The Repeat Champions

I don't understand why the Phillies are considered the underdog in the World Series. The Phillies won the World Series last year against Tampa Bay, and now they have a 1-0 lead on the New York Yankees. Can anyone make sense of this?

Cliff Lee was fantastic in game 1, but the argument is being made that the rest of the Phillies pitching staff is not good enough to keep with the Yankees' stacked lineup. If this is the case then you need to look at the Yankees' pitching staff. C.C. Sabathia was the best pitcher on the Yankees and he got rocked by the Phillies lineup.

If game 1 is any indication of what is to come for the rest of the series then I will have to say the Phillies are on their way to winning a second consecutive World Series Championship.

Domino's: SC Drive

Domino’s Pizza has existed since the 1960s, and is still going strong today. The taste of the pizza from the store is not possible without the people who hand toss the dough, throw on the toppings, pull the pizza from the oven and make the deliveries. This is the story of the employees of Domino’s Pizza: Santa Clara.

Delivery expert Alyssa Carter answers the phone and inputs the customer’s order into the computer system. The process of bringing pizza to homes across the country begins at the phones. The Santa Clara store has a total of six phone lines.

Toppings and dough are kept in the refrigerated walk-in. The temperature inside the walk-in is kept between 35 and 40 degrees. When food is taken out of the walk-in to be stored under the make-line an expiration label is placed on the container to eliminate the use of expired food.

Assistant Manager Derrick Patterson slaps the dough in the corn meal to be used for the pizza. Several different techniques are used among the employees for hand tossed pizzas, but the concept is universal. Hand tossed pizzas add to the authenticity of Domino’s Pizza.

Ryan Rasmussen, general manager of the Santa Clara Domino’s Pizza places the toppings on the pizza at the make-line. Charts are placed above the make-line to ensure the correct amount of toppings is placed on the pizzas. The temperatures on the make-line are also kept cold to keep the toppings as fresh as possible.

Customer Service Representative Jenecee Powell washes the dishes. After toppings are used the empty containers go to the sink to be washed. After the dishes are washed they sit in sanitizer in order to be reused as soon as possible.

Rasmussen takes the pizza out of the oven six minutes, 37 seconds later. Pizzas are cooked at 450 degrees during that time span. After the pizza is taken from the oven it is cut into slices and boxed. The finished product in the box is placed under a heat lamp.

Delivery expert John Northcutt takes the finished products and places them in the Heat Wave bags. Heat plates are embedded in the bags to keep the pizzas hot while en route to the customer’s home. Parmesan packets, red pepper packets, napkins and advertisements are located at the loading station to be put in the Heat Wave bags with the order.

Carter demonstrates use of the touch screen. Drivers are required to sign out delivery orders to their names in order to keep track of how much money they should have at the end of the day. All employees also use the touch screen to clock in and out.

Delivery expert Joe Ankiewicz exits the store with his delivery order in hand. The goal for each driver is to be out the door within 15 minutes of when an order is called in. Drivers know how fast they are out the door by reading the touch screen.

Ankiewicz drives out of the parking lot toward his delivery location. The Domino’s Pizza goal of 30 minutes is not a guarantee. Safety is the No. 1 priority.

Where the photo kiosks are

I have no idea why printers have to be so complicated. Living in a digital world we are forced to use digital cameras. This means we must rely on our own printers to obtain the pictures we take. Yes, I could go down to Wal-Mart and use the machines available to print out pictures, but as I said this is the digital world. Why would I pay for pictures when I can print them from home?

The dilemma: with the use of sophisticated Hammermill gloss paper we have to get more sophisticated printers. Nothing in life ever comes free. I suppose it's time to loosen up the purse strings and use the Kodak photo kiosks or invest in a new printer.