Summer 2013 Paramount Peeks Newsletter

Summer, 2013
Volume 17, Issue 3
sEEIng Is BElIEvIng…
InsIDE:
1.
Seeing Is Believing ....................p. 1
2.
He Wasn’t There.......................p. 2
3.
Did You Know?.........................p. 3
4.
Ask The Experts ........................p. 3
5.
Kitchen Of The Quarter..........p. 4
Editor & Desktop
Publishing:
Barb Rodgers
Last month, both Chris and I had some vision issues. I lost my glasses,
which left my reading vision blurry and Chris had some Lasik surgery,
which corrected his distance vision. While I typically don’t lose things, I
had a little dog drama out in the yard and I somehow misplaced my
glasses (probably because I still take them off too much and like to pretend I don’t need them as much as I really do.) After a minor melt-down
and a multitude of scavenger hunts, I gave up looking and purchased a
new pair with a stronger prescription, mind you—(oh the joys of aging!) Anyway—I am
happy to say that both Chris and I are seeing clearer again.
Speaking of seeing clearer…I recently had another eye opening experience that I wanted
to share. I don’t know how many of you out there are using social media, but if you are,
you probably know it can be time consuming and you may, perhaps wonder if all the
time and effort is really worth it. I know I have.
I jumped into the social media craze early, by starting a blog in 2007 and have literally
written hundreds and hundreds of blogs. I gradually added other social media platforms
to our company website such as Facebook, Twitter, You Tube, Pinterest and Houzz to
stay on top of the more popular social media sites, but have to admit that I have fallen
short in some areas. In fact, for Facebook and Twitter, for the most part, I was only feeding my blog posts to save some time. Thankfully my eyes were opened a little wider
recently, when our 22 year old daughter, Sara, who has been working in our Customer
Service area told me, “Mom, your tweets suck!” I immediately responded with, “What do
you mean, my tweets suck?” I tweet my blog posts and of course, my ego was thinking,
“yeah right, someone actually called me the blog queen once, how can my tweets suck?”
She responded with, “You can’t just tweet your blogs! People want more than that. They
want pictures and links and more ways of connecting and sharing information.” After a
moment or two, I set my ego aside and thought that she’s probably right. Besides—if I am
the blog queen, and that is a big “If,” she is definitely the Twitter queen and like most of
her generation is master of the social media domain, so I better listen to what she is saying. After our conversation, I “Stumbled Upon” an article titled the “Top 10 Social
Media Mistakes To Avoid,” on the Social Media Today website, which confirmed exactly
what she said. In fact, “Unless you are Seth Godin or Danny Sullivan, the content you
share shouldn’t only be from your blog and if you network and share content from other
blogs or websites, you will actually get noticed more and get more followers.”1 Well that
was all the confirmation I needed and decided it was time to get more social.
With a little assistance and a few pointers from my daughter, I am happy to say, I am
doing more tweeting and have added more Facebook posts and pictures. I’ve also added
more Pins to our Pinterest page and more Idea Books and photos to our Houzz page and
guess what? It is actually working! We are getting more Followers and more Likes! Funny
thing how a little action spurs more action, and the best part is that we can all help each
other out. Make sure you Follow us on Twitter, Houzz, etc., and Like us on Facebook.
Who knows what we can share, or pass along together?
How’s your vision? In need of a little corrective care?
Thanks for reading!
V.P. Paramount Granite Company
brodgers@paramountgranite.com
Source: 1 “Top 10 Soical Media Mistakes To Avoid,” Soical Medica Today, http://socialmediatoday.com/kieshaeasley/1585096/top-10-social-media
mistakes-avoid?utm_source=hootsuite&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=hootsuite_tweets
Paramount Granite Company…Rock Solid Reputation, Rock Solid Value!
