Mystery Shopping

I've recently begun mystery shopping as a hobby. I'm an independent contractor for two companies to visit retail establishments (restaurants, gyms, stores, spas, hotels, etc.) and evaluate their customer service while purchasing their product or service as a secret shopper. When I get home, I write a *very* detailed report for the client that takes a couple of hours. I get compensated a bit for the work, but it's mainly just fun for me. It's a way that I can keep busy, try new places, put my two cents in for customer service (a passion of mine), and write detailed reports (remember, I'm a nerd - happily!) I'm also keeping my resume current by doing this, as this is loosely related to my quality assurance, assessment, and auditing work that I did as an analyst.

So far I've evaluated a gym, a very nice restaurant up in Broomfield, and a family style restaurant here in the Springs. I enjoy it! I get to take Joseph along with me sometimes, too, so it's an easy thing for stay-at-home moms to do. I don't recommend it to others for the money, though...you've got to enjoy the report writing and not mind the time it takes overall.

One of the companies I work for does this for higher end establishments. I've been trying to convince Jason for us to take one of their cruise or Las Vegas assignments. We'll see if I can convince him! How fun would that be!?

A couple nights ago I dreamt about a very cool application of Jason's array controllers that he designs and builds at work (of course with his team). I thought how it could be used to assess electric demands and allocate energy supply, thereby bypassing or combining some of the work done by system operators and power companies. In my dream, we were applying it to small-scale operations (manufacturing sites) as well as large-scale applications (like the whole Colorado Springs community). It was a way to balance demand and supply of electricity, contributing to energy conservation. It's actually a viable solution - and maybe a new market for HP!

I told Jason all about this dream and idea - he told me I need to take another mystery shopping assignment... ; ) I love being at home, but my mind does need an outlet for these ideas! Anyone wanna help me design a business plan for the energy allocation idea?? (just kidding...kinda.)