ABC STEP Award 2014
Easterday Construction Co., Inc. participated in the ABC (Associated Builders and Contractors) STEP (Safety Training and Evaluation Process) program this year and achieved Silver Level status. Thanks to all our employees that made this possible.
Colts Game
I was pleased to be the guest of Dave Behr and the IDEC (Indiana Economic Development Corporation) on Sunday for the Colts/Ravens game. I was there representing MCEDC (Marshall County Economic Development Corp.) along with Jerry Chavez. Several business leaders were also in attendance as well as Mayor Senter from Plymouth. I’ve decided that watching the game from a suite is the way to go! Ha!
The game was a good one and the networking opportunity was good as well. It’s good to speak to people outside their normal work environment sometimes. Those connections can be important.
Speaking of those connections, all of us from Marshall County also got to meet and speak briefly with Governor Pence. I don’t expect that he knows my name, but I think he’s seen me enough now to recognize my face and know some of my issues.
This was my first NFL game and that in itself was quite an experience. Experiencing the crowd and seeing the stadium was all new. Of course I can’t walk through a parking lot without looking at the drainage patterns or walk through a building without assessing the details. Looking at the stadium structure with the retractable roof and such was fascinating.
All and all it was a good time and I think the discussions were worthwhile. I will definitely go again if invited.
ECC Anniversary with ABC
At a recent ABC meeting our council manager, Felisha Minnich, had a list of all the members present with the dates they joined ABC. It turns out Easterday Construction Co., Inc. joined Associated Builders and Contractors of Indiana (now Indiana/Kentucky) on this day in 1983. Thirty one years of anything isn’t insignificant. That’s seven years longer than I’ve been back with ECC!
Since joining, we’ve had various employees involved with the ABC, serving on committees, attending apprenticeship, etc. I’ve served on the Michiana Council Steering Committee, served 5 terms on the State Board, served on the committee reviewing the by-laws and served on the Political Action Committee. There is something to be said for “getting out what you put in”. I am in general agreement with the ABC philosophy and I’ve learned a lot from interactions with other contractors I respect.
Felisha Minnich
While Easterday Construction Co., Inc. holds memberships in various other organizations, ABC is probably the one that has the closest connection to the ECC philosophy. There is no group that I agree with 100% and I am often one of the lonely “Nay” votes on the board, but I would still recommend ABC membership to my peers. If any of those peers are reading this, I suggest they contact Felisha. Felisha has done a wonderful job and holds our Council together. ABC scored big when they added her to our “family” and I don’t hesitate to recommend a conversation with her.
TSA Rebuttal
I ran across this ad a few months ago on the back of a magazine. I thought it was pretty amusing, but after flying this past weekend it’s not as funny as it was.
I can’t think of a job that would be much less fun than TSA agent. Regardless of this, it is amazing to see the difference in attitudes of the people working for the TSA and how their demeanor transfers to the traveling public. Agent #1 is all business and that doesn’t bother me. I’m there for a purpose, they’re there for a purpose… between the two of us we’ll just go through the necessary motions and go on with our lives. Then there is the agent #2 – friendly illicites friendly. Smiles garner smiles. When she mentions that she knows someone from Culver/Plymouth/South Bend, she creates a connection and relieves some of the stress from the situation. That’s so much different from agent #3 that treated those of us in line as cattle. When he tells us there are three lines and to separate into them, he audibly sighs in disgust and looks at us with disdain. How can we be so stupid? He’s told us this 30 times already today… But he hasn’t. He’s said it thirty times, but to thirty different groups of people. But that is the problem. We’re not people to him. We’re the mass of bodies that continues to clog his space and acknowledging that we’re a new group ruins the easy construct he relates to his wife every night about “the idiots that can’t take direction” that he has to deal with daily. He’s fine with us being faceless masses and in return, he being a faceless uniform that none of us could pick out of a line-up if paid to.
Big Phones
A few years ago phones were getting smaller and smaller to the point that they were hard to read and the idea of a phone/watch ala Dick Tracy didn’t seem too far away. In the last few years we’ve seen the trend in phones go the other direction, to the point that one handed texting and app control is just about impossible. The Phone/Watch has now evolved to become one of the myriad of phone accessories that are accessed via Blue Tooth or other means. My wife, Dr. Rebecca Berger, wears ReSound hearing aids which are wirelessly linked to her phone for streaming music and even cooler, making the phone work to isolate conversations in restaurants. (No, not other people’s conversations – the conversations at our table! Less repeating for me… though no less repeating for her…)
Phones continue to get thinner, but they are getting larger and larger screens. Great for watching videos, but that’s not why I have a phone nor how I use it most of the time. The last go round I got a new Droid Razr Maxx replacing my previous Droid Razr Maxx that I loved. Even though the increased size is minor, it’s enough to make it almost impossible for one handed use. My thumb just won’t reach that far!
So though it pains me to admit this, maybe Steve Jobs got it right with the size of the original iPhone… At least that’s what this article at Quartz posits. The rise of the tablet has caused this and I’ve already opined on why I think that’s a step backward here. I am pleased with the Swype feature for texting and typing on my phone (Something sorely missing from Apple products), but any additional growth in screen size will make this a two handed operation. That’s not what I want in a phone. I want a phone that I can put in my pocket.
As with most trends, there will probably be ups and downs over time. I hope functionality wins out or at least “optionality”… so I can have a phone that does what I need at a size that doesn’t split pocket seams and cause thumb strain…
Source: Dick Tracy Image from www.pmag.com
Source: Thumb Reach picture from www.qz.com
Source: Thumb Strain picture from www.hartchirocenter.com
