One year

It has been a year since my last post and it is time to get it going again, maybe. Many things have happened in that time frame.
Lost a job.
Drew unemployment.
Finalized the divorce.
Got a new job.
Still stressed by it all.
However, the new job is great. Business is slow, but things will pick up, I hope.
I now work at Georgetown Mill Supplies and that is the same place I worked 14 years ago. I had some success then. I am hoping for a repeat. It is nice to work for a smaller, more efficient company. I will be posting more info as time progresses on things we sell. So, stay tuned.

Quotes

It is a good thing for an uneducated man to read books of quotations.
Sir Winston Churchill, My Early Life, 1930

I found a great little website of quotes. It may not have every quote in the world there, but it does have enough to keep you entertained. I like quotes. I found the one above by Winston Churchill and laughed.


Have fun reading at your leisure.


Quote Website

Politicians

The season for politics is here. This post is not about who to vote for, but how I have seen politicians act. Recently at a meeting for one of the organizations that I belong to, a local politician was to speak. The board had scheduled the politician to speak several months in advance. They confirmed the speaker a month in a advance. Everything was fine and on schedule. The organization also confirmed it a week and a few days before the politician was to speak. Everything was good to go, so to speak. Then the day of the engagement something came up and it turns out that there was a conflict that prevented him from talking to the group. In reality, there was something political that was a hot topic that he knew he would have to address. The best thing for him to do was to have a staffer return a fourth attempt of a phone call stating he would not make it. The point of this is, that most politicians avoid anything that may be controversial and only deal with good things they can say they did. The only times that I find politicians talking about negative things is when they are pointing out someone else's deficiencies. I really have a dislike and a distrust of most politicians because of instances such as stated above. They seem to talk about responsibility and action but do neither, except to make their own jobs more secure.

I try not to be a politician in action or deed. I want to be how I am and appreciated that way. When in business, don't you want employees, customers and vendors to see you the as someone that can be trusted? Politicians do not have that fear because they know that no one will remember what they did in a few years or even a few months, unless it directly affected an individual and that person or small group will remember. In business, a customer may remember a deed done by someone else in your organization and harbor that resentment for years. In the real world of business, people are more forgiving if you deal with them honestly.

Just my 2 cents worth.

Perceptions

Your own perceptions.

How do you perceive things? I talked once about how you are viewed and how do you want to be viewed. I have recently thought more on the subject. I thought about how I handled different situations through out my life. When things would go bad and I perceived them as bad, I would feel the same as I projected on myself, which was bad. It was not a natural thing for me to do but sometimes you get a bad deal on something in life. The old saying states "When life gives you lemons, make lemonade". It really is true. I know people that are angry about everything no matter what happens and they try to see things as bad. I do not need to try to change who they are, I can only change myself and my views. Even when something good is happening the angry people look at it as bad. I do not want to have rose colored glasses on and I do want to be a realist. However, I choose to see how it, whatever the situation is, can be enjoyed by me. I know somethings will be good and some bad, but it is just like life and everything it entails. I like life and I like living. I do not feel that I should waste precious moments of my life on being angry at or about anything. I can feel passionate about something. I can have strong opinions. I just choose to see how it can be better or to quote some other saying, "to make the best out of a bad situation". My opinion on this is not restricted to just bad things but good ones too. Why not enjoy all that is offered in this thing call life or living.

Epoxy floors

I was tasked today by a customer to find a grinding wheel that would take off epoxy from a floor. I found this little gem of an article about epoxy coated floors. The article goes into depth about the the problems that can happen with epoxy coated floors. They say that 70% of all problems with epoxy floor coating is preparation. At the bottom of the page is another link for Epoxy 101. It is a useful read. There are too many little links on the page to list all. But, if you are wanting to have a little knowledge about epoxy floors, have fun reading through all the pages.

For Men

I usually don't add much trivial stuff to my blog. Well, maybe the boat on occasion. But I read a little thing today. It was The 75 Skills Every Man Must Master. It had things I agreed with and some I didn't. I know most of the skills but not all. Maybe they are the unimportant ones. It is good advice all in all though. So, take the time and read it, you may actually like it too.

