A New Season

This weekend is our first camping excursion. YAAAAAAH! It's a lot of work to get ready for that first outing, and a bit stressful having to do everything beforehand, and remember everything. After all, we're 30 minutes from civilization, but not really. The camp area is loaded with RVs that put my domicile living conditions to shame. Some would charge me with child abuse if they saw the house I made my daughter live in. She doesn't have her own bathroom, for God's sake! But the nice thing about camping, even the posh version, is I'm getting away from work, TV, work, Facebook, work, unfortunately not the dog, my ghetto neighbors, and work, for a weekend. Our camper is far from the latest and greatest. It's a place to sleep and store our camping stuff. But it's ours. Once we set everything up, we pretty much resemble a band of gypsies. I'm sure the $50K motor home next to us feels a bit threatened. That's what you get for not renting the spaces on either side of you! Someday we'll upgrade, but for now, we're going to use this camper until its dying breath. So get ready America, here come the camping version of the Clampetts, to bring lower middle class to your weekend neighborhood! Don't forget to lock the doors and keep the chihuahua inside :)

Crack Me Up

OK Brandon, this one's in reference to your inquiry into concrete. I'm going to throw my best sales pitch, and we'll sit if you can hit it. When discussing concrete with potential customers, I usually get about the same 3 to 4 questions. Personally, I get tired of answering them, but I also understand peoples' concerns. So, here goes. Q #1. So how does it compare to granite? Granite has set the standard for so many years, it's the modern day wall to wall carpet. Everybody has it, which makes it not quite as special as 25 years ago. Plus, you can buy certain veins cheaper now, than 25 years ago. Technically, this question isn't quite fair. It's kind of like asking how that SUV compares to that thoroughbred horse. Both are modes of transportation, but completely different modes of transportation! It's better to compare the companies that produce the countertops. But, here's my take. All my concrete is poured off site, and all molds and tops are made in the shop, where we do a wet grinding & polishing process. After its cured and sealed, we transport them to be install. Wearability is different than granite. Over time, your piece of concrete forms a 'patina'. Maybe some discoloration due to use, which adds to its charm and appeal. It basically ages along with it's owner. Q #2. I've heard concrete cracks. Is that the case with countertops? Yes and no. I've had great success over the years due to the fact we over engineer our countertops. They're reinforced with rebar, steel mesh, reinforcing fiber, and a few other secret ingredients to help eliminate the possibility of cracking. All the steel is welded together, then suspended in the mix. But just like anything, it has its limitations. We can pour up to an 8' piece before we have to create a seam. Otherwise, the top gets so long, it could crack under its own weight. I had a customer insist on his countertop not having any seams. Even after I warned him of the consequences, he still insisted. I caved in, and broke a rule I vowed not to. After installation, it cracked as I suspected it would. I was rewarded with poetic justice when the crack appeared at the 8' mark. Even though it cracked, due to the steel reinforcement, it was still one piece. If it were granite, you would now have 2 pieces of granite. Q #3. How much does it cost? It starts at $65/sq. ft. That's for plain gray concrete, simple edge detail, and no frills. Most people say that's what they want until they see what's in our showroom. Then its like the proverbial 'kid in the candy store'. OOOh, I want this, and can I have that? Well.... yes, but the price just went up due to the 16 hours worth of work you've added to the complexity of the project. I know it seems like I'm a greedy, money hungry, ruthless business man, out to step on everyone in my way, but I kind of like to be reimbursed for working. One thing I want future customers, or even just 'tire kickers', to keep in mind is, concrete's formless until it sets up. It can be molded into just about any shape imaginable. It can be sculpted, tinted, acid stain, acid etched, stamped, textured, ground and polished, three dimensional. You can't do a lot of those features with granite, unless you break it up into pea gravel size pieces, add with it some sand, portland cement, water, and mix. That last little bit of sarcasm just made me smile:)

Fickle

It's been awhile since I've posted something meaningful on my blog. Correction: It's been awhile since I've posted ANYTHING on my blog. Once I discovered Facebook, I became a little distracted. OK, a lot distracted. I was like a 3 year old with a new toy. The toys I had the week before, were now obsolete, and I had to give my shiny, brand new toy my undivided attention. So after playing with Facebook for awhile, I'm a little bored with it now. I've amassed a 'friend' list that is bigger than imagined. If I were a cult leader, I'd have a pretty good following. But that too, would quickly become passe, and I would be looking for the next late and greatest thing to subvert my attention. Besides, many of the Facebook friends either have, or are going through, the same thing I'm feeling right now. Those I used to comment on their status, or vice versa, are either taking a break, or have moved on altogether. I'm not saying that they are fickle for their decision, but I feel that I'm like the teenager who couldn't miss an episode of American Idol, seven years ago, but now, could care less whose on. Am I one of those people? In the past, I've always been known to embrace the latest craze .... about ten years later. I compare my blog to Woody of TOY STORY. Sorry Woody, I didn't mean to neglect you. I think I will try to play with my old toys a little more.

