A PUBLICATION PROVIDED BY DIGITAL PRINT INK • APRIL …

[Pages:4]A PUBLICATION PROVIDED BY DIGITAL PRINT INK ? APRIL 2013 ? VOLUME FOUR, ISSUE FOUR

DIGITAL PRINT INK

3444 SOUTH CAMPBELL ? SPRINGFIELD, MO, 65807 ? 417.881.5309 ? WWW.

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Who serves the best coffee?

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News From the Farm What's

Growing up on the farm we had all kinds of animals. I remember one year Dad bought a couple of orphan lambs for us to raise, (an orphan lamb could be one where the mother died, but more likely the lamb was rejected by its mother). It became my brother's and my job to feed them

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The Back Page

NEWSFLASH: Counts Shocks World With

Win In Chili Cook Off!

Greetings everyone, here's what's NEW at DPI this month. Not much really, except I WON A CHILI COOK OFF!!!! I still can't believe it. If you knew about my cooking ability (basically let's say I can do eggs pretty well), you would be as surprised as I am.

Steve's First Place Trophy

One of our largest suppliers the other day told Laurie they could no longer give us tech support because we weren't buying enough products from them. Was that wrong? I don't think so. You should be able to conduct business however you want to, as long

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What was the most fun was

seeing how little faith my

employees had in my chances.

They laughed when I told them

I was entering a chili cook off at Bridges For Youth. I'm on the

Steve's Prize-Winning Chili

board, so the chili cook off was

to be a fund raiser. Everyone on the board had to make a pot of chili. So

I got out my Crock Pot and put in (sorry it is a secret ? if you only knew ?

HA) my special ingredients.

How to Eat Out With Kids

I prepared my special `stew' all day at the office so everyone knew what was going on. The next day I couldn't wait for our morning meeting hoping someone would ask me about the chili cook off. Laurie or LeAnne, surely Wanda, but no one did. HMMM, so I asked,

"Does anyone remember what I was doing yesterday?" Finally someone asked me how bad was it and another said in jest, "Did anyone ask for your recipe?"

Does the thought of taking your family out to dinner make you nervous? Find a few helpful hints for making the outing go smoother on PAGE 3.

Now you know what I secretly have been putting up with: NO RESPECT. They just see me as a paycheck. But then the feeling of elation to say, "I WON!". Then silence, nothing at first, a chuckle, a "really". Even after I told them I won they still didn't believe me. I took it as proof that my winning the chili cook off out of a field of 10 pots of chili was a feat no less important than David defeating Goliath, and the USA Hockey Team beating the Russians in the 1980 Olympics. Okay so a bit over stated. But hey, I still can't believe it.

Also I am hanging up my chili cooking talents, something I learned from George Costanza of Seinfeld. You can see a picture of me and my FIRST place trophy.

News From the Farm Continued from Page 1

each day. One was named Lucky and the other Lucy.

We used old pop bottles with black nipples on the end with some milk inside to feed them. Lucky would drink his milk in seconds, but Lucy was only a bit faster than a dead snail at drinking her milk. It didn't take me and my brothers long to figure out who we wanted to extend our bottle of milk to.

Lucy was so slow, you had to stand there and wait and wait. That's pretty hard for a five year old boy to do. I had places to go and things to do, and if I got stuck with Lucy it was torture. I am afraid we heaped some ill feelings and comments on sweet little Lucy for the inconvenience she caused us.

Looking back on that now, I learned some valuable lessons from little Lucy. No she wasn't fast, she was just who she was. Where Lucky was rough and rambunctious, Lucy was kind and gentle. She was cuddly and precious. I equate Lucy as a special lamb, maybe a `special needs lamb'. In my life, like most people, I have been exposed to children who are a little different than other children. Perhaps they are like Lucy, a little slower in some ways. But, just like Lucy, they offer something special, something unique and wonderful. To me special needs children if we look past their "differences"can show us so much of value, like their innocence, a gift like quality, unique in so many ways.

The parents of children who have special physical and mental challenges are to be honored for their patience and courage. And yet they frequently, when asked, will relate how fortunate they were, or are, to have enjoyed the experience of their SPECIAL child. I love the story of Shaya that Wayne Dyer includes in his book about Intention. It's on YouTube, just type in `Wayne Dyer the Shaya Story'. It's such a good message about the special child.

Thank you Lucy for showing me how special you were and thank you God for teaching me the meaning of your "special" creations.

Fun Facts

On average, the human eye blinks approximately 4,200,000 times per year.

Over the course of the last 10,000 years, the Niagara Falls has receded about seven miles because of the massive erosion at the base of the falls, which then undermines the shale cliffs.

The Hubble Space Telescope is very heavy indeed, weighing 10, 896 kilograms (or 12 tons). It is also pretty long, extending 13.1 meters (43 feet), and the original cost for building it was a cool $2.1 billion.

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California is home to the most powerful laser in the whole world, the Nova laser. The Nova laser is capable of generating a pulse of energy that is the equivalent of 100 billion watts of power.

A locust's leg muscles are approximately 1,000 times more powerful than the equal weight of muscle in a human being

Welcome New Customers!

