I had purchased an iPad to begin our research in case we were successful in winning the contest. We had established some methods of use prior to actually meeting Box.net. On the first day, we went through the means and methods of how to use the iPad in our business model. We took the Box.net application and seamlessly implemented this into our daily life as Building Envelope Consultants. With the help of Box.net we are now able to do things that we have been dreaming about for years. The guys (Sean Lindo & Michael Smith) were able to see what we do and how we “did” it previously and assisted us in developing applications and methods of performing this work with the Box.net and iPad together. Can you say Excited!!

Snippies, which is a video production company run by Jeanne Finnerty out of New York, shot two days of video in the office and out on project sites while we actually utilized the applications we were testing. The video she produced is fantastic and I don’t know how she did it, but she even made me look good! The employees at D 7 were all doing the job in real form and Snippies took this and created a wonderful ad video for Box.net and Apple.

Terrell Woods of D 7 has been the main liaison between Box and D 7 as I was on vacation with my family the past two weeks. T (as we call him) has set up our folders on the “box” and we have been busy training each of the employees with the use of the program. Each day we learn new ways of working. On Friday July 23rd, Box.net held a conference call or Webinar with our staff to update us on the applications best suited for our business and answer questions related to our daily activities. I can truly state that Box.net is in it to develop this to the fullest extent, the company is first class all the way and we are extremely lucky and grateful to be working with this level of class!

Our next step is to use the video in our promotion of D 7 and the “new” way of bringing our service to the clients. Just today, the USPS (United States Postal Service) signed us up to perform Quality Assurance on two large projects because we are able to deliver the Daily Quality Assurance report electronically every day from the roof. They wanted an email of the report at the end of the day to the project manager. We can do that and more due to Box.net and our new iPads.

It seems simple, but what we are able to do using Box.net is completely fantastic. Getting to new projects for our field guys is now easier. Not having to depend on cell reception to get in touch with them. Being able to deliver documents (a lot of paperwork) by means of our desk top to the field through the iPad and Box.net is something that will save us time and you know what that means….Money!

Have I mentioned the frustration of clients who want information now and have to wait? We will trim that frustration out of our lives for good. Being able to deliver QAO reports is one thing, being able to compile information from the field and getting it to the office almost immediately will save an enormous amount of time for the consultants. When they come back to the office, they will be able to have it at their fingertips for review. The Admin staff will be able to stay ahead of the flow of information. If we are traveling, the information can be at our fingertips without ever going back into the office.

These are just a few things that are happening. Next week, I will be visiting our project in Freemont, California with Scott Swick our QAO who is working for RE Systems on the BART WSX project. This is a “cut and cover” tunnel expansion of the Freemont Bay Area Rapid Transit project. We will be up there for over 200 days and the iPad and Box.net program has made this truly a smooth operation. Jeanne will be there from Snippies to do some video and we will be meeting with Sean and Micheal at Box.net offices in Palo Alto, CA. I can’t wait! Take a look at the video and stay tuned for more updates as we move further toward our goal.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cFFw-0qH1Hs

As for the golf, I guess there were about 30,000 other people that thought Pebble Beach would be a great place to be that weekend.  The crowds were huge and as each day wore on they got bigger.  If you love golf and have ever been to Pebble Beach, you will understand that watching the professional golfers tee it up and struggle so much on a great course is somewhat satisfying.  When I have played Pebble, the greens were always the most difficult part of the course.  To say the pros had trouble with the greens, would be an understatement.

Thursday morning I watched as some of the early tee times went off of #1 and #10.  Seeing the young stars of tomorrow hitting the first drive with the thought of winning the U.S. Open is a great moment.  You know they believe they have a shot at the trophy.  However reality will set in after two days and most will not make the cut.  Friday comes with new thoughts of trying to survive to the weekend, making the cut and staying close to the leaders from the previous day.  Many of the top professionals struggled the first two days and didn’t make the cut.  Either the wind, which was cold and blowing both days and the slick greens would do them in.  Some of the notables who didn’t make it to Saturday were Tom Lehman, Geoff Ogilvy, Louis Oosthuizen and Trevor Immelman.  What do they players have in common you ask?  Each has won a Major including Ogilvy at Wing Foot in New York (I was there and it was great) and Louis Oosthuizen (British Open 2010).  Check my next blog!!

