by Mark Smiley | Aug 3, 2015 | Feature Story Middle Left
I’ll share a secret, which obviously will not be a secret any longer. I actually don’t mind going grocery shopping. It feels like a secret because Mrs. App and I debate this each weekend. It’s a nice back and forth of, “No, it’s not a big deal. You can go to the grocery store today.” Or, “I’ll go, but you have the kids.” Or, “Wait, I have the kids? You take the kids. Where are the kids?!”
Then it’s the blue or red cart debate with Toddler App. The visit to the lobsters. Oh… is there a run on lobsters in Glendale? Their tank has usually one really sad, lonely lobster. Next, off to the free cookie. Thank goodness, I’m almost out of the produce section. The long checkout line, which is followed by watching my groceries get thrown together in a pre-ripped plastic bag. No, that’s fine. The dish soap, lettuce and frozen popsicles should go in the same bag. Maybe in your house, the dish soap goes in the fridge with the perishables. Sorry, I served nearly five years at Stop & Shop in beautiful Chelsea, Massachusetts.
It’s not all bad. Toddler App gets to ride the horse for a penny. There’s an adult beverage section, and I get to make my weekly state donation… I mean check my lottery scratch tickets. Yes, I know there’s an app for checking Colorado Lottery tickets, but I really enjoy having the cashier scan them for me. The reality is, I would just rather be hanging with the kiddos than spending 90 minutes at the grocery store.
So, we tried online grocery shopping. I think I’m hooked. First up, Instacart. We picked King Soopers for our order, however Instacart offers Whole Foods, Costco, and others. I didn’t test, but apparently buying in bulk from Costco is allowed without a membership. Good to know. We created our grocery list, including substitutions. It was fairly straightforward.
One great thing about Instacart and Home Shop from King Soopers is the total calculates while you shop. Try accomplishing that feat while juggling free cookie crumbs in aisle three! Instacart assigns the order to a personal shopper who retrieves the order from King Soopers, and delivers to your door. During shopping, Instacart sends alerts asking for substitution approvals and provides a delivery time.
Think of it this way. You hand your grocery list to a stranger, tip them 20 percent of the bill, ask them to send you texts while they shop and ask them to be back within ‘x’ period of time. The downside, the grocery prices seem high, and then add in delivery fee and tip. Instacart advises that their prices may be higher, but I’m not sure there was a huge cost to time savings. Nonetheless, a guy named Jeff showed up with our groceries as ordered.
Next, we tried Home Shop from King Soopers. There are some similarities between Instacart and Home Shop, such as easy to order through their sites and delivery times are reasonable. There were a few things that stuck out with Home Shop over Instacart, such as the prices were the same as in store (including weekly specials), ability to create a weekly list and push the items to the checkout cart, delivery fees were lower and a larger selection of items.
I think we’ll continue the Home Shop service. The kiddos will miss the free cookies, but will not complain when we hit the pool or zoo instead of the grocery store. It feels nice to pull into the driveway a few minutes before the delivery van shows up with your groceries. I haven’t stepped inside a bank in a long time. Grocery store. It was nice knowing you! Call me if you fill the lobster tank.
I don’t believe I’m alone in checking my phone throughout the day. Waiting in a line. Walking to my car. On the treadmill. While pouring my fourth cup of coffee. All the time. I’m not sure what I’m expecting to see. In fact, there was a moment in June that I checked USA Today, Twitter, Sports Illustrated and my email, then realized nothing changed since I checked them last. It felt as though I reached the end of the Internet.
As an experiment, I enabled an app called Checky. It runs in the background, and I’m convinced it drains my battery, but it records how many times the phone is checked. To my surprise, on day two of running the app, I checked my phone 92 times. 92! I entered my passcode 92 times. I checked it every 10 minutes while I was awake. Do you think your eyes are always pointing down to your phone? Try this exercise! Yikes, I (we) need to be more present.
I’ve mentioned in the past that it is a good practice to embrace cloud solutions for storage, music and photos, but share the content amongst a few apps. The news in June that the app, Lastpass, a password storage app, was hacked was concerning. As consumers, we’re not reviewing the security data sheets of our storage apps. OK, maybe there are a few outliers that enjoy reading agreements and 60 page security briefs. Just know, that these sites are targets. Have your passwords and content readily accessible from your preferred sites in case a breach does happen. If you are in need of changing and or improving your passwords, check out: http://goo.gl/qCLwcE.
I’m off to change my password from 12345 to something stronger. Maybe 54321. Enjoy the sunshine!
Do you have a favorite app you’d like to share? Contact Brian at brian@brianzabro ski.com, on Twitter @BrianZab or LinkedIn at www.linkedin.com/in/brianzab.