Phone 763-428-4075 • Fax 763-428-1795 • paramountgranite.com
ParaMount PEEks
Summer, 2013
Volume 17, Issue 3
HE Wasn’t tHErE…
I had many dogs growing up on the farm, but years later, for some reason, I procrastinated on getting our first black lab–our
first family dog. All three of my girls (Barb included) knew that he was coming soon, but they didn’t know exactly when. I
brought Ozzy home on Angela’s 13th birthday. She screamed, “Oh my
God—thank you daddy!” as Ozzy freaked and peed on her shoes. First day
in the house, first moment in the house and yes, the first accident in the
house.
I figured that being the coach of Sara’s 5th grade basketball team gave me
the authority to bring Ozzy to one of her practices. We had the gym after hours, and who
could resist such a cute puppy that stood lower than a rolling basketball. This was Ozzy’s
first encounter with a ball, in fact his first encounter with about 20 balls bouncing and
rolling around—remember they’re 5th graders. Unfortunately for Ozzy, the balls were bigger
than him, so when he instinctively went to retrieve 1, or 2, or all 20, he got body slammed as
he jumped on top of them while they rolled and he rolled right over with them. Ozzy didn’t
know it at the time, but he preferred a tennis court over a basketball court (smaller balls!).
Ozzy was extremely delighted to discover that his new owners had a lake cabin. He really
didn’t have the opportunity to ask us, but if he did, certainly that would have been a question. All of us quickly understood why he was considered a retriever. He took to retrieving tennis balls from the lake at every possible moment he could. To this day there exists a 20 foot long rut
from the deck to the lake—thousands of throws over many years. When our arms were sore
and no one would throw the ball for him, he would lay at the top step that led to the dock,
with the tennis ball under his chin. After a few seconds he would nudge it with his nose.
Bounce, bounce, bounce, bounce…it would travel down the 21 steps, roll down the dock a
ways and splash into the lake. It seemed that he imagined his own game as he would wait
until it came to rest, then “FETCH” the imaginary voice would command him to fly down
the steps and plunge into the water in record time. People found this quite amusing.
His nose was excellent—my hunting buddies will agree. I would make him stay in our garage,
while the girls would hide the ball anywhere in our small fenced back yard. Then Sara would
open the door and give Ozzy his favorite command—FETCH! He would start right there at
the door and race around the perimeter of the yard on a mission, when he got near the Lilac
hedge we would lift his nose like a prancing pony, then abruptly stop turn around and jump
in the air to retrieve the ball 4 feet up in the Lilac bush—all under 1 minute’s time.
I’m thinking he learned to climb a ladder when the girls would hide the ball on top of their
playhouse. Angela yelled to me early one Saturday morning, “Daddy, Daddy come watch this!” Ozzy would climb the 6 foot ladder up to the
top of the play house, grab the ball and then fly down the slide to bring it back to her–the slide was the quickest way down.
If you have a family dog, the concept of unconditional love comes quickly. In his first year he got a nasty beating from me when he was caught
stealing pizza slices off the stove top, one-by-one, a few minutes apart, as if I wouldn’t notice. It probably hurt me physically more than it hurt
him. His love and respect for me never waned or failed, and he still loved Pizza!
Ozzy took his last ride on my 4-wheeler last Friday. He loved it. He has had a nasty case of arthritis, so he found it acceptable for me to lift him
into the 4-wheeler for occasional rides as long as not too many people saw me lift him. We cruised the entire 40 acres of the “Manshak” to
Ozzy’s approval. He was happy.
I believe that God created Ozzy for all of us, but God had me in mind first when he created
Ozzy. Our connection could not have been stronger. He had his dedicated seat in every one
of my vehicles. If he wasn’t around and someone wanted to use his seat, I would say, “Did
you get Ozzy’s permission to sit there?” I came back from the lake last night with so many
things that had transpired since that 4-wheeler ride last Friday. Life moves so fast—we keep so
busy. I looked back to Ozzy’s seat over my right front shoulder…he wasn’t there.
