Don't Delete Those Links Yet!

I got to thinking last night, "what if some errant reader, who had saved a link to this blog back when I kept it updated, accidentally clicked on that link and happened by". Would they think the blog had been abandoned? Or maybe that the blogger had passed in some gruesome manner via a mad adventure? Well, just to keep someone from wondering what on earth may have happened, I have decided to attempt typing up some coherent update.

I am still running:

I did have to back off considerably for a while due to nagging issues from my little "get off" and subsequent collision with a guardrail at speed. Fun stuff but I digress. So, for the past couple of months I have been trying to rebuild the base miles and seem to have finally gotten over the hump. Now begins the fun of building up to the really big miles in preparation for a spring marathon. Not sure why I do these damn marathons. No matter how much I train they just plain hurt. I use the excuse that it forces me to stay in shape but guess what? I could do just as well holding a steady 30 mile per week base and lifting a few weights. I damn sure don't need to run 26.2 miles in one effort to stay in shape. Stupid, I say.

PGS is still in business:

As a matter of fact, things are actually looking fairly promising for the winter. We have a bigger backlog of work for this winter than we have had in several years. We are a smaller group so it does take less work to create a backlog but we have a backlog none the less. The work we are doing these days is really interesting and ties into our niche market more than in the past. The projects are also larger than they were in the past. What is missing from our work load is the smaller private clients that we used to do a lot of work for and without their return it is going to be hard to truly stabilize for the long term. On another bright note, we have actually been profitable again for the past few months. It is nice to see the bank account balance rising rather than being on the steady decline that we had become accustomed to. Yep, things are looking promising indeed.

El Edmonds Castillo:

Finished! And we have moved in.... well at least mostly moved in. We still have a lot of organizing and figuring out what to do with things and I'm still working on the whole permanent financing thing, but we do live here now. The house really is a work of art and I have come to respect my architect more and more. He and I worked hard to make this house what it is and I believe that there is a big piece of both of our souls in the finished structure. It is so wonderful to wake up in the morning and look out upon the Puget sound and the Olympic mountains from my bed. Everything about this house is just relaxed and peaceful...... finally!

Motorcycle travels:

I was able to get a couple of really fun motorcycle trips in this fall. The first was a birthday trip with my son and Steve over the mountains and a lot of dirt between Leavenworth and Winthrop. Let's just say wet and cold is an understatement but an absolute fun trip with some amazing roads I didn't even know existed. The next one was a 5 state trip I did with a really good buddy, Steve. We covered a good part of Washington, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, and Oregon and a good part of that on dirt, A stretch across Idaho and into Montana called the Magruder Corridor which is one of the most remote and longest continuos dirt roads in the US and a big part of the Oregon Desert that was the most deserted piece of road I have ever experienced..... and rough! Another trip was with my son. We used the excuse of picking up a motorcycle lift from my pal JW at the Bearcat lodge to haul the dirt bikes down to Seneca for some dirt exploring. And explore we did! I had a great time just trying to keep that kid in sight. Not an easy task.

Well those are the highlights of my life for the time being. Not much but enough to keep this old dog happy.

Until next time,

Cheers!

Blog Discussion Thwarted

Sometimes I begin a Blog discussion that I realize is probably best not discussed. I just spent an hour putting together a somewhat coherent post only to realize that my thoughts were a little too personal to air on the WWW. Yep, sometimes the thoughts in my head are best left deep within the dark crevices of what little brain matter remains in my skull and not shared. Sorry!? I probably shouldn't have teased both of my loyal readers, (OK, really there's only one) with a post at all but after all that work I couldn't just delete everything..... now could I?

'till next time,

Cheers!

Hmmmm.... 50

So this is what it feels like to be 50. I would say it's a little anti-climatic, really not much different from being 49, to be honest with you.

Yeah, I turned 50 over the weekend. You know, today's 50 is a lot like last years 50. I don't know but maybe I just built it up to something more than it is. Everyone talks like it is such a big turning point in your life but I was a little under-whelmed by it all. Is it because we expect to live longer than our predecessors? Maybe, but all I would have to make it to is the mid 50's genetically, to out live my immediate predecessors so I'm pretty damn near that now.

I'm a little surprised that I don't feel an urge to outdo some past achievement in some way. Or maybe go explore something I've never explored before. Nope.... I would like to do some of the things I was really planning to do sometime in the near future anyway. Maybe sail across the pacific in a little sailboat, or spend a little more time in the canyon lands of southern Utah, or maybe stand atop another high mountain peak, or maybe...... just continue to do what I have always done.... explore!?

50's not any different than any other age at this point.....

Cheers!!!!

Ron

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

Time For an Update!

Coming soon to a blog near you.....

What to expect?

1. El Edmonds Castillo; details concerning finishes and new challenges.
2. PGS Economics; information on hope and challenges.
3. Smart Car; an exchange and long term review.
4. Travels; reports from a few very different motorcycle trips.
5. Motorcycles; a weeding of the herd.
6. Sailing; Boatless in Seattle.

Yep, I'll be providing updates soon. :-)

Cheers to all!

Ron

My Mama Always Said......

If you don't have anything good to say, don't say anything at all.....

There has been a long silence with a purpose. I made the assumption that nobody wanted to hear anything negative such as:

• Marathon training turned into hell.
• I became plagued with ankle injuries due to totally ignoring my body and adding miles way too fast.
• El Edmonds Castillo has been nothing but a pit of stress for the last few months and construction has been moving along at a snails pace.
• The construction delays are going to cost me a fortune due to being forced to get an extension on the construction loan.
• The beautiful water feature that we spent a ton of money on has to be ripped out because of an obscure code that an over zealous inspector was aware of.
• My business lost more money in the first quarter of 2009 than it made the entire year of 2008.
• Finding a steady load of projects has been unbelievably challenging.

