Dan Waisner State Farm Insurance Agent Springfield, Missouri

717 W Battlefield Street    Springfield, MO 65807      (417) 887-6990

(the sloping entrance ramp starts on the right behind the stone wall)

Office Hours:  

Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday 8:00am to 5:00pm   Tuesday 8:00am to 7:00pm

The Waisner Agency is on the north side of Battlefield Road,  a short ways west of Campbell Avenue and a few blocks east of Kansas Expressway.

A center turn lane on Battlefield Street eases the entering or departing from the office.

A handy ramp allows you to bypass the steps if you are in a wheelchair or akin to me… legs and feet that do not function as well as in my youth when I was an Adonis-like figure, profoundly handsome and a delight for the lasses of the land.

Nowadays I function much better as a door stop but the folks at Waisner Agency treat this Old Coot well.

And the coffee is good and they have a handy cup to use and it’s… FREE!!!!

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There’s one of those fancy store-bought signs out by the street to assist you in finding the office.

Hey!!!  I can make a clickable link to the Web site listed on the sign. That is just so nifty!!!  It’s the bee’s knees!!!

Dan Waisner Insurance Agency

I took most of the pictures on this blog entry using the wondrous digital camera thing.

Even a klutz such as I can take a decent picture then use free software found on the Web to improve the picture, if needed.

Cropping and brightening and a bunch of other things that can be done.

Using the built-in flash I even took some decent pics inside the office.

An Old Coot such as I delights in comfortable seating and inside the Jim Unit’s office we can see two padded comfortable chairs calling out for you to sit upon:

Oh… the “Jim Unit.”  That’s one of my terms used for younger folks who have earned my respect. The Jim Unit is Mr. Jim Curl who is the insurance professional I most often interact with at this agency.

We first conducted business in 2008 when I emigrated from Nebraska and, by default, immigrated to Missouri.  I interacted with a few of the local State Farm agencies looking for the ONE to become involved with and selected the one Mr. Curl was working at.

He excelled in customer interaction and service/product knowledge areas. The other agents in the Waisner agency are also very nice and pleasant to interact with so I have enjoyed doing business with the Jim Unit along with a minor amount of good-natured harassment this Old Coot tosses at others…but saved when there was a lull in the office action.

Mr. Curl is all-business and will not make a customer wait because some long-winded Old Coot such as I is having his fun. I gotta’ respect the young feller’ for that!!!

So, you may be wondering who the Jim “Unit” Curl entity is. If you have young children present you may want to cover their eyes because……

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Eeeeeeeeeek!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yes. That is the fellow.  The Jim Unit.  However, he is a rather husky fellow reminiscent of a football lineman so I am always well-behaved!!!

Not that Mr. Curl is malevolent. Nope. I would want him on my side if any BIG guys picked on my aged, withered body.

The boss is in the other room. As is typical he named the State Farm Agency he owns and operates using his own name.

That makes sense to me.

Hey, look!!!!  It’s the boss!!!!

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There he is… Mr. Dan Waisner. He is a great guy to talk with, also. He, too, looks akin to a front line football player. At least you can feel safe here with all these BIG husky guys to keep the peace!!!!

Of course… I have never heard of a non-peaceful insurance office but I AM trying to make this blog entry interesting!!

Look!!! The entire  crew assembled for the next picture!!!

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I mentioned my elderliness previously and one of the many negative impacts has been my memory. If I do not write something down it is soon forgotten. If the BIG sign outside didn’t mention the owner’s name I would have likely forgotten his name.  Acckkkk!!!!

And there is the friendly lass known as Samantha!!!!  She operates the front desk and performs many tasks… a handy person to have around.

 

Poking around the office I found a surprise out back…

FOOD!!!!!

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Tomatoes and zucchini. healthy tasty vittles ’round these here parts, y’all.

And inside I saw some more vittles. Not as healthy but still yummy!!!

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No wonder the crew was smiling in their picture… thay had yummy stuff waiting for them in the break room!!!

Headed back to Jim Curl’s office and found the lad busy perusing papers:

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Here he is doing one of those “multi-tasking” things these younguns’ today are so good at.

Heck, I am lucky if I don’t leave the house and lock the door with my keys still inside!!!

One thing I will never do, however, is being late for dinner. Especially if someone else bought and prepared the vittles.