The Art of Eating

Last night I was eagerly anticipating a pumpkin pie we bought at the store earlier. Anyone who knows me, knows I practically OD this time of the year on everything pumpkin! It's really a good time of year for me to be alive. So I'm sitting at my desk working on an invoice, and my daughter brings me a wedge, (she knows better than to show up with just a slice), and a cup of hot tea. I don't know much about Nirvana, but I can only imagine that I may have come close to it last night. So I proceed with caution to thoroughly enjoy this pie. I'm very careful to not let any crumbs fall to the floor. I'm aware of the 5 second rule, or whatever time limit you want to allow, but I didn't want to put it into force. Eventually I finished without incident. Sat back and thought, "I'm really an expert with this fork." I wonder how I would do in other cultures where they use other utensils to shove food into their pie holes? I would experiment, but not with pumpkin pie. There would be a definite learning curve, and portions of food would end up a casualty. Five or ten seconds wouldn't be enough time to recover. I've attempted a couple of times to eat with chop sticks. This would actually be a good diet program for me, because practically nothing would make it into my mouth, unless I were to stab it. Some cultures eat with their hand. The right hand ONLY! The left hand is for all other business, and is considered unclean. Pretty sure I could accomplish this, being right handed and all. But could I do it as clean as they do? They seem to be able to eat, and still be in a pristine condition afterward. I'm pretty sure my clothing, along with my face and hands, your clothing, your face and hands, would all have to be washed following my meal. I know there's a 'proper' way of eating peas in this country, which has become a lost art. A hundred year ago, women of a certain class would eat a row peas balanced on their butter knife. This could make for some fun with food around the dinner table :) Humor me for a minute. Say we all practiced diligently at eating with various forms of utensils, and we seemed to have mastered all the world has to offer, in order to get us fed properly. Once the food is in our mouth, what do we do with it then? Is the mouth closed, are there smacking noises, heavy breathing through the nostrils, talking while masticating? Just because we graciously engineered and maneuvered our meal from the plate to an open orifice, does not mean we've successfully become a sophisticated dinner guest!

Lost Summer

I had high hopes for this summer. Thought I would be outside doing more activities, camping, riding my bike, patio dwelling, basically OUT OF DOORS! Haven't even finished my summer project of building an outdoor pizza oven. Depressing to think about, to say least. Perhaps I'm looking at it all wrong. There were several days when the heat was really out of control, and being outdoors was less than ideal, but I found myself outside for part or most of those days. Yes, I was usually working my tail off, (part of the reason summer has slipped by), but I WAS outdoors. I went camping in the spring, to help kick off my 'summer of fun', but then the floods came and drowned my hopes of camping in my favorite location on the planet (within an hour drive of my house). Between an extraordinary amount of work, and natural forces deciding for me, what I'm allowed to do and not do, I feel my summer is quickly dwindling. Kids have already started back to school! When I heard that, the feeling of dread overcame me, the same feeling when I was a grade schooler. Not that I disliked school all that much, but my endless summer had an expiration date. I was forced to take a short, and much needed vacation recently, in which I spent quite a bit of time outdoors, taking in the sights, sunshine, and enjoyment. For the most part, I crammed a summer's worth of fun into 4 days. So I salvaged what was left of summer. True, there is technically another month left, but face it, September 1st is really the deadline. Get all your outdoor activities rounded up, finalized, put away, and filed in the memory banks. The shorts and bathing suits will be ready for hibernation soon. The sweaters and sweat shirts are preparing themselves for action. The days are getting shorter, the nights are starting to cool a bit. Prepare for the autumn activities to start! The shortest season of the year :(

