Off topic - Sports Time

While there's probably tons of good things to grasp in the glass and aluminum industry- my other passion.. sports really has taken center stage.

First.. baseball.. and the Detroit Tigers.

I live outside of Detroit and even though I grew up in Pittsburgh and will always be a Pirate fan, living the last 9 years here made in to a Tiger fan and obviously today I am pretty pumped.

The Tigers miracle series win over the Yankees was simply amazing. No one, and I mean NO ONE in Detroit thought these guys had a snowballs chance in beating the might Yankees.

The celebration afterward ws proof of that- it was one of those "oh my we did it" types of releases. And it was unreal.

Now onto Oakland, where Tiger fans can only hope that the boys don't come out flat against a very good A's team.

Meanwhile, probably lost in the whole TO debate yesterday was that the Steelers.. defending SuperBowl champs are in deep trouble after losing to the Chargers.

Basically the Steelers have to go 10 and 2 the rest of the way.. and thats a tall order.. plus those 2 losses can not come against the Ravens or really anyone in the AFC....

On the bright side if any team can string together victories, its Pittsburgh... but it just seems like Bill Cowher is not into it...

Anyway that's my off topic dump- next time in we'll get back to glass and aluminum and all of the adventures that come with it...

Hope everyone is well...

Back Again

Yes, and sorry again for the delays in posting. Been very hectic around the industry right now. Everyone is seemingly very busy- which is good.

The recent GlassBuild show is now in the books- lots of people on hand- Vegas can really draw them in. Hopefully that is a good sign for our 2007 BEC conference- its one you do not want t o miss.

NFRC wise I have to be quiet. However not sure if anyone noticed that at the IEC code hearings last week, an alternative path to NFRC using AAMA 507 was voted down. No surprise except for the fact that the IEC allowed 2 committee members, who are also NFRC Board guys, to be able to vote and control the hearing.

Amazing. What's more to be said than that? Is there anyone out there at that level that is not awash in massive conflicts of interest? Anyone?

China wise, the show in Vegas really showed that the Chinese are coming strong. Shame is that many people will buy into it, bringing more Chinese influence to the states, and eventually hurting the industry. One glass shop owner told me he had no issues with the Chinese and that if they were low, then that's his supplier. Oh well, that is surely his choice- but at the end of the day this will not be good. The glass shop may not suffer like the installer, but it still will be troublesome.

Hopefully now that things are mellowing I can keep up with this better. Its funny, a comment was made about me to one of my co workers- the guy said "doesn't he have better things to do with his time?" and Yes its true- I do, but I enjoy the communication of this blog and what spurs from it.

Are you ready for some....

FOOTBALL?

Well its time. I was asked by a few people to jump on in with some football precitions, since all of my others have been so awful- must be betting the opposite.

I guess also since everything I write on here gets scrutinized to the extreme, I have to at least have a breather post!

Anyway here goes:

NFC-

By the way I have typed "NFRC" so many times my fingers are conditioned to type that instead of NFC. Comical.


NFC East- TO will implode in Dallas- no way he can stay calm with the Tuna. Philly may surprise but I am not convinced Westbrook is healthy and that is a major key. The Skins are a mess and if they don't get off fast, I have a feeling that Joe Gibbs will wanna be racin' again. The pick is the Giants- with great running in Tiki and Jacobs and another year under Eli Mannings belt.

NFC North- Terrible division overall. Minnesota will be nightmarish. Its time for Favre to hang em up in Green Bay and the Lions simply have too many holes- though their schedule is verrry easy. The pick here is Da Bears. Their awesome D easily makes up for the weaknesses of the offense.

NFC South- The opposite of the North- its tremendous. New Orleans will be better with Brees and the awesome rookie Bush. Atlanta is strong but I am not a fan of their coach and his usage of Mike Vick. Tampa can always count on their D and hopefully Caddy can take them far. The pick though is Carolina- they have balance on Offense and a tough D.

NFC West- San Fran should be in the NFC North they are so bad. The Rams could be just as bad. Arizona will be scary on offense- their passing game is lethal and add Edge to it, wow. The pick is easy though- Seattle.. just too much balance and talent.

In the AFC-

AFC East- The Jets are long way from coming back to respectability, but they may catch the Bills. The Bills though should get a better season from Willis McGahee now that knuckleheaded coach Mike Mularkey is gone. Miami will contend because of their combo of Brown and Chambers at the skillset. But the pick: New England. Their D won't be as good as in the past, but their O is awesome.

