Junction Home Services

Crunch Time

2010-04-24T11:32:00.004-04:00

The lead up to the summer season here in coastal Delaware has me slamming and jamming. As a result I have had to prioritize myself right out of the blogging business for a bit. Being a better juggler of time is high on my priority list. We have made some great additions to the van this year resulting in far fewer trips off site for things like fasteners, caulking and the little things which seem to come up repeatedly on jobs. The programs we invested in in 2009 are doing their job of speeding things along but still I find myself always working to refine this system or that to make things flow. All said, I am pleased with progress but like most folks who are building a small business I wish I had more hours in the day...

New year's day

2010-01-01T13:24:00.003-05:00

wishes made truth

The beginning of understanding is always innocent.

2009-12-27T10:56:00.006-05:00

Some things are not simply about how things look. Some things are about where things came from and where we want them to be going.

Storm Damage...

2009-12-10T20:49:00.016-05:00

...in Bethany Beach, DE from the storm of 11/12/09

Frog Prince

2009-12-08T22:26:00.002-05:00

Collective Memory

2009-12-02T19:37:00.007-05:00

My friend Mike Hines has lost it.

He has dropped his guard, stepped up to the plate and is going out on a limb for some folks he barely knows.

...some folks he met online.

Yup, my friend has lost it...

and given how maddening mistrust can be, I hope he never gets it back.

LLC

2009-11-20T07:22:00.006-05:00

This week I officially signed the paperwork and paid the state of Delaware to change the name of my business from Strange Renovations, LLC to Junction Home Services, LLC. It is both a milestone and old news as I have been using the JHS name since I registered it with the prothonotary some time ago. It was my understanding that I would have to start a new company for JHS but this transition feels way more comfortable. I like that the work I have done before will be connected to my future with an easy to follow legal through-line.

#PRTF

2009-11-15T19:52:00.003-05:00

On twitter an activity has evolved called Follow Friday where Tweeple (Twitter Users) will recommend other Tweeps (also people who use twitter) for following (receiving updates of their tweets).

Although I like the idea of #FF (Follow Friday) I find the lumping and listing of great follows a little awkward and often hard to pull off with my present schedule.

Enter the "Personal Recommendation To Follow" or #PRTF.

I like the thought of these because they can be posted anytime and contain as much or as little information as I like.

Open Season

2009-11-07T07:02:00.002-05:00

2009-11-05T05:45:00.002-05:00

Does anyone know of additional, alternative or colloquial names for a turned baluster?

Great Spirit Prayer

2009-10-20T07:05:00.001-04:00

"Oh, Great Spirit, whose voice I hear in the wind,

Whose breath gives life to all the world.

Hear me; I need your strength and wisdom.

Let me walk in beauty, and make my eyes ever behold the red and purple sunset.

Make my hands respect the things you have made and my ears sharp to hear your voice

Make me wise so that I may understand the things you have taught my people.

Help me to remain calm and strong in the face of all that comes towards me.

Let me learn the lessons you have hidden in every leaf and rock.

Help me seek pure thoughts and act with the intention of helping others.

Help me find compassion without empathy overwhelming me.

I seek strength, not to be greater than my brother, but to fight my greatest enemy

Myself.

Make me always ready to come to you with clean hands and straight eyes.

So when life fades, as the fading sunset, my spirit may come to you without shame.

- Lakota Sioux Chief Yellow Lark

What is this detail?

2009-10-17T13:35:00.004-04:00

Does anyone know a name for a roof that steps like this?

Empty box, fill again.

2009-10-15T08:18:00.008-04:00

Thinking outside of the box is something we must do every day of our life as we are constantly creating new boxes for ourselves. Even the ones we feel comfortable in are best served by our examining them for restrictive qualities. Stimulus is our best asset in helping us to get out of our own way. It can come in millions of forms limited only by our antennae and willingness to receive.

Several weeks back I published a blog post about twitter being best looked at as a tool. I said my favorite people on the site were those who were sharing articles and information. I downplayed the social aspect of social networking and not for the first time. I put twitter and everyone on it in a box and then this week watched as they all came busting through the top flaps and tantalized me to rethink my position.

Thanks to everyone I have met who has spurred my growth and challenged me to trust my aesthetics.

BBBoB Resources

2009-10-10T16:12:00.009-04:00

I follow my nose to many of the conclusions I draw on the Big Blog of Building. It would be difficult to list every source I use but these I return to time and again:

Book: American Shelter by Lester Walker

Book: Dictionary of Architecture and Construction by Cyril M. Harris

Book: A field Guide to American Houses by Virginia and Lee McAlester

Book: A visual Dictionary of American Domestic Architecture by Rachel Corley

Book: A Visual Dictionary Of Architecture by Francis D. K. Ching

Individual: Don Fountain - Sales at Dukes Lumber

Website: Google: Search Engine

Website: Twitter and the entire Twitter building Community

Website: RitchieWiki - Equipment Specifications, Information, and Photos

Building Business

2009-10-06T22:32:00.001-04:00

I have been spending all of my free time lately taking photographs, studying and creating entries for Barry’s Big Blog of Building. I am pleased with the progress on the blog. I have learned a lot in the past week and there is much dust settling as I speak. It really amazes me when I think of all of the things I saw and recognized but did not know a formal name for. It is very cool to have a gauge for new knowledge.

Flying Dutchman

2009-10-01T20:15:00.003-04:00

The reality of the situation

2009-10-01T06:30:00.004-04:00

My Friend, Concord Carpenter, has a post this morning about the oft hidden hitches of home renovation.

You really do not know what you will find when you open up a wall or floor.

Five

2009-09-30T07:28:00.002-04:00

Even the best laid plans...

2009-09-29T08:10:00.009-04:00

Incarnation - Fermentation - Explanation

I have decided to give the building elements I have been posting here their very own blog. This will make the catalogue far easier to search as I can build it from the foundation. It will also give me many more options and allow JunctionBox to remain free as a bird. A special thank you to everyone who has shown an interest in this project, please join me at the Big Blog of Building for more.

2009 Lewes Block Party

2009-09-28T07:40:00.005-04:00

This past Saturday I had the privilege of attending a block party in Lewes, DE. This annual event is the brainchild of my clients Jim and Barb. I was told they initiated it a decade ago. A party like this is such a wonderful treasure. The conversations I had ranged from physics to Lewes’ history to nicknames and their origins. I love it when a community dialogue has such a festive vehicle.

Cross Gable

2009-09-26T08:51:00.002-04:00

Chimney Crown with Corbel

2009-09-25T16:23:00.008-04:00

Triangular Dormer

2009-09-25T06:23:00.002-04:00

Open Road

2009-09-24T13:38:00.007-04:00

I have always had a fascination with offices. Ever since I was really small I can remember being in one kind of office or another. The way they work or don’t work is fascinating and it all boils down to systems. Add in the humans and you have Eco-systems.