Brian, a Corporate Account Executive with NetSuite, has spent nearly 20 years in the telecommunications and software industry. Businesses often have the same concerns: How do I increase my revenue and profit? How do I attract great talent? Am I easy to do business with? Is it simple to access my business information? If you’re a business that would like to learn how Box, GoPro, Groupon and FitBit have used NetSuite to answer these questions, then please contact Brian.
by Mark Smiley | Aug 3, 2015 | Feature Story Bottom Left
The similarities between dating and politics are uncanny. Much like politicians, people in the dating world seem to have these “political” tendencies.
- Politicians customize their stances and communication to whomever is listening in fear of not being liked or being scrutinized for expressing their true thoughts.
- Much like politicians, some daters will just plain lie to your face in order to further their own personal agenda.
- Just like party politics, most daters won’t step outside of the box and date people who may differ from their typical “type,” those with whom they usually associate. If you don’t try something new you’ll always get what you’ve always had.
- Politicians are always on their best behavior until they are elected. Once voted into office all bets are off and they do whatever they want. This is much like dating because some people, once they settle into a relationship, stop doing all the things they used to do until they gain emotional power over you.
- Politicians dress to the nines and they focus more on their public appearance than the quality of their character. Daters tend to do the same thing… It’s great to look good, but not so great if that’s the only thing they have to offer.
Those are just a few similarities I see between politics and dating, and you know the saying, “never trust a politician.” I believe the same thing should be said about people who are dating. Never trust a dater.
So why do I have my face on Donald Trump this month? However you feel about Donald Trump’s politics is irrelevant. The Donald is speaking his mind and the realness in his messages and stances are straightforward and he doesn’t care who he pisses off. You will love him, hate him, take him, or leave him, but he is not pulling any punches.
I wish daters would do the same as The Donald when it comes to dating and building relationships. It would make things much easier for people when they are trying to wade through the shark infested dating pool. Single people everywhere would benefit greatly all the way around if they would just be themselves at all costs, regardless of how it is received. Take a chance and be yourself and you may just be surprised by who is attracted to you because of it.
Trump is gaining steam with American voters in his presidential run because he isn’t afraid to do what’s tough and isn’t concerned about what he loses along the way. That’s a big risk, but this approach may pay dividends for him down the road. If you’re a dater looking for love, this style of all costs transparency may just be the way to go if you want to come out ahead in the long run.
Keep focused on the dating trail.
Your pal, Sheik
by Mark Smiley | Jun 25, 2015 | Feature Story Middle Left
A High-Rise To Be Built On Fillmore St. In Blockbuster Deal Abolishing Four Retail Shops
by Glen Richardson
Cherry Creek North’s once trendy and fashionable boutique retail district suddenly seems right and proper as a Wile E. Coyote cartoon: “If you’re on the highway (Creek construction district) and Road Runner (developer) goes beep beep, just step aside or you’ll end up in a heap.” The latest villainous Road Runner action is on Fillmore St. where four retail shops are in the Looney Tunes spotlight. Seattle-based real estate firm Schnitzer West LLC, has purchased four Cherry Creek North properties located at 250 and 230 Fillmore St. plus 242 and 246 Milwaukee St.
The company plans to develop an office building with ground-level retail on the two adjacent properties on Fillmore St. between East 2nd and 3rd Avenues. Retail businesses that will be abolished by the latest development include Polished Nail Boutique, Essentia (a mattress store), plus apparel shop DVSN West. The deal also includes the adjacent Wizards Chest building. As reported in the Chronicle last month, the magical toy castle is opening a new store on Broadway and the Fillmore space will close following Christmas.
According to Schnitzer West there are no immediate plans for the two Milwaukee St. properties purchased a block east of where the Fillmore high-rise will be built, that building on the east side of Milwaukee, also located between 2nd and 3rd Ave. Current tenants in that building are Le Soutien — a lingerie shop that opened in 1994 — and Bliss Nails Spa.
Civica Cherry Creek
Denver-based architects Davis Partnership will design the new mixed-use project, which will be called Civica Cherry Creek. Design is still in the concept phase, however it is projected that the project will include roughly 90,000 square-feet of upscale Class A+ office space and an additional 10,000 square-feet of retail and restaurant space. It will also include a multi-level underground parking garage that will be open to the public.
Schnitzer West has previously acquired and managed properties here, however, Civica Cherry Creek will be its first ground-up development in the district. The Cherry Creek project is named after Civica Office Commons, the company’s award-winning inaugural project in the Seattle metro market. “The first Civica redefined how office space could and should work for tenants and drove tremendous innovation in Northwest real estate,” explains Managing Partner Doug Zabel. “We think Civica Cherry Creek will do the same for the Denver market.” Demolition will begin early next year with completion scheduled in mid-2017.
Seattle-based Schnitzer West sold First Avenue Plaza in Cherry Creek North for $75 million last year. Located at 55 Madison and 44 Cook St., it was one of the district’s largest office building sales. Schnitzer West still manages the property. There is currently more than 200,000 square feet of new office space under construction in Cherry Creek North. Western Development Group is nearing completion on 89,000 square feet of office space at 200 Columbine and The Pauls Corp. is building 149,000 square feet at 100 Saint Paul St.
