Dave Pray's BLOG

So what does an Owner's Rep do??

2011-11-10T14:18:00.001-05:00

One of the services I offer is owner’s representation. I thought it might be helpful to describe the service…perhaps over a few postings.

Ideally, an owner realizes his organization (and this could be her family), is about to become involved in the “constructed environment”. In other words, the organization has some significant interest in building or renovating something….such as an office building, a house, a hospital, a nightclub, an athletic facility…the list goes on.

So, most owners turn either to a contractor or an architect to perform the roles as their primary trusted advisor. An owner’s representative is a firm that has developed relationships with both architects, contractors, design-builders as well as other professionals (lawyers, realtors, accountants, suppliers, subcontractors). That is the role I play.

So….let’s review one of my recent projects which was the redevelopment of 209 Capitol Street which was a vacant building and is now the law offices for Bailey & Glasser (this is also where my in-town office is located).

Ben Bailey approached me shortly after he had made an offer on 209 Capitol Street to the former owner (Charleston Urban Renewal Association). I initially reviewed the building to be sure that the building could even be rehabilitated…and if so…for how much. So, I relied upon a structural engineer I knew who first did a kick the tires walk through. He did not see any immediate issues but did see some areas of concern that if the owner did decide to proceed, deserved more significant exploration.

I roughed together a conceptual estimate of the renovations to see if this would even be commercially viable. During this process, I decided to examine the possibility of renovating this structure under Department of Interior guidelines and subsequently receive what would amount to a 30 percent tax credit (20 percent federal and 10 percent state). When the renovation costs and the tax credits looked like they would make sense to B&G (and before the building purchase was concluded), we did some destructive testing, engaged both an architect and contractor on a preliminary basis and submitted a phase one and phase two application to the Department of the Interior.

So….through my initial efforts…the owner(s) developed an in depth view of this project and prepared themselves to finalize a significant decision…i.e. should they purchase the building and renovate it.

(More to follow in part 2).

DP's 4 Hour Body (Experience)

2011-11-02T17:14:00.000-04:00

For a number of years I have had a goal….probably like many of you…to lose some weight and to also increase my muscle mass. Now….this may come as a shock to some of you as I guess I might reasonably be considered skinny but I had managed to accumulate a fair amount of body fat in my mid section and this accumulated fat was not what I had in mind for my bathing suit bod.

Somehow, I bumped into Tim Ferris book the Four Hour Body. Now…this book has about 400 pages…but it is not a book you need or want to read from front to back. So I read the weight loss section in May (prior to our annual beach vacation) and in day two of my attention to this diet I had a Dexa Scan and learned my percent body fat was 21.7%.

Now that the baseline measurement was in place, I stayed on the diet as prescribed until my next visit to Physiologix (in my home town, Charleston, WV) for my next dexa scan and the results were great. (Lean mass grew by 2 pounds and pounds of body fat went from 37 pounds to 24 pounds.) Remarkable.

Too…..as of the date of this writing, I now weigh 164 pounds which is a couple of pounds lighter than I was then…but of note….I have now been on this diet for about 5 months with zero rebound.

So…..if you are in the market for some weight loss……..give the Four Hour Body a look…think you will be happy you did.

Woolworth's Fire

2011-01-04T21:49:00.005-05:00

Tony Yunker with GBBN sent me a link with footage from the 1949 Woolworth's Fire. It's incredible.

Happy Holidays!!!!

2010-12-24T09:42:00.003-05:00

The New Year might see a rejuvenation of my interest in this Blog...or maybe not!

Anyway....all that aside, I wish you an engaging and meaningful New Year and a holiday that brings you close to your family and friends.

Happy Holidays!!!

Projects/Weekly Review/Next Actions GTD!

2010-05-03T13:27:00.004-04:00

In GTD vernacular, a project is a desired outcome that takes more than one action. So, let's say you have an errand...like I do right now....purchase 4 AA batteries....thats a task that gets accomplished in one move...an errand. Laura and I just completed a project I defined a couple of months ago.

The Project was Improve organization of attic so clothes can be easily found by April 15. I'm sure you all have projects like this you'd like to accomplish...and I'm not really trying to illustrate how to complete a domestic task.....but I would like to discuss...at least a bit...how the project was achieved.

I think sometime in January, I defined this project. I thought about the project and tried to accurately define this attic cleaning project...and an accurate definition means...check mark...this project is done.

So..I did that.....and then...every week...in the all important weekly review...I reviewed all of my projects and generally scheduled some next action that would advance this project. Many times that simply meant blocking off an hour on the weekend to work "up there". And I did that....the one hour time frame worked well...enough to get something accomplished and not too much that it felt overwhelming.

Then one of my next actions was @w/Laura (my wife) to work with her to sort some of the stuff that I was not qualified to sort...Christmas stuff and fabrics mostly. So that happened and Laura became inspired and together...while the attic is not perfect....it is way better......the task is complete....and its really neat to be routinely getting things done using my trusted system.

Give it a shot. It works.

Clear Project Definition (Know when you can say Done!)
Weekly Review when you plan the next week's next action
Do the work planned (no...planning alone does not do it)
Weekly Review
One Next Action
Weekly Review
One Next Action
Etc
Check...project done...clebrate...reinforce....on to the next one!

iPhone tech tips

2010-04-27T19:35:00.001-04:00

I'm playing a role in the new Basketball Center at WVU which involves me driving back and forth to Morgantown from time to time. I like to have a good handful of podcasts available for these drives and/or a book from audible.com. I drove up yesterday and everything was coming out high pitched and fast....so I texted a friend of mine who manages my tech things and he came up with the fix...thought I'd share.

So...launch your iPod and look at the bar that indicates where your are on your podcast...look all the way to the right and you will see "1X" if normal....."2X" if double time "1/2X" if have speed. Touch it and you can scroll thru these settings. (I was on 2X and wanted 1X).

Viola....and...I just learned this...if you want to take a picture of your iPhone screen...hit the home and on/off button at the same time and you will take a photo of your screen.

That was worth the read...huh?

Thanks Coach Huggins

2010-03-14T13:31:00.012-04:00

What a remarkable game yesterday. WVU beats Georgetown and...for the first time in school history, won the Big East Basketball title. I loved the game and really the entire week. What impressed me the most about yesterday's performance was Coach Huggin's post win interview.

Coach's post game interview doesn't seem to be popping up at the moment on ESPN's website...but here is the jist of it. (1) Coach Huggins is very close to tears....and this is not coming from the head....but the heart. (2) And why he is almost crying in his words...is because the kids played their hearts out...played beyond their skill levels....and he is so happy because he is happy for the State.

And I for one am buying this. Many Division One coaches would be crying because they know their resume just got expanded and they are worth more money.

Huggins isn't looking to move. He loves West Virginia and he is inspiring these young men to play beyond their given capabilities. His ability to provide a much bigger mission is paying off and is a great example of leadership we can all learn from.

OK...he's got the X's and O's down...he is a great recruiter....he knows how to build individual skills and conditioning....yeah...and so do about 50 other D1 coaches. But he is leading these young men on a slightly higher mission....win this one for the people of West Virginia....he means it and I feel it.

Great season...great coach...great leader.

GTD and Vacation Protocols

2010-03-08T10:31:00.002-05:00

At one point in my career, I was the CEO of a mid-sized design-construction firm which I founded, grew, and sold called Pray Construction Company. At a point in the early to mid 1990’s, Pray Construction really needed a job of some size. We were in the process of bidding-negotiating a major addition to Charleston Catholic High School. We knew we were one of two firms in the final running….and then my vacation (horseback riding in Ireland) presented itself.

So….with my family, we went to Ireland and I chose a style I call “going dark”…meaning I was not going to check in. Now…communications back then were quite different. E-mail was just firing up and cell phones were not at all wide spread. We were “in the west” in Ireland, which meant….from a communications point of view…that the available land lines were few and far between…but you could find one…but I choose not to. Instead of calling in to touch base…I remained anxious and worried about the job….or lack of it. (For the record, we did get the job and the decision was not finalized until I returned).

The point to all of this was I’m not sure I was better off not calling in. Yeah…I was on vacation and was not obsessing like some of my wall street friends that were also on the trip and who called the office everyday (although notably that really changed as the week went on), but I was still anxious.

So…here is what I do now…and I think this is very GTD.

1) First of all….I go on holiday with my in-boxes (electronic and two paper ones) to zero. Now…this is really no big deal for me…I’m at zero several times a week…but it is foundational I think. So…e-mails are either deleted, read or action taken, they are filed for reference, stimulate other actions steps and so forth. But..the in-box is zero.
2) I do a good weekly review just before I leave.
3) I let everyone I’m actively involved with know I’m off for a holiday. You can’t hit all the stakeholders, but you can get the big ones which really helps manage the incoming.
4) I use the out of office assistant to remind anyone sending me an e-mail that you won’t hear back from me.

So…I’m feeling very caught up and ready to leave. This involves work and discipline. Laura and I just went on a one week holiday and I’m sure I worked until 10:00 pm the night before to do all of the above.

My computer stays at home but the iPhone comes along.

I do in fact read my e-mails. If they require action, I move them to a folder on my sidebar entitled “e-mails to respond to”. This helps me delete the junk, stay very loosely up to speed, and sets the stage for re-entry. Plus, and I think this is relevant; I don’t get reminded of my work every time I review my in-box...(as the messages have been physically moved). Plus, I maintain that good feeling of having a zero in box.

I tested this process last summer on a two week holiday and just did it for a one-weeker. Process works well. I try and get back from holidays on Saturday so I can process the e-mails to respond to folder on Sunday. I have likely 50-60 e-mails that required action. This took about 4 hours.

Coming back to my two “cleaned” physical offices effectively supports the re-charging you are hoping for from a holiday. And…I woke up this morning with a zero in-box as well.

I think this method of execution helps support vitality and renewal which is one is one of the things one hopes for from holiday. But…like a lot of the GTD stuff, this works for me and may/may not for you…but perhaps is worthy of experimentation.

Don’t Let the Door Hit you in the Ass on Your Way Out

2010-02-19T13:06:00.004-05:00

A good lifelong friend of mine recently sent me a link to the attached NYT article. When he sent it to me I did not read it but felt I would be inspired to write a retort referencing my recent work with the Adize’s Methodology. And I could perhaps do that…..but after reading the article, I actually would have to say right on!

I’ve been around small and mid sized businesses for the better part of 40 years and…as a group…we….businessmen…just put up with too much crap. I’m serious. It’s tough stuff running a business…..right…fun…exciting…rewarding….and I do not think the exclusive focus should be earnings (earnings is a natural outcome of a job well done…maybe), but there is a bit too much bitching going around most shops.

So….got a problem…fine….do me a favor and go find another job. I’m serious…quit. Go share your good attitude and work ethic with one of my competitors.

Happy Valentine's Day!!!

2010-02-14T16:16:00.002-05:00

I had all sorts of brilliant topics for BLOG posts, but I got sidetracked uploading photos from my camera to my new 27" iMac. That led to a brief review of all my images from the last year...and this one caught my eye. This is my 2+ year old granddaughter Zoe...photo taken last September.

Happy Valentines all!!...Zoe...is this your first BLOG post??? Well.....maybe the first for 2010.

