75 in cash.

See you Sunday,

Peter

Hi Folks,

Nothing Makes You Think about Change 

Like A Big Red Umbrella

Last Sunday I knew I needed a new umbrella the moment metal fatigue overwhelmed my old red umbrella as I turned left onto Vine from 12th Street and a flailing support rod bonked me on the head.

Within a few blinks and some head shaking, I figured out what had happened and quickly resolved to spend a little more money on the next red umbrella. For just $10 more I bought a taller, wider and stronger (made of wood not hollow metal rods) red umbrella that will better resist Arizona’s intermittent breezes.

Of course, after that incident I decided to pay more attention to nature’s little hints because I truly dislike blows to the cranium. (Now that I think about it that was one of the major reasons I quit soccer as a kid. Being out of breath all of the time was the other reason.)

On Saturday at the Rincon Market, a gentleman stepped up to my display table and asked me if the Food Bank were still in a tough spot. When I told him about the 235,000 folks they service monthly, he reached into his pocket and dropped a $5.00 bill on the donation plate. A short time later as he and his wife were leaving, we struck up another conversation but this time we talked about collecting food in the neighborhoods. She liked the idea and wanted to participate. She asked me if I would begin a program in her Sam Hughes neighborhood.

You need neighbors to do that for you I suggested. But later I thought that for three years I have searched for such neighbors and only a few have taken up the challenge like fifteen-year-old Maria in the Catalina Vista neighborhood.

Maybe this was another one of nature’s red umbrella moment. There must be a way to motivate non-neighbors to gather food donations weekly in neighborhoods across. Tucson. My frustration is I know there are donations there just waiting to be picked up. Fifty percent of the Miles Neighborhood participates so it follows other neighborhoods can do as well or better.

On my way out of the door at the Community Food Bank today I heard a voice call my name. I turned around to see Pauline Hechler, VP of Development walking across the warehouse floor toward me.

Happy New Year and a hug followed. She was on her way to a meeting and I only had a few seconds to talk.

“I’ve been thinking, I’d like to have lunch with you because I need help in formulating a plan to get other neighborhoods involved. Jacob said he gets requests from people looking for projects and perhaps One Can A Week can be that project.”

“Maybe we can have Jacob put those people in touch with you,” Pauline quickly replied.

“No, it really has to be a program affiliated with a major organization,” I said, “like the Peace Corps. Something that is a part of something bigger.’

Then Pauline’s next thought hit me like my old red umbrella, “There is a lot of food out there we just have to pick it up.”

Didn’t I just think that?

Here’s another idea I had. Let’s call the volunteers who fan out in Tucson neighborhoods each Sunday The Red Umbrella Corps. Wait, I bet Pauline already thought of that. Wonder what other ideas she’ll have for me at lunch.

I’m paying attention now.

It Got a Little Personal this Sunday
In addition to the boxes of cereal and bunches of bananas, folks donated some very nice personal items such as shampoos, soaps and tooth paste. (Pictured on the ground to the right.)

We collected a total of 176 lbs. of food plus 8 lbs in non-food items. The money we donated amounted to $31.50, a $25.00 check and $6.50 in cash.

See you Sunday,

Peter