Time flies

Humor me this week please, as I start off with a quick reflection… It was an e-mail conversation I was having with Rodger Ruff of AGC that hit home for me this week.  I made a comment that we are living in a crazy world and he replied along the lines of that his Dad just shakes his head all of time anymore at the antics and goings on in our society.  At that point it made me think, as I often do, of my own father, who now has been gone for 11 years, the anniversary of his passing actually this week.  My Dad would’ve never jumped on the computer to read this blog, I am sure my Sister would’ve been printing it out every week, and faxing it to him so he could read it the way he wanted to.  My Dad would’ve also been amazed but actually not surprised at the adventures in the industry.  As many old timers could tell you, a lot of what we have seen these last few years is a repeat of the past.  My Dad would be beaming with pride over the way his oldest son (my brother Steve) had survived frustrating times to land beautifully on his feet.  He would be tickled but still in awe over the fact that after many years in the glass business my sister would actually find her true calling on the floor at Nordstrom.  And obviously he’d would be shaking his head all of the time at my antics… and if he was around today and reading this post, he’d tell me to quit it, so I’ll move on, but know this I miss the man pretty badly.  He left this crazy world way too soon.

Elsewhere…

This past week there was a regional glass show in Texas and I stopped on through.  A few comments… 

--  One of the main speakers was from the National Association of Home Builders and he was very interesting.  He did note that many of the economic indicators are moving in the right direction, just not anywhere near where they have to be.  The most fascinating stat was how they track the housing markets.  6 months ago, only 12 of these areas were positive in three main economic indicators they use.  Today 101 are positive in all 3.  Again a long way to go since that’s only a third of the areas in the study, but that is improvement…

--  Also got to see and hear the fiery & passionate Deron Patterson of PPG.  That is one dude that can bring it.  Jeremy Kaeding of SAGE was impressive in his presentation as well.  While there it was great to run into old friends Greg Oehlers and Jack Wickstrom, looking dapper in their Tri Star Glass gear.  As I noted last week about Bob Larson joining Premier Glass Products and the great team they have, I was able to see a lot of that team, including for the first time in a quite a while the always classy Larry Long.  Nice to run into Bob Cummings of Trulite.  Have not seen him in a while, and he continues to be the most optimistic and friendly guy around.  Even to me!  Last it was great to see Bob Lawrence in person.  I get to e-mail him from time to time, but nothing beats seeing such a good person face to face.

-- I finished the Steve Jobs autobiography this week on the planes (2 planes NO INTERNET.  Ouch!) and it was solid though not spectacular.  If the book could’ve just been a case study of his business life it would’ve been perfect. 

--  Last this week, a neat stat on candy… Highest volume candy sales in the US in 2011.  Snickers 470M, followed by M&M’s 383M and Reese’s at 343M.  Wow, just imagine what those M&M numbers could’ve been if I wasn’t on a diet first 6 months of the year!  But seriously, those are some mind numbing numbers.

LINKS of the WEEK

--  Crazy and idiotic… ignoring no trespassing signs and urban exploring doesn't end well.

--  Check out this one, a woman is mad when she is told she has to pay for a ticket for her 10 WEEK old baby at the movies.  So many issues here, but check out the pictures, that kid looks older than 10 weeks to me and a movie ticket still cheaper than a babysitter…

--  Even as a proud Ohio Bobcat, I would never approach a REAL bobcat… yet this woman did and paid the price… and honestly she deserved it.  Never understand why people don’t listen…

VIDEO of the WEEK

You may have heard about the glass that fell on a player at the end of an NHL Playoff game… here is the video evidence!  Wild.