AFC North- Cleveland lives under a jinxed sign, but theyare ammasing some talent. Look out for Winslow Jr. Baltimore is a shell of its self, even with a legit QB like McNair. My Steelers aren't getting any breaks this year- (they used them all up last year) and their schedule is simply brutal. The pick: Cincy. Palmer is amazing, the WR's are great and Marv Lewis can coach a D.

AFC South- Houston will be getting better because of Kubiak. Tennessee is getting worse and worse. Jacksonville is not pretty but effective. However none of them can hang with Indy. Peyton & Co. are a machine and the D, that gets no respect, is very very good.

AFC West- Oakland will bring up the rear in a very tight race. KC will not be as good as last year. San Diego has to hope and pray that Phillip Rivers is at least decent. The pick: Denver is a toss up really- they always, somehow, find a way.

Overall the AFC is so much better than the NFC it is scary.

Playoffs:

NFC: Carolina over Seattle in a reverse of last year

AFC: Indy over Cincy

SuperBowl- Indy. Peyton gets his first SuperBowl.

Quiet on NFRC but loud on....

Sorry for the delay, I was advised that I needed to be quiet on the NFRC issue for a while and well I guess I forgot I can write about other things while that situation plays out.

Anyway, did you catch the acquisition of Antamex by Oldcastle?

Interesting as Antamex is one of North America's largest glaziers. They are a powerhouse on the install side and now Oldcastle can install right along with their customers!

I think right now since everyone is so busy, no one will care that their competitor is selling them product- but at the first downturn, lookout.

Then again Harmon and Viracon have been "out" for years and it doesn't matter. I don't know how that plays. One time, back in the good ole days of the one and only Perilstein Distributing, we had a driver named Billy Eichler. Billy one day was asked by a glazier to "help" because they had some guys off. So Billy being the guy he is, hopped right in and "helped" this customer install some glass. Well don't ya know it but one of that customers competitors happened to drive up on the job and saw our guy Billy humping units into the holes.

Well all hell broke loose.

But I guess actually installing is worse than sharing quotes and trying to steer business to sister companies?

Last note-

I wanted to give props to a former co worker- Bruce Mikels of BDM was one of the featured folks in the latest edition of US Glass as one of the nations best manufacturers reps. He simply deserves all of the kudos he can get. He is not a sit at home guy who waits for the phone to ring- he is a hustler who built a great business and I am proud to say I worked with him at one time.

I know Bruce is a reader of this blog so that makes him great too! But in any case, Bruce is proof that a manufacturers rep can impact your business in a positive manner.

Enron and Spam

Hope everyone is well...

Watched the movie "Smartest Men in the room" yesterday- very interesting look into the whole Enron mess. Well done piece and just mind blowing what those guys did. The effect they had on California's energy issues was huge. No wonder that California WANTS regulation like the NFRC because obviously when Enron had their way, everyone suffered.

One part especially was comical. The traders at Enron would just call a power plant and TELL THEM to power down... and THEY WOULD! Simply insane. Anyway it is a great rental and is also a tragic story of men ripping off so many people... Sad that it lasted so long and it was really somewhat accidental that a journalist would not drink the Enron kool aid and called them on it- that helped start the unraveling.

Good stuff.

As for spam, comically this blog is getting spammed robotically. Not that any of you care, but its amazing that there is an actual spam program that can search and work the blogs. Isn't technology great!

Why is this even happening?

I think I may have covered it before but after the USGNN piece came out I got several e-mails about why the NFRC even is doing a non res program.

Well that is a great question.

I would love to give the answer, except I do not know... and neither does the NFRC... and that is why when this thing starts to involve lawyers, it will get much uglier than my cute little blog.

Lets look back.

When the question was first asked of then NFRC Chair Marv Stover... he replied, on NFRC letterhead that the NFRC had a mandate from congress to implement this program. Except they did not. And the NFRC knew it and when they were called on it the story was changed.

That changed story happened in Chicago. I happened to ask NFRC board member Gary Curtis why this was happening. He replied "The codes" Except the codes were not and have not demanded it. In fact at that meeting Greg Carney had evidence to prove such. The evidence freaked out many NFRC loyalists- in fact former board member Ken Nittler studied his code book from cover to cover, I guess hoping to find the magic connection.

