Seriously I am not nuts.

Well am I crazy? Wait don’t answer that because I know the answer already. I am sitting on the plane returning from the GANA meeting from Dallas pondering that question as it regards to the glass shortage. I am convinced we are in one, but a prominent player in our industry stated publicly he didn’t see it that way. So am I nuts or are the instincts and info I have and know correct? At the GANA Fall Conference (more below by the way) keynote speaker Russ Huffer of Apogee stated that he believed there was sufficient capacity available. During the Q&A of his speech (which was excellent by the way) I asked him to clarify and he did. Basically at this point he doesn’t see what I see. So what is right and what is wrong? All I can say is my intel and research shows a significant tightening of supply with the shortage on docket. I talk to a lot of people and I can do the math too, and I just feel pretty strong that my opinion is right. But after Mr. Huffer’s speech, I was perplexed. Am I being scammed or played? Are people of all walks of life lying to me? Is this all Sarah Palin’s fault? What in the world is going on? All I can say is at the end of the day, I truly believe that I am right- all signs, details and evidence point to the shortage. This is not propaganda. But so help me, if I find I have been played… well look out… nothing is worse than a bitter blogger… heck ask the NFRC.

Elsewhere….

-- I was at the GANA Fall Conference for 2 days… another first class and excellent event. Once again great insights and education going on. Dialogues that were built to inform and protect the industry and of course top notch networking. With tightening budgets, the one expense that should NOT come out is attendance at these events- way too much value there.

-- The rest of Russ Huffer’s speech as I noted above was excellent and is available via podcast from GANA. He hit some very interesting points on coated glass usage, markets, imports and solar. The speech is about 30 minutes long and not a waste of time if you're interested.

-- Another item that came out of these meetings was the importance of getting involved in the code process since it will truly affect all of us. The best and easiest way you can have a voice and stay in the loop is to join the GICC- Glazing Industry Code Committee. It is an inexpensive and intelligent way to get up to speed and PROTECT your company. Seriously if you are not a member- go to this website and check out. It is truly worthwhile.

-- From the bad news side- condolences go out to the friends and family of Ed Coleman. Ed was an architectural guru for LOF for many many years and major player in the Southeast. While I did not know Mr. Coleman those that did spoke glowingly of him and he will obviously be missed.
-- From the good news side… Congratulations to the Surma family as Scott and wife Anj welcomed their newest addition on Monday night- baby boy Cooper. As far as I know everyone is doing well and I am very happy for the ever expanded Surma clan. Meanwhile, there is probably no truth to the rumor that little Cooper Surma already has a line of binky’s and diapers and has been setting contacts with all of the other babies in the nursery. Man if the son has the dad’s energy- look out.

-- By the way, check the comment left on last week’s post about the Lehman Brothers debacle. I will cover in more detail next week- but it’s a great “food for thought” comment and more proof that we are vulnerable in so many areas and in so many ways.

-- I am truly humbled when I meet people who have been reading the blog and mention it to me in person. I ran into one of them at the show- Michael Burriss of Cytec- nice meeting you and thanks again for reading. Of course I was also fortunate enough to run into one of my favorite people Stanley Yee as well there- along with so many other good folks who follow along with my “therapy” on line here. August by the way I had my best traffic of 08- not sure why- possibly the fun and frivolity of the NFRC meeting, but in any case- thank you

Off to the LINKS….

I had terrible internet access in Dallas for some reason, so I am way behind, but thanks to my good friend BGO- I have links to share. So thanks again Brigid!

-- Green is everywhere and now we have the Top 5 “Green” Cities… check em out here.

-- Can you believe a hockey game ended with a score of 82-0? Well one did… I am amazed, I mean after a while wouldn’t it just get old scoring like crazy? Shouldn’t there be a mercy rule?


Video of the Week:


And yet another kudo to BGO- you may have heard about all of the parachuting screw ups in College football recently… well captured on video is this classic from Cincinnati… big time ooops…