More on the boat

I thought I would throw a little update on the boat building. I now have part of the front deck on. The loose planking you see in the picture is what will top the deck. It is on there loosely now. Eventually it will be screwed and epoxied down to the plywood that is underneath it.

You can see that I have flotation in part of the boat in the above picture. This picture is prior to placing the plywood substrate for the plank deck. I do not know if it will really work, but if someone is on the boat with me and asks if I added flotation, I can say yes. It will only give them comfort out of ignorance because I have no intention of adding water to the boat to test the buoyancy of the flotation that I have added. You can also see the tools that are carelessly left in the boat while I work on it. I mentioned in a previous post about if you are not good at fiberglassing then you need to be good at sanding. Well, I think I need fiberglassing classes or more practice because being good at sanding is not as much fun as you may think.

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the update.

Customer Appreciation Day

Yesterday we had our annual Customer Appreciation Day. BBQ was enjoyed. People were seen. It becomes a friendly event where people get to mingle with others in their profession. There are many different types of Customer Appreciation Days. They can be called many names. I happen to think that I help make ours successful. To make a CAD successful you need to do many things. There needs to be someone to organize the event. You need to have fliers. You need to promote it. If you want your vendors to help you, then you need to ask them for help. You need to PROMOTE it. The food has to be taken care of. I do not think it matters what type of food, but you need to have something that people in your area like and eat. It must be promoted by everyone at your location. Pass out the fliers with deliveries. Put fliers in invoices. When someone comes to purchase something, tell them about it. I think all this works fine. I have found that the best thing to do along with all the other promotions, is the phone call from the person that the customer most likely identifies with. It is not just a single phone call a week in advance, but two very important phone calls. The phone call the day before and the phone call on the day of. You do this because people forget. The goal is to let people see your wares and to have a good time and a good meal. It always helps sales when customers think of you in a positive way. While it is going on, shake hands, smile and be positive. It will be worth it.

Economy, Quality or Speed

I was talking with a subcontractor today who was talking about business. He said he learned something from another contractor many years ago about three things that really affect a project. He was told that economy, quality and speed are the ones that can create issues. It is not that they create issues in themselves, but if you concentrate too much on one, then the other two suffer. He said yes, you do want a job to have good quality, at a good price and in a reasonable time. However, if you work too much on economy, then the quality and speed suffer. Also, if you want too much quality, then the speed and economy go down. You get the picture. I do not see any of these as a problem for a project if you understand that everything has a consequence.

In distribution it is often said that you cannot have the best price, the best product and the best service. One will always suffer in the long run just like in the above examples for a construction project. So, when you look at a vendor and they have a great price, look at the other two problems you will run into. It may not be the best product and the service may be no good. To have a good balance, as in building a project, you need to pay a fair price for a fair product if that is what you are most interested in. If you want the very best product, then expect it to be more than the least expensive product.

Blown Film and Radon

I attended a company sales meeting this past weekend. One of the vendors that spoke was Raven Industries. We sell their construction films. I learned about the blown film extrusion process of making plastic films. I have never heard of this process before and since I am an infinitely curious person, I wanted to find out more. I am not in the plastic film industry, so, if you read this and are, please excuse my ignorance. Basically, as I understand it, the plastic pellets get heated and go through a dye where air is blown out to help cool the film. It goes straight up in the air to the top and it is slit or folded and is sent back down through the rollers. It seemed really interesting to me. Raven Industries has an animated video of their process. I wanted to find a video of the process on the Internet and I found one that looks like it makes clear pallet bags. Click here if you would like to see the video. I was really hoping the video would show every facet of the process and with some sort of neat camera angle that could show the middle of the blown film, but no such luck. It was still interesting anyway. There is another way to make plastic film and I understand it is called cast film.

One of the products discussed was the Raven VaporBlock Plus. It is an underslab vapor retarder and gas barrier. Radon is a gas. As I understand it, the Vapor Block Plus 20 helps reduce the amount of Radon gas. If you read the data sheet on page 2 note 5, it states, "When VaporBlock Plus gas barrier is used as a part of an active control system for radon gas, a ventilation system will be required. When installed as a passive system, it is still recommended to include a ventilation system that could be converted to an active system later." I knew that radon had become a bigger issue over the past few years. I still know very little about it, but the EPA has some information about the radon gas issue. On http://www.radon.com/ , there is a map where you can check the radon levels by state. It is interesting to look over.