The List

Sorry I haven't blogged in awhile. I've been preoccupied with the mindless time suck, known as Facebook. Plus, I've been wasting countless minutes in the black hole we all subscribe to called Facebook. Lastly, I've been feverishly productive, scouring Youtube for a wide variety of music, to post and entertain my cyber friends on Facebook. I can't wait until Facebook is a thing of the past, and I quit being drawn toward the mesmerizing bug zapper, waiting to kill my time. But tonight, my wife and I had an interesting conversation (I've heard communication is kind of important in a relationship), while starting to watch a DVR'd episode of Anthony Bourdain. She mentioned Mr. Bourdain, second only to me, is the sexiest man in her life right now. Amazingly enough, she's not necessarily drawn to the chiseled beefcake types. Oh, she notices and admires, but an intellect with a biting sarcastic side, and an occasional flash of humor, seems to pique her interest more. Top it off with a man who cooks and has his own TV show, WELL ... there you have her ideal stud of a man! So then we start to discuss others who may have made the honorable mention list. Mario Batali, not for his manly physique, but for his charm, culinary skills, plus he speaks Italian. What girl can resist the Italian language? We then moved on from chefs to musicians. Dave Matthews holds a solid third place. The guy plays a guitar, writes dirty poetry, and puts it all together in a song. How does a regular guy compete with that? Bono was mentioned, but she's not sure she can trust the suave Irishman. After all, he's not Italian. I thought I would bring up sports figures, but she quickly dismissed any candidates before thoroughly thinking it through. A decade or so ago, there was a young man who played football for the Cornhuskers, and then went on to play in the NFL for the Arizona Cardinals, whom she completely forgot about. Joel Makavicka pulled on the heart strings the first time she saw him. She thought he was so adorable, he could be counted worthy to be one of the harem she was putting together. I brought up another athlete, Joba Chamberlain. She had a valid reason for turning down Joba, because of the gap in age. I'm sure she's not real fond of the thought of being Joba's cougar. But if Joba were another12 years older, I'm pretty sure she would reconsider. She did say she would be happy to mother him though. Pretty sure he tops that list.

Double Standard

In case you don't know me all that well, and you're looking to buy me a gift, I happen to be a fan of just about anything fermented laced with alcohol. I'm not an alcoholic. I don't drink every day, and only drink enough to enjoy, not get drunk. Those days have disappeared with the dinosaurs, which, could also give you a clue as to how old I am. It is true, along with age comes wisdom. Another thing that comes with age is good wine. Beer also, but in a much shorter time frame, which is beneficial for me, because I tend to enjoy a beer more often than wine. But getting to my point of discussion, you may, at one time in your life, bought your favorite bottle of grapes, and it didn't taste quite how you remembered the previous 23 bottles. Since wine is made from a natural product from the earth, wine makers are subject to whatever the earth decides to part with for that growing season. A wine maker has the right to a disclaimer that says in part, 'It was an off year for our harvest'. It could be influenced by lack of nitrogen filled rain, too much rain, an unbalanced PH level, etc. There's a LOT of science involved, which I'm not even going to attempt to understand. I'm going to take their word for it. It has to be tough battling nature just to get the 'close to perfect' crop. So when this occurs, wine experts and amateurs accept this explanation, and just swallow hard until the next year's yield. This is where it gets difficult. I recently attended my second tour of the LUCKY BUCKET brewery. Afterwards, I had some questions, and happened to find the ear of one the brewers. He was sitting with a pile of paperwork in front of him, pretending to look busy, so I interrupted his 'good intentions', to talk about beer. If he's anything like me, which he apparently fit the description, he shoved the paperwork aside, and talked to me about something he felt passionate about. Paperwork will ALWAYS be there - my desk can attest to that fact. So I started my borage of questions, many times resembling a 3 year old. "But why?", "But why?". One question I had was, "Have you ever had to dump a batch late its stage, due to unacceptable taste or some other reason?'". After five years of brewing, they had to dispose of their first batch recently. I could tell this was a painful subject, but I pried further anyway. He proceeded to tell me how the beer industry is affected much in the same way the wine industry is affected. In order to make beer, it requires grains the earth produces. You have barley, wheat, hops, and whatever else you 'mash in' to achieve your desired taste. Once again, a huge amount of science, and total reliance on what the earth is going to give you to work with. One small? difference though. Beer drinkers will NOT tolerate a batch of beer that didn't taste identical to their previous twelve pack! They know what they like, and just because the label is the same, if the beer is off, they're searching for a new resource to appease their tastebuds. The brewer divulged a little info about this year's barley yield. He said the crops weren't as plentiful as the previous year's, so the heads of grain were smaller. You have to account for that in the recipe, because it's all done by weight. Smaller grain means you need more grain to accomplish the desired taste. More grain, means more expense to achieve your finished product. More expense, means less profit. But they can't jack the price up to recoup some of that cost, because every craft brewer is out there vying for your business, so they have to remain competitive.When it boils down to it (little play on words there), beer drinkers are more demanding of their source for a buzz, than wine drinkers. They're not tolerant of excuses, they hold their brewery to a higher standard. Wine drinkers appear to be more sophisticated, and seem to have a finely tuned palate, but I'm questioning whether that is the case, or they just have cheese recommendations to help disguise the beverage of an 'off' year.