A New Chapter

This past week has brought PGS and myself to a new chapter. One of my key employees and, more importantly, a key friend is expanding and moving on. Bob has been with my company for almost 7 years and has played a key role in many successful projects. We have relied on him when we knew that the job just had to get done. He has always been there for us which we always appreciated but sometimes forgot to make sure he knew (OK, we almost always forgot to make sure he knew).

I know that this new chapter doesn't change anything for PGS other than a few adjustments to the allocations of responsibility but for me it will be quite a different chapter. Certainly, we didn't always agree, as a matter of fact, we seldom agreed but we did compliment each other. I will miss the interaction, the self questioning of ideas brought on by someone who viewed life from a slightly different perspective. As much as we disagreed we also held very similar basic beliefs and always wanted the same end result.... to be our very best at whatever we were doing. In this chapter I will need to remember to question my ideas and beliefs without the gut checks that intelligent questioning brings. I will also need to adjust to managing a business without Bob, knowing that I still have more talent in my office than damn near any company on the west coast!

Bob has a new opportunity for growth with new challenges and I wish him nothing but the best. I have the highest regard and believe that he will be successful in his new endeavors. We will miss him and he knows that he will always be welcome in my office as a friend and colleague!

Adios Bob! Go get 'em!!!

Cheers to all!

Peeking Out From My Cave!

Hello my reluctantly loyal reading fan! Think I had passed? Nope.... still kicking but procrastinating at a level never before achieved. As a matter of fact, I am coming up with excuses to not finish this post already! It will be almost amusing to follow along and see if the "publish post" button gets hit. With that being said, let's give 'er a shot!

First, let's explore my extraordinary procrastination skills and the possible causes. Apparently, I am a perfectionist. Who would have guessed!? Anyhow, because of this, I have no less than 8 blog update posts saved for editing. I seem to get started on posting an update, get most of the way completed, and then find myself being critical of the writing and never go back to finish. Therefore, I get a little anxious to start a new post update for fear of not being able to complete it to my satisfaction. Enough explanation? Are you totally turned off this blog yet? Well, if you have the courage, read on.....

In my last post I promised you some updates that I will try to address in this post and hopefully bring you up to date.

La Nueva Casa (the new house)

We are literally in the final week of construction now. Really it is mostly just cleanup and a few finishes left. We still need to get the fireplace finished, verizon needs to remove that damn pole from the middle of my driveway (apparently a year isn't enough lead time), and we still need to pour the driveway. We are hoping to have a certificate of occupancy issued before the end of next week and start moving in by next weekend.

This house is absolutely stunning, in my opinion. The view, the architecture, the site, the materials, the craftsmanship, the"whole" package is absolutely beautiful.

And I really hope I can like it.

The process of constructing this home has been the most stressful endeavor I have ever thrown myself into. I can very honestly say that if ANYONE involved in the design and construction of this home had been honest I would have never started it. I definitely learned that I have a problem with my voice.... no one can hear what I say! The cost over runs and difficulty in getting the contractor to do what I asked has been trying to say the least. At this point I'm just hoping to get it all behind me and forget about all the stress the process has brought me so I can just enjoy what I worked so hard to build.

And build I did!

My wife will no longer complain about her small kitchen.

The great room is cavernous.

The wavy panel railings we designed have a very nice feel.

Colors seem to work well.

The Patio is going to be wonderful.

The water feature that we fought a huge battle for has a wonderful feel and sound.

And who could ever get tired of this view?

I think that once I get moved in and am able to forget about all of the trials and challenges that have gone into this home maybe I can really begin to enjoy it for what it is, our dream home.

PGS Review and Outlook

Wow! What a year this has been, talk about challenges! Definitely the worst year since starting the business. It has been interesting though.

Things started to really pick up late in June and we've been very busy ever since. This year has brought some of the most interesting work yet, just not enough of it. I have had crews doing some of the most fun projects you could imagine. The guys are coming back with stories of adventure and photos to prove it. It has been a year where when people who are on vacation are asking what you are doing you just exclaim "working! what are you doing?". Every thing we do lately seems to be more like a vacation than work.... and we get paid to do this!!!

With this business I am blessed with the best group of customers anyone could ever hope for. These clients have been so good to us and have done their very best to keep us working in a very trying time and, for that, I am forever in debt! This has also been a year of developing new clients and getting to know old clients better. The efforts of a targeted approach to marketing has gone a long ways towards creating a new and improved PGS!

Things are looking very good for the short term and we are hoping to keep the momentum running right through to winter. We have some very good on-call services agreements with several public agencies and some high potential proposals out there. Billings are back into the respectable range (at least not in a deficit anymore) and should get even better before things slow down for the winter. Cash flow has been a challenge especially with us getting busy and working out of town so much. The cost of doing business has increased but it will be another month before the cash starts flowing in at a rate that will offset these extra costs.

I think this is probably enough rambling for one post (I really don't want to overwhelm my reader). I will do my best to follow through on updating the other items from my previous post in a timely fashion. I think I will just hit that "publish post" button now without proof reading before I get cold feet, so don't judge me too harshly.....

Cheers!!!

Ron