LEED

What is LEED? Leadership in Energy and Enviromental Design.

I wanted to write about this topic but realized that I do not know enough about it. It is talked about frequently by architechts, owners and manufacturers. I went to the USGBC, US Green Building Council, website. I started to research and read about LEED and its rating system for new construction. There are 3 versions right now, Versions 2.0, 2.1 and 2.2. Version 2.2 is the most current. They have a link to find a local chapter. There is one in South Carolina. North Carolina has two that I see, one in Charlotte and one in the Triangle area.

I have learned some things about the LEED process over the past couple of years. I have read some about it also. I have found that there are some added initial costs to buildings in some aspects. There are actually some savings in others. After reading more about it, I have concluded that I do not know near enough. I think there are some long term savings in going with many of its ideas and building designs. Some things, to me, just make sense. Feel free to look at any of the links and judge for yourself if you wish to reasearch it. I think that we will all need to know more about it as time progresses and I think it is better to have more knowledge sooner rather than later.

Detectable Warning Tiles

The ADA, American Disabilities Act, has requirements for detectable warning tiles. There are many manufacturers to choose from. There is a great document to read about some of the testing that has been done. This article / draft was written in 2005 and explains some of the differences in the brands and shows different problems that arise. It was prepared for National Cooperative Highway Research Program Transportation Research Board of the National Academies. If you read the research document you will see that even the DWT, Detectable Warning Tiles, need to be maintained. For those who do not want to read the whole document, it has pictures of problems also. Engineered Plastics, the ones that make the Armor-Tile brand, has info on their site where it lists the ADAAG requirements, ADA Accessibility Guidelines. The Armor-Tile site has much more information that is nice to read on some of the requirements. Click here to read ADA Accessibility Guidelines.

The first picture shows one installed. It is an Armor-Tile tile. As you can tell, it can take a coat of paint nicely. The second picture is an Armor-Tile also, but you can tell that it is in need of being maintained, cleaned.

This is another manufacturer's rubber mat tile. It is in the same area as the first two pictures and has the same foot traffic that the Armor-Tile has. You can see how there may be an issue with this now.

The first picture is also the rubber mat type. The second is an Armor-Tile type. They are in the same flow of foot traffic and across the street from each other. They were both put in around the same time and you can tell the difference on how they stand up to foot traffic. The dark spots on the one that is still in good shape is crusty chewing gum.... At least I am guessing that it is. I didn't actually pick it up and try it. However, if it looks like a duck.....

I have seen many varieties of the detectable warning tiles and so far, I like the Armor-Tile the best, not just because it is the one we sell.

Maintenance

Maintenance is important in so many aspects of construction. People buy buildings or have buildings built and think that is the end of everything to do with the building. Wrong. There may not be much that needs to be done besides maintenance at the beginning, but over the course of time, more needs to be done. They need to think of it like a car or even bathing. Both are maintenance. The oil needs to be changed, the tires need to be rotated or changed, the fluids need to be changed, etc. If you don't do it then you will have problems with your car. It is the same with bathing. I mean, who wants to work or stand near someone that thinks bathing is unneccessary?

I looked at a job today that is in need of being maintained. The water comes in when it rains. The caulk joints failed. I use the term failed loosely. It is not that they have failed because of being a bad product. They failed because they have been in too long, past the normal life of the caulk. There had been patches to cover the problem but they did not work. I was telling the contractor that just because the caulk is failing, it does not mean the building is failing. The building just needs to be maintained. He now has to sell that idea to the owner, but I am sure the owner will complain about the cost because it probably has only been done once or twice in 40 years. There were some other problems with it that could become structural problems because of the water and some may be structural. However, not doing anything is cheaper right now, but in a few years it won't be. There will be cost in replacing the whole project, which in and of itself is expensive. The maintenance issue is much cheaper and less expensive than replacing the whole structure. After all, when is the last time you were able to buy it cheaper a few years down the road?