Working on my GTD System

2010-02-08T10:20:00.005-05:00

I first became exposed to David Allen when the Mountain State YPO Chapter brought David to Charleston to present his public one day seminar. I’m guessing this was in 1994. I brought about 6 or 7 employees from Pray Construction Company hoping his system would sweep through PCC.

I’m pretty sure his system didn’t really stick at Pray, but I bought in and continue to practice. I later spent some one-on-one time with David and his wife Kathy on an YPO cruise. David gave me a few telephone coaching sessions with Meg Edwards and she really helped me tune up my Outlook based system. I think I did perhaps two sessions and then went on about my business.

I likely stopped about 2 sessions too early!

Anyway….I lived with my system. Essentially, I used tasks to collect my next actions (calls; e-mails; read; meet with; waiting for, etc). So, let’s say someone sent me an e-mail and this e-mail stimulated a response (that took more than 2 minutes) so I’d drag this mail into the left column in Outlook and into the task folder. When you do that, the mail explodes. You can then input text in the subject line (i.e. 304-744-1111 Jack Jones and then select @calls from your custom designed menu in categories in the lower right corner).

So…..you have the context (@call) and the next time you have time and or desire to make calls, they are all there together. A few things going on here.

1) You can stop thinking about what you need “to do”…in other words your personal RAM is not being bogged down trying to remember all your stuff.
2) I like the electronic system as it is easy for me to keep portable. I use an iPhone and an app called iMExhange. This app syncs up my tasks from Outlook, so again, when I have an appropriate spare moment, whip out the iPhone, see what calls I might make and then make one.

What I was also doing was sorting by due date, which reminded me to make that call on a particular day. So, this also drove me to review my tasks more or less daily and change the date on a number of tasks as they did not get accomplished that day…..and that happened almost every day.

Fast forward to about a month ago when I thought perhaps it might be time for me to pony up and buy some consulting. So, I interfaced with Davidco and hired Julie Ireland to do some telecoaching. Using Go to Meeting, Julie was able to spend an hour with me and look over my shoulder. Essentially she said, “Well…this is very non-GTD”.

Yikes! But wait…I thought I had this all figured out!!!

So…the illumination was as follows:

If it MUST be dealt with on a day, that task goes on the calendar. (In Outlook, launch an appointment, put your to-do in the subject, click all day event, show time as free, and add any supporting stuff below).

So…when you start to Do Work, you look first at your calendar. (If something is going to happen at a specific time, clearly put the time in and don’t select all day event).

Now…..when you look at your calendar, Julie suggested be sure it’s not too clogged up. Three booked hours in a day is about tops. OK…sure…there are going to be exceptions, but if your calendar is booked from start to finish, then you better start learning how to say no.

OK….now my tasks are no longer sorted by date. So, I open up my tasks segregated by categories, and all my stuff to do (say @office), is all together. Based on my appetite and other in-coming I can now choose what to do.

Anyway…….my system was pretty broken and I had more or less learned to accommodate, but was always feeling like I had way too much to do. I was wasting time sorting my tasks by date and then feeling like every day I was not getting done what I “should” have been doing.

If you haven’t given GTD a look……I suggest you consider buying the book and then sticking your foot in the water with implementation. We are all expected to perform at a high level. This helps me get a lot done (i.e. perform) and I feel good while doing so.

And I have my second telecoaching hour with Julie booked for next week.

Great Ride Will!!

2009-12-06T10:08:00.007-05:00

If you've been reading this BLOG for a year, you will recall the brief period where I behaved as if I was Will Frishkorn's Charleston based press agent.

Thought you might like to check his status.

I ran into a friend of mine in the last few months and his 15-16 year old son is a talented young rider. His Dad was telling me that he just wanted to be like Will Frischkorn. Will...living proof that your contribution has been deeper than you may realize! Great job and keep it up!

United Breaks Guitars

2009-12-05T12:03:00.003-05:00

This proves there is a constructive use of YouTube . . .

A musician named Dave Carroll recently had difficulty with United Airlines. United apparently damaged his treasured Taylor guitar during a flight. Dave spent over 9 months trying to get United to pay for damages caused by baggage handlers to his custom Taylor guitar. During his final exchange with the United Customer Relations Manager, he stated that he was left with no choice other than to create a music video for youtube exposing their lack of cooperation. The Manager responded : "Good luck with that one, pal".

So he posted a retaliatory video on you tube. The video has since received over 6.5 million hits. United Airlines contacted the musician and attempted settlement in exchange for pulling the video. Naturally his response was: "Good luck with that one, pal".

Taylor Guitars sent the musician 2 new custom guitars in appreciation for the product recognition from the video that has lead to a sharp increase in orders.

Here's the video .............

Thanks friend Ralph for sharing.

And Now Onto Solutions

2009-12-05T10:39:00.009-05:00

(Photo Frank Gehry)

So...you've created your program of requirements....and it is marked "draft...for discussion purposes only"...but you have begun to connect the left brain to the right brain and...of significance...place your thoughts (and feelings) into a text document which at least makes your conversation with your project delivery folks more meaningful.

I'd like to keep this all simple and arm you with some trade vernacular....you can at least act like you know what you are doing along the line of "fake it til you make it".

So...imagine that you have gone directly to an architect...that's a traditional step. You give your draft of your Program of Requirements to him/her (we'll use him but not trying to make any gender distinctions...ok) and he is already sensing he has a more advanced student/client. You ask for some solutions...or some feedback...or both. Assuming the architect sees some potential with you and or the project, then they will perhaps sketch some elevations and floor plans. They may want some limited compensation and of course this depends about the scope....i.e. adding a bedroom to your house or creating a new office building for your 200 person firm.

This phase of design is referred to as the conceptual stage.

From this exercise you will likely learn:

1) Project is not feasible. Time to be thinking about other alternatives (hopefully you have already done so).

2) We're onto something...but can we do it for the dollars we have in our program? Or can we change this or delete that???? Your on the path.

3) Or...slam dunk....this is exactly what I wanted!

(Option 3 is highly unlikely...but it could happen...particularly if you have a lot of money....I've had hmmm about one client like that out of say 500!) Significantly you will also get a good sense if the architect is someone you can work with....but please....don't confuse bed side manners with skills and abilities.

So...how do you check skills and abilities...well....get a list of ALL of the projects the architect has been involved in for the past say year. Make the calls. Your time will be well spent.....Ask questions...probe..take notes. You'll be glad you did.

So many people hire architects because they have great people skills and can sketch like a wild man...so creative....(very right brain yes). But please.....we need some serious left brain at the table. If it is not all available in one package....which it probably is not....then wait for the next post and we'll add another leg to the stool.

Ready Fire Aim

2009-12-04T15:26:00.006-05:00

I used to have a printout of a saying I heard by some YPO speaker printed on the wall of my office at Pray Construction Company and it read "Lack of Planning on your Part Does Not Constitute a Crisis on my Part". Since I've moved on in my career, I'm not sure if in fact that is the case.....meaning that the lacking of planning...while I'd like to disclaim responsibility...the result may fall in my lap...I'm sure you get the drift.

If you are anticipating a project that involves construction which inevitably involves a sizable outlay of your capital and which will drag you into the mysterious world of those that "deliver" projects...either architects or contractors....do yourself a favor....create a text document and call it the Program of Requirements. This is essentially what you want to accomplish with your "capital project". Avoid gong down the path of "solutions" at the moment... (solutions are designs or drawings that actually indicate how to accomplish your "program").

Now your program will include things like adjacency's, activities to be accomplished (ok...just say sleeping), finishes, special equipment, any issues with accessibility (please...if you are doing a residence....take it from me, a wheelchair is not out of the question), natural light, acoustic separation, safety, site considerations (i.e. parking/landscaping/irrigation)...the list goes on.

So....once you have put your program together (by the way...how much you want to invest/spend is part of the program as is the time for execution), you will be much better prepared to evaluate the design solutions.

Now...your program will morph as you learn more or more is revealed as your are educated, but you will be on your way to a well executed project. Recall....starting does not necessarily directly correlate to finishing. Know what I mean??? Plan/plan/plan and then execute. This is a strategy and one I utilize on all my projects...trust me...it works but I know....we just want to get started...OK...don't blame me!

Free Gift to Readers from Adizes...

2009-10-23T06:39:00.002-04:00

We would also like to offer your readers a free gift, which is the popular Adizes video, entitled “What is a leader” Please take a look at this link and add it to the end of your post.

www.adizes.com/freegift

Guest BLOG from Ichak Adizes

2009-10-20T16:46:00.003-04:00

The following post is from the BLOG of Ichak Adizes chairman of the Adizes Institute. For years I thought my customers really missed the boat on the concept of expressing gratitude. I just thought the expression of gratitude would have been a behaviour that would have gotten a lot more out of me and my team

Glad Ichak put it in this perspective....somehow validates my thinking. (By the way, I'm getting ready to attend a course at the Institute in November which will be very exciting).
____________________________________________________________________________________
I have heard a great lecture by Dr. Douglas Lisle, an evolutionary psychologist who is also training to become an Adizes Adjunct Associate. It was about “Stone Age money” and how it impacts our behavior today.

The lecture gave me some insights I want to share with you.

In the Stone Age, and for a long time thereafter, there was no money or any other means of exchange for barter. So if I did something for you, how would you pay me back? With gratitude, a sense of “I owe you”, and I would expect you to reciprocate.

Those who did most for the village-who hunted the best, and thus fed the village-got the most recognition and became chiefs, or something similar.

This went on for thousands of years. The result is that we have developed this “chip” in our heads, a storage mechanism like a bank account, to receive, store, and pay gratitude.

We need gratitude. Period. It is deep in our subconscious.

Now, what does this need for gratitude mean for management?

It means that merely getting paid for work is not enough. If you just got paid, but the paying party did not show gratitude, you would feel as if you did not get paid at all. You would feel like a prostitute.

Whoa! This was news to me. How often do people say: “You got paid, so what are you complaining about?”

The highest rate of suicide among the medical professionals is among dentists. They get paid in money only; no gratitude for drilling into your teeth.

The highest rate of turnover in the human services industry is among consultants. They just get paid money. No gratitude. Thus, when the question is asked, “what is the oldest profession?” the answer is not always prostitution. Often the answer is consulting.

Hello managers. Wake up. If you only pay your workers money and fringe benefits, you did not pay them in “Stone Age money” and they feel gratitude deficient. Not strange that they are not cooperative. Their deepest need-something that developed and was nurtured for thousands of years-is not getting fulfilled. This can sometimes produce dysfunctional repercussions for the companies we manage manifested in lower morale and productivity.

Always say “thank you,” your mother told you. Listen to your mother, and don’t stop listening for ever.

Sincerely.

Dr. Ichak Kalderon Adizes

Public Health...Part 3

2009-10-14T17:51:00.003-04:00

Laura..Dave...Michele...Tom in corridor in St. Vincents...on the way home.

OK….now where were we……Started out reflecting on my experiences involved with public health care….see the previous two entries. Now….would I have rather been home, in America. No question. Did it really matter that much to me what the expense was? Not really. The way our system works is that the expense….let’s project that it would have been easily $175,000 not $21,000…is an issue for the insurance company to absorb.