The thing I love to do is read all the papers after the first two days to see what everybody is saying about the course, the conditions and the leaders and their play.  Being out on the course you get a first hand feel of the conditions and set up.  For me, I will honestly admit that to par just one hole playing on the course as it is set up would be an accomplishment.  As the commercial says “These guys are good”.  On Saturday, the real test comes.  The USGA (United States Golf Association) who runs the USGA events such as the U.S. Open, U.S. Amateur, etc., has total control over the way the course is set up for play.  They decide each day what to do with the pin placement, speed of the greens and length of the holes.

Some would say these guys are evil.  Some have said the USGA doesn’t like the golfers breaking par on the U.S. Open layout such as Pebble Beach.  The golfers will always be politically correct in the assessment of the USGA officials.  After all, they are professionals.  But make no mistake the courses the PGA (Professional Golf Association) set up each week for the weekly events in no way resemble the USGA layout for the U.S. Open.  The USGA doesn’t work for and is not run by the PGA.

So with the scores being somewhat better than expected, the USGA decided to bring them up a bit.  They let the greens get firmer and faster, the set up pin placements in locations that were near impossible to reach.  Case in point, #8 and #14 were both holes that for the resort golfer (guys like you and me) we would get on the green and two putt and move on, hopefully with a par!  Not this time, the shot over the ravine and water on #8 too me is the hardest shot at Pebble Beach.  It is no less than 180 yards of all carry and you have to carry a final bunker to a sloped green.  Go long and you are in another bunker or worse in the rough chipping down a steep slope.  If you watched the golfers on Thursday and Friday, they were going at the green with no real success.  The best shots were in the front bunker and then a sand shot to the pin with hopes of a short par putt.  On Saturday and Sunday, the players were “laying” up to the front apron and pitching the ball up the slope of the green to the back pin placement.  Those that went for the flag were chipping down the slope and watching the ball roll past the green to the place where others were pitching back up from.  No fun at all and believe me, if you were reviewing all the scores from that hole, you would see that many of the golfers who finished 2^nd and higher, didn’t par that hole each day.  Now take the 14^th, a par five that seemed to garner all the attention.  Did you see the 9’s that were posted on that hole?  It was ugly.  Watching this in person made you cringe and turn away, almost like a bar fight where one guy was beating somebody past the point of making the point, if you know what I mean.  Nobody knew what would happen on this hole.  It got so bad that laying up to around 80 to 100 yards didn’t assure you of anything.  I walked up on this green on Sunday after play was complete and the location of the hole and plateau of the green where the ball would stay without running back down the fairway or into the rough was about the 10’ x 20’.  Needless to say, from 100 yards, you go out and try and keep the ball within this area on CONCRETE!!  The greens were so hard and fast that par was a Great score on that hole.  Bogey 6 was acceptable and applauded when the players were lucky enough to obtain that.

BUT, with all that adversity such as the wind, the USGA set up, the difficulty of the course itself (nobody ever said Pebble was easy, at least I don’t think so) the shot that still stands out in the everybody’s mind is the tee shot on #18.  This is a daunting site.  The vista overlooking the ocean on the left, the Monterey hillside and the Lodge at Pebble on the right is one of the most impressive last holes you could ever play.  You want to hit it out over the ocean and carry as far as possible up the fairway.  You want too.  But you don’t.  You borrow as much as possible to the right without being completely lame and try and hit it square.  You then take a second shot up the fairway and hope to be on in three and two putt for a par.  Ok, I have tried to hit it up the fairway, but I still haven’t found those shots in the water off the rocks!

But the shot that makes us take a deep breath and hope to finish strong is now the last hole of the U.S. Open and the professionals need to get home to win.  Each and every golfer went to the tee box for the first two days with a chance to win the tournament.  On the last day only a handful had the chance.  All failed except one.  Graeme McDowell from Northern Ireland was able to meet the challenge.  He was able to complete the round and tournament of his life in 284 strokes.  He was 3 over par for the day and Even par for the 4 days of the event.  Remember what I said about the USGA and breaking par.  They succeeded in their wish and McDowell was the last man standing.