Well, it’s time to go. I hope you enjoyed this visit to the Waisner State Farm Agency.

I heartily recommend these folks based upon personal experience.

I did not know any of these folks until I wandered in the door awhile back and liked what I saw and experienced so transferred my State Farm account here after the last move I made.

There were other agencies a little closer to my shanty but the couple of minutes of extra driving is a small price to pay for the outstanding service I have received at the Dan Waisner Agency.

If you drop in tell ‘em the Disgruntled Old Coot sent you!!!!

For the annuity-loving folks

USA Buffet Springfield Missouri

USA Buffet

 

300 East Battlefield Springfield, MO 65807

883-8800

 

South side of Battlefield Road across from the Big Lots!, Food-4-Less, and CiCi Pizza stores.

 

Taking over the location one occupied by the Foo Kee Chinese buffet American Buffet is a marvelous addition to Springfield dining.

 

The two serving tables offer a multitude of choices.

 

Standard American fare such as mashed potatoes, fried chicken, salisbury steak and many more choices.

 

Then there is the small USA-style “Mexican” food offerings that allow you to create your own dishes of that food style; tacos, taco salads, etc. The burritos looked really yummy but with so many choices I will have to wait for the next visit to try the Mexican food.

 

Making this buffet unique is that along with American and Mexican-type foods there is also a bounty of Chinese food offerings!!!

 

Every item from the Chinese section tasted delicious to me. Yummy!!!!

 

All the standard Chinese offerings are present. I especially enjoyed the crab Rangoon that used minimal fried dough surrounding the creamy. tasty center. No BIG “wings” spreading out from the gooey center with these yummy fellows!!! A fine way to obtain maximum taste while reducing calorie content.

 

There is also a sushi section and a Mongolian barbeque area that appear to be typical in their offerings but I was so busy eating the delicious offerings at the main buffet I did not try those offerings.

 

While eating all the ingredients were tasty and appear to be of high quality.

 

No gristle in the chicken nor hard bits of bone in the salisbury steak and the fried chicken was large and meaty and fried excellently. The thin breading had just the right amount of “crunch” for me and seasoned well… enough to taste but not overpower the meat.

 

The fish was lightly breaded and tasted good. My memory is far from perfect but I believe there was also non-breaded fish offered; my favored way since the calories from breading are avoided. I always look at the fish offerings since cheaply-bought fish usually shows that it is the “cheap stuff” by the off-colors upon it. If I had seen that at American Buffet I would have remembered that!!!

 

There are several vegetable and soup offerings along with a small desert area I did not sample. I was too full from the yummy meats, mashed potatoes, Chinese goodies and other plate-filling gustatory delights.

 

I will make another trip and try to get some pictures and comment about other aspects of this new-to-Springfield non-chain, locally owned purveyor of good things to eat!!!

Midwest Auto Nixa Missouri

(Updated June 29, 2012)

I was taught to care for my possessions. And the more expensive they are to obtain it makes sense to make those possessions last as long as possible.

Vehicles; cars, trucks, vans, etc. are costly to us common folks. The rich can afford to replace a vehicle with little thought.

I have to make my “rides” last as long as I can.

Here is the pride of my personal fleet of one vehicle; my 2004 Chevy Silverado.

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The only vehicle I have purchased new. I need to make it last ten or more years for various reasons. Twenty years would be best. Economics and common-sense requires me to make the truck last as long as possible.

One way to do that is by proper maintenance. Keep the oil changed when needed. Replace various fluids when required. Mostly simple things but there IS a right way to perform those tasks.

I used to be able to do the basic stuff myself but as I age it becomes more physically difficult to do and my present living quarters, my beloved shanty, lacks a garage or a concrete pad that would allow access to that needed to make those efforts possible.

So, with decades of experience under my belt, who do I trust to perform that needed maintenance?

Not just anybody!!! My decades of life experience has taught me much about the auto repair and maintenance industry and what constitutes a good shop.

Midwest Auto has proven to me, repeatedly, that not only do the folks there know what they are doing they DO IT!!!

I trust them with my truck.

Midwest Auto does all my maintenance and when repairs are needed they also perform those tasks.

Repeated experiences with Midwest Auto has proven to me that they are knowledgeable and want to ensure my truck is kept on the road and do so reliably and honestly.

