“Neither snow, nor rain, nor heat, nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds…” I would argue that postmen don’t have anything on construction superintendents. This week, I received an email from one of our project superintendents building a job with us in Kemah, TX, about 40 miles …
If you drive near the east end Birmingham’s CBD, it’s hard to miss Sloss Furnaces, a designated National Historic Landmark. For almost 100 years, the site operated its blast furnaces. Today, the site is still in operation, but now as a historic park. The grounds are home to various artists in residence and to Slossfest, a …
I’ve sat on the hiring side of the desk for some time now. Many interviews ago, I was always taken aback by the lack of the simplest soft skills from those fresh out of college or technical school graduates. They probably don’t have interview experience or haven’t thought through the details of their delivery. Maybe …
You win some. You lose some. But when you get really close to winning and still have to walk away empty handed? That’s especially difficult. A few weeks ago, as I watched the final holes of the British Open, I could not help but feel for Matt Kuchar as he walked up the 18th fairway. He played great, and by all rights …
As much as I try to avoid canceling commitments, it happens on occasion. We accidentally double book a lunch appointment or fail to calendar a meeting. Unexpected deadlines pop up. It happens. This week, I missed a meeting. Not good. I was in Houston and just did not get back in time. Worse, I failed …
I’ve been hearing a lot lately about “code switching,” where one adapts a “fit” to a conversation or meeting. I have done this most recently when I was having lunch with a customer. As he leaned to the center of the table to make a point to the two of us sitting there, I then …
We are ramping up for construction of the new headquarters for the Alabama Moving Image Association, the non-profit that produces Birmingham’s nationally acclaimed Sidewalk Film Festival. Their space is located within and below the recently redeveloped Pizitz building and near The Lyric Theatre and Thomas Jefferson Tower, projects we recently finished in the city’s theater …
This week, I was talking with a customer of ours who is half of a pair of successful brothers in real estate, who have built upon what their grandfather started several decades ago. We got to talking about jobs and what makes one satisfied, and resolved that many of our contemporaries go after the money, …
We are in the early stages of a parking structure design for a new project which also includes a storm water management system below the deck. While a number of storm water management systems exist in the market, our design is part of the parking deck and fairly simple compared to most. It features precast …
Many times, prime real estate sits undeveloped because it’s a tough build. Florida is famous for this problem, because of the high concentration of organic matter in their sandy soil. Recently, when a customer came to us, we spent a fair amount of time figuring out how the buildings and parking area would carry the …
Sometimes, you need a break. My son is finishing up his 9th year of medical training, and he’s tired. Honestly, I was, too. When we could both schedule a little downtime, we embarked on a 12-day father/son trip starting at the Lost Coast, Northern California’s coastal wilderness. I suspect when Hwy 101 was first planed …
I am wondering: What if we approached our jobs and what we do every day a bit more like the Stoics? To summarize Wikipedia, these ancients thought that happiness comes from accepting our lot in life and consequently, enjoying what we do. (Well, at least most days.) To me, this means not allowing too much push …