But, obviously, society ends up paying this price. In England and Ireland, everyone gets health care and clearly this has something to do with this delta. There are differences in the systems…which I got from my roomies. For a lot of procedures and tests, you have to wait and this can be for some time. The facility worked, but I wonder if Americans can ever get used to a six bed ward. Now, I liked it because I’m interested in people and…as I was sort of the sickest guy on the block, they all looked over me. This is not a bad thing and there was a sense of community that was established. I don’t think the public health system cares too much about who you are and/or how much money you have. So….it’s hard to jump rank. I’m not sure how I’d like that on a long term basis but I hope I could successfully adapt…particularly if it meant that everyone in my community (define community however you wish) had coverage.

Enough….on to the next chapter. We were flying Delta and were in business class. When we arrived at the airport…recall it is December 24, our plane was delayed. Anxiety began creeping in. We were flying to Atlanta and only had about 2 hours to clear customs and catch our plane. We finally got airborne. At this point, I was only living with about 5 feet of small bowel. What that means, functionally, is that I had a very difficult time staying hydrated. I’d drink quarts…literally…of sports drink and had to force drinking. While I was hospitalized, I was being given a drug called Sandostatin. This drug is injected subcutaneously in your stomach twice a day and helps with the absorption. Eventually, Laura and some nurse and doctor friends would come to the house and do this (I was too wimpy to learn how to do it). Looking back, they should have coached Laura and sent us out of the hospital with this drug and equipment. The upshot of this all was I got really dehydrated on the plane.

I’m guessing this was likely the second most stressful day for Laura. She was on the verge of crying a good bit. This was tough. We finally landed in Atlanta and had maybe 45 minutes to make the connection. The airport is loaded…Christmas traffic and bad weather. I get seated in a safe place and Laura goes hunting for help. I think she breaks down and a Delta supervisor (angel) takes over. We abandon the customs deal…the bags can just catch up. She gets a golf cart, puts me on it, and before we know it, we are on the tarmac (!!!) driving to the gate…the only way she could figure out to make this work. The plane to Charleston is slightly delayed. We make the connection!!!!!

Now…this is small commuter plane. I’m really fading…but finally we land. They get us off the plane. We have several folks waiting for us…but the only one I really recall was my precious son Josh. I fell into his embrace in the airport. Man….clearly one of the most touching memorable moments in my life.

Down to CAMC General we go. There is very little activity Christmas Eve in a hospital. My great friend Dr. Dave Seidler is there to make this all go quickly. Up we go…private room. They bring in the scales…I’m down to 141 pounds (from 170). I get hooked up to an IV and they run 2 bags thru me. I get the other drugs start flowing…..Laura and Josh make it home and she gets some Granny juice going (this is what granddaughter Zoe calls wine).

I got to admit…this all felt like the Four Seasons. Private room, special attention from the medical staff, family and friends nearby, and TV!!

I sent a letter eventually to Delta. If we had not made that connection, I would have had to go to an ER in Atlanta. I’m sure we would have made it but that was one chapter I did not need to write, if you know what I mean. Our love and eternal thanks to that Delta supervisor.

It’s been interesting to me sort of semi-publically reliving this experience. I’m guessing there is some sort of closure happening. Isn’t the whole new media thing interesting?

There are so many people that helped us. You know who you are or maybe you don’t but thank you! We’ll never forget you.

I eventually end up in the Cleveland Clinic. If I have the energy...I may write that chapter one day. Thanks for reading and for the many off-line comments. Bottom line...somehow....we need health care for all.

Public Health Care.....Part 2

2009-10-02T17:44:00.004-04:00

This photo is taken the day before I leave for America! Happy!!!

Ok...so where were we??.....OK....St. Vincent's University Hospital in Dublin, Ireland. I'm fresh out of the ICU where I've been for the last 24 hours after life saving surgery. Big point....I was not at all aware that I came that close to dying....didn't get it. About 3 years prior I'd been in a very bad bike wreck that sent me to the hospital for two weeks. You might say I am experienced and I inaccurately equated the two events I guess. Laura on the other hand, had been told...point blank....50/50 if I was coming out of surgery alive. So...the trauma experience was not really pointed in my direction.

Back to health care....so, the hospital does not have room for me in post surgical care, so I go to the lowest level of care. I show up in a six bed ward...meaning one room...six beds....very simple cloth screen that is occasionally pulled between the beds. Camp like....but with sick folks. I'm unique...i.e. non Irish...so a bit of a celebrity but really not much.

When I show up, I'm basically telling Laura to get me out of here....just what she needed. I was honestly scared. I was not at all sure they would take care of me. It was so different than my previous experiences. We were all equals and there was no pulling rank. I had a good friend that is a prominent citizen in Ireland and the care is all equal. There are private hospitals that I guess are better looking facilities...furniture, privacy, food...but the good docs are here and that's what I need. So I'm here...with my roomies. No TV...all pretty basic.

Here are some bullet points...Roomies....James...age 75....3 packs a day..dying....a wonderful man. An obsessive compulsive character...washes his hands like 15 times a day...had some medical issues but I think it was mostly mental.....a fellow that was there I think because he needed a good meal and a bed...it was like that...he'd go outside to smoke and then one day just walked out.....methadone addict in bed 5......would get VERY cranky if the drugs were not there ON TIME....and a teenager that had very serious kidney problems...a good guy...there were others that came and went. James and I were the old timers. Now I know this would be a BIG ISSUE for a lot of my friends. Honestly, it was all quite entertaining. It was way easier for the nurses and we sort of looked out for one another....or the other roomies did for me as I was the scary sick one.

I'm focused.....if I'm coming out of this...I need to step up and do it. Be a big boy and I think that mind set is important. I really think you need to...if you will...be strong...and I think that singular mind set helps with all the other "stuff" that might be a distraction if you allow it to be.

The facility was just older. Checkout the beds in the photos. There was a pretty good range of skill with the nurses. the day nurses were frankly just great. Felicity, Candy, Penny.....Irish....good looking (sorry...sexist pig present)....fun and kind. I had so many tubes coming in and out of me...I'm not kidding. My abdomen had been opened up...just had to count the sutures...55 and staples. For a few days this would cramp and it was very painful. I had tubes in my nose into my stomach...got pissed one night and pulled em' out. Bad move cause they came and stuck back in.

The night nurses were not as skilled....not as well payed I think...not always Irish...there were plenty of Africans around which was OK but they were just not quite as well educated. I was scared at night early on.

The big time docs are not addressed as "Doctor Smith" they are called "Mister Smith"....now the Misters were a pretty sharp crowd. I was in the unusual position of being an interesting case, so all the big boys stayed in touch. I think I received very good care. I was being anti-coagulated and pumped with expensive antibiotics. There were a few tests too that were happening and there was no communication about letting me out. Christmas was coming and I wanted out....So Christmas is on like a Friday...on Monday I tell Laura....either we get out this week or I'm leaving. Hmmmm.

Well.....and god bless David Seidler my good friend and the Director of Emergency Services at CAMC....Dave worked out a transfer...they would not release me but they would transfer me...Once I agreed to pay 'em and my "Mister" agrees to let me go.

My physician shows up like Tuesday night. It's pretty late...like 7:00 pm. Dark. He is by himself, which is unusual as...as this is a teaching facility...he usually has a team with him. Solo.....he says I can go home....and then he more or less apologizes. Says he almost missed the diagnosis and was afraid that it was too late when it dawned on him what was going on. Can you imagine that very human thing happening in America? He talked to me all about the surgery...felt he had lost me...and I'm there reassuring him...until he left and then I quietly freaked...it all came home that night...or at least most of it. Baby......

The deal with the $$$$ was becoming sort of a deal. As I was not an Irish citizen, I needed to pay for the work, and they wanted the payment before I left (they didn't know I already had a jail break planned...my roomies were going to show the way) Blue Cross was helpful but they really didn't care if I made it home for Christmas or not. But we worked it out...so.....they agreed to pay for ER...emergency surgery...tons of consultants....tests...drugs...room for 17 nights...etc. etc.....and the grand total is.....$21,000. No...not $210,000....$21,000.

You know......that is just so much less than care would have been in America. I still can't believe it. While this setup worked just fine for me I think a lot of Americans would not have liked this at all. There was a TV room where...once I could walk...I would go and watch...you guessed it..ER with the nurses...really.

I don't think Docs and Nurses made as much as they do here....relatively...but that's just a guess. But a big step in this direction just might make some sense and get a ton more care spread around.

So......the next stop was Delta airlines...then on to CAMC and then on to The Cleveland Clinic....so stay tuned.....and please...take care of yourself! Believe me...the story on the the flight home is worth checking back for.

My Experience With Public Health Care

2009-09-29T20:50:00.003-04:00

In December, 2004 Laura and I traveled to Ireland to visit a variety of friends we knew from school and business. First stop…Dublin. We are pretty experienced travelers and Laura in fact was very active in an Irish business for about 15 years…..so we have flown a good bit and understand and have plenty of experience with jet lag…let’s face it…we’re talking Ireland…not Asia or Australia! So…when I got off the plane and didn’t feel quite right…well I was a bit concerned.

We were off the plane by 7:00 am….I was in the emergency room (A&E for Accident and Emergency) by 4:00 pm. My abdominal pain was a 9 on a scale of 1-10. The A&E was incredibly busy and I was in bad shape. They put me on some good drugs and I recall a close call when my blood pressure dropped down to 70 over 40 (“Come on David…stay with me…you can do it”…says the head doc into my ear).

Well….they don’t do anything except observe me over the night after I almost go into shock…keep me on morphine and run the experts in and out. Luckily…I’m in a teaching hospital. The pain does not subside. I’m in a total haze around 10:00 am and recall going into surgery and saying goodbye to Laura….this is all surreal but I’m aware I’m in tough territory. I’m sort of aware this may be it…but I’m detached…almost out of body. They waive signing the releases….”We don’t have time!”

I go to sleep………

And wake up…. “David…David…a young doctor is whispering in my ear. You are in intensive care and you will be OK. You really gave us a scare…..but you are OK.”

Now…I can’t really move. I’m in close quarters and the ICU has quite a few folks around me…I mean patients and staff.

“We had to remove about half of your small intestines and you now have two pouches on your abdomen. This should be temporary. Ah…but your brave!” (recall…Ireland…super macho). I had an infarcted bowel http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bowel_infarction . 73 percent of the folks that have this condition die. Very tough diagnosis.

Man….wow! Whew…..too much. Five years later and I can’t really believe it.

The ICU is quite different. The deal is I have my own nurse and she attends to me and when there is nothing to do, she sits at the foot of my bed. I’m on morphine so this is all quite blurry. I get it that there are some folks nearby not as lucky and there is death in the air…close by…literally.

But I’m alive…in Dublin….and about to go into their public system for the next 17 nights. More to follow……..

Individual Responsibility in Health Care Reform

2009-09-24T15:44:00.003-04:00

I’m more than a little disappointed in President Obama’s progress to date. While he’s busy assuring everyone in the United Nations that there is a new sheriff in town…which I don’t imagine caught anyone off guard.....the time for looking backwards is over…period…end of story.

But what I really wanted to talk about is health care. Having spent 17 days in Dublin in 2004 in a 6- bed ward after life saving surgery…I suppose I could compare and contrast what amounted to 45 days in skilled medical care facilities (St. Vincents/CAMC/Cleveland Clinic) and discuss the pros and cons of the 2 systems….but I have something else rolling around.

