What's The Diff?

The things Quicken Loans team members care about and want to share with the world

Meghan Busch

The Right Time and Place to Help the Hungry

Wednesday, December 17, 2008

‘Tis the season for giving. And wouldn’t I like to give to every semi-frozen Charity Rep standing outside every toy/electronics/apparel/outdoor/home goods/dollar store in the metro area. Thing is… I never carry cash. You can jingalingaling that little bell all you want, but the chances of me finding even a dollar, hell, a quarter (I park in metered cities often) is slimmer than Heidi Klum’s abdomen. I WANT to donate, I WOULD donate… if you only accepted debit. Needless to say on a shopping spree of 3+ stores and no cash for handouts, the thick coagulation of guilt is… err… not so Christmas-spirited.

But yesterday I ran into the smartest group of caroling charity supporters and police officers I’ve ever encountered. With sloppy joes on the menu for last night’s dinner I had to stop and get some very necessary Manwich at Kroger at the corner of Livernois and Long Lake Roads in Troy (Michigan).

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Hillshire Farms and Guitar Hero spots cut through the clutter

Thursday, November 06, 2008

I’m a big TV watcher. Trueblood, Sons of Anarchy, South Park, Simpsons, Family Guy, Scrubs, American Dad, King of the Hill… And if you’re anything like me, you know how many commercial advertisements you get pummeled with in a single night.

So let’s say you’re a packaged goods company and you want to break through the clutter… How do you do it? Extraordinary creative. That’s how. I have two examples here of spots that are certainly the DIFF in both Ad Land and Consumer Ville. You know you have a good spot when you can watch and rewatch over and over again. These both qualify.

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Wedding Dress Shopping. Start and End at Kray Chic.

Friday, September 12, 2008

Quicken Loans DIFF blog recommends Kray Chic in Michigan for wedding dresses! by whatsthediffblog, on Flickr

I kind of dropped the ball on this one considering I went shopping for a wedding dress back in February… wait… March? I dunno. It was cold, dark and rainy. Anyway, I should’ve plugged my dress shop, Kray Chic in Novi, then.

Not only did they have an adorable set-up, lovely lighting and a wide selection… but the service was excellent. Laurie and Larry own the shop and they’re incredibly attentive and intuitive. Laurie went out of her way to make us feel welcome and comfortable.

She knew I was on a budget and gave us an great deal on the dress I fell in love with and she did everything to make this an affordable venture for us–even with her collection of high-end gowns.

They also carry an beautiful selection of pageant dresses and flower girl dresses. If you’re shopping for a wedding dress in Southeast Michigan, head to Kray Chic in Novi, MI. You can find their info at www.kraychic.com. Talk to Laurie. And tell her Meghan with the mermaid/ruffle dress sent you.

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Working Out. The difference between feeling fat and excellent.

Wednesday, September 03, 2008

Working out makes me feel skinny. Even on my fattest day, after my fattest meal, or after I’ve crammed 24 animal crackers into my mouth in a Baker’s Minute (that’s 13 seconds by my watch), somehow if I’ve worked out… I don’t feel so bad. Don’t get me wrong, there’s nothing fun about working out for me. I’m not one of those, "run six miles at 5am and feel revived!" kind of people. In fact, I have to recite the old Nike slogan repeatedly as I pack my gym bag. (Meghan, just do it. Seriously, just do it.) I wish I were kidding. But regardless of how much those stupid weight machines suck, with the crazy callous-causing rubber handles… by the time I leave I am feeling pretty comfortable in my clothes. And somehow there’s a difference between that and weight loss.

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Circuit City beats so-called Best Buy

Tuesday, September 02, 2008

So, we figured the best way to spend our holiday weekend was to spend $1500 on a new 42" LCD flat screen TV. Sure, we need other household items more like say, dishes, silverware, a new bed, sofas and a new kitchen table. But sometimes, even as grown-ups, "id" conquers "ego"… to the tune of a very expensive purchase.

We shopped around. At least we had the wherewithal to do that. Finding the best selection at Circuit City and Best Buy we compared the two places. Circuit City won. Why? Well, first, they had the lowest price on the model we were looking at (a Samsung that won Consumer Report’s "Best Buy"). On top of that lowest price, they saw we were hesitant so the salesperson took another 10% off the price of the TV.

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The Emergency List: When employees aren’t empowered…

Monday, August 25, 2008

I had to share this moment that I had with my apartment complex (Rochester Villas owned by Hartman Tyner) this weekend which is a textbook example of what happens when companies don’t empower their employees to make their own intelligent decisions. It drove me to better appreciate the "ISMS" that we live and work by at Quicken Loans: “It’s not about who is right, but what is right, do the right thing… down with corporate hierarchy…” etc.

So Saturday I head into my bathroom upstairs and notice there are 1,2,3,4,5… (eek!), EIGHT hornets just hanging out in there. Hairbrush, light fixture, dental floss… wherever. And there are no windows in the bathroom. This being an unusual place for hornets to reside, I realized they were coming in from the vents. And even just standing in the bathroom, you could hear their little hornet butts bumping up against the drywall… they were actually IN the walls. I ran outside to figure out where they were coming in, and there was a swarm of about thirty of them at the roofline, each of them traveling in and out from underneath the siding. (Excellent!)

Since my dog and my fiancé are both allergic to hornets I called the “weekend emergency line” for my apartment complex. A woman answered. I explained to her the problem and the potential allergic reaction. Here’s how the conversation went:

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The Shooting Gallery Photography. Peace of Mind, Free with Purchase.

Wednesday, July 16, 2008

The Shooting Gallery PhotographySo, I’m getting married. That’s not "new" news to anyone within a 3-country radius of me, but for the sake of the post… I’m marrying this super great guy in November. (Put your yak bag down–this isn’t about how my boyfriend is The DIFF–I have boundaries.)

Thing is, if you’ve ever planned a wedding you know that there’s this whole separate subculture of brides-to-be and their wedding day vendors. Photographers, florists, halls, hair stylists, DJs, make-up artists… You can almost smell the brow-sweat when you visit any of the wedding websites. And from a bride’s perspective, after all your virtual pavement-pounding from website to website, your research, your excel sheets, budgeting, phone calls and interviewing… half of you just really wants to hop the red eye to Vegas. Okay, more than half.

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Monday, May 21, 2012