Many of the top names, Woods, Els, Michelson and Davis Love III finished in the top ten and all had a chance to take the trophy.  But each met with some form of failure be it lack of putting (Woods) bad shots at big moments (Michelson) or just plain didn’t have it that day (Els and Love).  As for me, watching these fantastic players struggle at some point on such a great course is why I know that playing the game of golf is a privilege that should be enjoyed.  Making par is great, breaking par, well I will let you know when it happens.  But the bottom line is, they all play at a level that many of us will never know.  So go out and enjoy the game, have fun and pretend that you just made a putt to win the U.S. Open!  Graeme McDowell used to do this and you know what, it finally happened to him.

As some of you know, this was the second of the 4 Major championships played each year.  My Masters blog was posted and this is the second major of the year.  I will be posting the British Open followed by the PGA championship in August.  My personal “bucket list” for the year is ½ complete.  Onward and upward!!

We will be taking them out of the box and then training on the use of the Ipad.  Snippies (www.snippies.com) will be on hand to video and prepare the promotional aspect for Box.Net.  This is the other part of the program.  The part that is most important to D 7 is getting the maximum efficiency out of the Ipad for our services in the Building Envelope Consulting business.

We are getting ready to embark on a new path of work flow.  What used to take days will now take hours and in some cases minutes.  Getting information from the field to the office and into the client’s hands has always been the most difficult part of our work.  Through Box.Net we will be able to have the information in the office before the Quality Assurance Observer or Consultant is back from the field.  Having this head start on the document(s) will save time immediately.  Not to mention the processing of photos (always a time consuming task) this can be tedious and confusing.  We will now be able to have immediate access to photos from the field.

So if you are a client who wants quick turn around, look no further than D 7 Consulting.  This will be what we do best.  Combined with our technical ability, years of experience in the roofing and waterproofing business and top notch staff of experts, why would you look elsewhere?

With over 700 contest entries, the choice was difficult. We were thrilled when Box.net informed D 7 Consulting that we had been selected as the winner of the free Ipads, etc. We are now embarking on a new and exciting journey of improving our company. With that said, the plan is simple….take our work product and transition from days or weeks to complete paper work in the field to a matter of minutes or at a maximum days at best.

Here is a short version of what we are working on:

Step One:

Quality Assurance Observer watching the installation of a waterproofing membrane on a project in Los Angeles.

Typically, the Daily Report takes several days to get from the field to the client. We will be able to take the same report and have it in the hands of the client the same day! Furthermore, the photographs of the project that sometimes take a week, will be available to the client the same day they are taken! Imagine going from Lead time to Real time!

Step Two:

Use maps or other internet based satellite images for real pictures of the roof or building. This is already being done, however with Box.net we will be putting the information directly into the hands of our Admin staff that will not have to wait until the consultant comes back into the office to develop the report. The information provided by the consultant on our preprogrammed forms will allow the Admin to put the report on his desk for review within a day or two.

Step Three:

Time sheets and other documentation that sometimes seems archaic at best, will now be completely computerized. Our documentation for all services will be handled in a speed and efficiency that will far surpass any other way we had operated before.

Step Four:

Figuring out what to do with the rest of the time we will now have on our hands! Just kidding, my hope is that all of our clients will experience much better service that they will be touting our company as the only consulting firm to work with in the future. So the extra time will be spent working on new projects for new clients.

We want to thank the people at Box.net for this exciting opportunity. You can check out the announcement at their website blog.box.net Look for more updates in the near future as we go through the month long program with Box.net. We will be putting up video of the process for you to view and hopefully gain a better understanding of the “future” of business that we know. Join us for the ride.