Individual Responsibility

As in not smoking….as in controlling your weight…as in taking your medications….as in pushing back from the computer screen and saying hello to the great outdoors.

The point in this mini rant is I had the mistaken impression that Barrack Obama would lead the masses to the figurative moon aka JFK. Does anyone recall the President’s Council on Fitness….and the 50 and 400 yard dash/run? I recall it was like 2 years before I could squeeze out one chin up and I finally got to 4 at age lets’ say 9.

We need a different health care system. I’m a believer. And I can subscribe to a certain amount of blind faith…..but I can only do so if the leadership of health care reform starts talking about this being a partnership and not an entitlement.

Am I out in left field? Feel free to comment.

Faulty Grammar May Have Lost Tax Court Case

2009-08-30T10:07:00.003-04:00

(Re-printed from Gibbon's and Kawash's Fall Newsletter.) Do the abbreviations "i.e." and "e.g." confuse you? Are you unsure of which one to use?

A recent tax case required the court to deliver a grammar lesson.

First, a little background on the tax issue involved in the case (Laura Seidel v. Commisioner, CA-9, 2009-1 USTC 50,370 April 28, 2009)

Compensation received from physical injury is generally excluded from income. However, emotional trauma is not considered a physical injury. So payments received for emotional distress are fully taxable.

In a settlement with her former employer, Laura Seidel received $157,000. The settlement agreement described the payments as being for "personal injury (i.e. emotional distress) damages only."

The case originally went before the Tax Court in 2007. All of the parties-the Court, Seidel and the IRS-focused attention on the "i.e.".

Seidel argued that emotional distress was an example of the type of injuries she had received. The IRS argued that "i.e." is a limiting phrase that should be read to mean that emotional distress was the only type of personal injury being compensated by the payment.

The tax court observed that "i.e." is an abbreviation for a Latin phrase id est, which roughly means "that is" or "that is to say". Accordingly, the court agreed with the IRS.

Now the Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit has upheld the Tax Court. Interestingly, the higher court did not comment on the Tax Court's grammar skills. The appellate court simply upheld the Tax Court's decision in an unpublished opinion.

Note that Seidel might have fared better if the settlement agreement had used "e.g." instead of "i.e.". Both are abbreviations for Latin terms. However, "e.g." stands for exempli gratia which means "for example".

Spirit of the Valley

2009-08-17T12:32:00.007-04:00

Last Wednesday was the YMCA’s Spirit of the Valley Luncheon. I was the chairman of this year’s event which honored my father-in-law Charlie Jones. This was a special personal opportunity for me and it stimulated a lot of reflection on my behalf about Charlie (who I’ve known quite well since 1970 and knew casually before that) and my experience with the YMCA. This BLOG entry is about reflections on the YMCA and more broadly, the concept of volunteerism.

In the very early 1980’s…I think basically when I turned 30, I decided I had best start spending a bit of attention on my personal fitness which one could argue has become a lifelong obsession. So, I signed up for a co-ed fitness class and would go to the Y a few times a week. During this matt class, John Wells Jr. and I became acquainted. At some point in time, he asked me if I would consider joining the Board of Directors. I really hadn’t done much community service work since high school and zero community leadership work. I was honored and flattered and accepted.

I was born in upstate New York and met my wife Laura at the Lawrenceville School (which is where I met Charlie), in New Jersey. I was an import to Charleston and I was amazed at how easy it was to get involved in the community. I recall telling friends…most of whom lived elsewhere…how cool Charleston was. Yeah…they just get you involved and welcome your involvement. Anyway….I was impressed. As I became more involved, Charlie offered me a warning…be careful…the non-profits can suck up all your time.

I listened to that advice and decided I would not spread myself too thin…but would attempt to work diligently at any position I accepted or task assigned. Along the way, I bumped into several folks that were on many boards. Many of these people that were simply adding to the curriculum vitae were undependable. A lot of these folks had been encouraged by their employers to seek board positions. One of the problems though was they forgot to tell them to work! Now…I know I set the bar high and my expectations for performance are perhaps a bit steep…but I bet you can relate to what I’m sharing.

Anyway…….I worked diligently at the YMCA and ran the facility (from a board perspective) while John Wells Jr. headed the pool campaign. We worked through many tough issues together and this was all a great experience. The point of all of this is that this work I did…while it did in fact benefit the Y and in turn the community…it was really self centered. I was the winner in all of this and continue to be.

Don’t miss the opportunity to get involved and do a good job. You’ll get it all back in spades.

Knife to a Gun Fight

2009-08-05T13:15:00.005-04:00

I offer a service known as owner's representation. A friend/professional acquaintance of mine also offers this service albeit in another marketplace. He recently published a post that described this service in his newsletter and the title of the post was "Don't Bring a Knife to a Gun Fight". The implication to me is...of course...so...you are about to go into construction...huh? Well get ready for a battle.

Honestly, that has not been my experience. I'm not sure how many projects I've been somehow involved in...let's say 500.....or that value...easily $500,000,000 and sure...I've been in a few disputes.....but really an amazingly few.

As a contractor...I was always reasonably careful about who I worked for. Now....we can all make mistakes and I certainly made a few....can you spell APCO...but besides a few notables, Pray Construction had a great lineup of clients. PrayWorks too has a had a great list of people we have worked for...thanks to you!

If an offering seems to good to be true...well it probably is. One means of travel in this industry is basically to beat a project around until you get the price you are looking for and THEN GET THE CONTRACT SIGNED. OK...now you really need a gun slinger.

Assume the project is over once the contract is signed....WRONG...Really, the fun is just beginning...and it can and should be fun....but...as an owner...if you simply rely on your own forces or your architect...well get ready.

Understand the contract...or better...get someone around you (i.e. like me) that will understand the contract and its attachments (read plans and specs)....pay attention along the way....be knowledgeable....expect great work and fair treatment...and you'd be surprised.

Yes...it is good to be prepared...and if your are conflict averse (BTW...conflict has a bad name...good things can and do come from conflict)...be sure to get someone that is not.

The whole process can and should be fun.....Use that paradigm

but put a good plan B in place! How's that for wordsmithing?

Living Room

2009-07-07T16:05:00.009-04:00

OK, I offer this disclaimer right from the "get-go"...I am not an architectural photographer. This is another way to say I just don't think these photos do the new room justice. But....so it goes. I love this room.

From a space planning/space design perspective, we eliminated an exterior glass door with sidelights and transom. We did this to eliminate the circulation thru the middle of the room and the need to accommodate the in-swinging door. These three windows are Pella windows with an incredibly clear screen. The previous doors had divided lights that really tended to interfere with the view. So...from a space planning perspective...bingo...mission accomplished. But, as an extra benefit, we actually enjoy more communication visually (and there is tendency to open all three windows at night)...so we are much more in tune with the environment.

The fireplace is an Isokern B-Vent model. The previous room had a free standing wood stove (which has been relocated to the lower level into my in-home office). A free standing stove takes a lot of room...which it did in our living room, plus it involves burning wood. Now, I am an old school wood burner. I like just about everything having to do with the process...but it is dirty and not nearly as simple as a gas fireplace. The Isokern looks all the world like a traditional wood burning fireplace (which it could be) but we just chose to use great gas logs. The mantle is a restored family mantle, so that's neat too.

The room is a woodworker's dream. Ed Weber detailed a super interior that was very expertly crafted by all involved. The casework was fabricated by a friend of mine from North Carolina and their work is super, the local wood was run by a shop by the name of Three Trees and they too did a very nice job and this was expertly installed by Cliff from RC Construction. I had a major hand in "coaching" everyone through the layout. This could have been very easy to screw up and it was perfect. All work was brush painted. Of course...our resident colorist...Laura...knocked the ball out of the park.

Sonos and Bowers & Wilken's speakers add the entertainment. The room was originally designed with a pop up TV. When I figured out how much the total installed price for this (w/o TV) was going to be....say $10,000....I decided this room would be much better off if we took a more "civilised" (the s is intentional thank you very much). Sonos systems are just so cool. This eliminates the entire need to manage the disks or data and other sources like radio and podcasts are readily available...and throw that all through a couple B&W CM-1's and man....we are jambing.

Stay tuned for the next post and we'll tour the man cave!

Status Report...Renovation Substantially Complete

2009-07-01T11:15:00.006-04:00

I've run into about three friends over the past few days and all are anxious for an update on the house project....so here we go.

The project finished as planned on June 5.....and this was a plan that was put in place about three months ago. The day was relevant as I had rented a house at Pawleys Island SC and the rental began on June 6. By design everything about the project would be complete except for the refinishing of the wood floors and painting. This was the exact position the project was in at the end of the day...Friday...June 5.

While we were at Pawleys, RC finished the floors and painting. They perform this work with their own forces which gives them a different and improved level of control than one has with a subcontractor. This level of control is really important in residential remodeling.

We came home on June 20 and the project was complete short of a small punchlist. We are now enjoying the fruit of every one's labor.

Picture to follow of the product, but I did manage to capture the RC team as it was on June 5. Good job squad!

And Ed....your design is awesome.....and Laura.....interiors are doubly awesome.

Thanks all.....

A Better West Virginia Challenge

2009-06-28T15:00:00.001-04:00

A Better West Virginia

Jason Keeling recently invited people to comment on ‘A Better West Virginia Challenge’
The basic premise:
Identify an obstacle that hinders West Virginia and discuss its solution.
Address the above request as it relates to one (or more) of the following:
Business / Economy
Culture
Education
Environment
Government
Health / Wellness
Technology
Infrastructure

I offer a comment on Education.

The process of education begins at home and I suggest it begins by creating an example of life long learning. So…..a parent might make the choice to read a book and turn off the television…as an example. Read out loud to your young child. Have dinner together as a family and discuss current local/national/international events. Learn something yourself and share that with your child. Champion learning as an exciting adventure.

So…..if Change is the buzz word for 2009….let’s change this paradigm…your child’s education is primarily your responsibility. I think it is a mistake to point your finger at the child’s teachers and/or the legislature for not providing better funding for teachers. Sure….it takes a community to raise and educate a child....but this process fundamentally begins at home and is led by example.

Imagine if West Virginia was known as the birth place of the best and brightest. I like that vision. What do you think?

Details...Details..Details

2009-05-27T13:53:00.003-04:00

Man.......I've forgotten the difference between residential work and commercial. If you're talking about about any type of high end work (and this does not necessarily mean expensive material but it likely does), there are TONS of details to attend to. Now...there's the mundane stuff which is simply about expediting.....as in material. We've been short on beaded ceiling and then the yellow pine flooring was late in arriving. We had a few lights that came from New Zealand....then there is the engineered pine flooring....and the pine flooring adhesive....the concrete stain...paint...and more paint...doors...hardware....speaker wire....recycled material....layout...layout...layout....tile work...refinished mantle....and then there is T2 (OK...you had to be there)....concrete...gravel...clean the stone.....this is all a partial list....I'm not kidding.

Anyhow...it's getting done and the RC team has done a great job. It's so helpful that they do so much work with their own forces. We'll be substantially complete in about a week.

