The glass business, now if I could find an employer. I have mixed feelings about in, yes it did contribute to my stroke. But I love and miss it.
This internet is an amazing tool. I have learned all kinds of things in the last few days. Between that and project management I may be a good employee soon or a maybe a better consultant. So much to learn but so much I have learned. And the industry has changed a lot too. If I keep learning the job may come.
A few emails sent to old friends and contacts has yielded a lot of response. It is pretty cool. I still sleep too late and need to bring my bike back and ride to get in shape. But it will all come together.
Sunday, September 26, 2010
Friday, September 24, 2010
I Guess I Miss....
This shit. Searching glass sites and amazed that Oldcastle has bought Moduline windows, Fulton Windows and the rest of the Vistawall group. Wondering how my friend Eldon Pagel made out and may have to call him. Pella had purchased EFCO sometime before my stroke so no suprises there except they do have a unitized wall system. And it offers 4 side silicone glaze, very cool. Traco is now part of Alcoa, Graham has a curtain wall system and just lots of fun news.
Then there is the Arch story, but I see Max Perilstein has landed okay. I wonder about his cousin, only because he treated me to a dinner in Vegas that was worth about a grand a head.
Yes I miss this. And yes I will be back. Its just a matter of time.
Then there is the Arch story, but I see Max Perilstein has landed okay. I wonder about his cousin, only because he treated me to a dinner in Vegas that was worth about a grand a head.
Yes I miss this. And yes I will be back. Its just a matter of time.
Wednesday, September 8, 2010
To Rep or Not to Rep....
The past week or so has found me wiped out, though not like before. I recover a little quicker, though the effects of age seem to be catching up too. But today found me sleeping late, getting up to do my project management course and being interrupted.
The first call was a friend about a job I would love, but won't move for. It's located in Jamestown, and I don't have the stamina to commute for weekends and we don't really want to relocate there.
The second call was from a curtain wall fabricator in Canada who's ad I clicked on regarding a sales rep position. And this is while an ad for a project engineer for Gilbane stares at me on Craigslist. So where does one begin?
Well, the Gilbane position sits there, waiting for my resume, while I hem and haw and question whether I want to work for a company like Gilbane and if I am qualified and... And then the guy in charge of developing sales in the states is waiting for my input. But do I want to go into sales? The sales guy who can't talk, though that is in my head, so of.
And there is the status quo, draw the disability check and study project management and hem and haw. It is not so bad either, but it is. Sure this project management shit drives me crazy, partially because it throws how bad a project manager I was right in my face. But I want to learn, even if every third principle ends in the BS. Slogging on and going nuts doing so, our hero faces new challenges which he can decide upon before they have been decided upon for him. I guess it is time to shit or get off the pot, or it's getting closer to time.
Life does have a way of progressing around here though. A week or more ago I took Ned back to Oswego to start classes. Today Maddy started her Junior year, with her mother's car. Meg starts sometime. New books have to be added to the reading list. It is very obsolete. I finished the first Patrick O'Brian book, as opposed to the second I finished last week. I am reading Napoleon on Project Management, by Jerry Manas to keep a sense of humor about this project management. Two books that have been finished I would recommend, sadly with no authors tonight: Holy Water and Model Home, both good funky modern novels.
Tomorrow brings more thought and agonizing. Something will change soon, its back to school time.
The first call was a friend about a job I would love, but won't move for. It's located in Jamestown, and I don't have the stamina to commute for weekends and we don't really want to relocate there.
The second call was from a curtain wall fabricator in Canada who's ad I clicked on regarding a sales rep position. And this is while an ad for a project engineer for Gilbane stares at me on Craigslist. So where does one begin?
Well, the Gilbane position sits there, waiting for my resume, while I hem and haw and question whether I want to work for a company like Gilbane and if I am qualified and... And then the guy in charge of developing sales in the states is waiting for my input. But do I want to go into sales? The sales guy who can't talk, though that is in my head, so of.
And there is the status quo, draw the disability check and study project management and hem and haw. It is not so bad either, but it is. Sure this project management shit drives me crazy, partially because it throws how bad a project manager I was right in my face. But I want to learn, even if every third principle ends in the BS. Slogging on and going nuts doing so, our hero faces new challenges which he can decide upon before they have been decided upon for him. I guess it is time to shit or get off the pot, or it's getting closer to time.
