Page 8 — THE PORTLAND DAILY SUN, Wednesday, August 10, 2011
––––––––––––
WHAT’S IN A NAME? –––––––––––––
Urban farm stand
Twin Electric’s ‘Hands-On Dad’ believes in helping kids BY NATALIE LADD THE PORTLAND DAILY SUN
LOCATION: 32 Garfield St., Westbrook CONTACT: Randy MacWhinney, 318-8808, twinelectric@aol.com 24-Hour Service, Licensed Master Electrician
When Randy MacWhinnie of Westbrook struck out on his own to start his electrical business in 2004, his twin sons were turning one. Randy credits his wife, Laurie, for coming up with the name of the budding business, and Twin Electric became the logical choice. The kids have grown fast and the business has, too. Originally from Madawaska, MacWhinnie packed up his bags the day after receiving his associate's degree and moved to Southern Maine where a job was waiting. After 14 years of working for someone else, MacWhinney says, "It was time to go out on my own and now I have one experienced full-time guy and a parttime kid who's in his second year at SMCC. He has a great attitude and like I did up at Northern Maine Technical Institute, he's learning the trade in school. But I can train him to do things my way and there will probably be a job for him when he gets out. We're busy, but the kind of work we're doing has changed with the slow down in new construction, especially those big million dollar houses. When I first started the company, we did eight to ten of them a year, now we don't do as many. Actually, we're traveling to do a big one in Belgrade, but a lot of the work has shifted to commercial stuff, service upgrades and remodels. People are fixing up what they've got and I don't blame them one bit. We go in and help them by rewiring and trouble shooting." "Hands-On Dad" is MacWhinney's other job title and the Twin Electric owner coaches Little League, and sponsors mostly, "kid related stuff" in Westbrook as he strongly believes, "Sports helps keep kids off the streets and out of trouble." Hands-On Dad duties are about to increase as Laurie, who MacWhinney says, "Holds it all together by keeping the business' books and making sense of notes I give her on post-its and scraps of cardboard", is pregnant with their third child. The couple is pleased the expansion plans include adding a girl to brighten up the home front. Leaning back in a maroon logoed shirt, MacWhinney modestly but proudly says, "I'm grateful we're busy year round and I'd say my rates are low-to-competitive. We provide fast, quality service and we're one of just a few 24-hour service companies in the area." Not surprisingly, he adds, "Big jobs are nice but really nothing is too small."
Cultivating Community staffs a farm stand in front of Local 188 every Thursday, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. The Portland Farmers’ Market Association in partnership with the city and Cultivating Community has developed Market Money, which enables participating farmers to accept Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) funds, better known as food stamps. The group’s farm stands run through the fall. For details, visit www.cultivatingcommunity.org. (DAVID CARKHUFF PHOTO)
–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– RESTAURANT COLUMN ––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
Not so fast food: Menu ordering procrastination afflicts writer My sympathies and sincere apologies are extended to those who dine out with me on a regular basis. It isn’t necessary to mention my usual cast of characters by name. They know who they are and they know why I’m apologizing. They know it isn’t just because I have to sit with my back to the dining room because I am unable to relax while watching the operation, or scouting the reactions of other diners, or eagle-eyeing the service staff performing their duties. Yes, those of you who know and love me know I am apologizing because waiting for me to decide what to order off any menu, regardless of how many times I’ve been to a particular restaurant, is sure to take longer than any made-to-order specialty I may end up with. Rest assured, I have tried to order spontaneously when in a hurry to make a play or concert or when I feel pressured by the fact that everyone else closed their menus ten minutes prior. No matter how patient a kindredspirited server is, I always have to ask for, “just another moment please ...” while I study the menu as if it held the cryptic code to
Natalie Ladd ––––– What It’s Like peace in the Middle East. The decision making problem rests in the fact that I want to try new things, taste as many different foods/flavors/combinations as possible and aim not to order anything “simply prepared” that I might be able to make almost as well at home. Then I get hung up on elaborate descriptions, what wine to drink with a choice, priceto-perceived values, what the guy at the next table is eating, how hungry I really am, if anyone else at my table ordered something I’m contemplating (Why order the same thing as my bff when she’ll give me a bite for sure?), how recently did I have a similar dish and a multitude of other factors that keep the food ordering process from being simple. As of late, though, the most important factors revolve around health, my participatory quest for
The decision making problem rests in the fact that I want to try new things, taste as many different foods/flavors/combinations as possible and aim not to order anything “simply prepared” that I might be able to make almost as well at home. buns of steel, and the fact that I want everything to taste amazing and satisfying without a bunch of bad fat or empty calories. After a bit of research, I find I’m not alone in my menu ordering procrastination and the types of choices we have influence the food decisions we make. The Journal of Consumer Research publishes a lot of interesting studies, many of which don’t have a lot to do with food, but one about calorie-counting in particular caught my attention. Researchers at the universities of Minnesota and Pennsylvania found that people confronted with too many food choices tend to underestimate the amount of see LADD page 9