Category: Romeo News

  • God of This City

    Here’s the video I sent out with our weekly email update. Seriously, if you aren’t a part of a local church and you are looking to connect somewhere… this Sunday is a great place to jump on board.

  • Heat Wave!

    It’s currently 43.3 degrees and rising at our house. According to the weather forecasts it’s going to stay this warm all day, with rain coming after lunch.

    It will be nice to see the roof and maybe some of the landscaping in the back yard. Let’s hope this warm up is the beginning of winter breaking here. I think we have had continuous snow on the ground since November. It’s time for a thaw.  

  • PodDrop on NBC 4 in Detroit

    busted ipodRomeo member Bob Carter and his ipod repair business, The Pod Drop, are appearing on NBC 4 tonight.

    Very cool stuff. I think he’ll be on in the morning as well.

    Update: I just watched the segment on the 11:00 PM news, awesome job. The hidden camera investigation “caught” Bob’s people fixing an ipod perfectly for $45 in about 20 minutes. That’s the kind of thing Bob wants his people getting caught doing all the time!

    Here’s the story on Channel 4’s website.

  • A true Michigan winter

    big snowLet’s just say the picture is an exaggeration. But we’ve had a very good Al Gore inspired winter in Michigan.

    It started in November and it has stayed until now. Non-stop cold, lots of snow, few warm weather breaks, and a lot of storms.

    I love winter. I love snow. I really like driving around after a fresh heavy snow. I love everything about it.

    For the last several years lifelong Michigan resident have told us, “These winters aren’t like we used to have.” Well, those same people are now saying, this is just like we used to have.

    I want to give perspective on the snow to people outside Romeo. We’ve got about 18 inches of snow in our yard and on the roof of our house.  Along our driveway, where we’ve piled up snow from shoveling it’s about chest high. (3-4 feet?) As the snow was melting today with the warm temperatures I was out digging out the downspouts out of the ice and snow. The main one was buried under 5-6 feet of slushy snow… I never found it.

    We love winter weather. And we’re happy to be surviving a “real Michigan winter” here in Romeo.

  • Videos, blue keys, and more…

    blue keysMy basement is a fan of Blue Man Group right now. Hanging from the rafters are tons of chunks of metal with a fresh coat of blue enamel on them… drip drying.

    I spent about half of my week making a video for Sunday’s service.

    We called in some favors this week to get some “wow” stuff.

    Jimmy has learned a brand new song just for this service. It’s amazing.

    Bob is completely jazzed about his message.

    Why all the fuss? This week’s service will be unmissable. Seriously, I know they are calling for ice and rain tonight… but you need to know this service will be worth ice skating, snowshoeing, or whatever it takes to get there.

    I’ve been at Romeo almost 5 years. And I’ve gotten fired up about some Sunday’s. This one ranks right up there. The word all week we’ve used is “Killer.” I think this service will be killer.

    If you’ve never joined us at Romeo: This is going to be the perfect jumping in point. If you come Sunday, you’ll leave knowing exactly who we are, what we’re all about, and why we do what we do.

  • .7 and falling on the frozen tundra of Romeo

    That’s the headline. At least in my house. I think the furnace will run all night long.

    It’s butt cold. It’s frozen nose hair cold. It’s punch your mama cold. It’s so cold the dog won’t go out to pee. Brrr.

  • Snow day

    Foot O SnowNo complaints today, we got dumped on last night. At our house we got about 10 inches or so. It was a weird snow too as it slushed all afternoon yesterday and then as it got colder the snow got more and more fluffy.

    Kristen loves to shovel, so she jumped out there early this morning. I begrudgingly pitched in and  picked up a shovel. It took us about an hour or so to do the driveway and sidewalks. It was an annoying snow to shovel since the slushy stuff on the bottom built up on the shovel and it got progressively heavier.

    When I came in my shoulders were shot. Kristen’s back is a little sore but she is obviously in much better marathon shape than I am.

    They canceled school last night about 10:15 PM. I totally agree on their call this time.  I tried to make it into the office this morning… but the snow plows had built up snow in the drive about halfway up my door… so there was no way the Camry was going to make it in.

    Note to self: Save up some money for a snow blower.

  • CSR: The Crazy Loon Cafe & Pie Company

    CSR GreatWith Pepper’s, the Doghouse, and Sempre` now out of business, I am looking for a new spot for my lunch rotation. This gives me the chance to revisit some old favorites that just didn’t make my rotation before.

    Location: 66850 VanDyke Washington Township This is one of those diamonds in the rough kind of things. The strip mail just south of 31 Mile, Woodland Plaza, may not look that appealing but there are a few good spots in there. (Juliet Chocolate being another)

    Description: If this were in a city I’d call it a whole in the wall. It’s a small store front that serves interesting, upscale-like sandwiches and pies. The decor has kind of a cabin feel to it with pictures of Loons and other water fowl. But overall, it is clean and simple… two things that typically don’t bode well for the long-term life of a small eatery in Romeo. They do their two main things very well, sandwiches and pie. Both are outstanding and you shouldn’t leave without trying both. Another bonus is that they make their own potato chips. They are awesome!
    Service: The thing that sticks out to me is that they aren’t afraid to be quirky. Every time I’ve been in there the folks who worked the counter gave me a hard time and left me with a smile. This is atypical for Romeo! For some reason most servers are kind of shy as if they are ashamed to work there or wouldn’t work at all if it weren’t for mom and dad breathing down their neck to get a job. This isn’t the case at the Crazy Loon. They are fun. If I had to find a negative, it’s actually a positive. Food is a little slow since they make every sandwich to order.

    Cost: I typically get a sandwich, drink, and a slice of pie and that costs about $8. In my book that’s cheap.

    Rating: A great sandwich for a low price with sassy service that leaves you smiling, full, and happy to go back to work? That’s great service to me.

  • Good news for Romeo

    The mood in town, economically, is horrid. Everyone makes it seem like we are in the great depression or something.

    Here’s a little reminder to the people of Romeo that things are still quite good. The Ford F-150, whose engine is made right here in town, is still the #1 selling vehicle in America.

    Story

    Sure, sales are down. And things may continue to slow down. But we’re still doing pretty good.