Dessert Contest

It's that time of year again...



Wow, what a sugar rush!!!

I was feeling not the best yesterday and only had Townhouse crackers and pimento cheese with cranberry juice for supper last night. So this morning's sugar - judging of Desserts for the Thanksgiving Dinner hit me right between the eyes.

Results of the judging will be posted this afternoon after the awards are presented!

And the entries are:

Black Midnight Pilgrim Turkey Cupcakes

Canied Apple Pie Cheesecake

Third Place

5 Way Chocolate Cake

Banana Sour Cream Cake


Apple Pecan Cobbler

Coconut Praline Pie

Second Place

Sweet Potato Pie with Pecan Crisp

First Place

Raspberry Swril Cheese Cake

Japanese Fruit Pie

Cream Cheese Pound Cake

Two years ago

Two years ago (last week, this week and next week) I was in Asia.


I departed the Sunday after Thanksgiving, actually leaving home on Saturday afternoon. With Sherry and Todd in tow to South Atlanta, I exited I-75 to Sissy and Buddy’s (& Geli’s) house. I arrived too early at the Atlanta Airport on the busiest travel weekend.

Korean Air flight 36 departed at 12:10 p.m Sunday afternoon. I arrived in Seoul for a short layover some 15 hours later. But wait, I cross 10 times zones and the International Dateline in the process. Two hours later I am back on a plane for Bangkok, Thailand. Touchdown was approximately 12:20 a.m. ON TUESDAY!!! What happened to Monday???

Bangkok

Tuesday morning at 9:00, I met Laurie (actually a guy) and Kevin. We drove to the Bangkok office/lab to check emails and such. And then, driving across the city north to one of the factories – TWT.

I had to excuse myself from the lunch, the smell of the what has been called one of the Dirtiest City in the World was getting to me! I went back to the hotel and slept about two hours. The rest of the week was filled with more factory visits (TTS and TWT several time) and working with Kevin in the lab.

A visit to the Tumi Store in one of the upscale mall on Friday at the end of the work week as Kevin and Laurie made plans to meet me in Hong Kong and China the next week. That evening I was treated by one of the guys from TSS to dinner and Thai deep tissue massage (owie). That Saturday was the only day which was not dedicated to work or travel. I took advantage of the beautiful weather, and visited the Bangkok zoo. While not the best or cleanest zoo I have visited, it was a welcome break from work. The zoo was located directly across from the Thorne Hall of the King of Thailand (who celebrates his 80th birthday today).

Hong Kong

Sunday morning finds me packed and ready for my flight to Hong Kong. I am met at the airport by the hotel chauffer and I am in awe of the mountains rising directly from the bay. The hotel is one of the nicest during my Asia stay – the Marco Polo. A Tumi store is in the lobby! Dinner that evening was shared with Laurie, his wife and daughter.

Monday was spent in the Hong Kong office and putting faces to the staff that I have emailed so many times. A short walk to a nearby restaurant for lunch, where I must demonstrate my chop stick skills. It seemed like each time I sat at one of those round tables, I was picking up peanuts with chop sticks. My visa for China arrived that afternoon and Laurie and I plan to meet early the next morning for the high speed ferry ride to mainland China.

As I was walking up the street to the hotel, I get a light tap on the shoulder.
“You go to your hotel?”

Me: Ahhh, yes.

“You have dinner?”

Me: Maybe

“I have dinner with you?”

Me: I don’t think so!!!

“I nice girl…”

I never looked her way and picked up the pace as I duck into one of the upscale stores. I walked around the display counter once and quickly made the remaining half block to the hotel. I had the fruit from the basket in my room for dinner that night, afraid to leave my room.

Shenzhen

A two hour ferry ride from Hong Kong to mainland China, a two hour drive from the port to the Shenzhen lab and it’s time for lunch. More chop stick tricks are performed. I work with Andy, Alex, Laurie, Kevin in setting up the test equipment in the new Chinese lab. Three factories are visited: Chaw Khong, Twinkle and Hersun. Hersun is a two hour drive north of Shenzhen and is visited on Saturday with Andy. We ride a train back to Hong Kong and make the official stop at the border.

