It’s a blustery day today. Well…all week!

Hello there again, as I sit typing my new blog entry, the wind has started picking up here in Kansas City and it appears it’s going to be a “windy” and warm week!

It’s windy for Kansas…I remember when I lived on Maui it seemed like it was windy every day, but of course it’s all in how you look at things. Since that time in my life, I’ve learned to love the feel of the wind.

I like that it brings in new air, cleans out out the old. It blows the leaves away. It can clean the streets. Yes, there are some negatives to a windy day, but I’m a wind “fan” (no pun intended) and despite my hair getting a little messed up I don’t have a lot against it.

So if you’re in the Kansas City area like I am over the next few days be prepared for a city “cleansing”. Mother nature is bringing a little air from the south and will keep the wind tunnel on high for a few days. I think I’ll wait to ride my motorcycle until next weekend!

Speaking of Maui, and on a totally different subject: I’ve been invited to participate in the Oahu Marathon in December of this year. 26 miles, yikes. The catch is that I’ll be part of a three-man team wearing full firefighter bunker gear and oxygen tank, boots and face mask. It’s a demonstration and a commitment to all of those who lay their lives on the line to save ours. And it’s crazy 😉 Unfortunately I’ve already got a vacation planned for the same week so I’m going to have to pass this year…I’ll have to feel the Hawaii wind another time!

Have a good week, stay safe, take care, Ryan

The KC 9/11 Memorial Stair Climb was a huge success – and we were there!

Hello there friends,

It’s a cool Monday morning here in Kansas City and as I’m getting around for the day, I’ve been reflecting on this last weekend’s events. Last week there was a little news about this event that hit the National press, but due to the proactive work of law enforcement the issue was thwarted:

The show went on.

We sponsored the 2015 KC 9/11 Memorial Stair Climb – specifically the celebration dinner the night before – called the “Brotherhood Bash”. It’s a time for the firemen to get together and bond before the next morning where they climb 110 stories in full firefighter gear. It’s impressive.

Here’s Lennie at the event having a great time; and the group of us had some good laughs, met some great people, ate, drank, and participated in the raffle for a lot of goodies at the end of the night.

During the event’s festivities, Dave Bova (the Event coordinator, and good friend of mine) unveiled this mural:

It’s the first of it’s kind in existence, but probably not the last. It’s got a picture of every fallen firefighter (all 343 of them) that was in New York on that fateful day back on September 11, 2001. This event is to honor those that made the ultimate sacrifice and to promise to “never forget”.

It’s a touching way to spend a weekend and as I hugged my family it brought some sense of gratefulness and pride to be a part of this celebration. It’s a memorial for a tragic day, but the “togetherness” makes things better. We will be back next year and we hope you get it on your calendars now so you can witness the power of the “brotherhood”. It’s worth the time, trust me.

Take care, have a great Monday. Mine is starting off great!

Ryan

Apple passes Google as the heavyweight champ of brand names.

Good morning everyone,

I was reading through my typical industry news this morning and read that Apple has regained the top spot as “Most Valuable Brand” overtaking Google again.

The top ten include Apple, Google, VISA, Coca-Cola and a surprise to me at the number ten spot: Marlboro…cigarettes! I don’t know why this surprises me so much, but it did. I know that tobacco companies have a huge marketing budgets, but I personally use every brand on the list except for the cigarettes. No wonder there are some kids using tobacco so early, it’s tough not being exposed to branding every where you turn.

Well, congratulations Apple. I’ve been right there with you to the climb to the top. I personally started repairing Apple devices back in 1994 – and if you can believe it, we were actually repairing Apple Floppy Disk Drives by the thousand. You know that you’re a “vintage” guy when you know the difference between an “Auto-Inject” and “Manual-Inject” floppy drive. Oh how times have changed.

Have a great morning, I’ve got a lot of blogging to catch up on, I’ll be back soon!

Take care, Ryan

Ok, so Christmas came early this year.

Hello everyone, this is a personal blog which ends up just being a huge “thank you” to Lennie here at Mission Repair.

I’ve been wanting to get into the “Big Green Egg” club that’s growing around the country. Do you know about the “Big Green Egg”? The Big Green Egg is a blend of the best of ancient wisdom, modern technology and proprietary processes, resulting in a far superior product that is stronger, more durable and provides better heat insulation than any other outdoor cooker on the market. Once you get to know these cookers, apparently they overtake the backyard as the BBQ cooker preference.

It’s simple to start, it has precise temperature control, it’s safe and is easy to clean up.

I’ve been talking about this thing for some time now…and Friday evening, Lennie surprised me by saying that he bought it for me! We brought it home and put it together; Saturday we made some ribs as my wife Dandra stood in the window wondering what all of the excitement was about. I went “big” by starting with a piece of meat that’s typically difficult to cook – loin back ribs!

You’ve got to cook these things low and slow…and after about 5 hours of watching and waiting we feasted on these for dinner.

You can even see in the picture my dog Shadow waiting me for to drop a piece. What a good little beggar he is 😉

There you have it. A guy that likes food (me) receiving a totally off-the-wall and unexpected gift from Lennie. I think it was a strategic move on his part because every time I cook, he gets to come over for dinner. In the long run, he’s going to make out financially – so he should be thanking me, right?!?

Lennie “paid it forward” this weekend, I’m going to need to do the same for someone as well, it was a great feeling.

Take care, Ryan

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

Good morning friends- so I’m here at the Lakewood Mission Repair location preparing for the big Ribbon Cutting this afternoon and I got this pic emailed over to me from our Olathe office:

It made me laugh. It’s ok to laugh. From left to right, that’s Tayler, Sydney and Wade all ready to make leprechaun magic happen today. Yes, I’m wearing green today as well, but here at Mission Repair we’ve somewhat adopted St. Patrick’s Day as our favorite day. It’s the green that matches our company colors…and since it’s a “fun” holiday, it fits our theme.

It’s why we are having our Ribbon Cutting here in Lakewood, Colorado today. This was intentional, and I’ll be sure to post some pics for you to get a good chuckle at later of myself and my crew here. Yes, we’ll all be wearing some sort of green in our ensembles; but I won’t be wearing a bow tie. That’s all for Wade.

Have a great day, Ryan