I remember the office of Highway Motors, a used car lot my grandfather owned on Route 13 in Dover, Delaware. I was all of 4 but at 43 I’m still very familiar with the battleship grey of the desks in the converted trailer home where Bernard, my dad and grandfather sold quality, pre owned cars. My mom worked in that office too, handling paperwork and making typing better than television for watching.

It is interesting how we grow up watching our relatives work with their hands. My father was a truck driver when he finished selling cars. He slung crates of milk on delivery in Salisbury, Maryland. He always wore gloves and could keep the gray water from the floor of the truck, off his clothes. He had probably had some experience slinging things on his father’s farm as a kid. (Before they sold the farm and took up selling cars.)

Out the back door of the office-trailer was the shop where a mechanic named “Little Man” worked in coveralls. Little man was Popeye-esque in that he was grizzled in appearance at a fairly young age. All I ever heard anyone call him was Little Man. I don’t think I ever saw him mad. I just remember a smiley, greasy face and maybe even a wink. He was really at home in his own skin as they say. About ten years ago I heard little man had died.

There is a lot to remember and I want to say light bulbs, not flags, lined it. And there were loads of automobiles on blue and white gravel. I guess I would have washed the cars on that lot had the business stayed in the family. Instead, It was sold to a man named Slaughter and I took on the job of cleaning up, next day, at the drive in. Boy is that another story.

I thought about calling our business today “Highway Home Services”.

Highways have Junctions...

It is a stetch...

Hit the road Jack.

Diagonal Wooden Sheathing

2009-09-24T07:10:00.006-04:00

Shed Dormer

2009-09-23T07:50:00.002-04:00

The Meaning of Tweets

2009-09-22T09:27:00.006-04:00

Up until recently I was confounded by Twitter. I enjoyed visiting and learning from the links provided by the folks I follow on the site but I really had no idea what to tweet myself. I have a hard time getting behind the concept of simply going on about day to day doings and my favorite tweeters are those who constantly have something to share that is larger than themselves. In this regard I did not want to use Twitter simply as a trumpet to announce new blog posts. Then I realized that I could use Twitter as a tool to announce a particular type of blog post and, so,this is what I’ll do. I will tweet each time I make a post which helps to further my education about buildings. In this way my profile page will read like a journal of what I learn and will be available as a tool to help others learn as well.

Hipped Dormer

2009-09-21T09:35:00.000-04:00

Segmental Dormer

2009-09-21T09:23:00.002-04:00

Arched Dormer

2009-09-18T20:43:00.006-04:00

Shine

2009-09-18T20:38:00.004-04:00

Sheets

2009-09-17T20:23:00.005-04:00

Brewing

2009-09-15T22:10:00.001-04:00

Nellie Moser

2009-09-15T07:04:00.003-04:00

Chernobyl got his name from Andris Grundstiens, the Latvian owner of an apartment I rented in Chicago. Chernobyl had six toes… I came to call him Noble more often than not or Noblissimo or Nellie Moser.

When I left Chicago he came with me.

He was a huge Jerk when I first met him and retained the ability to transform into a huge Jerk all of his life. On one overnight visit to the vet the vet tech told me “That is the meanest cat we have ever had in here.” Immediately after this he met me with a trill and a loving nuzzle.

Actor's Attic

2009-09-14T07:12:00.006-04:00

Sergei and Katia will come in November for a visit. They will stay for three months and they will occupy a space that presently stores building materials I have collected over the last twenty years and items of interest from my life prior to marrying. Partial rolls of insulation share this space with record albums and boxes of programs from the theatre company. There are costume bits, games I had as a child, a word processor and other outdated technological timestamps. Diving in the deep end to deal with this stuff feels like an autumn job.

Cathartes aura

2009-09-13T06:26:00.007-04:00

In Lower Delaware, Turkey Buzzards are plentiful. They congregate in the air, on rooftops, in fields and on the roads. In the air they circle as they soar, ever searching for a food source. On a roof they open wide their wings to warm them in the sun. In fields they often huddle in groups engaged in the same activity for which you will see them on the roads: Alimentation.

Six large birds were doing just this by the roadside, on a curve, near Bayard. Normally they are pretty quick to fly away when a vehicle approaches but these were holding on until the last moment as my van came around the bend. Finally, as the sprinter bore down on them, three took off to the left and three to the right. This put three of them low over the road right before me. I began pumping my breaks as I came up behind the rumps of the birds, at windshield height, trying to ascend. I could see the effect of the lift created by the aerodynamic front end of the van as the invisible force gently nudged them up into the air and out of harm’s way.

Pruning Office Systems

2009-09-12T06:57:00.006-04:00

Revisions and whittling down are earmarks of my process right now; taking things I made little too hard on the eyes or that were too much of a pain to keep up with and rethinking them. Each time I do this the system gets a little bit better.

I like when I hear myself saying out loud: "That makes more sense."

The song remains the same

2009-09-11T08:16:00.009-04:00

During the winter following september 11th, 2001 I was living in Vilnius, Lithuania with my new wife where I had one of my most prolific songwriting periods ever. The following is a song inspired by numbers and the meanings we attach to them.

Add one two each five four two

Nine one one's emerging

synergy held ransom

divisions of neighbors

split violet ends.

Running deep

in the family

of sharing abroad.

As the shock shimmer

showered existence on God.

Now the devilish details

retreat to the hills.

Economy offers

the ultimate frill.

A wait for the bus

turns your uncle to dust.

And it's harder to swallow

this planet size pill.

Seven zero zero's hero

retired from praying

on Godless Americas

queer loving ways

fell from grace

into Gardas

awaiting embrace.

Kingdom come, kingdom go

while morality plays.

Now Vieda is offering

one hundred lats

so string up the dandy

and bring me his spats.

To look but not touch

may be asking to much

'cause the fleas in the house

were brought in by the rats.

Five five five disguises.

The prefix is fiction.

Add one to each five

you'll be calling up Satan.

Some numbers mean more

take the stone and the score.

We can count on each other

for what I'm not sure.

Now the microbus

sacrifice season begins.

Last dive for the ladies

they're shelling the bridge.

Break the din, down the door,

far less guilty than sore

we'll install a fresh lock

on our reason and live.
.

Double Gable

2009-09-10T06:17:00.006-04:00

A rare Double Gable on a Lithuanian vacation retreat.

Tree Being

2009-09-09T07:50:00.008-04:00

Just up the road from Vincent Overlook is a bridge,

I cross often,

where out' the corner of my eye

I always spy

this guy.

Quotable Quotes 101

2009-09-07T20:55:00.015-04:00

Or, things I remember people saying and still think about often.

“I see Barry has his armor on today!”– 1986 - Cigdem Onat, a teacher at the NCSA remarking on my propensity for wearing felt hats and big Jackets to class.

“Do you have woods?” – 1994 - Yuri Belov, another teacher from NCSA who visited our outdoor theatre in rural Delaware and suggested that we should only work where there were woods. The quote is what he suggested we ask someone who was interested in having us perform at their venue.

“Mount Rushmore, now there’s a big idea!” - 1982 - Mark Smith, a friend after hearing someone proclaim that there idea was a really big one.