The course itself was originally shaped by Dr. Alister Mackenzie and Jones. Jones had visited the site earlier while playing in Augusta. He had been searching for land to create a course. At the time it was an abandoned nursery. Jones was told of the property and upon seeing it for the first time, was quoted as saying “Perfect! And to think this ground has been lying here all these years waiting for someone to come and lay a golf course on it.” Consisting of 365 acres of rolling hills and many large trees, including the Magnolias that line the course, it was as Jones put it, perfect. Now if you have been there, you will know that a more beautiful course is hard to find. Add the beauty to the years of exciting golf and you have one of the finest events ever to be held. Jones would stand on a tee area and hit shots to assist Mackenzie in defining the best layout. Mackenzie was already renowned for his Cypress Point design along with Pasatiempo both on the Monterey peninsula near Pebble Beach. After playing Cypress Point, Jones had dubbed it as one of the best courses ever to have been built and knew he wanted Mackenzie for his Augusta layout. Alas Dr. Mackenzie died just 2 months prior to the first tournament in 1934 after completing the course.

12th hole at Augusta National

The very first Masters in 1934 was won by Horton Smith at 4 under par. After that, the club committee switched the back and front nines to create more excitement in the event. How prophetic was this bunch? Imagine Gene Sarazen holing out his 2nd shot on the Par 5 15th for a double eagle to go on and win in a playoff in 1935. This began the allure of the Masters and put it on the map alongside the U.S. Open and the other great events of the day. In 1939 they talked Jones into calling it the Masters for the first time. Fast forward to Saturday and imagine standing in the fairway and watching Phil Mickelson hole out his fairway shot on the 14th for eagle right after having made his eagle on the Par 5 13th. Then turn around and watch as he comes within inches of sinking his eagle chip on the 15th settling for just a Birdie! That’s 5 shots in three holes people. Excitement, remember the committee mentioned above? Now that crew knew what they were talking about. Mickelson’s Saturday heroics were enough to capture the tournament and the heart of the thousands that lined the fairways.

But wait, he then goes out and possible does it one better. Did you see the shot on 13 on Sunday? WOW! All I have to say is, he is either crazy or crazy good. I know it is the latter, but come on.

As somewhat of a history buff, I love reading about the old days when past greats like Ben Hogan, Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus and many others before them marched across the now famous land and laid siege to the great course. If you have time, and you should if you are a fan of golf, go to www.Masters.com and you will find some great stories.

I was able to walk the course with my 14 year old son, Jaren and enjoy my 51st birthday. I could not have picked anything better than this for the day. We talked about how the course was made, why this land was chosen and many of the traditions of the event. I have been reading the Grand Slam of Golf, the Bobby Jones story. It has all the accounts of Bobby Jones and his ups and downs, victories and defeats, including the history of Augusta and the Masters. It is a wonderful chronicle of this great man and great golfer’s life. I did not intend on having the answers for my son, it just worked out that way. But it did make the day even more special. We flew home and now have a great memory to share for the rest of our lives. I can only hope it will be as great for him as it is for me.

So back to Phil and the 2010 Masters. As exciting as it was, one could not help but notice the stark contrast between Tiger’s finish and Phil’s victory. Having finished his round, Tiger was asked to sum up the week. His basic answer; “I finished 4th! I came here to win.” He went on to say that he would take some more time off and assess his situation before playing again. Really? He just finished 4th behind one of the great players and rounds in the history of the Masters and has to “assess” his situation? His game was clearly off after not playing for 5 months. Had he been in top form, we might have witnessed one of the greatest Masters ever. That is what we all were there to see, at least I was. Tiger Woods the golfer must not be thinking clearly. What else does he have to do? His great escape comes on the golf course. Imagine Tiger walking away from golf completely? I can’t, neither can the networks.

Now picture Phil, walking off the 18th green and hugging his wife. Talk about the picture perfect moment. Now cut back to Phil during the past 4 days. Did Tiger playing in the Masters make it more or less a magic moment for Phil? I don’t think it mattered one bit. Was it more of an “event” because Tiger was there? I don’t think so. What it did was create more money for CBS and the other news media covering the event. There were no more than the usual number of patrons (people who attend the event are referred to as patrons, not fans) they treated Tiger with respect and they applauded him as a past champion. All of this was refreshing within the confines of the event where Tiger’s past 5 months were not allowed. The Masters is bigger than Tiger or any other golfer. That is what Jack, Tom Watson, Arnie, Ben Hogan and the rest of the past champions came to understand. The Masters is a privilege shared by few. To come and win is an absolute honor. To play and feel the history, well ask the person who finished in last place what he thinks. Nathan Green is from Australia, he made a hole in one on the Par 3 16th hole on Sunday during his final round. Green said; “It was a big thrill to do it on this big stage.” He was on his way to a final round 75 to finish last of those that made the cut. He wasn’t thinking of anything but how awesome it was to have the hole in one. His main concern? Being able to play in the Masters again and performing better than this year. Did I say privilege to play? Nathan Green get its.