Meeting People

I was having a discussion with a customer one evening after a meeting in one of the organizations I belong to and he said, one of the problems that the organization has, is that very few there are politically active. After a little better explanation, I understood that he did not mean that we should run for office, but that our representative should know our name. We as individuals should be known to the people representing us. We should not call them just when there is an issue that pertains just to our individual needs, when there is a problem, but at other times to say we support or disagree with something they have done or may do. We should take time to fill out their surveys no matter how inane they may sound. It is a way of giving feedback to the politician. While he may not be the one actually reading responses, someone is keeping track of it. Yes, it will create more junk mail but it is a way to be heard. Another way to be seen and heard is to take the time to go to political type meetings. You can listen, interact or be confrontational. If you see the politicians walking door to door or at meetings, take the time to introduce yourself. They most likely won't remember you next time, so remind them of that each time you see them until they do. This can not succeed overnight. It will take time, maybe years. Think of how politicians are. Don't you want to have them take care of the issues you support? If you complain about them, then get involved with them. Whatever you do you are participating in the process.

I thought of this while at another meeting tonight. It was the Bastiat Society meeting. It was filled with bright, intelligent, friendly people. As I was there, I also remembered something I put in my blog in a previous entry, I had ample opportunity to give my 20 to 30 second blurb about what I sell and the company I work for.

Another thing that I noticed at the meeting, and it is one of the things that made it so enjoyable, even though it is the first meeting that I attended, is that nearly everyone there took the time to introduce themselves and made me feel welcome. I remember other places that I have visited or attended, and no one took the time to make me feel welcome. How often do you go anywhere and you do not feel welcome or like you are wanted? Does it make you want to go back? If it is a business, does it make you want to spend money there again and again? I am guessing not. So, if you are in an organization, church or business, do your best to make others want to come back and help your business grow. It will be beneficial.

Hyperlinking

I finally learned how to hyperlink today thanks to Jimmy. Really all he did was tell me what it is called when you want a word or set of words linked to a website. I have been placing links below or in stories because I did not know how to hyperlink. It is nice having a help section on the website and the explanation on how to do it is simple. The pictures, screen shots, explained everything.

So, if you are really curious on how to make a hyperlink please feel free to see how it is done on blogger. All you have to do now is click the word. I have established the link. :)

Otto Bayer

At the ICRI meeting last week, one of the speakers talked about Otto Bayer. He said that he invented Polyurethane. I didn't mention it in the previous post because I wanted to find out more. His name may be Bayer and he may have worked for Bayer, but he merely shared the name, not the lineage. The Bayer website has a nice little excerpt about him.

http://www.plastiquarian.com/obayer.htm

Polyurethanes were discussed because it is one of the types of products that seals cracks and is more typically used for stopping leaks in concrete structures. There is a nice writeup on Polyurethanes in wikipedia and it explains the history of it quickly. It was invented prior to WWII. It was explained that Germany was trying to make a product to replace rubber tires.

Vehicle tires use the process of vulcanization, thus a vulcanized rubber tire. This process was invented by Charles Goodyear around 1839.

Polyurethanes were not successful as tires. However, they are in use today in a multitude of ways. They are in everything from earplugs to mattresses and, yes, sometimes even concrete structures that have a leak that needs to be stopped.

ICRI

I am a member of the ICRI Carolinas Chapter. ICRI is the International Concrete Repair Institute. The Spring Conference was today. It covered the general topic of crack repairs. I am only generalizing what it was because it would be difficult for me to explain everything the speakers said.

Bob Trout with Lily Corporation spoke about crack injection. His company sells a wide variety of dispensing equipment. He talked about how air entrapment may not always be the problem that people think it is. He did not say that it is never a problem but he did point out Boyles Law.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boyle

He also said it is more important when possible, to start at the widest part of the crack when injecting and inject until refusal. He also said that you need to do an air pressure check prior to injecting the epoxy. You do this because it allows you the opportunity to find leaks or unseen cracks prior to injection. This allows you the time to cover or butter the cracks with the appropriate product. Sometimes, it doesn't have to be a gel epoxy. If you fix these little problems ahead of time, you may save yourself the headache of having epoxy dripping down your wall at the wrong spot. Lily Corporation link is below.

