There is a great small business story in the link below, and good advice on packing perishables for shipping.

http://blog.ups.com/2011/05/31/easy-as-pie-packing-and-shipping-with-the-ups-store/

"Poehnelt bakes the pies, freezes them and seals them in plastic to stay fresh. She takes them to Heil’s The UPS Store  where he places each pie in a 12 x 12 x 8 box with a 2-inch foam base. Dry ice is packed in the vacant space in the foam that sits under the pie. A second piece of plastic foam on top secures the pie in place.  He then ships them UPS Second Day Air."

Happy Thanksgiving from The UPS Store in Las Vegas   For those planning turkey for Turkey Day, here is Alton Brown's video on preparation.

Scott Steele

Scott Christopher Steele

December 12, 1957 - October 19, 2012

Hello honey, I'm home!

I have lost friends and family without writing about them; maybe because they were before blogs.  And Scott's death was a complete shock.  As good of friends that we were, I only saw him a half dozen times each year.  Caddying on the PGA Tour is a grueling road warrior process.  There is the west coast swing, moving to the east coast before the Masters in April.  He came through Las Vegas, where he lived with his wife, Barb, on the way to the east coast.  Always driving.  And when he had some extended weeks off he would fly home to see Barb, and come by the store to visit us.

He had a mailbox at our UPS Store for years.  Every time he came by, usually after months of absence, he would announce: "hello honey, I'm home."  And hug everybody.  At first I resisted the guy hug, but not for long as we became closer friends.  Of course, I'm an occasional golfer, fan, and general golf nut - but when I asked him to play, he told me he was not crazy enough to play such a stupid game.  We loved his candor; what a down-to-earth guy.

Barb came by the store today.  She and Kathy hugged and cried for what seemed like five solid minutes.  I was hiding out in the back office, reaching for the Kleenex.  Kathy called me and I had to come out.  Barb is sroill in shock trying to deal with it, as we are too.  When my Dad died, my older brother, who only saw him every few years, spent some time before he came to grips with the loss.  That's the way Mary and I feel, we can't quite believe he won't come stro lling in the store at any time, "help honey, I'm home."

In my mind, strictly from golf periodical reports, I had the details of his death wrong.  He had a heart attack in the parking lot on Friday, October 14, at a Champions Tour event.  Jerry Pate gave CPR and he went to the hospital.  Kirk Triplett called Barb and she jumped on a plane.  Kirk picked her up and drove the hour to the hospital, where he had been put into a coma.  He came out of it, and Barb thinks she recognized her presence, then had another attack, passing away October 19.  I wish I'd known. 

Scott had been hired and fired by several golf pros, but caddies of his pedigree don't get "fired" for doing a poor job.  It's because the pro thinks that a change will help his putting, or whatever.  Once Tim Herron hired Scott back and won the first tournament, crediting Scott for the victory.  Then he fired him again two years later.  I wondered, did Scott become less experienced after two more years?  Of course not.  Several times I asked Scott about this player or that, or about a current rumor.  He would never say a word, about his man or others.  A total professional, not about to lower himself to petty gossip.

A word about Kirk Triplett.  He dropped out of the tournament and spent the final days with Barb.  A stand up guy, as Barb says.  (He could have found a local caddy and played out the tournament, then gone to her side.  It's been his best year in years, so he would expect to earn a big check.  But he didn't do that.   A stand up guy, and more).  I've thought several times, c'mon God, why now.  He just got on with Kirk the past couple of years, a great guy and a player who can really compete on the Champions Tour (i.e. make a lot of money).  Why now?

Barb came back to bring us an article by Tim Rosaforte in "Golf World," and to talk to Kathy some more.  I got confirmation of what I long suspected - Scott was not fond of reporters, either print or TV, mainly because their job is to weasel information out of a caddy, and Scott wouldn't talk to them, at all.  So it was nice of Tim to write a complimentary piece.

Well, I've lost a friend, a wonderful guy, the first since this blogging thing.  I hope when the time comes I can be like Kirk, a stand up guy to someone who needs me.   Like Scott, who was professional and manly enough to know when to speak.  I just wish, one more time I could hear...

November 16, 2012