Life does have a way of progressing around here though. A week or more ago I took Ned back to Oswego to start classes. Today Maddy started her Junior year, with her mother's car. Meg starts sometime. New books have to be added to the reading list. It is very obsolete. I finished the first Patrick O'Brian book, as opposed to the second I finished last week. I am reading Napoleon on Project Management, by Jerry Manas to keep a sense of humor about this project management. Two books that have been finished I would recommend, sadly with no authors tonight: Holy Water and Model Home, both good funky modern novels.
Tomorrow brings more thought and agonizing. Something will change soon, its back to school time.
Wednesday, September 1, 2010
Becoming My Father....NOT!!
I am reeling slightly, having finished my first Patrick O'Brian book and enjoying it. Edward S. swore by the merits of O'Brian and loved him. He condemned my brothers and myself for liking the movie version of Master and Commander, telling us it missed so much. Yes, father but Russell Crowe is a mans man and it was a good movie.
Strangely, while visiting the homestead last week I could not find a copy of Master and Commander, O'Brian's first Aubrey/Maturin novel. Yes, there were two or more copies of most others, but no first book. So I read the second, Post Commander. And I liked it of all things. And having enjoyed it I went to the library tonight and found the first but not the third. But it is okay, since there are at least three copies in Barneveld. So with another novel I found I am set for the week for reading material.
That in itself is no small task. Since The Art of Racing in the Rain was suggested, I have been devouring novels, good, bad, ugly and indifferent. I can't say all I have read. At the same time I am going right through a course on Project Management. I have been a project manager for years and often a bad one. Now I realize I am both a bad project manager and I have had been in situations where project management was not done correctly. I say that with tongue in cheek. It is not rationally applied to construction. He who is further up on the food chain wins.
Enough, but I promise not to be so lax in writing. I continue to search for a job though it terrifies me. I need to start riding my bike again and want to start doing Tai Chi. I want my knees to feel better so I can run again. Maybe I am not becoming my father...
Strangely, while visiting the homestead last week I could not find a copy of Master and Commander, O'Brian's first Aubrey/Maturin novel. Yes, there were two or more copies of most others, but no first book. So I read the second, Post Commander. And I liked it of all things. And having enjoyed it I went to the library tonight and found the first but not the third. But it is okay, since there are at least three copies in Barneveld. So with another novel I found I am set for the week for reading material.
That in itself is no small task. Since The Art of Racing in the Rain was suggested, I have been devouring novels, good, bad, ugly and indifferent. I can't say all I have read. At the same time I am going right through a course on Project Management. I have been a project manager for years and often a bad one. Now I realize I am both a bad project manager and I have had been in situations where project management was not done correctly. I say that with tongue in cheek. It is not rationally applied to construction. He who is further up on the food chain wins.
Enough, but I promise not to be so lax in writing. I continue to search for a job though it terrifies me. I need to start riding my bike again and want to start doing Tai Chi. I want my knees to feel better so I can run again. Maybe I am not becoming my father...
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
Events
It has been an interesting couple of weeks at best. One day I was just minding my own business and suddenly a head hunter calls and wonders if I would know anyone interested in an estimator position at a local general contractor. Well of course I would... But only after checking legal options and getting all nervous and jerky.
Well three weeks later, I didn't get the position and I am pretty upset and pretty wiped out from the experience. But now the bug is with me. Its a pretty scary thing, this going back to work. I hate being idle, I hate depending on a disability check and I hate getting about 1/3 of my former income. But it's also been steady, been a godsend, and beats the heck out of getting nothing. There are days I feel ready to take on the world, but there are days I also feel wiped out, completely.
A while ago I finally went for a speech evaluation, my speech being the quantifiable area where I still feel affected from the stroke. It is, with out a doubt, getting better, but my vocabulary is not back and still feel it getting labored. It may never return to what it was and Maria is probably one of the only people who would know. I have always been the quiet type.