http://www.lilycorp.com/

Brian J. Iske with Deneef talked about chemical crack injection and soil stabilization products. He showed a nice linear graph on tools to remove a hex head bolt. The tools were rated from, not recommended to best choice. Hammer and nail made the not recommended list, while the old appropriate socket wrench made the best choice list. The other tools fell in the middle. He said that is the same way you should look at crack repair. Each crack repair job is different and you need to make the right choice for your particular job. There is NO silver bullet for all crack repair jobs. His company sells many varieties of products for injections and repairs. Their link is below.

http://www.deneef.com/

The last to give a presentation was Jim Villar with Balvac. His presentation was a little over my head until I spoke with him after the presentation. It became much clearer then. His topic was "MMA Vac Injection." I listened to it trying to understand how the vacuum repair worked. No, it does not use a shop vac. The vacuum they use is much larger than anything you would ever find in household or construction use. Once it was explained how they get the chemical in there and how it is drawn in the area to be repaired, it all made sense. Balvac's link is listed below.

http://www.balvac.com/

If you are in the concrete repair business and you are not in the ICRI, I would suggest you take a look at it and join. If you are in the Carolinas, we would welcome you in this chapter. The ICRI has many chapters throughout the US and some outside the US. You can look at the ICRI Carolinas Chapter link below and then go to the ICRI National from there. The ICRI Carolinas website has many nice features and links. I have the link for that on the side of the blog and below.

http://www.icricarolinas.org/index.htm

Get Motivated

Today I went to the Get Motivated Seminar held at the North Charleston Coliseum. I was unsure how I would like it and it was much better than expected. I have summarized as best I could below. I have also placed the links to each of the speakers or at least something where you can find out more about them.

http://www.getmotivated.com/

It started with Rick Belluzzo. He was informative about his business life and made many good points like "change provides opportunity", "every job matters - no impact too small" and "be proactive - find solutions to problems." From a business perspective, I thought he provided the best answers.

Dr. Robert Shuller was the second one to speak and he was a wonderful orator and he should be, since he is the preacher of the Crystal Cathedral. He explained what he went through in life to get to where he is. He says others can program you negatively. That when your perception changes, you change. I learned that lesson too some time ago, but it was nice hearing someone else state the same.

http://www.crystalcathedral.org/

I would say that my favorite speaker of the day was Krish Dhanam. He worked on the emotions of mad, sad, glad. He tugged at the emotions of the audience with his stories. There were many things he said that I liked. "The American dream has no snooze button." "If you are happy, tell your face." I find that to be true when dealing with people, even on the phone. If you are not smiling or even content, then others may not have faith in what you are saying. "We remember the slaps and not the kisses." The best saying is something I think he got from Thoreau, "Everyone wants to build a castle in the air but not the foundation in the ground." Hhmm. Interesting.

http://krishdhanam.com/

Phil Town spoke of investing and how to invest in the stock market. Remember Rule #1. He has had an interesting life and has made the most of it. His ways of making money in the stock market, as I see it, are a bit more complicated than just buying for the long haul. I understood what he said, but I also realize how little I know about the market and investing.

http://www.philtown.typepad.com/

Keith Craft was the next speaker. He also emceed and one of his daughters sang the National Anthem to start off the seminar. He is also a preacher. He spoke of having the right people in your life. 1. people who believe in you. 2. people who challenge you. 3. people who share your values. I couldn't say I disagree with him on any of his points.

http://www.celebrationcovenant.com/main.htm

The great Zig Ziglar spoke next. I remember seeing some of his tapes and listening to some. His presentation was done in an interview format with his daughter interviewing him. It was nice to hear him tell some old tales. He does not bounce and move around on the stage like he used to because of a household fall that he had some time ago.

http://www.zigziglar.com/

The funniest speaker with an acerbic tongue was James Smith. He talked about real estate investing. He has seminars that can tell you how to make money in real estate. I found him entertaining and laughed frequently.

http://www.meetjamessmith.com/Default.aspx

When Brian Tracy, whose tapes I have enjoyed and the first tapes that I listened to when I got into sales, gave his talk, I listened. I had only heard him on tape before. He has great sales tips. "Identify your weakness" and work on them. Selling is a recipe and you have the ingredients. Learn the proper recipe to succeed.