“I love the little Chugger.” – 1996 – Brent Lindsay, a friend in regard to the way the kettle on top of the wood stove would chug as it released steam into the air.

“No, it was a king’s wife!” - ? – The owner of a local thrift store. She had been reading a book of Maryland lore and asked me if I knew who the state was named after. I thought for a moment and said “wasn’t it Queen Mary?” She responded the above.

I am not Legend

2009-09-07T08:47:00.003-04:00

I have come of age, in a way, with my profession. I used to see it as at odds (No pun intended) with the part of myself that attended drama school and worked for years in an independent theatre company. Nowadays, I do not see myself as so dramatically torn. I have come to believe that a huge problem that many artists have is that they continually limit themselves as to who they are and what they are capable of becoming. It is as though they create legends about themselves, legends in which they come to believe and when asked to consider another way they lean heavily on theses legends saying “I am an actor” or “I am a writer” or the very worst delusion in my opinion “I am an artist”… Mind you, there is nothing wrong with proclaiming that you are an artist but when that term is used more to define what a person is not capable of doing rather than what a person is capable of then the title becomes, at the very least, a ball and chain.

Summer Turns Part 3

2009-09-06T20:07:00.008-04:00

Continued from part 2

It is here that my family's story intersects with the much larger flashbulb moment of 9/11 and it is here that I will take the liberty to break from the narrative form for a moment and delve into realms of perception.

As with the day John F. Kennedy was assassinated or the explosion of Space Shuttle Challenger everyone has a story of where they were when they heard such news. That is why these moments are called flashbulb moments; they burn into our minds leaving a distinct memory in the same way that a very bright light will leave behind an image before our eyes. Still, although these moments are uniquely shared by the masses they remain a metaphorical Grand Central Station where all of the individual trains are arriving at once. These trains are people and the lifetime that preceded their arrival at the station dramatically effects the impression they will have of the station once they arrive there.

I believe it was the American Lung Association which ran a commercial that warned: “when you can’t breathe, nothing else matters.” Barely able to breathe is how some trains arrived at the station that day and I am sure this equated to barely able to care. I would never tell a person who could barely breathe they were remiss for their lack of compassion or concern but I did have incredible struggles with myself over the fact that I was in love and very, very happy. I refused to let this event dampen that fire in the slightest and consequently, over the next several weeks I found myself hiding my joy from others around me. I also found myself questioning whether or not I was within my rights to be so focused on my own life and happiness at a time when my country was mourning, enraged, confused and in shock.

Eventually, I realized that there were various realms of perception at play and that my persistent happiness did not imply a lack of caring but simply a willingness to trust my strong instincts that I had invested honestly and innocently in a course of action I believed in and that this simply must be done when the moment arises despite the severity of external circumstance. In fact, I now believe that attempting to alter my perceptions to accommodate the fear and suffering which seemed to be everywhere around me would simply have added more of the same and that would not have done anyone good.

The experience taught me how to truly own a belief in my ability to exist on different levels at once and how to seek and receive council from any of my many minds.

Summer Turns Part 2

2009-09-04T21:22:00.010-04:00

Continued from Part 1

On Monday September 10th, 2001 Panchia said yes, she would marry me and said it in such a way that all of my fear of the question and its repercussions had just melted away. We set a date for the wedding on the following Wednesday. This would give us time to make some calls and find out about how two people go about making this particular dream come true. The Justice of the Peace in Rehoboth gave us the rundown; first, obtain a marriage license and make an appointment with the JOP and then, show up on that date and time with two witnesses. I believe I told my mother about our marriage plans over the phone. Everything was moving really fast but still I wanted her to meet her future daughter in law prior to the wedding. I was already feeling bad because P and I had decided our marriage would not be a family affair. Her family was 4000 miles away in Lithuania and although mine were in Delaware it somehow seemed proper to keep everything as low key as possible. Honestly, there was a big part of me that wondered if the whole thing would not just fall apart if I pressed for my side of the family to be there. I did not want things to fall apart. I did not want to make Panchia uncomfortable. I just wanted everything to work and for this day to be done. We made plans with my mother. We would stop and see her on our way to obtain the marriage license the next day.

That night Panchia went into OC to work at the popular Crab house which employed us both and where we met. I had the night off and was taken out for sushi by my long time friend, Mister Marc Jones. We called it a bachelor party. I drank hot sake and was not the least bit nervous. Something much larger than insecurity had taken over. I have often said that one of my favorite feelings in the world is when I feel as though I am onto something. I had felt it with art and carpentry and now I felt it with this person.

Tuesday dawned blue and beautiful and I was on top of the world. NPR Morning Edition was on the radio. Bob Edward’s calm familiar cadence melted into the background as I dressed. I would guess we left the schoolhouse around 8:15 AM. We did not listen to the radio or anything at all on the 40 minute ride to my mothers. We talked and held hands. Outside my mother’s door I paused for a deep breath before knocking. Was I ready for this first meeting between future mother and daughter in law? Three short raps at the door and my mother appeared. I knew immediately that something was wrong. Her hair was soaking wet.

Continued in part 3

Remember...

2009-09-03T16:13:00.011-04:00

...

It is the last shot, stroke or blow that will screw something up.

Always stop at the next to the last shot, stroke or blow!

Summer Turns Part 1

2009-09-02T07:27:00.005-04:00

.
A tell tale crisp was in the air here two days ago and soon the Delaware version of summer of 2009 will go into the record books. Interestingly, this is the second time I felt summer turn this year as I was in Lithuania at the very same moment. In fact, many of the folks who attended my sister in laws wedding remarked that summer came to an end right after they said their vows.

Autumn is an interesting time to begin a marriage. I know because my wife and I were married on September 12th of 2001. The turn of summer into autumn had already occurred. As I remember the rollover came somewhere around the time Panchia and I returned from a romantic getaway to Niagara Falls. Well, it was romantic by our standards meaning that there were some very serious and very silly moments in a strange place with at least one public experience that bordered on surreal. For us, on this our first time out, it was dining in a Chinese restaurant where we were virtually ignored and yet made to feel strangely welcome among the patrons who were all native speakers of Chinese and were gathering with great warmth and fellowship.

The bonds of our matrimony had been formed on this trip which was intended to get Panchia, who was here on a student visa and working like crazy, out of Ocean City, Maryland for a few days. I had wanted her to experience the falls as I had done when I was just barely 5 years old. I had wanted her to see something she had never seen before. When my family visited this magnificent attraction some 30 years before I stood with both of my small hands full of pipe railing, holding tight and I remember thinking “I could kill myself right now.” It really is the first time I remember even being cognizant of death. So it did not surprise me at all when Panchia expressed a similar desire to bound over the rail and into the turbulent water a few hundred yards before the falls. I told her when she was old and dying I would bring her back here and toss her in. I leapt into the falls of her eyes and admitted I was thinking about being with her long beyond our present excursion. Maybe it was the lure of the roar of the falls. Maybe they do not rent out wooden barrels there for a reason.