Hard to find the time to BLOG with all this going on.

thanks

DP

Progress Photos

2009-05-15T14:43:00.008-04:00

Shots from last Wednesday......Exterior flue for the relocated 20 year old Vermont Castings stove which now is in my home office/exercise area. This work was performed and completed yesterday by Brandon Smith and he did a very good job.

Above is a photo of Jeff Winters the carpenter installing insulation in our renovated ceiling plane. Notice new lighting. This work will begin to be covered on Monday with a stained bead board, which is a traditional building product often seen on porch ceilings.

And finally, the other side of the sliding door. We have an electrician (Brian who works for Tim Cunningham) , sheetmetal worker from Rock Branch Mechanical, and a finish carpenter (Cliff from RC Construction) pushing hard. By today's end, virtually all of the drywall hanging will be complete.

Never Try and Demolish a Building I Built!!

2009-04-30T19:38:00.008-04:00

___________________________________________________________________

I began in the construction industry by building homes. In my first job, the builder I worked for did most everything wrong, which included putting cinder block walls below grade against unstable soil...the result...basement walls that cracked and/or failed completely. So, when I went out on my own, I filled many of the foundation walls with pea-gravel concrete. There was really no reason to fill this wall with concrete, except I guess we over ordered.

So.....RC's superintendent, Phil Samples, is seen here on a very difficult task sawing thru the wall. It was a tough two days, but the job got done! (All to make way for a very cool sliding door).

Native Stone Wall Being Installed

2009-04-28T08:30:00.005-04:00

This project involves capturing a few hundred square feet in the lower level (aka basement) to create an in home office. So....a large sliding door is about to be installed in the wall to the left. We dug into the hill side and then we are retaining the embankment with a native stone wall.

This wall is being installed by Steve Burdette, who interestingly worked on this house and installed the other native stone work some 20+ years ago. He's a real craftsman and RC Construction is lucky to have him.

ICE (In Case of Emergency)

2009-04-21T14:25:00.006-04:00

I'm helping revise Bailey & Glasser's Employee Handbook. We are working with Robinson McElwee on this project and I borrow the following, which just seems to make great practical sense and I thought my readers might find it useful too. (Photo borrowed from mahardhika).

“I.C.E” Number
For those persons who have personal cellular phones, the Firm suggests that you create an entry in your address book captioned “ICE.” First responders are now trained to look for this entry on your cell phone in the event you are injured and someone needs to be notified. The “ICE” entry stands for “In Case of Emergency” and you should insert the phone number and contact information for the person who you would want contacted if you are unable to do so yourself.

Reflections of the Cycling Symposium

2009-04-19T11:45:00.003-04:00

This weekend, as the president of the West Virginia Cycling Foundation, I helped lead a meeting of about 75 movers and shakers involved in cycling throughout the State. Friday evening, we enjoyed a dinner at the governor’s mansion. Senator Dan Foster kicked off the evening with his reflections of the health impact of a healthy life style…the personal impact on the individual and the financial impact on all citizens.

He was followed by Secretary of Transportation Paul Mattox who committed to help the State become much more cycling friendly and we were treated to an inspiring visit by Andy Clarke, the president of the League of American Cyclists http://www.bikeleague.org/.

On Saturday, we rolled up our sleeves and went to work. Symposium Champion Kim Broughton kicked off the meeting and set the stage for the day. Jeff Miller, president of The Alliance for Biking and Walking http://www.peoplepoweredmovement.org/site/ followed and shared the national perspective and his numerous experiences with other States. We broke out into task teams and discussed many topics….like:

Economic Impact of Cycling (which is major)
Legislation (Upon which we could improve…see the three foot rule…see allowing cycling on the shoulder)
Lobbying….hey…this is a great investment so show me the money
Education….safe cycling skills for riders and drivers
Access for kids and adults….more connectivity.
The trend to put cycling and pedestrian activities under the same tent
Mapping projects…so you know where to go and what to expect
The many forms of cycling….as in replacing a car to go to the store…as in mountain biking….as in children cycling…as in racing…as in family time on a rail to trail....and so much more.

And then we talked about how to create success.

I’m not sure exactly what will happen next….except to say I think we are on the path that will one day lead West Virginia from being the 50th on the League’s List:

Bottom 5
46. North Dakota
47. Mississippi
48. Alabama
49. Georgia
50. West Virginia

To the cracking the top 5! Look out Minnesota…we’re on the way.
Top 5
1. Washington
2. Wisconsin
3. Arizona
4. Oregon
5. Minnesota

Stay in touch through my BLOG (http://209capitolstreet.blogspot.com/) or following me on Twitter (@davidpray).

thanks

Dave

And Ground is Broken!

2009-04-16T18:38:00.004-04:00

The job fires up in a big way on April 27, but I elected to sneak in a few "little" pieces of work prior to the offical kickoff. Gerald "Bubby" Haynes and his Dad put in a strong day's work on Monday with a combination of a small excavator and a skid steer loader on tracks. Beating the rain, they excavavated the lower level which exposes a wall into which a slaiding glass door will soon be installed.

To Bid or Not to Bid...that is the Question

2009-04-08T18:51:00.004-04:00

A construction project is a compilation of a long list of various items...primarily products and services...i.e. labor and material(s). I've written a lot about the materials piece which amounts to making an informed choice (choice of the product within the context of the whole budget) on a product before construction begins.

So...I've purchased new engineered flooring (about 3 months ago as it was really on sale), bookshelf speakers, fabricated millwork, light fixtures, windows sliding doors and more.

In almost every case, I've been rewarded by competing the purchase. As an example, I went to a company that has supplied a lot of product on various projects throughout my career...assuming of course that I would be rewarded on my own house. Just to keep the record straight, I solicited pricing from a friend of mine (Lewis Weisberg) at State Electric and they proceeded to blow the doors off the competitors not only with pricing...thanks!!!...but also with service...i.e. answering my repetitive questions. I saved the owner (me!) about $1,500 on a $3,000 purchase.

More on all of this as we go on......but line item bidding....such as I would administer as an owner's representative (or be sure the construction manager was doing) is generally worth the time and effort.

Tougher Than it Seems

2009-03-26T12:35:00.003-04:00

A brief post....OK...so I think you get the general way I mean to deal the cards...i.e. with the deck stacked so to speak. And, the way you do that is to plan, plan, plan and what that looks like is a ton of material handy...ready for installation.

So......over the past month we have sorted through the many choices involved with the three (!) windows and one sliding door we had to order. Guessing...this took 5-7 hours of my time. Finally....we got what we wanted for the best price I could haggle.

Next....architectural woodwork....OK...say another 10 hours of bidding and then sorting thru 4 versions of shop drawings. Cabinets are being built now.

We bought some of the flooring on sale and it is now...thankfuly...sitting in a warehouse.

The design anticipates some audio visual stuff...so bookcase speakers were selected and ordered.

Now onto light fixtures....done...say 10 hours later.

Anyway.....I'm guessing we will actually start on April 20.

There.....wow...that wasn't as hard as I thought it was going to be...The Blog post that is.

Thanks

Getting Ready for Moving Pool Equipment

2009-02-24T16:32:00.005-05:00

The photo on the bottom illustrates a storage bin in our driveway/parking area. The photo on the top is where all this "stuff" came from (an area underneath our back porch and adjacent to one area that is about to be renovated). It is also the new home of the pool equipment, which is currently located in the lower level of our house.

Pool Equipment consists of a pump which is needed to circulate the water through a filter and strain out the small particulates. We use a sand filter. Along the way, the water is ionized which allows us to utilize a very small amount of chlorine. So...filtering and sanitizing is the function that is being relocated. Placing the equipment outside means we will have to be a bit more mindful in the winter...as this equipment will all need to be drained down and not allowed to freeze, but we gain a ton of inside conditioned space.

The schedule anticipates relocating the pool equipment beginning in a couple of weeks. This is a task that will likely take a couple of days for the plumber.

By the way...Dave and Laura did all the moving of the stuff...so we had a good workout today too!

Great off topic trivia from Joe Friel's BLOG

2009-02-06T22:41:00.003-05:00

This really has zero to do with the subject of this BLOG, but I thought the "coming into form" comment might be of interest to one reader or two!

From Friel's BLOG

4. Fitness and fatigue trend similarly. You may not have thought about this before, but it is important to understand. There is a strong link between fitness and fatigue. If you are fatigued from training then you stressed the body adequately enough to create the potential for fitness. If the workout did not cause any fatigue at all then it also did not produce the potential for fitness. So, when fatigue is rising you can expect the same thing from fitness.

5. In order to race well one must reduce fatigue. This is what tapering before a big race is all about – reducing fatigue. You don’t want to go into important races tired. There is no benefit from doing that. Racing when tired most assuredly will produce less-than-stellar performances.

6. Reducing fatigue is called “coming into form.” The term “form” came from late-nineteenth-century horse racing. Before placing a bet you would check the form (sheet of paper) provided by the bookie which showed how each horse had been racing recently. When a horse was racing well it was said to be “on form.” Bike racing which started in the late nineteenth century adopted this term early on. In recent years other endurance sports have begun using it.

Planning the Project

2009-02-05T14:07:00.005-05:00

There are three general areas of focus on concern in a project that hoover around the areas of (1) Time (2) Quality and (3) Money. The above tool is a so-called MindMap. I'm an amateur as far as this program goes, but I've found this program...even at the most basic level, to be very helpful.

This map addresses the issue of (1) time. Again...the idea here is to make the actual installation process as smooth and as quick as is possible. By focusing on time, one logically will make a good impact on money and quality.

Sonos for Distributed Audio

2009-01-31T15:16:00.002-05:00

I know just enough about residential audio/visual (a/v) systems to be dangerous. Just how dangerous, I guess the next few months will tell. Our project involves the renovation to our living room where we now have a CD player and a pile of CD's. Both this device (the CD player) and this media source (CDs) are about to be history.

Over the past years, I've migrated all of our audio sources so they are now on our in home server which most notably manages all our e-mail, serves up the prayworks (www.prayworks.com) webpage and is where all our business files live. So, I have our music on the server and it is about to be managed by Sonos. So, I can play music in our living room and access any of the music we own, play different music in our new library and different music while cleaning up in our bath room.

Nice...we'll see how it goes, but the order has been placed and the bundle is on the way, so I'll be setting up the system soon. Too, you can control the Sonos system with one's iPhone. It seems to be easy enough to set up. We'll see...stay tuned.

Of interest...I'm on Twitter and I made a post that I had bought the Sonos system. Within minutes, I was being followed by Sono's marketing and I following them...as they supplied hints and helpful links. Wild.

New Tenant on Floor Three-209 Capitol

2009-01-29T13:46:00.002-05:00

I am pleased to announce a substantial portion of the third floor at 209 Capitol Street has been leased by the law firm Lewis Brisbois Bisgaard & Smith LLP . The firm is headquartered in Los Angeles, California and employs about 600 lawyers.

Thanks are in order to Melanie at Real Estate Resources who surfaced this client as well as Kent George and his team (Chuck Saffer) at Robinson and McElwee who worked with me through the lease negotiations.

They will begin moving in this weekend.

Think we're in a recession?

