I suppose you can picture it this way. Boeing has been the primary passenger plane manufacturer for as long as we can remember. Basically, the market was theirs to lose. Then several years ago Airbus enters the fray and essentially applied a Seattle slap down to the home team. How can such a phenomenon happen.…

Many years ago, my precinct captain Denny drops in. He needed a favor. He was a regular in our office. In Chicago your precinct captain is your go-to guy. Usually, we would only see him during election season unless we needed something. He would drop off a handful of election posters. He would look me…

Part #5 Peripheral Vision In the big picture, a facilities manager wears many hats. Return to work processes and policies, maintenance and grounds management, and, most importantly, not only keeping the train running, but keeping the train running on time. Every company has an infrastructure. But making that infrastructure impervious to the elements is the…

Part #4 Let There Be Light I am a creature of habit. Every time I go to the office I hit the second-floor landing and there is the emergency light. In our city emergency lights and illuminated exit signs at key doors are in the building code. The emergency lights have a small test switch…

Part #3 The Midnight Train to Georgia I made my move. I was prepared to revolutionize back up power. Now one confession. This was many years ago and the Generac product was in its infancy as far as the consumer market was concerned. Also as previously mentioned I would have had to build a safe/secure…

Part #2 The Family Joules There are numerous misconceptions when people discuss backup power supplies. The most common is the “UPS” known as an uninterruptible power supply. Your typical UPS is the size of a VCR but 2 to 3 times heavier. For those in the know, those off the shelf units cost $100.00 to…

Part #1 Emergency and disaster mitigation and response. I wake up Tuesday night 07/15/24 and I can feel it. I could hear it. The thunder was deafening. The sound of rain was consistent. Tonight is not the night to fly. Tonight is not the night to have the confidence you did well at the supermarket…

Somewhere along the way someone, somewhere dropped, or should I say lowered the bar. The industry’s priorities appeared to have been tampered with. This brings the next question. What are the industry’s priorities? I am sure we have many. Make a good living. Always be a productive member of society. Maintain and service a loyal…

Every year I must visit my optometrist. It is no big deal. The results are always the same. One must simply follow the doctor’s orders. However, I confess, I love going to the appointments. Why you ask? The eye doctor’s office is across the street from a Subway. I love Subway sandwiches. All sizes, all…

Two simple statements. Firstly, nobody owns a client. Secondly nobody owns an employee. Are these complicated or simple claims? Are they right or are they wrong? When the Chicago Black hawks hired, no excuse me, drafted Connor Bedard — sorry, excuse me again: When the Chicago Blackhawks “selected” Connor Bedard in the NHL Entry Draft…