DEBlog

I have always liked the word “bittersweet.” It’s both the taste and emotional equivalent of “happy and sad” at the same time. And that’s what this blog is today—bittersweet. First the happy. It was a real treat to visit the Ironworkers mid-Atlantic training center last week. The facilities are impressive and the teachers and staff enthusiastic. Under the auspices of Local 5, the training facility teaches beginning ironworkers on a variety of equipment. This was the first time I had seen mock-ups of a unitized system used for training purposes. The facility also sported a variety of other types of training equipment including a unitized curtainwall mock-up, a two-story structural… Read More »

So I heard about this happening to a reader, then another, and I thought “well this might be a thing.” Then I heard about it a few more times, and then it happened to us, so I did some research. And yes, it’s a very big thing. The “thing” in question is the benefits provided by your state’s unemployment insurance program to phony claimants. Fraud is running rampant through most of these state programs. In fact, the Department of Labor estimates that at least $63 billion in improper payments, much of it fraud, have been made since COVID hit last year. What is particularly insidious is that most of this… Read More »

This headline makes no sense, of that I am aware, but in a few minutes it will. It’s here because this blog is about two different topics that deserve some coverage. By the time I finished writing it, a connection between the two even revealed itself. First the Hush People There was some sad news this past week that Moe Peterson, who spent much of his career as PPG’s director of technical services, passed away mid-February. Most people in the industry today, (save those who work at Vitro—then PPG—and still see his name on countless documents) would not have known Moe. He retired as director of technical services and product… Read More »

It’s the most common refrain I hear from contract glazing company owners and managers when I ask how they are doing. “We are okay—for now.” “We will be fine this year.” Or “We actually had a good 2020, all things considered and are on course for the same in 2021.” Every single one of these comments, however, is followed by a big BUT. BUT 22?  What about 22? The 22 in question is, of course, 2022, the year when the backlog that was in place before the pandemic hits becomes depleted or close to depleted. As projects move from backlog to jobs in progress to jobs completed, they are usually… Read More »

Responsible organizations such as ours are very careful when covering reports of problems in supply chains or scarcities. Get it wrong and you’ve most likely helped create one. (The long-ago Tonight Show host Johnny Carson is generally blamed for starting the great toilet paper shortage of 1973 when he joked about a non-existent one, thereby inciting one.) Pass on reporting on shortages and you’ve kept information your audience needs from them. Questions about deficiencies often come up, and they are being asked in abundance now. Here’s how I answer them. Actual glass shortages are rare. Float lines run 24/7 and, absent a catastrophe or epic fail, their removals from service… Read More »