Driving home was excruciating. It was as though she would open the car door back in Maryland, step out and disappear without so much as a goodbye. Instead we came back to the schoolhouse in Delaware and stayed. I believe it was probably the next day when I popped the question: “Do you want to get married” I said. “Why not?” She replied.

Continued in Part 2

Do you have woods?

2009-08-31T21:26:00.011-04:00

I have been doing some work on the outskirts of Millsboro DE. It is a special project for a friend whose shed has fallen into disrepair. The shed backs up to a patch of woods which goes on for about a half a mile before it reaches the highway. Last week I stepped into those woods for a moment to take advantage of one of the best things about being a man and I was confronted, instantly by one of the best things about being a boy.

It was as though these were the very woods I had spent time in near Dover as a kid. Everything about the scene was familiar. The closeness of the air, the threat of mosquitoes and the distant, distorted highway sounds which could be ignored if so desired. The patches of bright fuzzy sunlight and cool shadow were there as well mixing with earthy, leafy smells. The greens and grays and the lonesome sound of a single engine plane all conspired to blur the line between twelve and forty three. For a brief moment I envisioned myself putting one foot in front of the other and then, brushing aside the different shaped leaves, I’d be off in search of a stream or a civil war gravestone!

Chicken Plant

2009-08-31T07:31:00.005-04:00

Vincent Overlook

2009-08-29T20:55:00.013-04:00

What closed the door on this American Dream?

Gas Station Giving

2009-08-29T11:52:00.003-04:00

We were ridiculously lost on the way to an appointment in Wilmington DE on Friday. A young woman at a cash machine overheard us asking the cashier at the convenience store about Mill road. She collected her money and then politely inserted herself into the meeting of minds realizing that hers was the most qualified to help us. I wrote the directions while she visualized the streetlights and stop signs. I said: “You grew up around here didn’t you?” “Yes” She answered “and I work over there”

Pass Galvuccios Restaurant…

Turn right at Shins Paint…

The latter was the detail that really saved us. In the end we were one hour late for our appointment and still we were taken. I hate to think what would have happened without our Good Samaritan.

Thank You Ma'am for your help and especially for taking the time.

Me? New? Never!

2009-08-26T20:16:00.007-04:00

I am, since at least high school and maybe before, a fellow who likes older things. My tastes linger somewhere between the 1940’s and the 1960’s. I like the feel, the smell and the way things from that era are built but there is one drawback that becomes more noticeable as one ages and that is the weight of yesteryears highly durable non-durable goods.

I have a good friend, Bob, who is about 15 years my elder and I noticed when we first met (about 20 years ago) that he had readily adopted plastic cases into his family of carpentry containers. I was just getting started gathering my version of the tools of the trade around me and they included wooden, metal and leather cases. Twenty years ago would have made bob roughly my age now and I have to chuckle to myself each time I discover some lightweight plastic case in a thrift store these days and eagerly buy it dreaming of that magic combination of lightweight and organizational components that will make my efforts more streamlined and practical.

For me, apparently the future really is in plastics but how do we know that the plastic we hold in our hands is good plastic? Last week on Twitter I caught a passing tweet about large amounts of plastic’s in our oceans leaching chemicals. The Tweet had a link attached to it but timing prevented me from investigating further and now I have only this tidbit of info on the brain. I think “Twitter” ought to have a big brother/big sister called “Fritter” which allows up to 640 characters and could get a little more in depth so the application itself could actually be used more as a learning tool rather than primarily a linking tool. A couple of years back I bought two number 7 drinking bottles for work and loved them just prior to the bisephenol business. Don’t even get me started about PVC.

Today’s plastic will never be Bakelite but there are some companies out there taking the medium to all new heights.

Red Square

2009-08-25T21:15:00.007-04:00

While in Lithuania my wife and I tagged along on a journey my sister & brother in law and some of their friends were taking to Trakai. Panchia and I rarely do things like this but are always happy when we do. So, we had a great time and at one point Sergei and Katia went off alone together to have some ice cream, or ludai as the locals call it. The next day I discovered that they had also taken a moment to purchase for me a 100 percent authentic party hat. I cannot wait to play ball this winter with my comrades Edward and Grace!

La Machine

2009-08-25T10:05:00.007-04:00

I am trying to rate and re-evaluate the systems I am creating sooner rather than later.

My wife wrote a paper this week on the computer program ConstructionSuite. This program is a central part of Junction’s organizational framework. She asked me how it had changed the way I work and I told her that ConstructionSuite enables me to integrate various programs such as quickbooks for the company finances and excel for estimates and schedules. It saves me time by reducing my data entry and performing tasks that I would have to perform manually. Still, the program is only as good as the data that is entered. It is the old garbage in/garbage out scenario and while I would not necessarily call the information I have entered garbage it is amazing how plain it becomes that revisions could be made.

Another added factor is that our photography library (Adobe Lightroom ) does not integrate with any of the business programs but I use the same account and project names and numbers to keyword and label the photographs.

At times I marvel that the little box that is my laptop and the little egg that is my head can cooperate to make the ends meet but If I think back to the days when I organized everything business related in windows alone, I quickly count my blessings, take a deep breath and return to whittling away at the presents relatively simplistic problems.

People who need people...

2009-08-24T09:53:00.003-04:00

I have one client who pays me to work on her vacation/rental home while she works with Habitat for Humanity in New Orleans. I have another who says “sometimes the good guys win.” The folk’s I work for are a diverse and interesting group and I really enjoy getting to know them.

Say it ain't so Joe!

2009-08-22T09:35:00.010-04:00

<((You don’t say))>

Yesterday’s Talk of the nation: Science Friday was about the conceptions folk’s have about food and the best possible scenarios for its distribution. People, me included, have a tendency to be dramatic. They often make big choices based on limited information that they deem important because of the source. In fact it seems that as the amount of knowable facts increase at a dazzling rate, finding a trusted source to fill in the gaps in our knowledge is as important as finding a good doctor or mechanic or, dare I say, carpenter.

The guests on Science Friday and the host Ira Flatow were discussing the distribution of food and the carbon footprint of various methods of food production. I like Mister Flatow because in his roundtable discussion’s he always tries to bring the conversation around to a reasonable conclusion based on all of the participants viewpoints. The conclusion yesterday was that buying locally produced food does not always yield the smallest carbon footprint. Now, for the why’s and wherefores I’ll refer you to the program but the thought I am pursuing here is more about how we reach our conclusions than what we conclude.

<((Give the people what they want))>

The quickening is a concept I have been hearing about for years. The quickening is manmade and involves every facet of human knowledge. Basically, the idea is that things are getting faster because we continue to find ways to do more things. (I can do more, I do more and things happen faster.) Another concept I have been hearing about for some time is the individual’s fast growing ability to get through the day without encountering a thought or idea that they do not at least partially agree with. Blogs and websites and targeted media of all types are being produced at ever greater speed. Many of them exist to turn a profit and have discerned that preaching to the already converted is a surefire method of doing so.