2009-01-28T19:56:00.002-05:00

A good friend of mine for the last 30 or so years works and lives around Chapel Hill, North Carolina. He works for a high end millwork fabricator and has traditionally had a large backlog...like 4-6 months worth...and a job like ours...well it would never really even be considered.

I called him yesterday and had 2 return calls today. We talked and hell yes he'd like to price this job. Now..mind you, I've got what amounts to seven pieces to build, finish and ship....not a big deal...but he was all over it. Business sucks for them.

Anyway..it's a buyer's market, which is good for this project and others I'm working on. And, it's good to have a large network to tap into.

And the new BLOG is......

2009-01-27T16:30:00.004-05:00

OK…..I’m not quite THAT big of an egotist. Or maybe. I’ve decided to morph this BLOG over to a BLOG that mostly has to do with upcoming renovations to our house. We'll still have some stuff on 209, but for the next few months, it's about substantial renovations to our house.

And here is the slant on this new project.

I have always theorized that a residential construction project would really proceed with a much higher probability of success if (1) virtually all of the design decisions were made prior to proceeding with construction and (2) and this is the big point…that most of the “stuff” was already sitting in town in a warehouse prior to construction proceeding; carpet; woodwork; custom casework; hardware; light fixtures; windows; door hardware; tile etc.

So…that’s what we plan on doing….getting incredibly well organized BEFORE firing the starting pistol and then smoke this job.

And the outcomes from this might be:

A project constructed for less $$.
Fewer distractions throughout the construction process.
A faster installation.
Higher Quality.

That’s a lot of good outcomes and I’ll write more about this in the future.

Stay tuned.

Photo Worth Sharing

2009-01-26T21:01:00.002-05:00

The boat is called Change Order and the Dingy is Original Contract. Not really relevant to this project but I thought it was worth sharing.

Reflections on Facebook

2009-01-25T10:37:00.002-05:00

Last June. I received an invitation to join Facebook from a friend I knew through an organization I have done a lot of work for and with. I really knew nothing about Facebook but pulled the trigger and signed up on July 21. (No…I did not have that date committed to memory…you have a history of all of your updates…click on Profile…scroll to the end of the page and continue to click on show me more updates…the first one will be the date you joined. This is likely an exercise worth performing…not so much to remind you of the date you joined but for you to understand what the “record” reveals about you and for you to understand the picture that you are painting about yourself).

So….I gradually and in spurts added friends which were an interesting group of family, folks I would introduce to you as a friend, and then acquaintances who I really did not know but heck….they asked me to be their friend…how could I say no?

So…..I’m 50 plus years old and my peer group thinks I’m quite tech savvy. I suppose what that means is I know almost as much as the AVERAGE middle class 14 year old, although that might be too strong. They likely know more. So, when I asked my real, lifelong friends to join, they trusted my judgment and signed up. This post is for them.

Facebook is a social networking site. So, when you log onto Facebook, you are in a virtual room with all of your “friends”. Now…you can lurk around and watch and listen. Quite a few folks do this. And why is this their chosen response? (1) Facebook can take a lot of time, particularly if you don’t keep it in its place. So….no time for yet another distraction….makes some sense. (2) Just like the real analog world, people are individuals…some are introverted and some are extroverted. Some are good listeners and some just can’t wait to talk….and you see that reflected in Facebook. (3) Some folks are more conscious than others about “the record”. I have a lot of friends that are lawyers…they…understandably…have a heightened sense of how the “record” can be used. It seems to me like to get the most out of Facebook, you likely want to do some participation….i.e. make a status update entry with some regularity…….and that can be once a week. If you want to paint a more complete picture, perhaps more often is warranted….but I do think some participation only makes sense…..sort of along the line of give what you want to receive…..but be mindful of the “record”.

Most of my immediate family does not live in Charleston…..so I know my nephew is in Puerto Rico, my son is studying some sort of math I don’t have any clue about, and I see my granddaughter on her new bike.

Some of my friends make a habit of posting great articles about national/international events or WVU sports. I read most of them….you get a sense after a while about friends whose perspective you might find interesting or even occasionally compelling……even if you don’t agree with the perspective.

You are building your network in a reasonably cheap manner. This might be good for business or in some way satisfy your need to be connected.

Here’s an interesting link for beginners.

http://computer.howstuffworks.com/facebook.htm

There’s way more about all of this I could reflect upon but I think BLOG entries need to be quick reads. I have thoughts about mobile devices and Facebook, Twitter, the topic of “unfriending”, (I think this might become a legitimate verb), the topic of not having your friend request acknowledged but for right now, I think I need to clean up the house…that’s today’s status update.

What the hell has happened with Pray’s BLOG?

2009-01-06T15:32:00.001-05:00

Fundamentally, the renovation of 209 Capitol is complete. There are still a few issues going on…..the art work piece is still in design….we are about to aggressively begin leasing the third floor…the part 3 submission to the Department of Interior needs to be submitted…there’s probably a few more reflections I can dig around for….but the bottom line is the topic of this BLOG is winding down.

So….I’m all over starting the new one and would be interested if there is any energy around the following topics that have been rolling around……

1) I am preparing to execute a significant renovation at my house. I get tons of questions every year from folks anticipating or in the middle of (or maybe involved in a law suit over)residential work…..so I thought I’d tell it all in a BLOG about my residential renovation project? Daily or multiple daily entries.

2) Mid Life Transition. This is a little different concept. 10 years ago I began on a life adventure….a real shaking up the deck if you will….and decided to sell my company. There’s a lot going on with that topic in my life particularly as I begin to explore other uses for my time beyond the traditional type time applications of what constructive development psychologists would call “meaning making systems”. Change Baby! BLOG it???

3) Getting Super Fit. A few years ago, I won the 50 and over State Road Race Championship….several years and several accidents later, I’m 10 pounds heavier and in way worse shape. This is a way too self centered BLOG (but aren’t they all), but I thought I’d throw that out there.

I’m leaning towards # 1 but thinking # 2 would be more of an adventure.

Let me know......

Happy New Year!

Dave

Torturing the property manager and guys over 50??

2008-12-09T14:46:00.004-05:00

OK...I admit it. I thought having a urinal 18" from the floor was a challenge...I mean it's a challenge for me with my 56 year old prostate! (I know too much information). Anyway....I was thinking it was put this low for the occasional 5 year old that might show up once every year or so.

Wrong....and I thank Tony Yunker with GBBN for changing my paradigm. The reason the urinal is like this is it accommodates someone in a wheelchair....and I honestly had just not thought about that. In 2002, I was in a bad bike wreck and drove my femur thru my pelvis. This was a BIG DEAL and after it was miraculously repaired by the best orthopedic trauma surgeon in West Virginia (Dave Hubbard...Ruby Memorial), I was confined to a wheel chair for a month or so.

I really learned what barrier free means and committed to always have my projects respond to folks with disabilities. It might be a very small percentage of the population...but if it's you, it's a big deal.

I'm glad this project was built to be responsive and I'm glad GBBN kept us on track. The American with Disabilties Act might seem like a pain sometimes, but one needs to get out of their own skin from time to time and take a view from the other side of the street, so to speak. This is a law we should all embrace.

Bailey (Ben) & Glasser (Brian)

2008-12-05T13:46:00.002-05:00

In a way, this is what the entire team strives for...a happy client at the end of the engagement. Above is an iPhone photo (not bad) in front of the new bar.....i.e. transaction counter at reception (Brian christened it a bar). B&G hosted a holiday party at their new digs last night...and it was great to see the "place" in action.

We all build/design/develop "places"....and they are 100 percent incomplete without their market/occupants using them. (Thus the term placemaking which is prevalent in the industry). A place can look real cool but just not work...yes?

This one seems to definitely be working well.

Great....

The Pains of Moving In...the next phase

2008-11-25T13:09:00.006-05:00

Ben Bailey's Office (Before)

I had a good visit today with Mark Grigsby, the president of Pray Construction Co. As we bring this project to conclusion and wrap up a few details, I asked a probing question....what are your desired outcomes from this project? He had several good thoughts and then mentioned...he hoped the lawyers (of B&G) would realize (and appreciate) how much better their personal and professional life was due to the involvement of PrayWorks, Pray Construction, and GBBN. I personally think mission accomplished.

And so...what the hell does the above picture have to do with any of this? Thanks for asking. Recently GBBN/PrayWorks was hired to provide the last finishing touches on this project and we are dealing with artwork, accessories, minor architectural changes (yes Brian...in the fitness room), and operational issues with how the building is used. This is a piece frequently omitted and so the intent of the design (and construct) team is never fully realized.

This is a small piece of work...but very exciting to be moving forward. I'm not sure if I have shared this, but I have moved into 209, so this is a very intimate look into how the facility actually fulfills the design intent.

Hope I don't get kicked out!

Tools of the Trade

2008-11-11T17:18:00.002-05:00

So.....a whole lot of "what I do" revolves around numbers...the projection of....say as in a statement of prospective cash flows....and then the management of.....as in the crafting and administration of an agreement (i.e. contract)...and then the reporting of results. Many times the scenarios are modestly complex and the interaction of the various "cells" not apparent. Because I'm involved in development projects from the ground up, I tend to learn the interaction of all of the cells early and then the challenge is to get the owners or investors to "get it"....i.e. understand the risk, the rewards, and the progress.

So, my subcontractors...which used to be plumbers and electricians...are now lawyers and accountants....so clearly my quality of life has degraded!

Right now, I'm working with Gibbons and Kawash (209's accounting firm) on a report to the investors on this project and there has been a lot of number chasing going on. I enjoy this aspect and enjoy making the projections come to life.

BLOG within a BLOG

2008-11-02T08:36:00.005-05:00

Crestron Controller

Plasma Monitor in Conference Room

We designed a large, flexible conference area that is located on Capitol Street. The street exposure is beneficial because of the natural light that fills the room, but creates challenges for the use of the room. Confidentiality is of highest concern in a law firm and so the design needs to be responsive.

To help aid in the management of bypassing eyes on the street, we installed an electric blind system and these are controlled by a touch screen system manufactured by Crestron. So, a user touches the screen where it says lower blinds, and the blinds all lower in unison. The standard blinds basically provide visual privacy when looking in from outside during the day. Additionally, there is a blackout blind which is activated by another switch on the Crestron unit that will make the room completely private day or night.

The room has a phone system with wireless microphones which can be spread around the room, 63” plasma for the review of items either on one’s laptop or the C-room computer, DVD player, and VCR player.

The room is still being tweaked, but it will prove to be a real benefit to the firm.

The Punchlist Process

2008-10-22T08:29:00.003-04:00

Projects (and the associated relationships) can be enhanced (or they can deteriorate) during the execution of the work associated with the punchlist.

To start, the punchlist is the list of either incomplete or defective work that is attached to the certificate of substantial completion which list is issued by the architect. A project is substantially complete essentially when a project can be used for its intended results. It is finally complete...and a certificate of Final Completion is issued...when all of the items attached to the certificate are complete.

Other items that reveal themselves that are in need or improvement, generally are repaired but are seen as warranty items.

There were a handful of items at 209 that were substantial and were not complete because Pray Construction did not have the material available to complete the work.

Last night, a substantial uncompleted piece was (almost) completed which involved the lobby ceiling....see the above photos.

And Life Goes On....