Hong Kong part deux

Marco Polo Hotel again… Dinner with Andy, Grace, Carol and Christina – on the waterfront, seafood that was swimming in the ocean that afternoon and still swimming in huge tanks when we made our selections.

Yum… Note to self: don’t accept challenge from Andy to eat the wasabi without the sashimi.

Taipei/Taichung

Again traveling on Sunday… I arrive in Taipei airport and then the three hour ride on the Spotted Dog (not Grey Hound) bus to Taichung. Monday – Thursday, I work with George, Mina and Andy in the lab.

Having afternoon teas with Mr. Cheng of UWBI were some of the high points of the entire trip. Factory visits Theorem and Royalox rounded out the week.

San Francisco

Departure time from the Taipei airport was 9:50 a.m. on Friday. With the strong tailwind from the Jet Stream, the normally 13 hour trip across the Pacific only took 12 ½ hours. We arrived in California an hour and 30 minutes before we left Taiwan!!! Is that where part of my first Monday went?

Atlanta

The trip across the continental U.S. was uneventful, I needed that. We landed at Hartsfield/Jackson on time and was picked up shortly thereafter by Buddy and Sissy. I wasn't going to spend another night away from home and the drive via I-75 and I-16 was a bit of a blur.

Sarah and Metro greeted me at the door. As I unpacked the next morning, Metro staked his claim in the Wheel-a-Way bag. He, with his actions, restated what Sarah had said that afternoon.

“If/when you go back, I’m going with you!!!”

• 5 countries
• 3 Airlines
• 8 Factories
• 6 Test Labs
• 11 Containers of Tea
• Too Much Food
• Too Little Sleep
• 1 Day Off

Iron Chef Tumi

10 entries --- 7 Judges

1-5 Points for Presentation
1-5 Points for Originality
1-5 Points for Taste

A couple of bites of each

ONE HUGE SUGAR RUSH at 10:00 in the morning

Before:

After the Tasting:

A closer "crop" of the winners (for Amanda):

Service with a Smile

The Comsumer Affairs Department

Front Row (l to r): Sharon, Erica, Wanda, Lisa, Heather
Back Row: Amy, Lavora , Shawnte, Cally, LaTanya, Kim, Kevin, Shandra
Absent on Picture Day: Amanda

Consumer Affairs Representatives (aka Customer Service) often get a bad rap. Many times that bad reputation is deserved. Like the last time you got the call center in New Delhi.

Lately, I have been working more closely with the group upstairs. From fielding questions regarding how to clean some of the lighter colored fabrics to how long is the shoulder strap on one of the new handbags; it's never a dull moment when dealing with the 14 coworkers that interact with our clientele.

Sharon is the Department Manager, and has a knack for keeping them in line and answering most of their questions. But she is going to be out for a couple of weeks or so. Is she going on Vacation? Going on a business trip? Nope and Nope...

Sharon is doing something that most people would never consider. Her sister, Jeanette, needs a kidney transplant.

John 15:13 says, "Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends".

I would put "..., that a sister give one of her kidneys to her sister" really high on the Top 10 Greatest Love List. Like number TWO!!!

Sharon and Jeanette are scheduled for surgery this Friday morning at 7:30.

Baa Baa Black Sheep, Have you any wool?

NOT ANYMORE, he doesn't!

I recently received two boxes of leather and fabric samples via UPS from Hong Kong and China. They contained materials for upcoming styles to be produced in the next year. Many of the materials never make it pass the drawing board phase due to quality issues. But most of the "exotics" have already been selected for future production. So I am doing "after the fact" testing on 30+ samples.

One piece really caught my eye. It was labeled as Black Shearling. That's Sheep!!! The feel was exquisite. As I shared it with others in the company, they mostly said 'ewwwww' or 'yuk' .

What's the difference in "fur" and leather? We use leather by the tons. Is it because cows are also food? And their hides are by-products?

Given the small size of this hide, other parts of the animal in question may have been on some one's Easter/Passover table.

Can ya pass the mint jelly???