There is simply more information in the world, which means there is more erroneous information and that means there is a better chance that any one of us might be infected with facts which just aren’t true and then, we too, can turn around and infect others…

<((The theory of relativity))>

Are facts and the truth the same thing or are facts something we can prove while the truth is something we have taken on good faith? It really does not matter because both the truth and the facts of the matter are informing our beliefs. I guess the truth and facts combine to produce perception and perception is relative so knowing thyself really can only happen if we admit that there are things that are unknowable. By that I mean it just is not possible to know everything. So, some of what we know we simply believe and those beliefs are only as trustworthy as the source they rode in on.

Flip the Switch

2009-08-21T21:22:00.009-04:00

This page had become crowded so I added the Junction Switch for links. You will find it on your left.

Naming Names

2009-08-21T06:25:00.004-04:00

Six weeks or so ago a kitten marched onto our land and right up to the back porch. His tail was high in the air with a little twist at the end and his attitude was “here I am. I bet you were wondering when I would get here.” He was promptly chased by our smallish dog out toward the outhouse…

Right now the kitten is enjoying himself with a candy wrapper in the kitchen. He is super good at entertaining himself, has nice markings and still doesn’t have a proper name. What he does have is a call that he answers to. It is a tsk tsk type sound that is produced from the sides of an exaggerated smile rather than from the front of the mouth. It reminds me of the African languages that include clicks and pops and twirls. He responds to it without fail.

Maybe he does have a name.

Patres Familias

2009-08-20T10:11:00.014-04:00

<((Extended Family))>

My new Brother in law, Sergej Trifonov is a fantastic guy. He married my wife’s sister Jekaterina Bojarkina on august 8th, 2009 in Visaginas Lithuania. The wedding was idyllic; the weather was gorgeous, the guests enjoyed themselves thoroughly and the bride, whom I am really fond of because she is a great person, told me it was the best day of her life. I could not be happier for them as they seem to complete one another in a wonderful way.

Sergej is a furniture maker and carpenter in his own right. He is smart and resourceful and I am happy to say one day soon will be joining us here in the states. Sergej and I have decided to combine our talents in the family business. The burgeoning Junction Home Services will expand its horizons to include built in and stand alone furniture. We are very excited and will keep you posted.

<((A Wedding and a Funeral))>

A couple of days back I wrote about a frightening incident where my wife was choking uncontrollably. As the incident occurred a day or so after the Bojarkina/Trifonov wedding my wife told me that as blackness closed in around her the saying crossed her mind “A wedding and a Funeral”. Today that saying came true with the death of my father in laws father in Kazakhstan. My deepest condolences to Yuri and the entire Bojarkin family. I never made it to Kazakhstan to meet father Bojarkin but I heard his voice just last week as skype made the other side of the world sound like the other side of town. My own father told me the other day at the hospital that he had gone to have a spot on his lung biopsied and that he will not have results for nine days. Our future points at the compass, the calendar and clock and whispers: “ready or not, here I come.”

Nuclear Family

2009-08-19T05:19:00.006-04:00

Four people in a hospital room are the closest of relatives. It is the first time they have been alone together in more than a quarter century. There is plenty to say and avoid.

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The view outside the window is 4 stories of solid brick wall.

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I bring up the pony which get’s my father into trouble. I tell him if he wants to get me back he should bring up the rabbit.

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Mom says that we kids got all of our good traits from her and our bad from him. Dad says he believes she might be right.

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My sister calls him daddy and I call them Ma’ and Pop respectively embracing my inner Jersey.

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For the first time in 35 years there is nothing wrong with this picture. Everything is as it seems. It is a perfect moment and no matter what happens next I will eagerly add this snapshot to my album.

Back to Dover

2009-08-18T08:43:00.008-04:00

Yesterday my sister had excruciating pain in the area of her appendix. She visited her doctor who arranged an appointment for Wednesday with a surgeon. The pain failed to subside and she was taken to the emergency room. By 4 in the morning they had operated on her for acute appendicitis.

Several years back, while building my first house, I noticed that almost every morning in the beach resort town of Ocean View, Delaware there was some form of emergency that sent sirens wailing off into the bright morning sun. I imagined a myriad of possible emergencies playing out under a deep blue summer sky. I imagined the Jaws of Life peeling open a car and letting in the smell of tanning lotion.

I remember the first time I realized just how fast an accident happened. It was like an amazing glimpse into the nature of time. Suddenly, I understood something about being alive that I had never known before; Time is different for each of us.

While in Lithuania I went to our guest room in my in laws apartment and lay down. The trip had been exhausting and my body had yet to catch up with me. As the fog of sleep fell, I heard in the distance my wife choking uncontrollably. I raced to the kitchen to find her mother striking her back and P. buckled over convulsing. I wrapped my arms around her waist and lifted her. The crepe that had caused the irritation dislodged itself. Last night she told me that during the episode everything had begun to go black. In her solitary time of emergency she had mused that it was somehow fitting that she had traveled all the way across the ocean, back to her hometown, to die in her childhood kitchen.

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Turning Point

2009-08-17T10:14:00.003-04:00

I am pretty well aware that the best time to declare an epiphany may not be in the golden afterglow of a trip to a place where there is good food, clean water and languages other than our own. Still, I return from Lietuva re-energized and re-committed to the entirety of my vision. By that I mean even the parts of it that have yet to be unveiled to me and, like in the picture above, to the parts that I have only begun to understand. I know that life continues to feed faith with introductions and affirmations and that only good omens should be taken into account as bad luck never will ruin the surprise of its presence with hints and whispers.

I am glad to be back and most excited to take every junction to the next level.

I still love Lietuva

2009-08-04T08:39:00.003-04:00

Back on the 15th!

4x4

2009-07-29T23:03:00.003-04:00

Slow Poison Free

2009-07-17T08:02:00.006-04:00

We have the right to believe in our own potential and a duty to ask ourselves what is wrong with those who constantly point out what might be wrong with us.

The whittling down of the human spirit is a crime, plain and simple.

Keep Going

2009-07-16T16:49:00.005-04:00

Great Spirit, give me the strength of character and the fortitude to create the kind of business I am on the brink of envisioning. Visions are like crackling embers which fly from the fire. There are so many of them for the eye to follow, we sometimes find ourselves simply staring into flame.

I have not kept up with my ambitions for this blog but I have not forgotten them. I have not learned to solidly and quickly estimate with unit price and cost analysis but I am still on the trail. I have not met every deadline and nor have I been as true to myself and others as I want to be but I am not done trying.

A friend of mine called and asked if I am happy and the answer is that I am.

I have ticks in my bed because my dog is a tick taxi.

I have a new kitten that might be named Rinaldo or Leonard or Buster.

I have a family that I love and Ideas for the future of my home. And although I may not be able to tell you exactly what I want my business to be, I can say that I am very interested in the direction we are going and in our new slogan “Your Home is our Business”.

All in the same boat...

