Wishing you and your family a Christmas filled with peace, joy, and the quiet blessings that matter most. May this season remind us of the goodness around us and the hope we carry into a new year. Thank you for letting KHT be a part of your success.
I just love the holidays and holiday traditions. For me, they never get tired – all the fun, music, nostalgia, and decorations just add to the holidays. So, after taking down the Halloween decorations and putting away the Thanksgiving decorations, it’s now time to be sure we decorate for Christmas in my house. Jackie does a wonderful job, mixing in things we’ve inherited from the family with things of our own, to one day pass along to the kids and grandkids. And one of my favorites is to hang some mistletoe in the doorway, with hopes of stealing a kiss here or there again and again from Jackie! I wanted to learn more about where mistletoe comes from, and the history behind it, and of course, I turned to the internet. I hope you enjoy the info and make mistletoe a tradition in your home, too. ENJOY!
For those of you who are “in the market”, you know how fun it’s been to be on the right side of investment picks. As the tech industries continue to amaze us, I noticed that on this day in 1980, Apple Computer went public at $22 a share, raising more than $100 million in what was, at the time, the largest IPO since Ford Motor Company in 1956. The initial investors had no idea what was to come, but on “day one,” they instantly created hundreds of millionaires and marked the beginning of one of the most remarkable corporate journeys in modern history (split-adjusted price was about .10/share – worth about $60K today – WOW!) Researching and reading about the company, like many entrepreneur journeys, Apple’s rise was never a straight climb. Behind the amazing breakthrough products lies a story of perseverance through failure, reinvention in the face of near collapse, and an unyielding drive to create something better… not just for consumers, but for the world. It wasn’t just money or luck that got them going and growing – it was ingenuity. Founder Steve Jobs saw potential where others saw a toy, and Steve Wozniak was simply a genius, engineering functionality out of chaos. I thought it would be fun to go back in history and see the “little things” that happened during the first 10 years as they were forming the company. Here’s what I pulled together from the early days. I left many of the “links” for you to dive deeper. ENJOY!
Now that we’re past Thanksgiving (I’m still feeling thankful AND stuffed!), it’s easy to sense the excitement and the pressure building over the next few weeks. Talking with Jackie, and looking at my work calendar through the end of the year, I’m thinking “there’s so much to do, so many people to see, and so many little details to manage”. It’s that holiday crunch time we all slide into – trying to get everything done and wanting to make everything special for the people (and customers) we love. Experts say this can be a tough time of year, which can leave us feeling more exhausted than joyful. If that sounds familiar, you’re not alone. The good news is, with a few intentional choices, we can get our work done and chores completed while bringing more peace and joy back into the season (and actually enjoy it, too). Here’s a bit about stress, and some really great tips on how to find time to relax a bit and reduce the pressure. Remember, stress can sometimes be a state of mind (I’ve started some of these already and feel better!) RELAX and Enjoy!
When the air turns crisp and the lights start twinkling around town, it’s a sign that the holidays are a comin’. That means rich soups, yummy apps, and mouth-watering pies and other desserts. And for beer lovers, that includes the long-awaited return of Christmas Ale. Spicy, malty, and just a little bit magical, these winter brews have become as much a holiday tradition as gingerbread or mistletoe. While spicy beverages have been around for centuries, there’s something special about Christmas Ale, especially from our neighbors and friends at Great Lakes Brewery here in beautiful Cleveland. But where did they come from, and why do they hold such a special place in our hearts (and pint glasses)? Let’s pour (get it?) into the history, the modern trends, and some top picks for your own Christmas cheer. Sip and Enjoy!
As we get closer to the holidays, and the fun gift giving, (I love giving gifts, and don’t mind receiving as well!!), I’m always on the prowl for new family games. (If you have any suggestions, please email me @ skowalski@khtheat.com). Hitting the “game” aisle, it’s not uncommon to see so many of the classics – Stratego, Clue, Chutes and Ladders, Uno, Trouble, and of course, Monopoly. For me, Monopoly never gets old – it’s easy to play, fun to strategize a plan, and usually winds up with one person winning most of the money. The grandkids are coming of age to play, and I can’t wait to take their $$- (HA!) After a 10-year hiatus, McDonald’s just brought back their fast-food Monopoly game – of course, with new twists, online registration, instant wins, posts, scans, Facebook chatter, and more. I’ve always associated Monopoly with The Parker Brothers, who went on to really dominate games – they actually offer over 1800 different games. Doing research, I found out the real originator of the Monopoly game was Elizabeth “Lizzie” Magie, who designed her original board game as a critique, not a tribute, to capitalism. Quite a character, she held some contemporary views in her time, but her gaming story is lost a bit to history. I went digging a bit and found the story behind the game. Enjoy!