2008-10-20T18:42:00.003-04:00

All of us have a lot of incoming stimulus that we are involved with on a day to day basis. For the most part, it’s hard to see the whole picture of a co-worker, vendor, or associate. And that’s understandable yes? I guess some of the power of a blog or a social network is that one has the opportunity to paint a more complete picture and/or use the medium as a canvas of sorts for self expression.

I have had a lot to do with my Mother over the past years including moving her to Charleston from her home in Florida, helping her adjust to her new community, coaching her out of driving her car, encouraging her on her weekly trips to Innovative Fitness, taking her to the Doctor, listening to her stories, moving her to Edgewood Summit, keeping her walking and socializing, dealing with her insurance company, managing her money, hiring caregivers, taking her to the Emergency room, listening, engaging Hospice, and ultimately helping her transition to another, better place.

My Mom passed away last Tuesday afternoon.

Here is the obituary: (i.e. Charleston Gazette, Sunday, Gertrude Malasky).

And the point of all of this is to (1) Create a more intimate environment….i.e. in..to..me..see and (2) Reflect out loud about all the things we just don’t know about our family and friends that might be having an impact on them. Very sick children or other family members, personal health matters that are really big deals ( cancer, heart disease, fill in the blank), family members that are the victims of or even the perpetrators of serious crimes….we’ve heard it all and it is all happening around us every day). Mind you I come form the old school…stiff upper lip and so forth, but it is worthy to reflect upon the old Covey matter of paradigms. We sometimes just don't see the whole deal and if we did, we might see the young woman not the old woman.

Anyway…..my Mom was an elegant, charming, loving person and she will be missed.

But as the saying goes, life goes on and so does life at 209 Capitol Street. I’ll be back with more tidbits relative to this project in the not to distant future.

Thanks for reading.

Phones and Computers (aka Voice and Data)

2008-10-04T15:06:00.004-04:00

Employees of Advantage Technology and Black Box worked most of the night and all day to get the phones and computers completed...up and operating....and they are! This BLOG is being written from the new space over a very fast Internet connection.

Move Day

2008-10-03T18:48:00.002-04:00

Man..What a week! More on that to follow, but the project is now substantially complete and the move is in progress! See the above photos of signage for the movers.

Great job!

Front Entry Door in Progress

2008-09-30T17:45:00.002-04:00

Pray Construction received their certificate of occupancy today from The City. Substantial completion will be achieved in the next few days as long as the woodworkers do their job.

Signage at Capitol Street Elevation

2008-09-27T12:11:00.003-04:00

All constructed projects are a combination of a multitude of details designed and executed by various team members (Architect/Interior Designer/Superintendent/Engineer/Vendor/Subcontractor. These are truly collaborative adventures....and I like that. Door hardware, stain colors, tile colors, space planning, workmanship...really...the list goes on...are the sort of details I'm referring to. We spent time and attention on the internal and external signage on this project. The above is an applied sign that really accurately mimics the impression of etched glass...or maybe even better.

This work was manufactured and installed by Plastigraphics, a company I became familiar with from my Soaring Eagle Lodge project. They do good work!

The Basement...I mean Lower Level

2008-09-25T14:58:00.003-04:00

Marketing types are appropriately concerned with/about language. So, I've been attempting to refer to the basement as the lower level for months/years. Let's face it, the lower level always felt like a basement, or maybe more appropriately a dungeon. I mean, the lowest level in the building was downright scary....a real mess.

And now look at it!!!!! Man.....sweet.

Furniture Hits the Streets

2008-09-22T17:39:00.005-04:00

The furniture began arriving next week. Luckily, no rain!

By Wednesday of this week, all of the furniture for the offices and open office areas will be in place.

Bringing 'Er In

2008-09-22T17:33:00.003-04:00

Pictured above (L to R) is Mark Nary with M&L Electric, Bob Settle and Erich Reggi with Pray. The picture above ilustrates the cooperation that has been present under a fair amount of pressure.

The team now projects substantial completion will be obtained on this Friday, September 26th.

Lounge--Before

2008-09-10T13:40:00.001-04:00

On the first floor there is a lounge where employees can eat lunch and informally collaborate.

Front of the House

2008-09-10T13:35:00.003-04:00

These images are a bit difficult to make sense out of context, but they are progress photos of the lobby and front of the house conference areas. The glass walls (borrowed lites in trade vernacular) are used between several spaces.

Lower Level (aka basement) take shape

2008-09-08T11:21:00.002-04:00

The lower level is being utilized for paper processing, storage, a large war room, is the location for IT, storage of supplies as well as an exercise studio.

Second Floor Carpet Being Installed

2008-09-08T11:19:00.001-04:00

The second floor carpet install began today. The second floor carpet will be complete by the end of the day Tuesday.

Lobby Emerges

2008-09-08T11:16:00.002-04:00

This photo has the building lobby in the foreground, B&G's lobby in mid ground, and a large conference room in background.

Second Floor Taking Shape

2008-09-04T12:52:00.002-04:00

Actually, the whole project is moving so quickly, the visual change is dramatic every day. I'll try and keep posting daily and focus more on photos which I hope will be self explanatory.

Acoustic Control

2008-09-03T11:09:00.004-04:00

Ever been to a physician's office and clearly heard the conversation taking place in the exam room next door? Right...me too. Great opportunities for litigators.

Anyway...the attorney to attorney office acoustic control is really not analogous to the adjacent patient room example. Virtually all clients are seen in conference rooms. However...if one lawyer is by nature loud...well this is just a distraction that the lawyer next door to that loud attorney will grow to potentially resent over the years.

The photos above illustrate the detail at the floor. Because of the DuraCap, the gypsum on the walls needed to be separated from the liquid DuraCap. If the gypsum was allowed to come into contract with the liquid DuraCap, then moisture would likely be absorbed into the the gypsum and then our friend "mold and mildew" might be welcomed into the firm.

So.....this leaves us with a gap between the DuraCap and the gypsum. The floor was tested yesterday by a testing agency and we are ready for floor finishes. So, recently, acoustic caulk is introduced in the gap between the DuraCap and the gypsum. This plugs up a short circuit in the wall and will help maintain good acoustic control office to office.

Bring on the Carpet

2008-08-29T15:55:00.002-04:00

OK...it might appear to be a bit early for carpet. The date of substantial completion is yet three weeks away, so there is a lot of work to perform before the carpet is installed...right? Well, that is correct. One of those tasks is to install the last window on the second floor, so to facilitate the installation of carpet beginning the week after next, it's appropriate to get the goods at least in the building in the simplest fashion possible. That's what's going on in this photo.

Material handling on some projects can be much more troublesome. I recall building a restaurant in Jersey City in a regional shopping center. We had to take delivery of some paneling for the facility and, to do so, we were obliged to schedule our time at the loading dock which was restricted to one hour per day. So, the panelling shows up at the appropriate time and the superintendent goes down to unload it from the truck. The teamster (this was a hard line union project), looks at the superintendent when he arrives and the back door is still closed on his truck. He says he'll be leaving in 30 minutes. "Well....how do I get this truck door open?". Answer..."$100 will do the job."

Ahhhh...life in the northeast.

This should be a Weekend Post

2008-08-26T11:06:00.003-04:00

OK.....in response to my friend Karen Farmer (far right), I take the liberty of adding this photo to BLOG.

I'm surrounded by attorneys (Farmer/Long) which is dangerous I know, but the more I know about lawyers, the more likely I am to help make their facility great. Anyhow...that's my story and I'm sticking to it.

DuraCap Poured

2008-08-18T15:14:00.003-04:00

Beginning with preparation on Thursday and then pouring proceeding on Friday and Saturday, the DuraCap installation began and was completed. I'd say this was the most dramatic visual improvement to the building yet.

This work was done on Pray's schedule, so we are still looking at September 19th as the day the project will be substantially complete.

It's Crunch Time!!

2008-08-08T15:34:00.002-04:00

I can always tell when a job is coming to the end because I feel like I need a body guard to accompany me on the job tour. Managed creative conflict.

In one week, the overlay of the existing floor (Dura-Cap) will take place...so the Pray team has been pushing the gypsum installation (which wants to be completed before dura-cap) and they have gotten permanent power in place in order to operate the air conditioning on a temporary basis for humidification control.

To top things off, the basement is experiencing some leaks, so now that source needs to be discovered and corrected.

The September 19th date stands per Pray Construction management.

Pat Brown Takes a Tour

2008-07-27T14:56:00.003-04:00

Pat Brown is the executive director of CURA and I recently extended Pat an invitation to take a tour. As Pat mentioned, its great that the building is being renovated, but notably it is great that the building will be the downtown day-time home to so many people which is just good for the downtown environment.

209 Capitol was purchased from the trust department of a bank by CURA essentially to keep the building from becoming a surface parking lot. Good move.

Isn't Construction Work Easy??

2008-07-27T14:50:00.003-04:00

Construction is still a world that is full of some tough manual labor. Pictured above is superintendent Bob Settle's (at the left) "A Team". Bob is a lead by example kind of fellow, and here is the team taking a pause for a photo opportunity after completing the task of manually filling the stair pans with concrete.

Tough work.....and thankfully now complete for both stairs.

Great job team!

The 3 P's

2008-07-22T12:59:00.003-04:00

Laura and I were had the pleasure of dining with some friends this weekend whose family has been in the automobile business in Charleston and Huntington for many years. When the patriarch was bringing the next generation along many years ago, he mentioned to be wary of the 3 P's regarding credit.....Politicians....Police...Preachers. However, there was one P that could always find the cash...the Prostitutes!

I thought that was worth sharing.

Completion Date September 19

2008-07-22T12:54:00.002-04:00

Pray Construction has recently committed to a completion date of Friday, September 19. Over the years, Pray has developed a reputation for on-time delivery, so I do trust they will make it happen.

Stay tuned and find out how it goes.

Tour Sprinters and Breakaway Riders

2008-07-19T08:08:00.003-04:00

I hope you've been making some time to see the tour this year. We're clearly seeing Mark Cavendish establish himself as one of the sport's all time great sprinters. 4 stages wins!

The local newspapers now report Will's place in the gc (general classification) standings, which to a degree misses the point. But I get it...the sport really is too tough to understand unless you grew up around it (as many Euros do) and/or raced at some level yourself as I did,

Assuming you don't fit either categories, and perhaps want to figure the sport out a bit, here is an interesting link from Saris that might be worth a read. (Topic is Tour Sprinters and Breakaway Riders).

Mark Grigsby's Involvement in 209

2008-07-17T09:38:00.001-04:00

I’ve been involved in this industry for over 30 years now and have interfaced with a lot of owners as a contractor/design-builder; I’ve represented a lot of owners and been an owner myself. Clearly, one of the dirty words from an owner’s point of view is the two words “change order”.

That’s understandable. I’ve seen very few owners that have an open check book. Money is always an issue. The goal of course is to go through the design/construction process and stay within the boundaries of tolerance for the deal. And, it is only good business that all parties in a transaction are rewarded fairly.

Most of the aspects of this project were relatively simple to project. However, one area that was quite difficult was the process and associated compensation for the demolition scope of work. So, we elected to perform this scope of work on a cost of the work basis. In effect, Pray Construction Company would not be at risk for the unknown, have no opportunity to disproportionately enrich themselves, and the owner assumes more risk.