2009-06-09T11:12:00.014-04:00

Go

2009-05-27T00:55:00.011-04:00

I am solving problems that I identified months ago.

The last two weeks have been big for Junction Home Services. I created a system for keys using a key cabinet I bought on sale last year, a program called Key Organizer for the Durabook and another called trackIT for the PDA which is a new addition and earning its keep. Keys are assigned labels which are kept track of in the programs, so if by chance a ring gets lost containing keys to a clients property or in the very extreme case that our locked cabinet were broken into, there would be no way of telling which key opened what without the accompanying programs that are password protected. Of course locks are for honest people and security is relative but I feel better with no identifying characteristics on the keys.

My nephew William blessed us with a server machine to house QuickBooks. It will always remain on and be accessible by Joan and myself at anytime. Previously QuickBooks was housed on my laptop which meant my machine would have to stay on the property for Joan to work in QB while I was away. Now I have more freedom of movement. The server is a great little unit created from scratch by Billy. It has dual Terabyte drives and one is constantly backing up the other. The storage it provides will house the lightroom library taking the place of the Maxtor drive which was screwy and difficult to feel good about. This new unit feels great and relieves much of the stress of losing the companies information. All database programs are now being backed up to drive J. You are awesome, Bill!

In others news advanta is closing our business credit card. Fortunately it has been paid off monthly so I can just drop it from the line-up and keep on truckin’ but it hurts to lose the credit in the short run.

2009-05-08T06:36:00.003-04:00

Twitter is an odd place. I have not been very active there because I just do not get it. The site encourages you to tell people what you are doing in 140 characters or less as in:

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Writing a short blog post about Twitter.

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Some people use Twitter to share information from around the web which to me is more like the expression “All a twitter” then telling people what you are doing.

I have no desire to constantly tell people what I am doing but I can see value in telling people what has got me "all a twitter".

moment.net

2009-05-06T22:50:00.003-04:00

Be Right Back

2009-05-04T12:50:00.003-04:00

And another

2009-04-28T19:33:00.005-04:00

There goes another

2009-04-19T22:52:00.001-04:00

There goes...

2009-04-19T21:54:00.000-04:00

Office Party

2009-04-14T23:38:00.002-04:00

Workflow

2009-04-14T14:54:00.005-04:00

I have created project files for each of the new blogs and now I need to get used to working out of them.
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I launched the template for this blog post from a workflow I created in The Junction Box project in ConstructionSuite . The Workflows in that program are easily customizable steps that you create to Launch various ConstructionSuite tasks and templates or outside events such as web pages or programs. It definitely makes the whole process faster which is a good thing.
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As for other areas, the Excel based Estimates and Schedules in ConstructionSuite are starting to make a lot more sense to me. I attended another webinar today. I had been to this one before but it really is amazing how lights keep coming on in my head during each one. Now I need to spend more time getting to know the costbooks. This will mean a serious visit or two or three to the RS Means Website.
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I have raised the laptop on my desk up a little on an angled foam lap pad. It is a much more comfortable to type on now and even makes me want to sit up straight as I did at my manual typewriter.
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The Indian River Bridge is going right on and I will work hard to get an update up by weeks end.
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Not much movement on junctionhomeservices.net but I am still planning to open at least a simple version of the site on the first of March next year. Moving onward, or as Margie might say:
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“Full speed ahead, Cousin T & damn the torpedoes!!!!”
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The Big Three

2009-04-13T22:44:00.006-04:00

I know, I know I cannot even keep up with one blog and here I am adding two more. (Or is that six seeing as JunctionHaus has five?)

The Eastern Shore Sun rounds out our blog wish list and positions us to have a home for just about everything I could ever want to upload. The Sun has search potential and enables me to mimic press credentials by saying: "I am Barry Morgan from the Eastern Shore Sun!"

Hence, Junction Box will be free to meander and highlight cryptic messages like THIS.

Or old favorites like THIS.

All Systems Go!

2009-04-12T22:19:00.002-04:00

Here

Self Portait- April 2009

2009-04-03T09:41:00.001-04:00

Webinar

2009-03-29T23:06:00.005-04:00

This week I attended my first Webinar hosted by Daniel Hayden over at UDA. The subject was ConstructionSuite/Quickbooks integration. I cannot say that I learned how to effectively manage getting the most out of the way these two programs talk to each other but I did learn that what I want to accomplish with them working in tandem is attainable. My inability to grasp the details is more due to my absolute lack of Quickbooks knowledge than to our teacher. Dan Hayden was great in more ways than one and I remain very impressed with UDA’s product and commitment to its customers. Did I mention the Webinars are free and given daily? Outstanding!

Casting Out My Nets.

2009-03-28T06:52:00.008-04:00

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Simultaneously I am defining Junction services and pushing out of the nest those services I feel are ready to learn to fly on their own. I am also Re-re-learning the definition of green, continuously working on my typing, reorganizing my home office, and taking big chances.
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All of my life I have been one to cast out my nets as a way of obtaining knowledge. I believe a broad base of interests demands this kind of approach from me. I used to fear the Jack of all trades master of none moniker. I would look at those who obtained degrees as the keepers of the world’s tangible knowledge base. I still read the books written by these folks but now I know that knowledge is transferrable and that it cheapens the achievements of others if we believe ourselves incapable of really learning from them. I think, in life, there are folks who learn best when looking at a single specimen of tree in a particular region at a particular moment in time and then there are those who act as hubs of information.
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One thing that is clearer to me now than ever before is that a life of gathering can indeed create a firm foundation of accrued knowledge on which to continuously build. But more importantly a lifetime, when viewed from above, can draw a map of well marked paths that lead to the places where knowledge resides.
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Services Defined: Photo Ops

2009-03-23T08:04:00.010-04:00

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(In the Photo Ops offered by Junction Home Services the Ops stands for "Of personal space" but the imagery of “Ops” as an operation professionally and meticulously performed is appropriate as well.) - This service provides clients the opportunity to have their homes photographed in a detailed and respectful manner with an eye toward documentation. The Photo Ops I have settled on thus far are as follows:
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Walk Around: A Walk Around is a comprehensive photographic stroll around the outside of a home taking pictures of the structure from each hour on the clock face that space will allow. A Walk Around provide a detailed snapshot of the condition of the home at a particular moment in time. Clients who live at a distance but own a second home in the area might request a Walk Around be performed after a storm for insurance purposes or over the winter to stay abreast of the condition of their home. Some folks might want to have their home photographed after a remodel or at regular intervals as a historical reference.
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Walk Through: A Walk Through is the interior counterpart to the Walk Around. A Walk Through could be as detailed as the client likes but in the standard version I would start at the front door and photograph the home room by room in a logical fashion. For clients with rental properties a Walk Through could serve as proof of the homes condition prior to a renters taking possession. A Walk Through could also be valuable for any number of insurance reasons or again simply as a snapshot of a moment in time.
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Event Documentation: Client’s who are holding an event at their home might want the event photographed with a focus on the structures role in the proceedings. An example might be if a wedding were to be held at a client’s home. I might be enlisted as a secondary photographer to the actual wedding photographer to document the transformation of the home into celebratory space.
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Structural Documentation: When adding on or building a new home we are presented with a golden opportunity to photograph the hidden parts of our structures before they are enclosed. The X-ray vision provided by such documentation has no end to uses. From hanging a picture to tracking down a leaking pipe or deciding where to break through the wall for a new doorway being able to reference the interior of walls gives us much needed information. If I build your addition or home this service will be provided as a part of the package but I can also be contracted to photograph projects undertaken by others.
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Finally, I recognize that the Photo Ops are sensitive in nature. The utmost care, respect and regard for privacy will be taken when handling any photographs taken of a client’s home. I consider the access I am granted to my client’s personal space a high honor and and I will always strive to remain worthy of such a privilege.
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JunctionHaus blog to act as learning tool.

