And off and running!

Welcome to From the Fabricator… if this is your first time here, I’ll give you a quick primer… for those of you old hands at reading this, go ahead and skip to the next paragraph… Since 2005, this blog has been a week to week take on the glass industry with some smattering of other subjects mixed in. It’s a therapy session really as I get to tackle angles that could be positive or negative to your world and I also try to shine the spotlight on the good people in the industry as well. My pet subjects are China and the NFRC, but I also love to take on the DOE, code bodies, and bad trade show booths. Basically this is not a traditional blog but a lead story followed by quick nuggets, links and ending with a video that can help you not think about business for a couple of minutes. If you want to catch up, feel free to scroll below or click on the links on the right side… and if you have comments you can leave them, or feel free to e mail me direct at maxbcat@aol.com . So now in the words of boxing ref and judge Mills Lane… “Let’s git it on!”

Top story this week is the code battle that will have an effect on your business. If you have not heard about what is going on with ASHRAE and the move (among others) to cut down the square footage that glass could have in a building, you need to start boning up on it asap. A good breakdown can be found HERE. The main issue at hand here is that glass does not get the respect it deserves and now people are looking to take advantage of that. The positive news is the industry is pretty united in their efforts to work through these issues. The bad news is that we still are outflanked all over. The key now is to try and stop the bleeding… slow the crazier notions of anti glass crusaders (which include FtF fave John Hogan, who from his perch as an employee of the City of Seattle somehow has nationwide powers) and continue to grow new technologies that can meet the standards being set. Hopefully the industry efforts will keep from our square footage getting reduced anymore than it is, or else we’re all headed to the brick and masonry industry.

Elsewhere…

-- Nice pairing alert... Saw the announcement on the hook up between Agalite Shower Doors and Guardian and their ShowerGuard product. This is a great matchup without a doubt as both have tremendous reputations in the industry and both make a quality product.

-- According to a new report from Reed Construction Data, the construction materials market is now stabilizing. Hopefully this is a trend that will stick and not a blip that will be reversed 3 months from now. But it does bear watching….

-- Speaking of watching, there are not a lot of things better than playoff hockey… and that kicks off this week in the NHL. Sadly I don’t think my beloved Penguins have the juice this year to get it done… so the picks here (and remember I am now on fire coming off my Duke winner in the NCAA) are Washington and Vancouver… with Ovechkin and company raising the Cup in June… (yes playoff hockey takes 2 months!)

-- This week is the NFRC spring meeting in New Orleans (sponsored by the Chinese….oy) and I do hear several big players are going back to the meetings for the first time in a while. Hopefully I’ll get some feedback to share… the big issue is probably where the CMA program is now and where it’s going. Basically it’s still looking like the Titanic….lots of issues to be worked out there… woulda been so much easier if the program was allowed to have true input from the people who are stuck with it instead of grandstanding by labs and folks like John Hogan. Also woulda been easier if they rolled it out in parts and pieces and worked out the kinks… but that didn’t happen, that iceberg is dead ahead!

-- Check this out from my friend and former industry mate, Drew Vass. He has a pretty incredible music career coming along and he created this pretty awesome website to show off the talent. Click on it and check it out and you can say you knew him when he picks up his first grammy. Dude has serious talent.

Off to the Links!

The “Link Chick” on fire again this week… good stuff below…

-- Getting a house from the reality show Extreme Makeover, Home Edition does guarantee you can keep it… foreclosures are happening…. Yikes. Next up, I am betting on lawsuits from “Undercover Boss”

-- This better not catch on… paying for your carry-on bags… Spirit Air is doing it and the logic is just stunning.

-- Where are the world’s newest architectural wonders? Check em out here!

Video of the Week:

Baseball opened this past week and you won’t see many plays as good as this one all season… Mark Buerhrle of the Chicago White Sox makes an insane play… last year he threw a perfect game… this year this web gem! (and the mix of announcers going crazy, very cool too)