Ok so on the scoreboard its:

Need: 0 Wrong Excuses: 2

So what happens next, well the NFRC says "California needs it" and bam that is enough to get it rolling... plus with career code folks like John Hogan working the code side as well as the police side, its just a matter of time before they make Gary Curtis' assertation true.

Side note- John Hogan works for the city of seattle, yet travels literally all over the world for NFRC and other code issues. Damn. Wish the taxpayers of seattle would subsidize me. I think he even went to India on behalf of one of these groups... its insane.

Anyway, so that's why this thing is still living and breathing. But alas, more people are getting into it now. BOMA is now interested in this unnecessary program that will affect their members and I would have to think that the DOE has a renewed interest in the process given the continued chaos surrounding it.

Plus there's more articles and speeches coming- so the spotlight will be shining.

Anyway, so that's the story behind it. It may get pushed through and people may have to follow it, but eventually it will be challenged- especially if its a pork ridden, profit machine that it has the potential to be.

An interesting experience

Well I have been to a few NFRC meetings in my past but never a membership meeting. Well this week, I got to go and it was interesting to say the least.

First and foremost you are blown away by the sheer amount of acronyms.
PCP, CMA, LAP, AEP, ACE, and so on. Your head spins as you try and follow some of these things.

Then you are amazed at how far their grasp is. They are working on rating storm doors and windows... Isn't that somewhat crazy? Then again I am not in that world, but I look at my $50 storm door and I see the price going up because of future NFRC labeling. Yippee

As for the main issues, it was un eventful because in classic political style alot of discussion took place outside the room. Why? Because inside the room there's a handful of people who simply love to hear themselves talk and waste significant time doing so. Plus there's people who may look like they are on one "side" and yet they are working close with the other- so that can be public can it?

The thing that was most apparent this meeting was the labs desires to be dominant in the process thus holding their significant revenue stream. The NFRC is their bread and butter in some cases and they are in no mood to give ANY ground. The labs were in a fighting mood so much so that the meeting was stopped for 25 minutes while legal had to clarify a voting snafu. Why the delay, well the labs could not believe they ended on the wrong side of a few votes and instead of letting it fly (they've NEVER lost- so its a new experience) they noticed that their was a problem with the voting involving proxies. When the lawyer was rustled from his room, and figured out what went wrong their was only 1 vote that was affected by the snafu and the re vote ended up RE AFFIRMING the original position.

Needless to say, they would not have paid any mind to this snafu if the votes were coming out on their side.

See but the big thing is NONE OF THIS MATTERS. The board and can and will impose whatever it feels is best. Meaning days like yesterday may be good for debate but nothing more because the Board will eventually make the call. The only difference is more people are watching this board than ever before. Aside from knuckleheads like me, you know have the DOE more interested, as well as BOMA, certain congresspeople and of course the media.

The NFRC knows they must be transparent- they have too much at stake.

So what do I think will happen going forward?
Well work will be done by a task group on this process, meanwhile others will be working the other angles... and we'll all be Virginia in November.

By the way, in the near future, the NFRC will have to figure out yet another excuse for why they even are having this program as that challenge is coming. Remember Marvin Stover former Chair lied in a letter to the membership of GANA that this program was created because of a mandate from congress (Which he and the board knew they did not) then the reason was the codes (nope) and now its because of their "subsidiary" CEC needing it.

Guess what that won't wash.

Anyway it was a special experience all the way around- so much to write about and cover- so after i review some notes I may write some more. Plus doing it on here saves me from having to write it individually to everyone who asked for a report.

Minnesota

Well we are coming up on the NFRC meeting in Minnesota and I noticed no one from the 'reputation salvation" firm that the NFRC hired will be there.

I did notice that they have some parties that are attending probably to show off how great they are... and in some areas they do serve a purpose... but since they make no apparent effort to understand commercial glazing unless certain key members of NFRC can either make a profit or do it for the sake of "doing it" hope these guests are not commercial related because even they will see the trainwreck for what it is.

I can't believe Clark and Weinstock is not going to be there. Damn.

Hey but US Glass and Glass Magazine WILL be there so Potomac can not control the content of the meeting like they have done in the past... so a true accounting will come. I do not know the writer coming from US Glass but I do know the one from Glass Magazine and she is a very level headed and talented writer- so rest assured a fair and reliable account will come through!