2009-03-22T09:36:00.006-04:00

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In the last entry I revealed that JunctionHaus would be the name of our new construction service. It also will be the title of a blog on junctionhomeservices.net which will be set up in five different categories and serve as a learning tool for me as I go further into the study of the services themselves. My intent is to make the JunctionHaus blog primarily a photo blog which will store visual examples of the various systems, styles, material, elements and effects associated with the creation of shelters. I am not so much launching this blog as slowly building it. For now it is simply a test post and structure.
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The latter part of this week has seen a shift of my focus back to the website. This happened quite naturally as my studies became highly intensive on the subject of estimating. ConstructionSuite provides customizable spread sheets designed to facilitate an estimate but for the nuts and bolts I have gone to the book “Estimating Building Costs” by Wayne J. DelPico. The book is associated with RSMeans. They are a company which creates costbooks for estimating. These costbooks are available in the electronic format for Constructionsuite. In fact the program comes pre-packaged with several. Being able to reference them at home means cutting out the step of going to a supplier to price material. These costbooks are updated quarterly and represent an additional expense for upkeep. The expense is more than justified if they can be fully utilized. All of this information filled me up so I have gone to the website for an outlet. I continue to place my faith in the Great Spirit to help me to weave all of this together into a workable and beneficial business.
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(An interesting side note: In Microsoft Word the term Great Spirit auto corrects to capitalize.)
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Junction Haus

2009-03-18T05:59:00.003-04:00

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The JHS building service will bear the mark Junction Haus. The German spelling is a tip of the hat to Passiv Haus and other unrealted endeavors of my own. The haus also helps to emphasize a world view when considering new construction. Junction, as always, symbolizes a meeting place where old and new combine. A truly smart home looks forward and back. A shelter does a two step in every resi-Dance.
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Cousin T's Tool Shed - Episode 6

2009-03-16T18:00:00.007-04:00

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I am so excited about the party over at Margie & Edna's Basement on Wednesday I just can't think straight.
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(Why do you suppose they spell it "wednes" instead a' "wends" which is how it is pronounced? I mean I think "Wendsday" looks just fine and that is the way half the school I attended spelled it to begin with. Same thing with February might'nt it just be Febuary instead a' addin' some high falutin' R.)
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Anyway there I go again gone off track, hump day is M & E's anniversary and the special tea will flow. As the man said "you can float away to happy land on the bubbles!!!" Happy Anniversary Ladies!

-Cousin T.
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Partner Desk

2009-03-15T18:52:00.002-04:00

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I love the way the computer is an entry point into areas of business I had once thought were beyond my grasp. About a year ago I bought a book on estimating which really seemed to make my head spin at the time. It went up on the shelf and has come down a few times only to produce a similar dizzying effect. Then, along comes learning how to estimate in ContructionSuite and the year old investment pays off as I have somewhere, in house, to turn to expound upon the terminology needed to understand the program. This seems to happen a lot with me and it is one reason I truly do regard my computer as my partner. It excels at things I find intimidating and difficult.
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Chug

2009-03-13T22:06:00.002-04:00

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Chug
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Chug
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Chug
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CHUG!
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Chug
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Chug
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Chug
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Bug
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Hug
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Chug
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Chug
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Shrug...
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Gantt Chart/ Harmonogram

2009-03-11T22:28:00.006-04:00

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ConstructionSuite contains a feature for scheduling called a Gantt chart. It is a bar chart that illustrates a projects schedule by showing start and finish dates of tasks and subtasks. The first Gantt chart was not a Gantt chart at all but was called a harmonogram. That was back in 1896 when you could easily be working on your harmonogram in one room whilst in the other someone might be playing a harmonium.
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Software Junction

2009-03-09T22:33:00.005-04:00

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I took some plunges with software this week that are aimed at making us more efficient and better able to keep an order amidst the chaos of tearing out 70 year old floors and such.
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I bought Quickbooks Contractor 2009 and Construction Suite Pro Green. These 2 programs integrate the business and financials of running a construction business. They are deep and wide programs that will take me some time to learn so I have given myself permission to take it all a reasonable pace.
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The Green information included in Construction Suite is a real snapshot of the here and now of the official side of green building.
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I also added Instant Knowledge base to help us code our photographs and Lightroom to catalog them.
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Why do all of this at once and incur such expense at such a tricky financial moment?
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Because I want to start out all of the databases together using the codes and account numbers generated by all of the major players as keywords to help me keep track of things. I am hoping to save myself and my client’s time and money later by investing time and money now.
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Plus, I think it is an excellent time to stimulate the economy.
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My posts may a little fewer and farther between on this blog for a bit as I go through the motions of learning how to juggle all of these new balls.
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All of this and their is a website to design. I am digging the challenge, dear reader.
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6 Dollars Later...

2009-03-06T22:41:00.003-05:00

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Thrift Store Triumph

2009-03-04T10:58:00.007-05:00

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25 cent organizational wonder!!!

Keywording

2009-03-03T21:28:00.004-05:00

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Now you know the rest of the story

2009-03-01T22:28:00.007-05:00

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I would like to extend a warm welcome to “The Barge”, a new old building that has come under our care. It is called the barge because it was once a part of one. In fact running below the floor joists are the old deck. When and how it was cut off the vessel is a mystery to me but the structure looks as though it has been around since at least the thirties.
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Adobe Lightroom is rocking my world. It is very cool to be thinking in terms of a database that is searchable by keywords. I get the feeling this concept has been all around me for sometime but hadn’t sunk in. Now it has and honestly, over the last several days I have undergone some mental growing pains as I make very literal adjustments to my concept of organization.
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A fond farewell to Paul Harvey. His was a cadence I remember hearing since very young. He tried and apparently approved of every product he advertised on his show. He said he sifted through news and brought people what he thought they needed to know along with what he thought they would want to know.
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Reading The Gort Cloud.
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“Like what you do, if you don't like it, do something else.”
-Paul Harvey

