The Circus of 2016

While I am always looking ahead with a positive approach I can tell you one thing I am dreading… the 2016 Presidential election.  This is going to be a wild and probably bizarre ride thanks to more media (with more social and electronic than ever) and more candidates.  And with all of this extra attention will come extra noise and hyperbole.  Simply said it’s going to be a circus.  But obviously, this election, like all major ones, has the potential to change the trajectory of the construction and glass world.  So getting to know the candidates, not only the presidential ones, but your congress and senator choices are crucial.  On a side note it has been good that some candidates have already been active in noting their positions with regards to the building industry, so at least that’s not getting lost in the other adventures that come up during events like these.

Elsewhere…

Some more lists for you… you know how much I love them…

--  The great folks from SaveOnEnergy.com did a fascinating one on “Which States Care Most About the Environment”  They used Google trends to develop it and the study was broken up into several categories which you can see HERE.  It’s a different way to see who’s interested and there were certainly some surprises. 

--  The other list I have for you is something that I think everyone who reads this blog can have an opinion on.  “The Worst Freeways in America” Here’s the top 12 and if you want to read the rest of the story, the link is HERE.

12-   I-95 and I-195 in Providence- No experience here.

11-   1-76/Schuylkill in Philly- I assume my pal Ted Bleecker may have an opinion on this

10-   I-376-Parkway East/West in Pittsburgh- Yep.  Horrendous, grew up there

9-     I-880 in San Jose

8-     I-80 in San Francisco – I guess the roads in NoCal are NoFun

7-     I-35 in Austin- I never thought it was that bad, then again I’m not there a lot

6-     I-635/LBJ Dallas- This is too low.  Dallas roads and traffic are brutal

5-     I-70 in Denver- In the Winter its like a demolition derby

4-    The 405 in LA- Very little experience here but I am sure my friends in SoCal can vouch for it or is the reputation worse than the reality?

3-    610 Loop in Houston- I think this should flip positions with Dallas

2-    I-10 in New Orleans- I have never been to New Orleans, which is nuts considering there’s always shows and events there.

And the worst freeway in the US... is

I-66 in Washington DC- A very worthy champion!  Not a fun road in any way, shape or form!

One big omission in the US?  How are none of the freeways that run through Boston on here?  And by the way for my Canadian friends… the traffic in Toronto and Vancouver is mind blowingly bad.  So both would be at the top of this list if it included the great country of Canada.

--  The new Apple HQ continues to get further along in construction and Forbes this week had an update.   So far so good, and that is one place I will make every effort to get to when done, just to see it all.  Thanks to the great twitter feed of @JohnLWheaton1 for the heads up.

--  Next week I’ll be unveiling some of the names and companies that were nominated for the 2015 Industry MVP.  The winner however will not be in that list… I’ll lay that out in December.  By the way some excellent nominees as there’s certainly a lot of good people and companies in our world right now.

LINKS of the WEEK

--  Really bizarre piece here… woman gets drunk, busts into a zoo, and goes to pet a tiger.  Not the best of decisions. 

--  This could be a companion to my road story above… but with a great halloween spin!

--  Also similar to the above- on elections and politicians.  This freshman Senator gets it.

VIDEO of the WEEK

Congrats to the Kansas City Royals and their fans on the World Series title.  Very happy that it was a Blue October for them.  Video of the week was a hype video created for the Royals BEFORE the playoffs began this year- but uses awesome music from Jorge Quintero so it’s the video of the week!