We will see all the usual suspects later this year at Pebble Beach for the U.S. Open in June. This is a crazy event. I cannot wait to go. I will be there watching and hoping for something special. We will see our cowboy with the black hat and the one with the white hat. You can figure out who is who. What you won’t know is who will win the next big event. Certainly this year at the Masters, Phil, Augusta National along with Jaren, myself and rest of the people watching were the Big winners!

Until next time, Fairways and Greens!

Hot fluid-applied rubberized asphalt;
Cold Fluid-applied urethane coating;
Single Ply;
Built-up asphalt roofing;
Modified Bitumen roofing;

Obviously, some are better than others. Some offer more advantages versus others. The main thing to understand is why you would utilize this type of membrane assembly.  In most roofing system, you install the insulation over the substrate, followed by the “waterproofing” membrane, with the surfacing (as in BUR or Modified roof systems).  With a single ply, the membrane is the first and final layer or surfacing. With the two fluid-applied systems, you would not see these in the more tradition roofing systems and they only come into play with the IRMA or PRM because of the covering or protection. Lets talk about what happens after the roof system is installed over the insulation. In time the building will have foot traffic, maintenance, equipment change out, typically atmospheric degradation such as sun, wind and rain. All of these are constant and cannot be taken out of the factors that affect the service life of the membrane. With the normal roof system, the traffic on the membrane eventually affects the service life. When water is allowed to enter through the membrane from any deficiency, then the insulation can now be affected.  Finally, finding the leak becomes problematic due to the fact that where the water enters the membrane and where it shows itself in the building can be two distinct locations. Maintenance or repair to the roof system may involve extensive testing via Infrared scanning or destructive testing by opening up the roof system to determine how wet or deteriorated the insulation is located. Both of these are costly and time consuming, not to mention the affect it has on the overall system. When leaks do occur within an insulated system, we have seen a lot of repairs performed without doing the homework to find out what has happened to the materials below. The roof may still leak, the wet insulation can still be holding water and worse yet, you have lost the insulating R-value due to the wet insulation thus rendering the insulation useless. The traffic also affects the overall service life. With a building that has a high level of equipment, maintenance and foot traffic the roofing membrane can suffer and the service life is shortened sometimes drastically.

So why use a IRMA or PRM system? Going back to the definition, we want to protect the membrane. How do you do that? Simple put it on the substrate (concrete in most cases) and cover it up so that it cannot be damaged. Start by installing the membrane over the structural deck. With all of the options listed above you want to “finish” the system meaning install the flashings, surfacing or protection sheet over the roofing/waterproofing membrane. This system can be worked over, walked on, even construction can occur after the roof membrane has been placed. In new construction, this allows the building to be watertight much earlier in the construction period so that interior work can move along faster than normal. As they say in the construction trade “Time is money!” Now that the membrane is in place, what is next? Now the insulation can be placed over the membrane. Except this is where the biggest change takes place. The typical roofing insulation is Polyisocyanurate insulation. To make it simple, this type is not suppose to be exposed to the elements. So you would not use it in an exposed assembly. EPS (Expanded Polystyrene) or bead board or “Styrofoam” is another typical roof insulation. This also should not be used in an exposed manner. So what can you do? When using an exposed insulation, you would utilize an EXPS or XPS or Extruded Polystyrene. One location to learn more about this type of insulation is www.xpsa.com.  You will learn that XPS insulation has more R-value per inch than traditional insulation. It is resistant to moisture, which is why it is used in this type of assembly.
It has greater structural capacity or basically is stronger. It is and can be used in many locations on your building. I recommend reading more about it as an option for insulation when designing systems.

