Rose Awards, Volume 3

I feel like handing out a few roses today...

"Kid in a Candy Store" Award: I don't like Vegas for the amazing amount of porn and the speedy, scroungy, up-for-three-days vibe you get there. But I do like Vegas for the excitement, over-the-top architecture and it one of the coolest stores any girl could ever want to enter... Sephora. I know there are Sephoras elsewhere -- but Vegas' is the only one I've ever visited. Any conceivable beauty bonbon you might ever want or need is arrayed behind the big glass doors. Think of it as a plastic ball pit for grown up women.

"Service with a Smile" Award: To the nice guy at Minsky's take out counter who smiled lots and looked me in the eyes today when I ordered a coupla slices to go. When he said, "Have a good afternoon," I believe he meant it.

"Not the Soup Nazi" Award: Clinton's Deli, also known in these parts as "Up the Hill". Every day, he works alone in his clean and thrifty little shop on the corner of 10th & Jefferson in KC making sandwiches and dishing up the special of the day, mostly for the engineers at HNTB. He has a long line, a friendly smile, reasonable prices and killer chicken salad on marble rye.

"Pay It Forward" Award: Paydata does my company's payroll. This week they took up a collection for the employees in our division in Pensacola, FL. They donated, out of their own pockets, $1,000 to help out with the aftermath of hurricane Ivan. 'Nough said.

"Maybe I was Wrong" Award: Kudos to the organizers of the downtown arena project in KC. Kay Barnes is doing her mightiest to leave a Carol Marinovich style legacy for KCMO. She might just pull it off. Today I saw major ground work being done in 3 locations downtown... Maybe, just maybe downtown KC might end up being fun, safe and functional at long last.