((For those of you new to this- the best of Potomac is on display from an October 05 meeting that none other than Deb Levy, esteemed publisher of US Glass Magazine attended and wrote up a piece about. Then Potomac put ut their fiction piece... amazing... like it was 2 totally different meetings... well you can't say Potomac doesn't earn their huge $$$$$ from NFRC!))

LIVE from New York

Just finished reading a tremendous book called "Live From New York" by Tom Shales. It was about Saturday Night Live and its history... great inside stories. The book is a few years old, so it can be found in paperback.
If you were or are a fan of the show it gives you a great insight on how it was born and how it survived and grew.
The drug use from the 70's and of course the sad deaths of belushi, Farley and Phil Hartman are covered there as well. Tons of interesting stuff.

On that same note, Jay Mohr also wrote a book about his time on SNL that I read called "Gasping for Airtime" and that too was great... very in depth about the 2 years he was involved in the show.

Anyway, some light book talk on the blog today instead of my normal militant angle!

Happy Fourth of July!

Happy Independence day to all of you in the USA. Hope everyone who has the day off enjoys it.

As day like the 4th has a lot of meaning... and I think most adults have an idea of that.

Anyway, we have a lot to be thankful for in this country and in North America as a whole. Hopefully continued safety and no terror will shake our borders our effect our lives and may that extend throughout the world, as peace should be everyones priority.

Meanwhile our efforts to do the best we can continue. The NFRC meets at the end of July in what should be an interesting meeting. They'll have their expensive PR firms and reputation managers on site to spin the reason why they (meaning certain board members who control the NFRC) want to make big profits on the back of the "public" they supposedly serve. Those firms will also keep trying to work over the DOE and the various politicos to keep their funding alive so they can pass those funds on to like minded (read organizations that they all belong to) to do "training" instead of research.

You would never believe the amount of e-mail and comments I get on the money that the NFRC gave to Gary Curtis to "train" architects. Everyone from DOE to NFRC poo poo this as "oh that's no big deal.. its needed.. yadda yadda" but they do not realize that the public can see right through it- so when money is needed to come up with a program to group aluminum frames, so that the cost and time is not stupendous- that must go through a vote. But when a fellow Board member needs the money- it just gets done. Amazing.

I got an e-mail a week ago that hammered me bad about this blog.. "no one reads it, no one cares.. bloah blah" Well I can tell you while the hits dropped a bit when I was off working, they have not gone away, and in fact we've had some solid spikes. People do read and they do comment- and I know people like Potomac probably have this in their Favorite Places to see when I will mention Leonard or Kristine again. But seriously the point is, the NFRC can continue to pound forward, ignore the public it serves and try and create a self serving, expensive program because their sisters in California "asked for it" but they have no idea of the steps that will take place going forward.

As for California- that is the biggest joke in the land. Shame is that no one will take it on, but I will. Plain and simple, NFRC had no mandate or direction to do this program. Actually they STILL DON'T! But they had their puppets in California "ask" them to create and system and SHAZAM we're all busting butt to get this done.

Its a joke.

Oh well.. and see I started this post with hopes of peace....

anyway, Happy 4th...

Cardinal Low E

Did you see the press release that Cardinal is out with a new Low E?

Sounds great but it will interesting to see if it gets legs on the commercial side. Cardinal is strong residential wise, but has not hit it big commercially.

New Technology

As promised, I will also cover other subjects aside from NFRC. (Also a thanks to the many people who have re-visited the last few days- that stats and the e-mails to me were very encouraging and appreciated!)

So today I have to alert you on a cool "new" technology. Its DECOTHERM... (Ok and before you start hammering that this is an Arch only thing it is not, the folks at Oldcastle have it too)

Decotherm is simply the way to go when you want designs on glass. It is superior to sandblast and silkscreen. Check out www.decotherm.net as they explain in more detail and better than me.

But I will say this, at the last few trade shows I have worked, designers have been simply enthralled with Decotherm and what they can do with it. So if you are a glazier and you end up with a decorative spec that wants a custom sandblast or silkscreen- you need to go to Decotherm.

And yes, this is somewhat of an ad (unlike the NFRC I admit when I shill) but I honestly think this process is a winner and the people who have used it will agree.

Interesting

Another interesting note that came from the NFRC recently was they announced the hiring of a lobbyist named Clark & Weinstock.

Clark & Weinstock, according to their own website is:

Clark & Weinstock is a consulting firm that specializes in reputation and crisis management, regulatory issues, mergers and acquisitions, public affairs, government and financial relations, and investment community relations.
Our work involves the positive positioning of clients and their important issues with the institutions, individuals, and audiences that will influence the outcome of client objectives.