Firefly Designs Greenside Up Boehringer-Ingelheim Mac's Lawn Care

Thank you for your referrals!

Jeannie Huckstep Gayle Parker

Who Serves The Best Cup of Coffee in Springfield?

I am looking for the place that consistently delivers the best cup of coffee in town. If you share a passion for a good cup of coffee to the degree that you will go without coffee (something you love) if what is offered to you is "not" good enough.

"No thanks, I'd rather wait", then you qualify as someone who can nominate your favorite Springfield coffee location.

Let's go ahead and get Starbucks on the list. Hey they started this craze (or at least promoted it). Starbucks is the standard against which all other coffees are measured against. Also by coffee I mean just that, none of coffee's children, lattes, espressos or fraps, just looking for the best place for a cup of coffee. So who has the best cup of coffee in town to be compared to Starbucks?

I recently read that Zagat's rated The Coffee Ethic as one of the top coffee places in the US. Do you agree? Fax: 417.881.5017 or

Email: steve@

I'll compile the results and let everyone know. You will also earn a gift. Something to do with coffee I am sure. Deadline is April 20th so we can get the results in the May Newsletter.

How to Eat Out With Kids

A lot of people enjoy dining out at a restaurant, but many parents can be decidedly nervous about going out to eat with their children because of how the children might behave during the meal. The good news is that there are a few tips that can help you make the scenario of the family eating out together a much smoother and more enjoyable experience for all concerned.

One good idea is to check before you go out to eat that the menu of the restaurant you intend to eat in will have something that your child will actually be willing to eat. Another good idea is to beat the rush by going to the restaurant at an off-peak time, such as between 4 p.m. and 5 p.m. on a weekday afternoon.

Choose to be seated in a booth if you can, as this usually makes it a lot easier to keep your children contained.

"Nothing will ever be attempted if all possible objections must be first overcome."

Samuel Johnson

APril 2013

Observances and Fun Facts April 2013 is Observed as:

National Autism Awareness Month National Frog Month ? (favorite to all little boys)

National Gardening Month (A shout out to clients: Friends of the Garden, Steinerts Nursery)

April Birthstone: Diamond & Crystal April Flower: Daisy & Sweet Pea Fruits & Veggies for March:

Strawberries, Asian Pears, Tomatillos

April 15 - Tax Day April 22 - Earth Day April 23 - National Public Health "Take Our Sons and Daughters to Work Day" April 26 - Arbor Day

The Back Page

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as it does not violate the law. (Not violating the law is getting harder and harder with all the new regulations coming from government).

The reason I mention this incident is the way we were treated. The background on their policy was they failed to let us know they had a minimum purchase amount to receive support. We have been doing business with them since July of 2010 and this is the first we knew of a minimum requirement.

When Laurie told me they refused to provide tech support I called to gain a better understanding. I used to call all MAD when things like this happened, but I have learned that helps no one. So I called with the hope to gain a better understanding and to find a way to continue to have their tech support.

After listening patiently to their policy, I told Tim (Not his real name, I watch a lot of TV and learned how to do this stuff, change the name) that this was the first I had heard about their minimum policy. He explained there had been no reason to mention it since we had always been above the minimum.

our minimum". I have to laugh at this truly unbelievable heart felt customer service.

No, "Hey, Steve don't worry about it, since we had failed to make you aware of our minimum purchase policy we're going to waive that and give you support for the rest of the month". That especially would make sense because last year I had to be one of his best customers spending 45% above the minimum. How do you think I feel about our relationship now?

More importantly how do my customers feel if I do that to them? "Oh, please dear Lord do not let me ever treat someone that way". I probably have, but I sure do not ever want to. Maybe this story will cause you to evaluate your "policies" with your customers as it has mine. We wonder why some businesses are struggling. By the way make sure your employees know how to explain your policies.

Don't forget that DPI offers free aDvertIsIng for our non-ProfIt frIenDs.

For details send a request to newsletter@

As I thought back on this conversation, I recall several emails from "Tim" asking me how things were going; one asked how much we thought we would spend with his company this year and the `just checking in' emails. I thought this was fine, but now I know he was concerned since I was below the minimum. (Why didn't he mention the minimum?)

A Mother & Daughter Celebration

Saturday May 11, 2013 11 a.m. ? 2 p.m.

Had I known there was a minimum purchase amount and that we were below it I could have changed my buying habits. The point for me (and maybe you) to consider is, "Do my clients know my policies?" I really hate the word policies, it sounds like "put you in your place" language, however we all need some guidelines and they should readily be known to our customers.

Another part of my story with "Tim", (I really love this incognito stuff, I should write Spy novels!) I told him I was going to place an order when I got off the phone for $700. Here is where it gets interesting, even though I had no idea of their policy, and was getting ready to place a large order and last year had spent $22,000 with his company (that is NOT made up), he said, "well you will still have to buy some more to get to

$50 per person Fashion Show, Silent Auction & Luncheon

Fashions presented by Wickman's Garden Village & Jellybeans For tickets and sponsorship information, contact Angela Moyle or Kris Evans at amoyle@, 417-268-3090 kevans@, 417-864-5500

Thank you to our sponsors:

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