So once you have the insulation protecting the membrane, what do you do then? Well the insulation has to be held in place. Otherwise wind can literally blow it away. As in traditional systems, you have to provide a surfacing. The surfacing of an IRMA or PRM provides two benefits. 1) Holds the insulation in place; 2) Provides a walking surface. Now there are other components such as flashing membranes and drainage board, filter fabric and insulation tape for joints, but a “Design” blog is for later. This is for bestowing the basic principle of the IRMA roof system. The two components used are typically rock or ballast and concrete as in pavers or poured. In both cases, the most important factor to consider after the membrane of course is Wind Uplift. With all roof systems, the wind uplift should be reviewed so that you meet the local requirements and do not allow a wind failure to occur. By providing the correct amount of ballast per square foot (Typically 15 pounds psf for the perimeter) you will meet or exceed FMG I-90 wind uplift rating. (FMG stands for Factory Mutual global). When using pavers, the typical paver size is 2′x 2′ x 2″, any larger and the handling of the paver becomes difficult. The paver is used in window washing locations, foot paths between access and equipment, etc. The ballast is used in the field areas where foot traffic does not occur or is not required.

Now you can see the one thing that stands out on this type of assembly. For me it is simple. If I get a leak, I don’t lose my insulation. I can remove the materials over the membrane, find the leak location due to the fact my membrane is fully adhered to the substrate, provide repairs and put the materials back into place. Finally, the wear and tear on the membrane is eliminated, thus reducing long term maintenance costs. Remember I also have a greater thermal envelope on my building due to the higher R-value per inch. There are so many advantages to this type of system I could on and on. However, it does have one thing that keeps it from become more widely used. The Cost! The ballast and pavers are costly, the insulation is typically more expensive and if you are using the hot rubberized asphalt
system, that too can be more expensive. We would recommend a Life Cycle Cost analysis for anybody considering the use of this type of assembly.

I first became interested in this type of system when working with SOM(Skidmore, Owings & Merrill) in Los Angeles, CA. Their firm has been around since 1936 and began in Chicago. The IRMA or PRM system is a staple of their designs. If you go up on a building that has ballasted insulation, membrane below and walkways of either pavers or concrete, you are most likely on a SOM designed building. Go to their website www.SOM.com and you can learn more about them.

So what do we know? If you protect the waterproofing or roofing membrane it will last longer. If you utilize an insulation that does not break down under water, you won’t have to worry about the weathering of the insulation. If you use a solid walking surface, you won’t have to worry about damage to the membrane or insulation. All of these add up to greater service life and lower maintenance costs. So protect your investment and begin protecting your roof. You can’t go wrong.

Back to the text message.  He was on his way to school.  My wife and I were on our way to the airport leaving Honolulu after a short trip to attend the RCI Hawaii Winter Workshop. Yes, we will be home to celebrate his birthday.  We do love him!

As I fly over the Pacific, I feel compelled to post this Industry Blog about the last 2 days of furthering my education.  I have done this for years; attending classes, workshops, presenting information to groups, but this one was different.  How you ask?  Here are some key factors: 1)  It didn’t feel like 2 pain filled days of lecture.  Mix in a little Hawaii, it helps! 2)  RCI provided a format and overall idea that were new, I believe for RCI of course! 3)  The information wasn’t new, but with the new format became fresh and relevant. 4)  I was accompanied by my wife, Janick.  This was the second time we did this.  It does work, and it was fun. 5)  I had three D 7 Consultants there as well.  Their interest and comments over dinner were great to hear. I am excited that they were interested and hopefully learned some new things.

And finally, one big thing!  It reaffirmed to our people that we are doing the right things!  Taking home the outline material and key information, we will be able to see that what D 7 does as a company is right in line with the top companies in our field.  And we can build on that having attended this function.

Where – Let’s talk about these factors:  mix in some Hawaii!  If you are considering your next conference or class and you only do one or two a year, or less!  Make it count.  Go somewhere special, some cities are nice, but attend a class in a city where you a) haven’t been before b) your wife or family hasn’t seen or c) provides a change of weather or recreation that you enjoy. 