One of the most fun, a bit quirky, but oh so good snacks out there are – pickles. Crispy, crunchy, tangy, salty, dilly, yummy, and sometimes sweet, whole, spears, or chips, pickles are one of those foods most of us love… (you either can’t get enough of them… or you politely slide them off your sandwich dish onto someone else’s plate). Now of course I have multiple “favorites” Bread and Butter Pickles – both regular and zesty which my grandson calls Grandpa’s SPICY pickles and those good old fashioned barrel pickles! But love them or not, pickles have been around for thousands of years, and today, November 14th, we can celebrate them in all their briny glory on National Pickle Day. Add a spear to a dog, and its heaven (plus tangy pickled relish). Small delights on a relish tray – I’m in. And getting one of those big guys out of a pickle barrel is wonderful. And how they get those pickles into a jar amazes me (talk about a PIA (pain in the @%$) Job!). To learn more about pickles, and NPDay I went “crunching” online to find some fun facts and trivia I think you’ll enjoy. And be sure, when you get home today, reach in the back of the fridge, open a jar of your favorites, and snack away. Enjoy! Read more
There are so many things that we take for granted that just seem to go nicely together – coffee and cream, peanut butter and jelly, bacon and eggs, chips and dips, cheese and crackers, and of course, salt and pepper. Watching Jackie cook in the kitchen, I noticed how she measured some ingredients, but also added a “dash” of salt and pepper to the recipe. It got me wondering where the use of S&P came from. Being a salt-bath champion at KHT, I’ve come to know just how amazing salt baths are for our most trusted and critical products. The use of molten salt as a heating and quenching medium for steels, developed in England at the turn of the 20th century, is awesome. Now I could go on for hours – even days – telling you all of the ways that salt bath heat treating is incredible – wonderful! Just give me a call. If you’d like to know more about salt baths and heat treating, we are here to help. Ironically, one of the main chemical components in salt bath heat treating is Sodium Chloride (Common table salt!) Here’s some history about salt and pepper. Enjoy!
Today marks one of my favorite celebrations of the year – Halloween. I have so many great memories as a kid – picking out my costumes, decorating the house, running the neighborhood with my siblings and buddies, making sure the neighbors 10 doors down could hear us yelling “Trick or Treat”, sorting candy on the living room floor, and enjoying the treats for weeks to come (all-time favorite candy: Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups, Snickers, 100 Grand Bar and of course Peanut M & M’s!!) Halloween may look like candy, costumes, decorations and carved pumpkins, but I found out its roots stretch back more than 2,000 years to the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain (SOW-in). I always love digging for new information!!!! This was no lighthearted holiday: while it marked the end of harvest and the beginning of winter, the night had deeper meanings – when the veil between the living and the dead was at its thinnest. Over time, Samhain’s symbols and superstitions evolved through Christian influence, folklore, and immigration – shaping the traditions and imagery we know today. I decided to dig in and really learn about the day, and its heritage (thanks, Library of Congress!!) Here’s just some of what I found out. ENJOY!
Here at KHT, we love our motto (thanks, Dad!). It’s a call, and a promise, to all of our customers, to send us those pesky (I really like the word pesky!!) thermal processing jobs that keep you up at night, so we can “do our thing” providing amazing solutions, production, and delivery. Driving this summer, I noticed some of the state flags and mottos. (Make time to watch the TED Talk below about flag design featuring Roman Mars of 99% Invisible podcast – it’s awesome, and the ending will have you howling!). Here in Ohio, our motto – “With God, All Things Are Possible”– reflects a faith-centric vision of perseverance and hope that resonates deeply with many Ohioans. But we’re not alone, and that nearly half of U.S. state mottos are in Latin, chosen by early leaders to give their words a sense of permanence and prestige. From Kansas’ bold “Ad Astra per Aspera” (“To the Stars Through Difficulties”) to Missouri’s “Salus Populi Suprema Lex Esto” (“The Welfare of the People Shall Be the Supreme Law”), these phrases carry so much history and meaning. Others, like Florida’s “In God We Trust” and South Dakota’s “Under God, the People Rule,” share Ohio’s faith-based tone, while mottos like New Hampshire’s “Live Free or Die” and California’s triumphant “Eureka!” are simply great. Together, they are a fascinating portrait of America’s values, dreams, and identity, and paint a fascinating portrait of our country. I hope you find some of these as interesting and uplifting as I did (honestly, some I think are clunkers), but nonetheless, thought provoking (in full openness – I don’t like Chicago’s flag!) I tried to sort them by theme and included the Latin (sometimes it sounds better than the translation) and English (and four “other” languages), and starred some of my favorites. Enjoy!