Wow I love the line "reputation and crisis management" See because I have been told my efforts on this issue are a "joke" but yet I did not need to hire a firm that specializes in reputation management!

This is fun... the NFRC said in their release that C&W have a history of representing "non profits" and I am sure they do. But when you look at the list of companies that these people rep, sure don't look like non profit to me...

Microsoft, AT&T, Lockheed Martin, Xcel Energy, New York Life and so on. Yes they do handle some non profits but its surely not in the same light that they handle these folks.

So why does NFRC need them? In his release Jim Benney noted that federal funding of fenestration related groups have been declining. And in the NFRC's case IT SHOULD! Any money that the DOE or federal govt gives NFRC is $1 more than it deserves. So really our tax payer money can go to people like Potomac? Or how about a cool 60K to a NFRC Board member for "research." They get money from DOE already and who knows what is done with it- getting anymore is simply insane.

Not only that, the NFRC with its fees and charges is having no problems making money. If they need to make money, here's a novel idea:
How about charge the people like WestLab and Keystone, WHO MAKE MONEY because of their relationship with NFRC more than $400? Maybe those firms who stand to make money on inspections and testing and the various procedures enacted by NFRC should start paying more for the privledge.

So they hire these guy.. Obviously there's something more there. But then again anyone who is inside the NFRC thinks that all is merry and I am just nuts. Which I am for the most part, but logic would win this battle and believe me any logical human would look at this group and just shake their head.

So Clark and Weinstock, welcome. You won't have nearly the opposition that you have when you represent Microsoft, or the Pharmaceutical Research folks, but you will a find a few with passion to at least raise their voices.

By the way one more item... What sounds more expensive:

Las Vegas in February at $109 per night or Hawaii in March or Quebec City in July.. At dramatically more. Ok just curious.

Postings

I guess after taking some time off I am having problems getting posts to accept... working on it.

SORRY!!!!!!!

Well I am sorry that it has been so long. I apologize.

A few things...

1. It was quiet on a lot of fronts NFRC and business wise but very busy for me in the Arch world of things. At the end of the day my family eats because of Arch. (because I don't have a revenue stream like the NFRC or Potomac)

2. I am back.

Ok a few things, on the return, I will cover more than NFRC... I will talk China, softcoats, and other issues. Thank you to everyone who e-mailed or called me and asked what my problem was and why I was not blogging.

But as always I have to start with NFRC....

In the last few weeks they came out with several items and over the next few days I'll look at themm. First and foremost, lets look at the resignation of Bipin Shah from the NFRC so he could start his own company.

Bipin is a very nice guy, no doubt and that being a nice guy allowed him to resign NFRC and start his own business with one new customer right off the bat- NFRC! As the saying goes "well aint that just special" (Church Lady Saturday Night Live). Wow what a stunner huh, and Bipin gets to still lead parts of the Non res process while making profits above board. yep NFRC really looking out for the public eh?

See this is a classic example of what is wrong with them- now, all of those fee's which for some go into the THOUSANDS of dollars go to paying someone to do work that staff was doing and this guy is free to help lead the program in a direction that may benefit him further financially. I guess the NFRC was tired of me harping on them making profit so they farmed out a part to their own.

How does this make sense?

There's other great nuggets that I will address in the next few days...

Will any of this make a difference you ask.. probably not, but we can try. The one thing I know is that people who are married to the NFRC are completely blind to what is going on. they make wild and bizarre statements (amazingly much worse than me) but they know they are covered because they are the Pit Bull in this fight. they have potomac and as you will find out they have another giant in their corner (wonder what they are afraid of...)

Anyway its good to be back!

Been Awhile

Yep took some time away from this beat- but now back on it... with a few questions...

1. Why is Marv Stover still listed on the NFRC website as a BOD? Why are they not replacing him? See the reason they released was they'll wait til the next election, but that did not stop them when Kate Offringa resigned last year- alot later than Marv... ah yes, you gotta love a group that prides itself of transparency... oh yeah that would not be Potomac/NFRC.

2. How about no updated minutes since the secret 2/9 meeting on line. Once again I guess they feel that Potomac's hokey "Comminque" fits that bill. Oh we'll just put out some stuff, give it a french name and sign Jim's name to it... everyone will eat it up!