Hartmann Luggage

I has been 18 years since I last step foot inside the manufacturing facility in Lebanon, Tennessee. But, I believe I could still draw the layout of the building as it existed in 1989!

I found out today that Hartmann is closing down the production floor. No more Outline Line, Box Shop, Components, AB Line, 08, 03, 04, Linings, Leather Cutting...

Article from the Tennessan:

Hartmann Inc. is closing its luggage factory in Lebanon after 51 years, saying the plant is too expensive to keep open.

The company, which was acquired earlier this year by a New York-based private equity firm, said on Friday it would dismiss 90 people — more than half its local work force — and shutter the facility in late November.

Hartmann said it would outsource the work to companies in the Caribbean, Central America and China.

Hartmann's other local operations, including its corporate offices, customer service and the company's outlet store, will remain open. Those divisions employ about 75 people, said Ronald Roberts, an outside spokesman who represents the firm.

No Hartmann officials were available Friday to discuss the decision, Roberts said. A receptionist at Clarion Capital Partners LLC, the New York firm that bought Hartmann from Louisville, Ky.-based Brown-Forman Corp. in April, said the company's top executives were on vacation.

The closing will halt a production operation in Lebanon that has been turning out high-end luggage since Hartmann moved from Milwaukee in 1956.

The facility had remained open even after Hartmann began acquiring most of its raw materials from overseas, stitching together bags for sale domestically.

Outsourcing to foreign firms is not unusual in the luggage industry, and Hartmann has been making some of its products abroad for several years, Roberts said.

Hartmann, in business since 1877, has positioned itself as a premium brand. For example, a 50-inch garment bag, with Jacquard fabric and leather trim, sells on the company's Web site for $1,095.

But Susan Cavender, manager of Nashville Trunk & Bag Co., said the number of defective products from the manufacturer has increased in recent years.

Since the company began outsourcing the work to overseas manufacturers several years ago, the number of bags with broken handles and missing wheels has soared, she said.

"I have a lot of folks who are dyed-in-the-wool Hartmann customers, and they're saying, 'I would never buy another piece of Hartmann luggage,' " she said.

Roberts, the company spokesman, denied that the quality of the company's luggage has declined in recent years, and others in the industry said Hartmann remains a premium brand.
"We really haven't had a problem or anything," said Steven Van Kuren, manager of Mori Luggage and Gifts in Cool Springs.

Felicia Libbin, a spokeswoman for the National Luggage Dealers Association, said luggage makers have to keep a close watch on overseas manufacturers if they want to maintain quality after outsourcing.

"The best companies have offices overseas and designers overseas," she said.
Hartmann has no offices overseas, but it has worked with the same production facilities for years and is confident they understand the company's high standards, Roberts said.

Hartmann's decision to close its Lebanon plant was made by company officials this summer as it became increasingly apparent that the firm needed to shift operations abroad to compete with other brands that had already done so, Roberts said.

Another factor was the fact that most of the zippers, nylon and other materials that the company needs to produce its bags were already being made overseas.

One of the company's last major domestic suppliers, Quaker Fabric Corp. of Fall River, Mass., which had supplied the fabric for the company's well-known Walnut Tweed line, shut down and declared bankruptcy over the summer.

Workers at the factory will receive severance pay based on their years of service. Roberts declined to provide details of the package and said he did not know how much money the company would save by moving production abroad.

The loss of 90 jobs will be a blow to the economy in Wilson County, said G.C. Hixson, director of the Joint Economic & Community Development Board.

He hoped at least some of the workers in the Hartmann plant could find work at Tacle Seating U.S.A.'s new facility in Mt. Juliet, which supplies seats to Nissan North America's plant in Smyrna.


Wow, only 90 production employees? I remember a time when there was over 450.

Somehow that sounds all too familiar!!!

Down Graded Airshow (and Cookout)

Last year - it was Steaks and Blue Angels

This year - Hot Dogs and Hambugers and NO Blue Angels

But it was still good and fun!

Friday the 13th

Actual email from my boss:

Bob, I heard from Alex last night that they’re having difficulty doing the reversal test, on the medium and large sizes - - he claims it’s difficult to get the umbrella to reverse because of the double canopy construction. Would you pls have someone video you doing several cycles of the reversal test, to show him how you do it? Send to me first so I can review before sending it overseas.

