This ad was in my local paper, with 5 local Domino’s stores looking for shift and assistant managers for $12K-$18K/yr “salary”.

Now, I know that I’m spoiled in how much I make. I spent my fair share at the bottom of the rung of the employment ladder, washing dishes, making tacos, loading turkeys at 3:00am and a host of other jobs. But, are things really that bad where an assistant manager gets minimum wage?

Most annual salaries are calculated at 2000 hours per year, which is 40 hours a week for the year, minus 2 weeks for a few days off and holidays. At 2000 hours, MN minimum wage (for large employers, which the national pizza chain should qualify) is $6.15 an hour which is $12,300/yr.

The real kicker is that “salary” usually means you’re an “exempt” employee, which means that you are exempt from overtime pay. That means that the person who lands one of these jobs may find themselves putting in 50-60 hours a week instead of 40, which turns the already low $6/hr into something more like $4.80 or $4.00/hr instead.

Is it just Domino’s or are other places paying this little too? Is it possible you could make more delivering for Domino’s than for being in charge of the place?

I think one of the most facinating instances of hyper-local community is the “$crazy_local_reference Days” celebration. Pretty much every single town, city, suburb and locale in Minnesota has one of these: Tater Daze, Earle Brown Days, Rasberry Days, etc. They are often rooted in how a community used to make money, who founded it, some major event in the past or an overabundance of a particular crop.

Regardless of the origin, these are great little celebrations that include picnics, parades, craft shows, fireworks and otherwise give people an excuse to get out and meet their neighbors.

I attended the Brooklyn Center Earle Brown Days parade a few days ago (runs 3 blocks from my house) and was reminded of these things often get overlooked, but are worth checking out, particularly if you’re new to your current location.

Every time I switch up my workplace, I need to reestablish all of my patterns for errands. Things like grocery store trips after work, gas stations for filling up, all of the daily and weekly ritual stuff, etc. all change based on where I’m now working. One of those things is, of course, getting a haircut.

I’ve been at my new job for over a month now, making it high time I got a haircut. I’ve been trying different ways to and from work and settled this week on taking Silver Lake Rd north to 694 through New Brighton. On that route, I noticed a small barber shop and figured I’d stop in for a haircut a couple of days ago.

I get a pretty basic haircut and prefer barbershops to most salons. It’s probably because they tend to have much more of a male-based clientele, which makes me more comfortable. They also tend to be cheaper, which makes it more likely I’ll actually go in on a regular schedule.

Anyway, the point is that I went in, had a great haircut (Rick knows what he’s doing) and went to the counter to pay. As I looked at the cash register, I had that sinking feeling that comes from noticing that there’s no credit card machine anywhere to be seen.

I glanced at the door, hoping to see the little MasterCard and Visa logo stickers. No luck.

I sheepishly asked if they took cards and was told only check or cash.

Unfortunately, the haircut was $15 (and I tip) and I only had $11 in cash on me. I’m pretty much a debit and card guy and haven’t had much problem in the last couple of years.

I offered to leave my car/wallet and walk to an ATM to pay and they told me not to worry about it. Just come back with the money and we’d settle up later.

I asked if he was sure, because I needed to be somewhere and if I went to find an ATM without a $2 fee, I probably wouldn’t be back until the next day. He said that was fine and I drove off.

I dropped in yesterday (right on time) and paid the man and told him he’s got a customer as long as I’m in the area.

I wish businesses did more of this and less of the coupon stuff. When you cut the regular customers a break, you get back loyalty (from someone who was willing to pay full price). When you bribe them into coming in, you get a long line of cheapskates who will switch when the next coupon comes in.

At any rate, if you’re looking for a good haircut from a great place, especially if you like your barbers to ride bright yellow motorcycles, you need to drop in to Silver Lake Barber Stylists on Silver Lake Road. Give Rick a call at 651-638-9833.

What intrigues me about the situation isn’t any sort of political intrigue (I don’t care one way or the other). Rather, it’s how we all live with assumptions about the definition of “living” somewhere, yet most of those definitions don’t actually work if you push them. This became clear to me in college when, for a summer, I stored my stuff at a friend’s apartment. I only spent one night there, but the landlord pitched a fit because I was “living” there without applying to do so and signing a lease.

I’m curious what everyone’s definitions of “living” somewhere actually are. Does sleeping there do it, getting your mail there, keeping your stuff there?

If someone spends 9 months out of the year out of town, is the house they return to still their “home”?
If someone has an apartment in the city during the week and a house in Brainerd on the weekend, both outfit for day-to-day life, which is their residence?

In most cases, I suppose, we declare this ourselves by where we register our driver’s license, etc., but there are plenty of ambiguous situations just like the one in the news that really make me question what set of standards we’re using.

If this is the first time you’ve ever heard this part of St. Paul’s past, you may want to look into it. It might make you rethink the concept of “Minnesota Nice”. I’ve never gotten around to taking it myself (maybe this will prompt me to remedy that situation), but the Wabasha Street Caves have a Gangster Tour that shows you the places this stuff happened. I’ve taken tours like this in other cities and they’ve always proven interesting.

We’re finally moving along despite Owatonna’s own ambassador of “everyone in their own car” transportation policy.

And, if anyone knows where I can get decent Chinese in the Brooklyn Center/Fridley, Brooklyn Park, Crystal, etc. area, let me know. I want dishes where you can actually taste the difference between beef and pork, where there isn’t an oil slick on top of 25 different red sauces that all taste the same, where vanilla pudding from a can isn’t considered “dessert”, where MSG and cornstarch don’t outweight the meat, vegetables and rice, please let me know. We used to really enjoy Szechuan Star in Edina and Fotune House in Roseville, but aren’t particularly close to either any more.

I’m actually personally participating this year and putting my novel online as I go at Wynia.org. My book is set in Minnesota (though I’ll be fictionalizing some of the towns to make the story work) and is sort of a modern thriller.

“Tim Penny’s classic 60s-80s rock and roll band, Led Penny, will be playing Saturday night, tomorrow, November 5, at the Noose, 1179 7th Street East in St Paul, from 8:30 until close, and there is NO cover charge.”