3. Love the fact they always mention that the California Energy Commision is a "customer" of the NFRC. Man if we had "customers" like that I would not have to work. I do see that Potomac now is smart enough not to quote Tony Rygg anymore when they put out their pathetic releases... yes they have propped up Nelson Pena. Good stuff... yep that makes it much more legit.

You know I think Potomac should go to work for the President- the way they spin and use subtle and what would normally be weak scare tactics (that amazingly WORK! our trade orgs are simply pathetic... scared to death of the Potomac machine... congrats on that Potomac!) I think Bush and the GOP could have Michael Moore begging for mercy. C'mon Kristine, Leonard... you could make more than 100 grand working for the GOP... all the money would still be coming from the same place!

Why I do it

Got an e-mail recently and asked why I spend my free time.. or any time, writing about the NFRC issue.

Simple. How they go about their business is wrong. The bias towards profiteering members, lack of inclusions, the amazing lack of transparency and the overall arrogance drives me.

All you have to do is attend a meeting or read the past minutes and you become the same as I.

You know like this nugget from the Quebec City meeting last July:

--------------
G. Carney encouraged the NFRC Board to get knowledgeable on materials as they study the commercial fenestration marketplace. A. Ward asked that he bring forth all perspectives of that market place, not just his organization's.
-----------------
G Carney for those of you who don't know is Greg Carney and he is one of the industries best technical people (and one of the most respected I must add) He asked for a simple request, one that SHOULD OF BEEN EMBRACED but was not only shot down in public, but then immortalized in the minutes. Of course Greg was there on behalf of an "organization" but I think.. no I know, it can be clearly stated that Greg was speaking for the ENTIRE GLAZING MARKETPLACE when he asked that request. But in classic, lack of inclusion, lack of transparency Potomac Puppet land of NFRC they have to shoot down what could've been a helpful resource- Then again, if they would take the time- then it would become TOO obvious that their plan is flawed, redundant and unnecessary and quite frankly on advice of supercounsell Scott Meza, they don't want to know that.

So I keep hammering- and will keep at it- until a program is developed that makes sense and TRULY BENEFITS the public- I won't stop.

The Board

Well the latest edition of USGNN came out today and it had the Marv Stover resignation from the NFRC Board on it.

Of course they are not going to replace him.. I mean the elections are JUST AROUND THE CORNER.. you know in NOVEMBER. Yet last year when Kate Offringa resigned, in June, they quietly replaced her....

Consistent.

Plus you have to wonder when Marv really resigned- love that timing, right after the last election- almost like they kept him propped up to get another year of utter and total board dominance.

Anyway LOVE that transparency gang. I am sure Kristine and Potomac are in full alert mode right now spinning like crazy.

Plus they also had the blurb about the 30K for education to CWI and Gary Curtis. Still not grasping why NFRC could not do this "education" themselves.

Oh well.. the beat goes on.

Where's Marvin Stover?

Hey Kristine, Leonard and the gang at Potomac.... where's Marvin Stover?

Let's see he is not on the NFRC letterhead anymore and evidently does not work for Mikron anymore.

So he's off the board right? So when does the NFRC Board put another one of their own in for him? C'mon are you vetting candidates? Is Harriet Miers available?

See if the NFRC were serious about the commercial process a true commercial supplier or someone with commercial ties would get that spot-

Or maybe someone who cares a ton, like Tom Culp?

Nope, you can almost guarantee that it will be someone who is controllable by the powers that be. Heck Kristine you should take the job- you already set all the policy...

Amazing that transparency...

Still Plugging

I can't let another week go by without at least blogging something....

So...

The Hoops have been good.. some good upsets but at the end of the day teams like UCONN and BC are good- question is how Memphis, UCLA and Texas will fare...

Baseball is just around the corner. awesome.

On NFRC, not sure theres much to write about- today I am melancholy... I think maybe Potomac is winning... heck they make 100k+ and I don't.

I am sure I will get my second wind, plus other shoes will fall I am sure, but today, amazingly, for the first time since I have started this whole issue, I am not into it. I really believe that trying to take on a machine like Potomac is unhealthy- I mean you can never get anything published because they are everywhere, probably threatening the lives and careers of anyone if they dare print a dissenting or in some cases the REAL VIEW!

Heck you can't look any further than to last August and the Atlanta task group meeting, Potomac put out a release about the meeting and it was like a fairy tale- but they have the power- I have a blog.

I won't give up.