So I get an umbrella from stock with Ashley running the video camera. And POW! I destroy the first one. I dig in the box of rejects from last year. POW! Two up and two down. OK, let's try another one. Great, I'm pitching a NO HITTER!

The last umbrella is taken from my retains. FINALLY, a good take!

I get back to my desk, review the 15 second mpeg and it dawns on me. It is Friday the 13th!!!

I have never been into the rituals of luck:

• crossing out a black cat that happens in my path only causes fingerprints on the windshield
• not walking under a ladder is a safety issue
• finger crossing is for forming the letter R in sign language
• four leaf clovers - they're just rare, unless you live near a nuclear plant - then you may have 5 or 6 or 27 leaves
• pennies heads down or heads up are going in my pocket - that's 1/100 of a buck
• horseshoes are for horses, not over doors

There is no such thing a karma or luck for the christian. Rather, we receive blessings. And more than we deserve.

Why the voice of Buck Owens stuck in my head?

Gloom, despair and agony on me
Deep, dark depression Excessive misery
If it weren't for bad luck
I'd have no luck at all
Gloom, despair and agony on me

The sound of drumming finger on desk...

Usually a treadmill test is started in the early morning, checked on occasionally but otherwise forgotten until the end of the day when it really gets cranked up.

But not on the latest request:

30 minutes on
5 minutes off
30 minutes on
5 minutes off
repeat ad nauseum... or until 8 hours is reached.

There has got to be better use of a treadmill than this:

And there IS!!!




OK GO... Here it Goes Again

The dude in the red slacks nearly slipped at 2:04!!! Bwahahahaha!!!

Air Bags and Guardian Angels

I have known Brian’s family for nearly 15 years now, meeting Brian when he was 10 or 11 years old. I worked with his step-dad when with Savannah Luggage. His mom is the special lady at Tumi, especially on Friday mornings – and for salary associates, every other Friday.

Brian is an officer for the Helena Police force. Several weeks ago he was working a license check road block near the old fair grounds. He was having a rough time with the car in front of me and with a one sided grin; he looked back toward my truck and saw who was next in line. I returned my wallet to my back pocket. I reached instead for a form of identification he would know just as well. My badge with the security disk for entry into “free trade zone” warehouse hangs on a retractable key reel. As I approach, I flash my photo i.d. with the word “TUMI” on the side.


“Hey, Mr. Bob. How ya doing?”

We talk for the short time until there is a car approaching from behind me.

“If you need anything, give me a call. You still have my cell phone number, don’t ya?”

I still do.

Monday afternoon, a man thought it would be a good day to run a red light and then elude the police trying to stop him. Others from the Sherriff’s department and the two towns that make up our community joined in the chase. Highway 319/441 South was the road where Brian and a Deputy were traveling when they got the call of the fugitive location. Brian did a quick turnaround and was heading back to town. Ed, was in the black and orange Sherriff’s car behind Brian and decided to make his reversal on Temperance Road. The area around the south part of Telfair County was many little rises and valleys as the terrain slopes down to the Ocmulgee River. Temperance Road happens to be just over the top of one of those little hills. Brian says he remembers seeing 80 m.p,h. on his speedometer and he was still accelerating. The force of the impact is so great, the doors on the passenger side of Ed’s car are forced open as the entire seat is ejected and lands some 40 yards down the road.

Ed was taken to Macon, while Brian remained in Taylor-Telfair Hospital.

His mom and sister are standing in his hospital room as I enter Tuesday evening.

“He is down in Radiology. They just left a few minutes ago.” Kathy and Mindy looked like they both needed sleep.

I am shown photos of the remnants of two police cruisers. Under normal circumstances, I would have believed no would could survive such an accident. But they did.

Thank God for Airbags and Guardian Angels.

After a MRI Tuesday night, Brian was transferred to Middle Georgia Medical Center yesterday afternoon. I anxiously await news from Kathy this morning.