My speech seems to be fine and they recommended a neuro-psych evaluation. I am fighting Blue Cross for this. (Yes they would like you to get better, but only by normal...aka cheap means, nothing out of the ordinary.)
But nothing can put out this burning desire to go back to work. I want to be an estimator again. That area of my brain where the quantities of materials the go into a building reside did not seem be damaged. It can be glass, timbers, block or brick, steel or drywall. My old neighbor, who will hopefully be a congressman soon, once told me estimating was simple: you just count things. Well maybe not that simple. Well sort of...
While I look and I see no harm in looking, I am taking a course in project management to earn some project management certificate. I have a hard time with letters. I am learning, but going crazy with it. I have in the past been a good and bad project manager. Maybe I can get better.
In the meantime if you know of an estimating position.....
Well three weeks later, I didn't get the position and I am pretty upset and pretty wiped out from the experience. But now the bug is with me. Its a pretty scary thing, this going back to work. I hate being idle, I hate depending on a disability check and I hate getting about 1/3 of my former income. But it's also been steady, been a godsend, and beats the heck out of getting nothing. There are days I feel ready to take on the world, but there are days I also feel wiped out, completely.
A while ago I finally went for a speech evaluation, my speech being the quantifiable area where I still feel affected from the stroke. It is, with out a doubt, getting better, but my vocabulary is not back and still feel it getting labored. It may never return to what it was and Maria is probably one of the only people who would know. I have always been the quiet type.
My speech seems to be fine and they recommended a neuro-psych evaluation. I am fighting Blue Cross for this. (Yes they would like you to get better, but only by normal...aka cheap means, nothing out of the ordinary.)
But nothing can put out this burning desire to go back to work. I want to be an estimator again. That area of my brain where the quantities of materials the go into a building reside did not seem be damaged. It can be glass, timbers, block or brick, steel or drywall. My old neighbor, who will hopefully be a congressman soon, once told me estimating was simple: you just count things. Well maybe not that simple. Well sort of...
While I look and I see no harm in looking, I am taking a course in project management to earn some project management certificate. I have a hard time with letters. I am learning, but going crazy with it. I have in the past been a good and bad project manager. Maybe I can get better.
In the meantime if you know of an estimating position.....
Thursday, August 12, 2010
Random
As Maddy would say. This seems to be the way life is going. Then there is the good Dr. (Hunter S.) Thompson who said "When the going gets tough, the tough get weird." And that seems totally fitting.
And then we saw George Thorogood and the Destroyers with Robert Cray and a Vaughan-less Fabulous Thunderbirds. Okay, not my cup except for Cray who was great.
Time to plug a Furthur disc in and relax....and deal with the random.
And then we saw George Thorogood and the Destroyers with Robert Cray and a Vaughan-less Fabulous Thunderbirds. Okay, not my cup except for Cray who was great.
Time to plug a Furthur disc in and relax....and deal with the random.
Wednesday, August 4, 2010
Time
Listening to Furthur once again play Pink Floyd's Time tonight or maybe we are well into morning. Thinking a little to much. Things seem to be in a state of flux here, with a lot of unsettling and settling things. I listened to Viola Lee Blues and The Wheel is coming soon. Life progresses and is good.
Maria and I got a tour of Amish farms in northern New York this weekend. Elle took me to Ben Yoder's sawmill and now I know I can build a timber frame. Ben sells pine for about .40 a board foot. We fished for bass on Higley Flow and I again got skunked but I am getting good at driving the boat. I do wish Maria could feel better, but that will come I hope.
There is much happening here. To settle things I again listen to Phil and Bobby and miss Jerry. We only saw one show this summer, but it was one of the best. Maybe again next year. We shall see where we all are.
Maria and I got a tour of Amish farms in northern New York this weekend. Elle took me to Ben Yoder's sawmill and now I know I can build a timber frame. Ben sells pine for about .40 a board foot. We fished for bass on Higley Flow and I again got skunked but I am getting good at driving the boat. I do wish Maria could feel better, but that will come I hope.
There is much happening here. To settle things I again listen to Phil and Bobby and miss Jerry. We only saw one show this summer, but it was one of the best. Maybe again next year. We shall see where we all are.
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