For that reason I decided that Midwest Auto deserves recognition; a reward for regularly and constantly providing the service and customer satisfaction ALL such firms should provide.

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Midwest Auto is not a big shop. Maybe that helps account for the quality of their service. They are not overwhelmed by sheer numbers of customers and can provide real service instead of rushing just another customer order number through the system.

When I asked permission to take some pictures of the one place I trust my truck the owner and employees agreed. For various reasons I decided to leave out names; you can learn that yourself if you visit the one place I trust my truck with!!!

 

Above is the resident GMC vehicle expert whose vast knowledge of GMC vehicles is just what I need for my Chevy pick-up.

The most recent maintenance session led to flushing the brake fluid and replacing it with synthetic fluid.

I was shown the test instrument that indicated water contamination at a high level. Replacing the brake fluid now likely prevented a much more costly repair later and ensured my ability to stop when my foot presses down on the stop pedal.

 

Of course the technicians are busy but they do have the time to explain to their customers what needs done and why. No “sneakiness” at Midwest Auto. They are upfront with all they do. I typically wait in the customer waiting area and read. Unlike other facilities in the past I feel no need to hover close to my truck, watching to ensure nothing is being done to make the maintenance or repair more costly or that a “needed repair” was not actually created so as to increase revenue! That does happen in SOME places but I have seen NO evidence in ANY way of that ever happening at Midwest Auto.

That is one of many reasons I recommend to others to use the services of Midwest Auto.

Oh, for the record, I have no financial interests with Midwest Auto. I am not a personal friend with any of the employees nor the owner. I am friendly with all the folks there but our interactions are at the firm only and those are professional-interactions that are worker and/or owner/customer based.

 

 

 

 

 

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Above is a picture of a “project car” one of the technicians is working on.

On my most recent visit for maintenance (May 7, 2012) I was shown the new V8 engine inside.

It started immediately and the power of the all-aluminum engine could be felt as much as heard.

I will make a return trip in the near future to get some pictures of the engine and the interior.

I have noticed in the past that shops with the most talented technicians often have a nearby vehicle that is a personal project of one of the employees.

My last maintenance visit included viewing some pictures of a 1963 Chevy Impala restored by one of the technicians. It was a beauty receiving a super-high score by judges at a car show.

The shop is obviously a work-place but not slovenly or unkempt as some I have seen.

Here he is; the owner/manager of Midwest Auto.

He coordinates activities, ensures the needed parts, when actually needed, are ordered and all the other tasks that running a successful business requires.

He is often found out in the shop. I have noticed excellent communication between the technicians and the “captain of the ship”. That surely helps ensure the continued quality work of the entire firm.

 

 

 

 

And here’s my “farewell” picture as I return to my well-maintained truck which I readily entrust to Midwest Auto.

If you live in the Springfield/Nixa/Ozark area or nearby environs I highly recommend Midwest Auto.

They are located at the north-east corner of the Tracker Road/Hwy 160 interchange.

Hwy US 160 is also known as Missouri route 13 and, locally, as Massey Blvd.

How many names does one road need?

535 West Tracker Road, Nixa, Missouri.

(417) 725-1010

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(Begin Update)

Friday morning June 29, 2012. Another hot day atop the Ozark Plateau.

I jumped into the 2004 Chevy Silverado and headed for the grocery store to buy donuts.

Yummy donuts of many different shapes and topping and flavors.

A box of 12 was quickly reduced to a box of 11 as I munched on one while headed for Midwest Auto in Nixa, Missouri.

The truck did not need repair or maintained. Nope.

It was simply time to show some appreciation to the often under-appreciate vital people in the USA; the folks that keep the USA running.

Technicians of all types are critical to keeping our modern USA operating on a daily basis.

Folks who work on cars and trucks of many types and sizes. Aircraft mechanics and the folks who work on those massive locomotives.

Ships and appliances and electricians wiring a house.

A HUGE number of trades with working folks whose efforts make life better for all of us.

I believe more folks should drop by a job site where technicians do their job and often with little to no thanks.

I hereby proclaim June 29, 2012 as……..

Donuts for the Dudes Day

While at Midwest Auto I took some more pictures of the ongoing project. Keep scrolling for the latest about the official project car.

Next visit I will take a pen and paper and get the details such as model year, engine specs, etc.

My aging withered brain does not remember stuff like it used to.

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As the awesome project advances more pictures will be posted here.