Along the way, we discovered several structural defects with the building’s flooring system that required extensive repairs. Similarly this work moved forward on a cost of the work basis, plus a markup for the work. This put some pressure on the deal and made the administration of the contract (particularly from a financial point of view), heightened.

As clear as this all sounds now as I write them, there were different points of view of what the contract said and how it was or should be administered.

So…how to resolve this dispute? This is when character makes a difference and one of the great things for me is observing the leadership and character Mark Grigsby (Pray’s president and my successor) brings to the table. Mark steps up, gets involved, and helps craft a resolution to a brewing dispute that is fair for all.

I’ve told Mark this privately and now say it publicly; Pray Construction has a great leader with Mark Grigsby.

Blogosphere...Trolling for work

2008-07-13T15:19:00.002-04:00

I recall when I was growing up, there was no advertising by most professionals. I really don't have a comment about that one way or the other frankly. Seems like if you need an attorney, as an example, one ought to be able to look around as one would for any other type of service provider.

http://www.northcarolinainjurylawyerblog.com/

Checkout the above link. Put aside your thoughts and feelings about the plaintiff's bar for a moment, and review how effective this BLOG is. This is an effective way of checking out a firms expertise if you are in need of service.

Real Estate BLOG that may be of interest

2008-07-13T09:32:00.000-04:00

http://www.realblogging.com/

iPhone arrives...camping out....other stuff

2008-07-11T17:06:00.004-04:00

So, this week, in addition to my normal duties on 209 (getting furniture moving, negotiating details of various change orders, dealing with issues involved with this week's downpour), I have been swamped with Soaring Eagle Lodge.

So...I get to drive back and forth to Snowshoe on Tuesday and, as I'm carting all my stuff into my home around midnight, I inadvertently leave my cell phone on the roof of my car. Well, it pours all night and Razrs don't do well in water. Alright...fine. I've been eyeing the new iPhone anyway. So, I go to AT&T and visit with a sales rep. She brings up my record and tells me I can come up Friday and get a new one.

Fine.

So, I'm up at Southridge at 6:30 am camping out! Clearly the oldest guy on line. Around 8:15 I make it in...pickout my accessories...but wait....you're a CORPORATE CLIENT.....we can't do this for you.

Hmmmm...thought this new phone was aimed at the business market.

But I was cool and I choose not to come back and open fire. Instead, my dear wife Laura spent 2.5 hours and got the deal done.

So....the photos are a shot at the line and the man is the fellow that showed up at 4:00 am.

Thought my readers would like to see him.

Will Frischkorn Second in stage, Third overall!!!!!!!!!!!

2008-07-07T11:55:00.004-04:00

http://cyclingnews.com/

Cycling News will have tons of information. What a ride! Wow!!!!

General classification after stage 3

1 Romain Feillu (Fra) Agritubel
2 Paolo Longo Borghini (Ita) Barloworld 0.35
3 William Frischkorn (USA) Garmin Chipotle - H30 1.42
4 Alejandro Valverde (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne 1.45
5 Kim Kirchen (Lux) Columbia 1.46
6 Oscar Freire (Spa) Rabobank
7 Jérôme Pineau (Fra) Bouygues Telecom
8 David Millar (GBr) Garmin Chipotle - H30
9 Cadel Evans (Aus) Silence-Lotto
10 Filippo Pozzato (Ita) Liquigas

See attached video.

New Fire Service Line

2008-07-05T10:37:00.002-04:00

Sometime in the recent past, the City of Charleston replaced the main fire service line located under Capitol Street. When the new line was installed, they also provided lateral taps to the building. So, what's going on here is the installation of a new line (exclusively for fire service) from the building to the saddle on the new fire service line. The reason this work is being performed is because the existing lateral will one day deteriorate and leak/break and then the repair takes place on the pipe's schedule, not ours.

Open Cell Spray Foam Insulation

2008-07-03T06:27:00.004-04:00

The above photographs illustrate an open cell spray insulation known as Icynene. Icynene is a more expensive choice when compared to traditional fiberglass insulation, but in this building, it will provide a much more complete envelope and substantially reduce infiltration.

We theorize the savings in fuel costs will pay for the additional cost. Certainly, Icynene is high on the list of green products.

Frischkorn Article in Daily Mail

2008-07-02T18:59:00.001-04:00

http://www.dailymail.com/Sports/200807020253

Have you tried No Assital??

2008-06-30T13:47:00.002-04:00

No Assital is a great over the counter drug used by construction superintendents across America to ward off the potential impact from ass chewing a super can receive from a project or development manager.

Bob Settle, our very diligent superintendent, swears by the stuff and believes he has needed a ton of it to get thru this project.

I told him I'd share this hint with our readers.

Indoor Air Quality

2008-06-26T13:56:00.002-04:00

I was reminded today about how much our industry has changed over the past few years. Why you might ask?

As an example, today I stimulated and participated in a conference with the project’s environmental engineer (Chris Belcher with Pinnacle Environmental) . Now, I’m pretty sure 20 years ago environmental engineers worked in industrial engagements. I’m all but sure the concept of having a team member lead a thoughtful discussion about how to create an appropriate inside air environment would have never been an agenda item.

Today, we talked about dust control, protecting material (like duct work) from being contaminated during construction with dust or (heaven forbid) creating an environment for mold to prosper, relative humidity inside the building during construction and methods to manage, techniques for monitoring the same, how to protect gypsum board from creating a home for mold growth, appropriate carpet adhesives and so forth.

I’m sure we all end up with better buildings and this of course is a good thing. But the development teams of the past are a far cry from what the market wants/needs today.

Will Frischkorn goes to Le' Tour!!

2008-06-25T17:02:00.005-04:00

Yesterday, Slipstream Sports ( rather Garmin-Chipotle) announced its Tour de France Team and it includes my friend and former West Virginian Will Frischkorn.

As the press release notes, Will is one of four Americans riding in Le Tour this year. I imagine this is the first West Virginian ever to ride in what is arguably the toughest endurance sporting event in the world.

I know Will reads this BLOG....from all your WV buddies Will....go get em'! What an honor.

Also, here is Will's BLOG. As noted, he'll be writing a daily journal for Velo News.

Also, see my March 22nd post.

Welcome Real Estate Resources

2008-06-20T16:54:00.003-04:00

209 will be professionally managed by Real Estate Resources. A property manager manages all (or most) of the financial transactions with the building, manages vendors (janitors, window cleaners, elevator mechanics, HVAC guys, etc), prepares reports for investors, cleans away the snow, manages special events....and the list goes on.

RERI manages a lot of buildings in downtown and it is great to have them on board!

A Major 209 Blogger Fan...Kent George

2008-06-18T12:24:00.007-04:00

Kent (Kent is the managing member of Robinson & McElwee) and I spent a few tough days last week in Palm Beach attending a practice group meeting with attorneys and clients from around the country. (Alfa International).

This was a bit like drinking from a fire hose.

Most of my business friends would probably die if they heard may say this, but I've been reflecting on class action law suits. You know....there exists the potential that some contribution is being made to society by pursuing the potential wrong doing that has been levied on a group that singularly might not be able to do anything to right the wrong.

Checkout http://www.newsinferno.com/ which is the highest rated class action lawsuit according to Levick Strategic Communications. I had the pleasure to hear Richard Levick at the Alfa conference and he was a very strong.

Technical Preservation Service's Website

2008-06-09T16:16:00.002-04:00

John Sandor from the Department of the Interior and Chris Knorr from State Preservation office, made an interesting presentation for the AIA chapter on Friday.

Checkout www.nps.gov/history/hps/tps for more information.

DP

Have You Seen the Painted Wall?

2008-06-09T12:13:00.003-04:00

So, I arrive at work this morning and this is what the parking lot attendant asked me. Of course, I immediately thought the worst.

No....he went on to sat how great it looks, and I could not agree more.

Great Article in Today's Paper

2008-06-04T17:58:00.001-04:00

Link to Daily Mail Article....Bang it Here!!

North Wall

2008-06-03T15:43:00.002-04:00

This is the so-called north wall, looking good after the installation of window openings. Painting will start soon.

McCrory's is Dead!!

2008-06-03T15:35:00.003-04:00

What is notable about this photo is what it is missing...i.e. the McCrory's sign. I recall having a conversation with local historian Richard Andre about this building's history and he said "please stop letting people refer to this as the McCrory's building!" Richard...the sign is down! I'm doing my part.

Some of my Favorite Gals

2008-06-02T15:52:00.004-04:00

OK....this was meant to be a weekend post (recall I can go off topic on weekends), but I didn't get around to it. I looked in the Blogger Handbook and it appears that one can sneak into Mondays with personal stuff "on occasion". So...check out...from the top...my granddaugther Zoe napping, Zoe with wife Laura, and Zoe with niece Michele. Being a grandpa is cool!

This is all from a recent visit to the Cincinnati area where son Josh goes to school (at UC engineering school) and daughter-in-law Judy is an elementary school teacher.

Marc Weintraub

2008-05-30T14:06:00.001-04:00

Beware of a lawyer smiling this broadly! Marc Weintraub and I just finished visiting (rather intently) with the LLC’s accountant, Steve Kawash of Gibbons and Kawash. We are in the process of marketing/selling the tax credits and we were meeting to double check our financial representation. All went well.

Actually, Marc had just asked if he could be in the BLOG so I whipped out the camera and whala……your Blogging Marc!

John Harris (L) and Chris Knorr (R)

2008-05-23T14:11:00.003-04:00

This is the third project I have been intimately involved with that was the recipient of historic tax credits, but it’s the first time I’ve been so involved in the owner’s perspective.

The approach our team has taken has been to encourage and promote effective communication particularly with the State Historic Preservation Representative (Chris Knorr, the assistant director) and the design/construct team.

People warned me how difficult this process would be (…not worth the time and money…etc. Well, these must be people that have a lot higher hourly rate than I! ….OK…my nephew is the personal assistant of a major photographer that has a day rate of over...(a huge amount...self editing working for a change) per day. That might have made this exercise too costly!).

Anyway…I hope you all get the point.

I sincerely believe that if it were not for this tax incentive program, 209 Capitol Street would be a surface parking lot.

Moving from Floor to Floor During construction

2008-05-15T17:23:00.002-04:00

Over the years, the building had several means of moving from one floor to another, including I’m sure ladders at some point. A new building needs at least two means of exit in fire protected corridors or shafts (as in stair towers).

209 will have two new stair towers (as well as a new elevator), but while they are being constructed, floor to floor movement from the lower level (aka basement) to floor 1 and 2 is facilitated by an internal scaffold. We still are moving from floor 2 to 3 by a ladder.

Up on the Roof

2008-05-14T16:17:00.002-04:00

There was a section of the exterior masonry wall closest to Capitol Street which faces the surface parking lot which was in need of a complete repair. Above are photographs of this wall from both sides in its “as repaired” condition.

Structure for Heating and Cooling Units

2008-05-14T16:12:00.002-04:00

The heating and cooling for the building will be supplied by a large unit located on the roof. This unit weighs several pounds and is essentially supported on the ground by extending the support from the foundation, through the new masonry shaft for the elevator and stair tower and then to steel, which is pictured here. This steel is galvanized which will retard corrosion.