Wow in one week glass was featured on TV twice, but for opposite reasons. First the bad stuff. You may have seen the link from USGNN earlier in the week about shattering tabletops… if not, to see the video CLICK HERE. Anyway I’ll give you 100 guesses where these table tops were made… and the first 99 don’t count…. Yep our friends in Communist China. Remember what’s made in China is not of the same quality or standard as what is made in North America. I can’t wait for the glass installed at the various casino’s and high rises to start to fail, because they will- just like the tabletops. Oh and by the way, the Chinese company that made the bad table tops for such retailers like Home Depot and Kmart…. They’ve gone out of business. I am just continually amazed that people will take the bait and bring in the inferior and dangerous material from China, it really is like playing with fire.
On the good side, I got to see a positive piece on Guardian’s Showerguard glass on the TLC show “Designing Spaces” over the weekend. It was a pleasure to see our industry promoted so positively. Especially given all of the junk we take as an industry, whenever you can get a feature done that truly promotes the technology and breakthroughs, it’s good to see. If you haven’t seen it yet, check your listings, as I am sure it will be repeated. Congrats to Guardian for pulling some good pub.
By the way, on the China bad table top piece, they interviewed someone from the NGA. I was shocked, I didn’t know they did anything other than trade shows and door stickers… you mean they actually know what happens with glass? Man I learn something new everyday.
Elsewhere….
-- After last week’s note on the upcoming NFRC Board Election, I got several e-mails from people involved giving me some insight on who would be good, bad and otherwise for our world if they won a seat on the board. Amazingly 3 races have candidates running unopposed, which is sad and pathetic. Including the automatic seat for the pseudo NFRC subsidiary- California Energy Commision. Its amazing that no other candidates from any other states could be found.. WAIT… you know why… because 47 other states (Oregon and Washington state also drink the Kool Aid) probably realize that this group is not worth their taxpayers time or money. Another unopposed race is Joe Hayden from Pella. Hopefully he realizes that his company now owns a commercial aluminum window manufacturer and will take into account their true needs, as well as the industry that EFCO serves. Last on this, if you have a vote or you know someone who does, please make sure they use it. In the 3 races that are actually running, I would suggest voting for some fresh blood, like Freddie Cole of General Aluminum in the Fenestration Category. In addition a vote for Steven Rosenstock of the Edison Electric Institute would be good too since a win for him would remove Alecia Ward from the Board as she has never been, in my opinion, fair or open to anyone or anything from our industry. Sadly, the chances of her losing are 10,000-1, but a guy can dream right?
-- While I am on my negative tone… how depressing has the news about the economy been? Residential is scary bad, existing home sales are simply plummeting, major home builders are down 40 to 50% and laying off huge chunks of workers, and even staples like Target and Lowe’s are off as well. Plus the Architectural Billings Index flattening out is a worrisome trend too. Just not a good run we are in right now. I think I need to go take a stress pill.
-- Plus I saw that parts of Colorado got snow this week… are you kidding me? Man winter can not be here so soon!
-- Football pick… yes the record is now 1-1 after the stellar choice of Green Bay… this week my pick is Detroit getting 3 at home vs the Bears… yes I know I have to be nuts, but I just have a feeling that the Lions will spring the upset and their high powered offense will thrive against a banged up Bear D. I guess we’ll see if I am Mush or not this week.
-- One more China note… I got an e-mail from a major industry player who has a “SAY NO TO CHINA” pin and he was proudly wearing it in London this week. He said that he got some cross looks and a few unkind words for displaying his feelings with the button. Anyway, I appreciate him showing his pride and doing the right thing and putting up with those who do not see the evil.
No video this week as I do link to the Glass table top video above- I just could not embed it here. Sorry.
4 comments:
Max,
Another important topic related to glass from China is how do fabricators know they're getting good architectural product beyond what they can quickly visually inspect?
My guess is that Chinese glass has a higher occurrence of nickel sulfide inclusions that could wreak havoc during fabrication and ultimately result in more failures in the field (which is also a safety concern).
I wonder how much effort buyers put into protecting themselves & others from receiving poor quality Chinese glass with respect to nickel sulfide?
PS. I can only hope the Lions will beat the Bears and I'll also be impressed if the Lions don't lose by more then 3.
You hit the nail on the head with the impurity angle... it is truly a buyer beware situation.
Thank you for always reading and commenting!
Bravo! on another amazing pick ... way to go Detroit, honolulu blue & silver are shaping up!!
How about Norv in San Diego? - what a joke - they're surely missing Marty even more after this week's loss.
Hey Max,
Think the Chinese had something to do with the infant cold meds that are being pulled from the pharmacies nationwide? Maybe they manufactured the bottles that contain the meds? You should definitely look into it.
Thanks
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