Well the good ole 30/30 was back in the news this week. As you may remember when the 30/30 provision was snuck into the “Stimulus” earlier this year I railed pretty hard against it. (The 30/30 is the short name for a residential window program that can give up to $1500 in tax credits for windows that meet a .30 shading coefficient and .30 U value) Basically creating a one size fits all window program for a country that is FAR from being one size fits all lacked any and all logic. Amazingly it looks like more people agreed with me and now Washington is working on changing the program. All I can do now is laugh, as when it came out I was told how great the 30/30 was and how it was going to “save” the industry. Yep…it’s saving the industry just like the stimulus is saving jobs… ooops… but seriously no one with a clue could think that this was a good program right? It was snuck into the legislation at 3AM and no one with any insight or experience into the industry was consulted on it. My fellow blogger over at the awesome DWM (Door and Window Manufacturer Magazine) Jim Plavecsky had a tremendous take that I strongly recommend you check out HERE.
Elsewhere…
-- Yep sorry to go political but my gosh it sure gets frustrating…. And believe me I can go on and on and on… but we’ll save all of you from that wrath…
-- I saw the big coverage of McGraw Hill’s Outlook conference last week and the headlines all over was construction growth… (Most people trumpeted the 11% “growth”) but when I read inside the numbers it told me a different story… Commercial building is going down 4%, Institutional down another 2% and manufacturing buildings will go down 14%.... the “growth” comes from public works, utility construction, and residential. So while I am thrilled residential is slated to come back, the unfortunate part of the story is that the commercial industry could have another ugly year ahead.
-- Big game in the NFL this weekend… will the Vikings continue their amazing run? This week will be a tough test for Favre and the boys in Pittsburgh… and by the way I like Brett Favre for one reason… I am older than him, but he looks like 25 years older than me, so that makes me feel good. (He may be a great player, but I age better!!)
-- Congrats to Tom Huff and the gang from Mr. Go Glass as they were awarded the “Outstanding Outreach Award by the Delaware Department of Highway Safety” for promoting highway safety and awareness. They are a class company and I like to always prop folks that do things that put our industry in a positive light! Plus I have a soft spot for the family run business… good work folks!
-- I’m a big fan of Chris Mammen, owner of M3 Glass technologies… more so now when you read this blog post of his on the need for people to get involved in the on-going code battles in our industry. Good stuff… and good advice, if you don’t listen to a hack like me, listen to him…
-- I got this story from a bunch of people.. it’s the classic shower door glass “blowing” up that the local TV stations just love to cover. The reason most people sent it to me was they are convinced it has to be Chinese glass… but the funny thing I took from it was that the glass shop guy HAD to be misquoted when he said he didn’t think tempered glass could break…
-- Last, welcome to yet another new Blogger… Rick Kalson is now keeping a blog with a focus on the legal arena. Rick has spoken at a few BEC’s, is a member of GANA and a true blue supporter of our industry and a good guy. And full disclosure, I played youth basketball with Rick and was sure he’d be the next Kevin McHale… but I guess being a legal eagle is not bad either…
Off to the links:
The “Link Chick” was on FIRE this week… some really cool linkage for you to check out below…
-- Check out the medals for the 2010 Winter Olympics…. Ummm aren’t they supposed to be round?
-- You know how you keep hearing that the Mayan’s say the world will end in 2012? Well now they say that’s not the case… Funny piece here as they have much bigger priorities than the earth’s demise. Actually the world ends when I become an NFRC Board member.
-- Insurance companies dropping Chinese drywall policies… sad stuff for people who got stuck with houses with this toxic junk in it.
-- Patrick Patterson, the true blue stud of “Lex Vegas” aka University of Kentucky, is a good man. Wow compare his deed to those of the other team in the state of Kentucky.. what a difference.
Video of the Week:
Last week’s video was Jamie Kennedy and the pool.. soon after I featured it, he broke up with his girlfriend Jennifer Love Hewitt… hmmm could it be a “From the Fabricator” love jinx? Anyway this week’s video is awesome, probably the most amazing shoot out goal you will ever see… and it was by a 9 year old! Could we be watching the next Sid Crosby here? Even if you don’t like hockey, give this video a whirl…
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