Weather taking its toll

Mother Nature showed her strength last week with the brutal storms in the Southeast and the combo storms in the Northeast. Add to that the rain out west and we have had some awful weather recipes lately. It’s pretty wild that so many things have an effect on our world, including the weather. Every day it seems like there’s something new and different that hit all of us more than other trades etc. Anyway I wonder if any of the analysts who develop future economic forecasting take weather into account. After all a rough run of terrible conditions, can surely be a negative driver. Hopefully Mother Nature has it out of her system!

Elsewhere

-- The FTC this week stepped up and ended the “Tested Green” certifications that found the products not tested or even “green”. The release from the FTC is HERE and it’s pretty interesting actually and good that it’s happened. The whole greenwash gig is good for no upstanding group, so having actions like this are a step in the right direction.

-- Didn’t get a ton of time at the Builder Show this past week… still some thoughts… show was smaller than traditionally… one vendor used the word “Slim” which kinda sounded right. Not sure how the bad weather up north affected it, but it probably did somewhat. Actually though I think this show has been “right sized”…. It was way too big and way too crazy and now it’s the way it should be. The happy days of midget Elvis performers in booths are long gone that’s for sure. Overall attitude was also leabing toward the negative, which surprised me since so many studies are showing positives for 2011. I guess we’ll see.

-- Speaking of reports there were a few more good ones about 2014 and so on with loose ties to our world. Not sure what the metrics are, but these reports sure are keeping people pumped up.
-- I saw that Senator Al Franken visited the gang at Viracon… I swear Viracon is becoming like the Iowa of the glass world. You know how when someone wants to run for President they have to go hang out in Iowa? Well I think if a political figure wants to hang around glass they go to Viracon. Congrats to those guys there attracting these folks in and also getting in their ears about the issues that are really affecting our industry.

-- Congrats to my friends from Walker Glass on their remodeled headquarters. All I can say is if that place looks as good as all of those guys dress… it is probably a showstopper!

-- Glass Magazine had a piece on Glass developed that’s stronger than Steel… It sounds pretty great, but supposedly it’s real expensive. I laughed at that line- hey just launch in our industry right now and watch with amazement as the price goes down… who cares what the cost is right?

-- Last… yep I can’t pick games- people who have been reading this blog since 2005 know that… and Oregon added to that pain. Anyway my mom says to me tonight- “So who do you like in next week’s game the Steelers or the Jets?” and before I could answer she jumped in and said “PLEASE DON’T PICK THE STEELERS! You’re always wrong!” Yep my picks have hit home now when my own Mom is aware her son is pure “Mush” when it comes to the picks. Now that said I do actually think the Jets will beat the Steelers. If the Steelers played the Pats it would be different but I think Rex Ryan and the Jets are a team of destiny and in the Super Bowl they’ll play the other team of destiny- the Bears. (The Bears have been getting breaks since week 1- it’s their year)

LINKS of the WEEK

-- This could be pretty cool… you put a price on your seat if your plane is overbooked. Curious to actually see this work.

-- Great piece on how the Sony Walkman changed the world.

-- This one I am not sure how I feel. The back story is a school district made phone calls to the families of their students letting them know school was delayed 2 hours. Snow day. Problem was the call was at 4:30AM. Anyway part of me would appreciate that call I guess. Still the story linked is about a father who DIDN’T like it and returned the favor.

VIDEO of the WEEK

Greg Carney (I should say the Long Lost Greg Carney, haven’t heard from him in a while- that’s what happens when you become a worldwide “must have” resource!) sent me this classic video of a retirement home talent show and three retirees doing Michael Jackson. Crazy. Actually a video of me doing the Michael Jackson Wii Video game would probably blow this away… well probably not, because these folks have talent! Thanks Greg for the video!