Nah, no one would want to hear any of the negative crap that has been going on in my life so I waited until I had something good to say. Yep, there has been quite a bit of that if you look just a little deeper. Things such as:

1.) I had decided to bail on the Vancouver Marathon but then they gave me the opportunity to change events so I decided to go ahead and run the half marathon instead of the full. It was a good move.

After I blew up the tendon in my ankle I finally wised up and started working on healing instead of training. I began a routine of cycling to give the tendon a break from the stress and mixed in some very short runs just to keep the muscle memory. About a week before the Half I did a test run of about 6 miles that went very well. I could tell the tendon still needed some time to heal but I also felt that I could do the 13.1 miles without hurting anything as long as I ran conservatively. I spent that last week doing some very short runs to keep the muscles loose and also give the muscles a chance to fully recover from some of the heavier workouts from the previous week. By Saturday I was feeling rested and really wanted to run.

Sue and I drove up to Vancouver on Saturday and got a most excellent room at the Pan Pacific. We had to walk all the way across town to pick up my race packet and it felt good to be out stretching the legs. Vancouver was beautiful, as usual, and we spent some time visiting shops along the way. After I picked up my race packet we headed back to the water front to grab a bite to eat. We ended up in the Gastown region and grabbed dinner at the Steamworks Brewpub. They have excellent food and even more excellent beer. If you are ever in Vancouver be sure and look the place up.

I got a good night's sleep in the ultra comfortable bed in our hotel room and awoke at the ungodly hour of 5AM to start my preparation for the 7AM start. I really do wish they would start these races a little later, even 8 would be more realistic. Oh well, I got to the start area about 15 minutes before the start and worked my way through the crowd to the 2 hour pacers. I was thinking that an easy 9:00 pace would be plenty conservative and if I felt good I could pick up in the final miles. This turned out to be a mistake, not the 9:00 goal but the running with the 9:00 pace group.

As the starting gun marked the beginning of the race we slowly shuffled our way to the start.... and continued shuffling for the next half mile or so. I couldn't believe how crowded it was. I was being bumped and stepped on constantly. The first mile was done at an almost 10 minute pace and then the group stopped and walked. I said "what the hell" and walked with them, couldn't hurt. Right?

Mile 2 was only slightly better than mile 1 and was still extremely crowded and I was beginning to get a bit frustrated. At the water break at around 2.5 miles in I had enough of the extremely crowded conditions and decided to attempt to break out of it. I picked up my pace just a bit to get in front of the pace group but not so much as to put me under my 9:00 goal. I had no intention of leaving the group but just to get out of the congestion. It took a while but things did finally start to get a little better by mile 4.

My pace was picking up to more in the 8:30 range and I was feeling pretty good. I breezed through the miles between 4 and 7 stopping to walk through the water breaks just to let the heart rate drop and be sure to hydrate. At around 7.5 miles in you hit a big hill and I took advantage of that to start knocking off runners. I would pick out a runner up ahead and just focus on catching and passing them and then I would select another. I actually kept up this game all the way through the rest of the race. Pick out a shirt, focus on it, and slowly real them in.

Miles 10, 11, and 12 were done at approximately 8:00 pace and mile 13 was done at close to 7:40 pace. I was feeling real good in the final miles and felt I could have held an 8:00 pace through the whole race without much trouble. I did start having trouble with the tendon in my ankle by around mile 10 but the pain was manageable and I feel it didn't slow me down. I finished the final push through to the finish line at an all out sprint and hit my stop watch at 1:53:50 or an 8:37 average. Not bad for an old, broke guy.

The race was great, the weather was great, the city was great, and the event was great. No complaints at all!

2.) El Edmonds Castillo construction has begun to get back on track. Due to all of the delays on the interior, the contractor has been focusing on finishing up as much as possible on the exterior. The house is looking absolutely exquisite. I am continually amazed by the fact that I am going to be living in this house and still have trouble dealing with it's presence of elegance. I just never pictured myself living in a home that showed such wealth. A couple of glasses of wine on the deck looking out over the Sound will probably help me get over that!

They have finished building the retaining walls that hold up the patio and they look great. The decks have been finished using manufactured wood decking. We picked out a color that had been discontinued, saving us a lot of money on the material, and it turned out to be the perfect color for blending with the cedar and red metal siding.

Plumbing is mostly finished now and the inspector gave the contractor the Ok to start insulating which was done over the weekend. We should get the final inspection OK on the plumbing, mechanical, and framing so insulating can be finished by midweek. We should be sheet rocking by the end of the week and the rest of interior walls the following week. We are pretty excited to see things moving rapidly forward again.

3.) Business is beginning to finally pick up. All of our hard work in marketing is finally beginning to pay off with some projects. That combined with the better weather has generated work for the crews and office personnel. April's billing shows real promise and an actual profit for the first time since October. Looking at historical dat shows that this April was actually better than last April. This is a good sign and brings me hope that the remainder of the year has the possibility of being better than '08. All I have to do now is manage our receivables to the point of not totally running out of money before more money starts coming in. Much better than worrying if anymore money was even going to be coming in! I feel confidnet that things are coming back in my favor at this point.

Overall, my whole attitude is getting better. I hate to toot my own horn but I think I have dealt with an amazing stress load fairly well. I think I even have areas of my stomach that don't have oozing ulcer sores on it! Just kidding about the ulcer sores..... I don't think I have any..... yet. So everyone can rest easy and be certain that PGS will be around long into the future especially with the amazing team of employees that work there! I owe those guys a lot after this one!

Until next time,

Cheers!

Ron