Ozzy’s passing is very painful for my family and me—we haven’t healed yet. Ozzy shall be
missed dearly. Those that are not “dog people” may wonder why dog lovers go through such
a relationship—perhaps they wonder if it is all worth it. We’ll have a puppy by next week.
I’m thinking Cisco—from the horse in Dances with Wolves. Ozzy would approve.
(crodgers@paramountgranite.com.)
ParaMount PEEks
PagE 2
ParaMount PEEks
Volume 17, Issue 3
Summer, 2013
DID You knoW?
Ø The hummingbird is the only bird that can fly backwards.
Ø The first outdoor miniature golf courses in the United States were built on rooftops in New York City in 1926.
Ø Olive oil is made only from green olives. Nearly the entire production of green olives
grown in Italy is converted into olive oil.
Ø Cows provide 90 percent of the world’s milk.
Ø Lightning travels 90,000 miles a second — almost half the speed of light.
Ø The first hurricane given a male name was “Bob,” in July 1979.
Ø In a year’s time, bees gather 80,000 tons of pollen in the United States.
Ø Hawaii has the only royal palace in the United States–Iolani.
Ø On the planet Jupiter, your weight would be nearly three times greater than it is on Earth.
Ø Coffee beans are not beans, but the pits of a fruit that resemble beans.
Ø The first bottles of Coca-Cola sold for a mere 5 cents per bottle in 1899.
Source: www.coolquiz.com
“ask tHE ExPErts”
Q:
A:
Do you offer a maintenance and care package for your countertops?
From time to time, we get calls about maintenance and care for granite countertops. While most calls are in
regards to everyday cleaning, other questions sometimes arise about other concerns such as hard water build
up, chips, or seam maintenance. Granite is a low maintenance material, so everyday cleaning is easy,
although some consumers have questions about what products should, or shouldn’t be used. While there are
many cleaning products on the market today, no specific one is required, or needed. Most granite surfaces
only require that they be cleaned with a soft white cloth, some hot water, and dish soap.
For hard water build-up around faucets, a razor blade tipped at an angle can be used to scrape off the built-up
residue. Steel wool (001, or finer) can be rubbed on the area afterward, to get the remaining particles. As far
as chip repair, or seam maintenance issues, it is probably best that a service technician come out to repair the
chip area, or re-shim the countertop to level out the seam. For your convenience, we offer a 1 Year Extended
Care & Maintenance Package that offers a worry free option for the consumer, by allowing us to take care of
any maintenance needs. The package includes:
• Sanitizing and resealing all countertops
• Faucet deck touch up (Removing all normal hard water build up, etc.)
• Seam maintenance (e.g. Various circumstances may cause houses to move and/or shift, which in turn may
cause some seams to shift.) Affected seams would be re-shimmed and leveled.
• Up to 3 chips repaired. While chips are rare, they can happen. (e.g. Banging pots & pans at sink area, etc.)
If you are interested in our 1 Year Extended Care & Maintenance Package for your countertops, please give us
a call, or stop by our showroom.
ParaMount PEEks
PagE 3
ParaMount PEEks
Summer, 2013
Volume 17, Issue 3
kItcHEn of tHE QuartEr
fEaturE Your kItcHEn In
our nEWslEttEr
If you are interested in having your
kitchen featured as our “Kitchen of
the Quarter,” as well as displayed on
the PGC Feature page on our website,
please contact our Customer Service
Department for more
information, or e-mail photos to:
brodgers@paramountgranite.com
Your sourcE for:
Quartzite: Azul Imperial; Project: Outdoor Kitchen Residential Customer
Fabricated/installed by: Paramount Granite Company.
Note: Look for more photos of this kitchen on the PGC Facebook page, Houzz and our photo gallery on
www.paramountgranite.com
5760 Quam Avenue. NE
St. Michael, MN 55376
RETURN SERVICE REQUESTED
PRSRT STD
U.S. POSTAGE
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Rogers, MN