http://www.briantracy.com/

I enjoyed listening to Suze Orman. I think I enjoyed seeing and listening to her because she is on TV. Her advice is the advice that most people don't follow and it is the advice that everyone should follow. Get out of debt, all debt. Invest your money wisely and don't go back in debt. Like I said, most people do not follow that advice and complain that they have nothing.

http://www.suzeorman.com/

The last one to talk was Don Burnham. He wrapped up the seminar with people leaving. I am guessing he is new to the circuit and they put him last knowing that he was going to compete with a dwindling crowd. He was representing the IAI, International Association of Investors.

http://www.iaimember.com/

All in all it was very well organized and presented. If you ever get the chance, go to it. Make the time to go to it. Enjoy it and you will be pleased with what you experienced.

Masonry Drainage Materials

Why should you use cavity drainage materials in your masonry wall? It is somewhat expensive. Not as much as copper or stainless steel flashing, but more than PVC or EPDM. When a job is over budget, one of the things some contractors look at to reduce the cost is that expensive stuff, like copper flashing or cavity drainage materials. The flashing will be in use, when put in properly, for quite a while, as long as it is a good quality flashing like a copper or stainless steel. The cavity drainage material will be in use while the building is going up and as far as I know, that is when it is most important. It protects the weep openings, could be tubes, vents, etc., from getting clogged by mortar droppings and not allowing water to escape. When people ask me how much cavity drainage materials are and I tell them, many tell me it is expensive. I try to make it clear to them that I understand they will not go home at the end of the job and say, "I am sure glad I used that product." However, they will certainly know if they should have used it. It is extremely costly to replace flashing, weeps and brick after the job is completed. There are many products to chose from and I will list some below.

MortarNet - http://www.mortarnet.com/index.htm

Cavclear - http://www.cavclear.com/

Mortar Break - http://www.advancedflashing.com/commercial-mortar-break.cfm

Mortar Mitt - http://www.h-b.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=28

I found some very good articles about the masonry cavity wall. The first one is from the Brick Industry Association. It is Tech Bulletin on Brick Masonry Cavity Wall Selection Of Materials. On page 6 there is a description of cavity drainage materials. It mentions none by name, but if you want to know even more about masonry construction, it provides good basic information.

http://www.advancedflashing.com/clientsuppliedcontent-forms/BIATechNoteTextPDFs/Tech%20Note%2021a.pdf

The next link is from the Portland Cement Association. It is a quick excerpt on why you should keep the cavity clean. It is a nice short read.

http://www.cement.org/masonry/cc_fn_cavities_clean.asp

The last link is from Masonry Contractors of America. It is written by Sarah B. Atkins. The letters to the editor comments say the article was written for the Dec 04 issue but the date of the posting for the internet is March 05. The article and the letters to the editor suggest that the masonry contractors agree that there is an issue with mortar buildup and bridging and that the weeps need to be kept clean, but as to how it is best done, is still a discussion. Read the article and the letters to the editor and see what you think.

http://www.masoncontractors.org/newsandevents/masonryheadlines/headline.php?id=20050331084700

Boat Project

Well as usual, I am about 6 weeks away from finishing my little flat bottom boat. I was 6 weeks away from finishing about 6 weeks ago, about 6 months ago and about a year ago. It is not that I haven't done anything on it. I have. It has just taken me longer than I thought. It is shaped somewhat like a Carolina Skiff. It is 15'6" long, about 5'6" wide at the center and about 18" deep. It is made of cypress planking which is fiberglassed. The thing I figured out about fiberglassing, when you aren't very good, is that you become really good at sanding and accepting things that look good enough. It has been an absolute fun project for me. The epoxy and fiberglass that I have been using is made by Raka. I found out about it from a buddy that also builds boats and he said he was going to use it on the next one he builds. If it is good enough for him, who actually knows how to epoxy, then it would be good enough for me. They have been a pleasure to order from. This is their link.

http://www.raka.com/

The two pictures are one without the seats, obviously, and one with what the configuration will be. Since the floor was not completely finished when I took the pics, the seats have come out and now I am finishing the floor. The deck will have the plywood to support the cypress planks. I can't wait to get it in the water to see if it floats.

But, then again, I won't know that for about 6 more weeks.