The Year of the Pig

When it is Noon in south Georgia, it is Midnight in Taiwan and Hong Kong. I have received emails from the Tumi Asia folks at all hours of the day. One of the associates from the Hong Kong office is noted for sending emails in the afternoon E.S.T. Which means, the wee hours of the morning on the other side of the globe.

Any given day I will have a dozen or more emails from the Chen's, Lai's and Hou's of the organization. I checked several times over the long Presidents' Day Weekend. Nothing, None, Nadda! Not a single email from the Asia in the past 5 days.

Happy Chinese New Year!

Week Two, Day Two

The journey is on the last leg.

Pittsburg to Philadelphia

Philadelphia to Milwaukee

Milwaukee to Atlanta

Glad that’s over, I was so Tired™ at the end of the project! But the experiences were well worth it!

Week Two, Month of May

Okay, so much for trying to get caught up!

Week Two of the World Luggage Tour 2006!

Day One...

Another early rise to make the Airport in Atlanta, I think I must have walked 2 miles to get to the terminal. No shuttle service that early in the morning, and the only parking space was on the far end of the lot!

Atlanta to Washington, D.C.

D.C to Boston
Boston was having heavy rain, and we sat on the tarmac for 45 minutes before taking off. Then we were delayed even more as we circled over Rhode Island for an additional 25 minutes. I only have an 90 minutes on the ground in Boston. As I get to the gate, they are starting to board.

Boston to Pittsburgh
I make it to Pittsburgh on time. But there is a problem!!! NO LUGGAGE! I waste about an hour. And the hotel doesn't have shuttle service. :snear: TAXI!!!
I make it to the hotel and check in. No need going to the room, all I have is my backpack. I go to the restroom in the lobby and then outside to wait for The Leprechauns. The door barely closes behind me.

A familar face says, "Are you looking for the Leprechauns?"

My jaw drops to my knees! I studder out, "Peachy!?!" - Lep is grinning a "got ya" ear to ear smile!

Nine caches that evening with Lep, Little Lep, PeachyPA and E=Mc2!!! :smile:

Day Four of Week One

More airports....ARGGGGGHHHHH!!!

Home to Atlanta... late arrival. Long drive home...

Metro comes to the door, all barking and frightened at the same time. 5 pounds of tenacity. "Waitaminnit, I know you. *sniff, sniff* Daddy!!! Mommie, Daddy is home!" He runs back to the bedroom and doesn't leave my side the rest of night. I think he missed me!

Day Three of Week One

More airports... Oh, I loss 3 buck in the slot machine in Las Vegas!

But the highlight of the whole week came on Wednesday night! Cheerios Meet in Seattle! YAY!!!

Several of the PNW locals and I had dinner at Sharp's Roaster & Ale House. The food was good, but not as good as the company! :big grin:

We then drove over to The Jester Doesn't Play With A Full Deck cache. I did three caches in the dark this week. Two in Tennessee and one in Washington!

Day Two of Week One

Nothing but airports and hotels. The one highlight of the evening was listening to the Jazz Trio in the hotel lounge. Webfooting Cheers, Diet Coke with Lemon and Jazz. Ahhhhh, and a little sleep!

Day One of Week One

I got to visit with my sister (PandaSRO). While it was much to short, we were able to do a couple of caches in Smyrna. We visited with Rick and Debbie and I am so glad we did. Debbie's time on this earth is very short. Hospice has taken over her care and she has grown weaker and weaker. That ugly, ugly word: Cancer!

The month of May - Week one

World Luggage Tour 2006!

The Stever Miller Band said it best:

I went from Phoenix, Arizona
All the way to Tacoma
Philadelphia, Atlanta, L.A.
Northern California where the girls are warm...

Day one:

Atlanta to Miami
Miami to Orlando
Orlando to Nashville

Day two:

Nashville to Chicago
Chicago to San Francisco
San Francisco to Los Angeles

Day three:

Los Angeles to Las Vegas
Las Vegas to Phoenix
Phoenix to Seattle

Day four

Seattle to San Francisco
San Francisco to Atlanta

and to quote them again:

Oh, Oh big ol' jet airliner
Carry me to my home
Oh, Oh big ol' jet airliner
Cause it's there that I belong...