Format – The format was a key factor.  Since 1990, I have been attending classes at either RCI or UW-Madison, etc.  This was the first for me.  A fictitious project, Faulty Towers, allowed the presenters to “construct” all the problems we might find on a project, but in smaller portions.  This allowed all to draw from personal experience, utilize great examples of deficiencies (we all have our hall of shame roofing & waterproofing photos) and provided symmetry to the program.  Now granted, there were the little glitches (cold room, audio hiccups) but hey, we aren’t working in Hollywood sound studios.  But they were minor and didn’t bother me too much.  I digress.

Having some of the top consultants as presenters*, doesn’t always work.  You know the drill, great mind – poor performer.  Well, these guys were able to make it work because of the format. And it allowed them freedom from thinking too much.  Even the lawyers (almost all of them) did a good job and their information was critical and brought value. 

D 7 has provided services to many forms of clients and on a myriad of projects.  As I walked along Waikiki Beach on my morning workout, I realized several things about life: 
-You need a plan, even if it is for just a day, a month, or a year.  Follow a plan.  You will get wherever you want to go much faster.
-Use a successful program in business.  Find one that works and use it.  Inventing new, especially in our business, doesn’t work.  If this program taught me anything, it is that we do a good job of what we do.  I have been following the same program for years.  Nuff said!
-Don’t be afraid to make changes or try to improve!  You don’t have to scrap everything you’ve tried.  If it doesn’t work, stop.  Figure it out why and try again.  People get hung up on failure.  Not one success was immediate, there have always been failure that have lead to progress or opened the door to a success. 

Work to improve on what you do.  Have someone or somebody review your work, your company.  We all can improve on something, even if it is just overall attitude adjustment.  I am looking forward to exchanging ideas with our D7 staff and making some changes (albeit small ones) related to our business model.  Nothing like being energized after a couple of days in Hawaii, listening to good sound information presented in a great format.  Check back in a few days or weeks to hear more results of this journey.

*David Knox, AIA Knox Hoversland; Jim Reinhardt, AIA Architectural Diagnostics; Richard Cook, RRC, RWC, CCS LEED AP of ADC Engineering; Karim Allana, RRC, REC, PE of Allana Buick & Bers; John D. Shepherd, RRC, RRO of Shepherd Consulting Services; Austin Sloat, AIA of Neumann Sloat Achitects, LLP; Christopher Shea Goodwin, Esquire of Christopher Shea Goodwin AAL LLC; Colin Murphy, RRC, FRCI, LEED AP of Trinity ERD; Keith Hunter, Esq., of DPR; Dana Bergeman of Allana Buick & Bers; Larry Good of Trinity ERD; Roy F. Hughes, esquire, of Hughes & Taosaka, LLC.

The old me!

Imagine that you don’t sleep at night. Imagine that you haven’t felt well in quite some time. What if you are sore or tired or just plain over weight? Does any of this ring a bell? For me, it was a combination of things, the weight, my shoulders hurt and I knew I wasn’t in great shape. After years of procrastinating, I finally decided at the ripe old age of 50 that I needed to do something about it. I could only Imagine what was to come.

I first met Aaron Benes of Imagine If after I heard about him from my friend Mike Randell. I was interested in getting fit, losing weight and making my shoulders feel better. Imagine my surprise (see how I have mixed in the Imagine theme?) when he put me through a series of questions that were meant to see whether I was even a candidate for him. I found out that Aaron is unlike any other fitness professional in the country due to his unique approach and his selectiveness with accepting clients. After we talked I agreed to come back for an “interview” and to see what kind of shape I was in.

I started by asking him about the cost of a program. No sense in going through all the stuff and finding out I didn’t want to spend a dime on my own personal fitness right? Just kidding! But isn’t it true? Most people will spend a weeks salary on junk food and doing things that are not good for them, yet when asked to do something that will benefit them the rest of their lives, will cry all the way to the bank.