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Service Search

2009-02-26T08:05:00.005-05:00

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Junctions: No Job Too Odd
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“No Job Too Odd” is a funky diner on the corner of Odd Jobs and Strange Renovations. Everything imaginable has been orchestrated from its naugahyde booths. The coffee they serve there does pushups on the tongue. On the back wall there are pictures of the old crowd.
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The lunchtime special fits neatly in a box. The dinner rolls are the size of a Beetle and yes, that is the cook you saw leaning on the wall around back wearing clown makeup and having a smoke.
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In this corner are some green builders and over there some red men talking. A stack of blue plates drops into a stainless steel cabinet on some sort of spring.
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Bad directions, Big Ideas and Sad Stories…
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Vinyl Siding: Chasing Arrows

2009-02-25T20:53:00.010-05:00

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Vinyl siding was introduced to the public in the 1960’s but did not really begin to take hold until the 1980’s. It began as an option for remodeling and evolved into the skin of choice for new structures in America. Vinyl had its best year of reported sales in 2004 and now, I believe partially due to the increased interest in fiber cement, has begun to slowly decline.
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Contrary to the sales pitch vinyl has proven far from final. For some time the product was prone to fading and much of it I have encountered has become brittle and in need of replacement over the years. So with all of that vinyl ready to come off our houses and end up in our landfills shouldn’t someone be stepping forward with a viable recycling program?
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There is one huge obstacle to the mass recycling of post consumer vinyl and that is contamination by foreign matter, even a small amount of which can render the material unusable. For years the Vinyl siding industry has been recycling in house scrap generated during production and more and more the recycling community is taking an interest in pre consumer vinyl scrap. (Pre consumer vinyl is jobsite waste that is fairly easy to keep contaminant free.) But the post consumer waste which is the majority of what’s out there is the hardest to economically justify recycling.
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The mantra of the recycling industry seems to be that someone has to make money from recycling for the recycling to continue. There are technologies available or at least on the drawing board which can help us to identify what of post consumer vinyl waste is usable and what is not but this technology costs money that no one will invest if they do not see the possibility of a financial return.
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But what about the companies that made money from the sale of the product? I have recently read that computer manufacturers will soon be forced to contribute to the recycling expenses of their products. Why shouldn’t the manufacturers of vinyl building products be responsible to contribute to the sustainability factor of their product as well?
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The worst part of this entire scenario, in my opinion, is that today’s vinyl may outlast yesterday’s by a decade or so. That is good news for a home owner hoping to get the maximum value for their investment but terrible news for a country who couldn’t get enough of the earlier version that will soon be in need of replacement. Because no one saw fit to plan ahead, all of that viable and valuable vinyl may soon be covered by dirt in our landfills only to be reclaimed at a much higher cost many years from now.
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_--= Indian River (4) Bridge Project=--_

2009-02-24T22:37:00.003-05:00

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Now and Here

2009-02-23T22:27:00.005-05:00

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Did I say that out loud?

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Yesterday I made a post which was highly personal but guarded and terribly mysterious. Today briefly I had 3 followers of this blog and then later in the afternoon I had 1. Now, I do not know if the oddball post played any part in those who had publicly proclaimed an interest in this blog pulling up stakes but noticing this and reading todays Copywrite Ink has caused me to ask the question: Was my personal post appropriate on a blog which bears my business name?
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Please, allow me to introduce myself

Amongst other things, this blog is about self discovery and my relationship to how I earn a living. In the past I have played various roles in the trades and none of them were entirely satisfying. I have built houses the traditional way always feeling like something was amiss. I have discovered rot under homes and detected the reason behind it. I have acted as a detail man doing the final walk through on a new residence before the homeowners were given the keys. I have been in charge of subcontractors, quality control and safety and still none of these jobs on their own made me feel entirerly fulfilled.
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Art and Carpentry
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I did not grow up particularly good with my hands. I was an imagination kid who played with action figures and Dungeons and Dragons and later transformed that history of role playing into hopes of an acting career. I attended the North Carolina school of the arts for drama where I also happened to learn I was a songwriter and a harmonica player. During my second year of college I had an increasingly hard time. I began questioning several of my teachers about why various aspects of acting were as they were being taught and I remember feeling very unsatisfied with their answers. There was one teacher, Cigdem Onat , who saw right through me and told me so in an end of semester evaluation. She told me she believed that I needed to find something that was all my own. 3 months later I was gone from NCSA and after a brief layover in Chicago I found myself back in the state I grew up, in a hundred year old one room schoolhouse with a hammer in my hand.
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Carpentry and Art
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In Stewart Brand's book “How Buildings learn” there is a chapter entitled “The Low Road” in which he writes :
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“A young couple moves into an old farmhouse or old barn, lit up with adventure. An entrepreneur opens shop in an echoing warehouse, an artist takes over a drafty loft in a bad part of town, and they feel joy at the prospect. They can’t wait to have at the space and put it immediately to work.”
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He goes on to write:
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“even in rich societies the most inventive creativity, especially youthful creativity, will be found in low road buildings taking full advantage of the license to try things.”
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These two passages describe my relationship with the schoolhouse to a T. Anything and everything was game to try. Mixed styles, mixed media and found objects incorporated into designs. Demolition and additions and I am still revisiting and reworking much of what I have made over the past twenty years. My tastes have changed some along the way and I now substitute study for youthful enthusiasm but my experiments in this house are a road map for how I got to where I am today.
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Full Circle
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This blog is partially about self discovery and my relationship to how I earn a living. It did not start out this way but truthfully it is the only honest way for me to proceed and at this juncture it is very important for me to be honest. Why? Because all of my life I have been hiding who I truly am in one way or another. In my business dealings I have always been afraid I might appear too weird if I let my artistic side show. In my art I downplayed the tradesman but now I feel the first thing you see when you land on this page is true: This really is a Junction Box. A place for customers and friends to better get to know me and I them. And, like in yesterday’s post, it is a place for me to get to know myself out in the open and with the utmost certainty that I can take all the gifts and challenges I have been blessed with and make of them an honest and fullfiling way of life.
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Thanks for riding along dear reader and please, don't be afraid to chime in.
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Choosing to be sane.

2009-02-22T22:20:00.006-05:00

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Tonight, I come to you (not so) fresh from two days in the hospital. I am not too interested in telling details but I’ll say that I was the visitor and not the visited. There was no death involved unless you count the death of silence and there is now a nagging hope of a new tomorrow; one that simply by showing up, I have pledged to make time for.
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Hope really can be a nag; often right up to the point it turns into hopelessness or blossoms into health.
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Leaps and Bounds

2009-02-20T22:10:00.001-05:00

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Expanded our network here by adding a faster router and a one Terabyte drive to handle the amazing amount of images we are amassing. (This took the better part of 2 days) Thanks to Linksys badge # 19739 and to my nephew William who, although extremely sleepy, finally brought it all together. Now, we tweak the filing system a bit to direct the images, audio and video to their new home and we are good to go.
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Phew.
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Seaside Hobbies

2009-02-18T21:46:00.006-05:00

OCEAN VIEW, DELAWARE

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Local News

2009-02-17T21:49:00.003-05:00

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A Salisbury, MD women believes HVAC systems should be inspected for mold.

Read The Story