Aha!

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I'm still kind of bummed that I had to beg out of taping my "Aha Moment" when they were in town (work and life in general got in the way), but I'm glad to see that Winston-Salem's uber-Tweeter, Kristen Daukus, had a great time recording hers:

and showing the Aha Moment folks what Ribfest was all about:

There are some great stories from other Winston-Salem folks if you browse through all the clips recorded by the Aha Moment team. Just search on "Winston-Salem + aha" on YouTube and you should find most of them.

Here are the people I've met in real life (my apologies if I missed anyone):

Paul

SueMo

Cheryl

Kim

Danielle

Here's someone many people in Winston-Salem have probably seen in real life even if they haven't met him – Robert Moody of the Winston-Salem Symphony.  BTW, I consider it one of my great failings that I haven't gotten over to see the Symphony in the seven years I've lived here.  I'm gonna have to do something about that.

After viewing most of the videos I had a BIG Aha Moment – there are a ton of really interesting people in Winston-Salem I haven't met yet and hopefully I can rectify the situation in the near future.

Teenage Labor Force

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Our oldest, Michael, was interviewed for Richard Craver's story in the Winston-Salem Journal about the difficulty teens are having finding work.

Being an early weekend riser wasn't exactly what Michael Lowder had in mind when he began pursuing a part-time job for the summer before heading to UNC Charlotte this fall.

But after filling out dozens of online applications and getting only two responses, Lowder, 18, said he felt fortunate to be hired for the 6 a.m. to 2 p.m. weekend shift for the breakfast buffet at Embassy Suites…

Lowder's experience is all too familiar to working-age teens and adults trying to find temporary or permanent employment in the tight job market.

Like many adults with jobs, Lowder landed his position primarily because of networking, in his case a neighbor who is in management at Twin City Quarter.

When asked his advice for other teens, Lowder said don't be afraid to ask a neighbor or a friend's parent who runs a business if they need help.

"Honestly, I got lucky," Lowder said. "It seems, at least from the combined experiences of my friends, that small businesses are your best bet for employment."

I have to say I've been proud of Michael for dragging himself out of bed at 5:15 every Saturday and Sunday morning, and now that school's over, several days in between. It's not easy, but at least he has a job and that makes him one of the lucky ones.

The Greatest Father’s Day Gift

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Two days ago my wife, Celeste, received one of those phone calls you never want to get: one of our kids was in an ambulance headed to the hospital and the caller didn’t know anything beyond that. Even worse our child was at the beach which was a four hour drive away. Celeste called me and we tried to stay calm enough to figure out what to do. For the next half hour we didn’t know anything other than our baby girl Erin (okay she’s 17 years old) had been in a Jet Ski accident and no one could tell us if she was seriously hurt or if the ambulance was merely a precaution.

Eventually we got hold of the ER and the doctor was able to tell us that Erin was fine, but that she’d probably be very sore for a few days. He also said that she was a very lucky girl not to have been seriously injured. Celeste and I started our drive to the beach knowing that Erin would be okay and wondering how many of these scares we could take before we ended up in the hospital ourselves.

Today as we celebrate Fathers Day I can tell you that I’ve already received the greatest gift I’ll ever get: the health and happiness of my three kids. That’s the only gift I want or need and it is a gift I wish for every father out there.