Well the “interview” consisted of a series of assessments that allowed him to see where I was at physically. Although I knew I was overweight, I didn’t think I was THAT overweight. And I didn’t think I was THAT out of shape! Imagine my surprise when I couldn’t even do some of the things he asked me to try. The session was tantamount to me being told I couldn’t play golf anymore! After I completed the assessment, sort of anyway, Aaron and I sat down to talk about my goals. My goals were fairly simple. I wanted to 1) Lose 30 pounds; 2) Get rid of the pain I have in my shoulders; 3) Gain flexibility so that my golf game could improve; 4) Get down to less than 20% body fat.

Looking Good! Feeling Good!

After I agreed to the Aaron’s terms, lets just say, he expects you to live up to your end of the bargain, AND he took overall body measurements…Waste, chest, legs, hips, etc., he then told me what my body fat % was. Wow, did I say I was overweight? Ok, I was committed for several reasons (see goals above) but knowing that I was considered obese was enough to get me going. I started on a program in July 2009. 3 days of training sessions each week, Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 6:00 a.m. to 7:00 a.m. And on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturdays I would walk for an hour in the early morning. Aaron tailored a diet plan, workout plan and an overall life plan to aid in me achieving success and attaining my goals.

After 6 months and countless hours, I can tell you that I have lost the 30 pounds, I am in much better shape, have increased my flexibility, I feel great and the inches have been stripped away around my body. Not to mention that at last check, I was down to 24% body fat. My biggest problem now if finding pants in the closet. My waist is back to pre D 7 days; which is over 16 years ago. My plan worked for me. Aaron tailors a custom program for each person. The food that I eat and what I drink has also provided a much greater benefit. Some of you know that I am an insulin dependent diabetic. I have been taking insulin since 1980. Over the past years, I have struggled with the insulin and weight gain more than anything else in my life. So losing the weight also reduced my insulin intake by as much as 25% each day. When I first saw my doctor for a check up, he looked up upon entering the exam room and wasn’t sure if it was me or not. He wanted to know if I ever did anything half way? He knows that when I am doing something, it is done only one way, ALL the WAY!

6 months ago, I could only Imagine what I could do, how I could feel? The only thing that Aaron can’t help me with is the golf game. He can increase my flexibility, make me stronger, help me lose the weight and much more. But he can’t swing the club for me. That part is up to me. My goals have not changed. I plan on losing more weight, reducing my body fat further, getting stronger AND FEELING BETTER. Aaron was the reason for my success. He could be a willing contributor to your success, if only you can Imagine what it will be like. Imagine If? That’s what I did. Thank you Aaron! You can contact Aaron Benes at 949-475-5555 or email aaron@imagineiffitness.com

Now the hard part. St. Mary’s is a private school that is solely dependent on tuition for their operating budget. How could they afford to install a new roof and what would they do? With that in mind and having a son who attends the school, I provided budgets for some options available to them. The building and grounds committee, headed by Larry Schuler along with the head of school John O’Brien were then given the names of several roofing contractors to set out on the task to obtain bids for work.

When they contacted me again several months later, they had selected Bligh Roof Company; 11043 Forest Pl; Santa Fe Springs, CA 90670 562-944-9753 to perform the work. The only trouble was, when? School was out on the 19th of December and students were back on the 4th of January. Could it be done? Once they informed me of Bligh’s intent to install a Duro-last PVC single ply roof system and that Duro-last (Scott Franklin) www.duro-last.com had visited the project along with Bligh, I was relieved. They had two weeks over the holidays (that’s counting Christmas and New Years) to vacuum the gravel and install the new system. As the photos will attest, they did it. From what I understand, Bligh and Duro-last worked with the school to provide a reduced cost and payment terms in order for the school to solve their largest budget problem and building issue facing them today. A job well done by the group! The school is very happy and without the help of the two parties, Bligh Roof Company and Duro-last, would not have been able to afford to have the work done.

Now if I could just get them to help my son with his homework! All would be right with the world. Thanks guys!

The crew busy installing the roof membrane.

Working as a team is one of Bligh’s strong suits.

Attention to detail is critical to the long term performance of any roof system.

Nothing like a clean roof! With the upcoming warm days the school will save money
with the new white “cool” roof, thus lowering air conditioning bills in the future.