My, How Things Change......

It's always nice to post something when I am in a better mood and not stressed to the max. Why am I in a better mood, you might ask?

Well here are 10 reasons:

1.) Yesterday it snowed - Today it's sunny!
2.) The days are soooo much longer now!
3.) Even though it is cold, I can feel spring is on it's way!
4.) I have been able to go more than a full week without having to make a critical decision on the construction of El Edmonds Castillo.
5.) Even though the econcomy sucks, we are beginning to really pick up momentum at PGS.
6.) I now have the largest backlog of work for the crews since the fall of 2007.
7.) Even though I have lost a fortune in this slowdown I feel that I am a very fortunate man to have my team still intact at PGS.
8.) I am blessed with the most caring woman in the world to call my life partner!
9.) My children have all become amazing adults!
10.) I can run!!!!

I could continue but then it wouldn't be 10 reasons would it.

Cheers!!!

A Bit of Musing……

I've got a lot on my mind these days and thought I would muse a little on the ol' blog.

El Edmonds Castillo:

The house is coming along great. The metal siding mixed with the natural cedar shakes and cedar soffits combined with the mass of the concrete makes for a beautiful visual impression.

Interior finishing's should be getting started any time now. It will be interesting to see how each of the rooms feels once you can no longer see through the walls. The fireplace looks like it is going to be massive now that they have the basic framing for it completed. It didn't look nearly so large in the drawings. It will be an interesting feature and the focal point of the great room. Rock, glass, and copper…..

I'm still struggling with whether I want to add a steamer shower or not. I think if I had one I would use it but, if I didn't I wouldn't miss it. Adding the steamer would change the whole feel of the shower, it was designed as an open shower and if I add the steamer I will have to add a door. ??? I just don't know, but I need to decide soon.

We have settled on the Control4 whole house electronics control system. This will allow us to start with a fairly simple audio-electronics control system that can be upgraded in the future and still give us some pretty cool features right now. This system will allow us to control music/lights/thermostat/security for each room individually from anywhere in the house and eventually from remote locations through the internet.

We visited with the water feature contractor who will also be designing/building our patio fire pit. This guy is quite the artist with natural stone. His work looks so natural. He is working on putting together final costs for the pondless waterfall and the fire pit. Lucky for us, he is slow right now and is going to give us some price breaks from his initial estimates.

Allegro:

I got all of the new instruments installed. I washed the decks. I began doing a deep cleaning of the interior. My back hurts! One more long day on the boat and she should be ready for cruising once again. It is amazing how much less stressful it is to sit in the cockpit of a well sorted boat!

The Economy:

It sucks…. For me anyhow.

Business:

It is SLOW! I have got to figure out a better marketing plan. Mine doesn't work anymore. I'm not worried about staying in business but I am worried about how much more of a hit I'm going to have to take financially. I am also worried about how negatively my employees have been, and are going to be, affected and when they will give up and bail. At least I do have a couple of decent projects that kick off next week that will keep most of the guys busy for close to 2 months. Maybe in that time I can get some back log worked in and that will help carry us into the summer and busier times.

Personal Finances:

No…. Let's just not go there. In a word: Ugly.

Until next time:

CHEERS!

Touching the High Points

Damn! Has it really been a month since I have updated this Blog thingy? Hmmm..... Let's just hit some high points that have occured over the last month.

1. PGS, Inc. is slow. I'm doing everything I can to bring in work to keep the guys from losing too many hours. It's hit and miss. Someone said it might be tied to this sucky economy.... maybe?

There were 121,000 job losses among professional and business services providers
in January on top of 106,000 that were eliminated in December.

That's even more jobs than the construction industries lost in the same time period.

Or maybe I just need to take responsibility and work harder at bringing in business through creativity and superior service.

2. Casa Edmonds is coming along nicely. We now have the home fully enclosed with all of the windows and exterior doors installed including those fancy glass garage doors. The mechanical ducting is completed, most of the electrical wires are run, and plumbing should be finished with the roughing by the end of next week. Exterior siding and soffits are going up and is looking fabulous. The flat portion of the roof is finished and they flooded it yesterday to check for any leaks. It passed.

We should be getting started on the large retaining wall extending north from the house for the patio area next week. The PUD will start removing the power pole and dropping the lines underground in the next week or so. And no, they don't do that for free! As a matter of fact, it costs way more than if you were to hire a private contractor to do it but they won't let you do that. Gotta keep all those PUD workers employed. Insulation will be going in and interior walls should be getting their finishes soon.

3. The KTM 990 and 530EXCR are gone

and are now replaced with the BMW F800 GS and G650 X-Challenge

Got a good sell on the KTMs and got a really good deal on the BMWs. Hopefully my stable of motorcycles is now complete, especially since I couldn't find enough money to buy a bicycle much less a motorcycle at this point.

4. Marathon training is still moving forward albeit not at the level that it should be. I've been definitely fending off injuries and I am still not totally healed from the little "incident" that took me out last year. I really do need to get serious about the miles now or I will have to blow off the Vancouver Marathon in May. It would help to shed a few pounds too but that would require a decrease in alcohol consumption..... damn, that's some kind of drastic options.

5. I can feel the days getting longer once again. That helps keep the blue periods shorter. I can't wait for summer.

I probably should spend some more time getting everyone up to date on my life happenings but it has been a long day and I'm going to have to work tomorrow so I think I'll just call it a night.

Cheers!

Ron