my job

I'm often asked what I do for a living.  When I respond that I'm an estimator and project manager for an electrical contractor, I quite often get that blank stare that tells me that this description isn't computing so I'll enlighten you.  As an estimator, I look at the electrical portion of the blue prints and tell you how much this project is going to cost you electrically.  That includes going out for pricing on the distribution (panel with breakers, etc.), lighting, fire alarm, and any incidentals such as floor boxes, data and telephone.  After that, I need to figure out how much the conduit and wiring, and devices such as plugs and switches are going to cost.  Then I have to assign a labor factor to each of these elements to come up with a total package price, installed.  Sometimes on 'closing day', (the absolute latest time you can submit your pricing or it goes directly in the trash and you have just wasted not only your time, but your employer's money) it gets pretty hairy with distributors sitting on their pricing until the last minute. 
Not long ago we closed a job for the Calgary Police Service that required 9 (!) separate pricies, not to be included in the base bid price.  Usually jobs close at 2pm, sharp, but this one closed at 4.  Ok, no worries.  Ya right.  Looked good on paper!  You would think that with 2 extra hours to put their number together, we'd be ready to go at 2:30-3:00 latest.  NO!  Pricing and a bill of material started coming in at 1 from one of the suppliers and because I was limited to 2 suppliers due to existing equipment, I was starting to get twitchy waiting for something to come from the other one.  The first guy's final pricing came in at 2:30 and the other guy?  Not until 3:20.  NICE..................... now I have to go through the bill of material, do a comparison to ensure that they have everything I need, and that I'm comparing apples to apples, break out my prices for the separate pricing required, complete my tender documents and get my pricing in.  What I do can be extremely stressful at the best of times, but that one was hairier than any I've put together before.

As a project manager it's my job to make sure that materials are delivered to site in the order required to make the project be completed on time.  Little things like making sure that the main distribution is delivered before the basement is closed in, the fixtures are delivered after the drywall is up, sanded and painted, and the ceilings are ready to have them installed.  It's also my job to coordinate man-power so that I have the required forces to complete the job in a timely manner without flooding the man-hours charged to my job.  On top of that add managing change orders (changes to the scope of work that may impact the cost of construction), attending site meetings to discuss the progress of the project ands dealing with the general contractor.  Phewf!  I know, that's a mouthful, but I love it.  Busy, busy, busy is how I like it.  It makes the days go very fast.
When I first came to my current employer, the first job that I estimated was a job called Heritage Park Expansion that incuded some parking lots and lot lighting, 10,000 square foot Haskayne Mercantile Block which is administration on the second floor and retail on the main floor, and the crown jewel of the project, 75,000 square foot Gasoline Alley which is a museum of antique cars, banquet facility and a five star restaurant.  It was estimated at $3.5 million and we ended up landing it.  Somehow it was decided that I was going to be the PM on this one in partnership with the boss and, you've got it, it ended up being just me.  Whoa nelly, this thing was a whole lot bigger than anything else I'd run.  At first it was a huge learning curve and there were a lot of challenges but once things got humming the next 3 years went pretty well and it turned me in to one of the best PMs in the city (so I've been told by some of my crew and co-workers).  By the time the dust settled and all portions of the work were completed, this project ended up coming in at $6.5 million.  On Gasoline Alley alone there were 169 change orders, one of them being a lighting revision of $160,000!  EEK, that's a big change order.  There was so much paperwork involved with this project that I have 8 - 3" binders and 6 - 1" binders on the shelf in my office.  The paperwork alone was a full time job!
The picture above is the 'Block' as we so affectionately called it.  Sorry I couldn't find one of Gasoline Alley, but this is definitely 'the house that Deb built', and my field guys did a bang-up job.
And that, my friends, would be the origin of both of the tag lines with my email autosignature.

vision to see
faith to believe
courage to do
this one's special to me.  vision to see - where we're going, what we're doing, and the end product.  faith to believe - in myself, that I can do what needs to be done.  courage to do - whatever it is that needs to be done for a completed project.

"Courage is being afraid and saddling up anyway." - John Wayne
And this one?  Ya just gotta love John Wayne, and I firmly believe in it.

Fathers and Daughters

I just finished reading Danielle's Fathers Day message to Ed, her step dad.  What is it with fathers and daughters?  I remember the things that Dad would do to me when I was a whole bunch younger.  Things like folding his belt in half and telling me to 'put your finger in the bear trap' and then snapping the belt closed on my hand.  Things like 'pull my finger'.  Things like pretending to hork up a big lugie and pretending to spit it in my ear when he woke me up in the morning (GROSS!).  Or other things like letting me ride his saddle and tacking my horse for me so I could ride his saddle.  Of course it was way too big for me, but I rode it anyway.  It taught me to have a better seat and be a better rider, believe it or not.  We had  horse called Whiskey that 'hunted bear', meaning that the stump we were riding by (and had passed on numerous occasions) was a horse-eating-tooth-and-claw-wielding bear.  Of course she'd jump straight in the air and land 10 feet from where she'd started and dump me right where she had launched herself.  After walking home the first time, guess what?  She never dumped me again.  I'm not sure how many summers Dad tacked my horse for me, but I'm pretty sure it was 2.  The summer I turned 13, Dad told me that I couldn't ride his saddle unless I put it on the horse myself.  Well that saddle weighs 50-60 pounds (believe me, I still have it) so at 13 it was no easy task.  I think it took me all summer to be able to throw it up there and when I finally did it, I was elated. 
Dad threw that challenge out there for me and I've never forgotten it.  He also challenged me to be the best that I can be.  He taught me to try to excel at everything I've put my hand or head to.  He taught me to read not just fiction (though my guilty pleasure is a novel that helps me escape the everyday world) but also books that help you improve. 
Right now, I'm savoring a book called 'Davinci Decoded' by Johnathan(?) Gelb.  Not only was the man a genius as an artist and inventor, but he was a very well-rounded spiritual man as well.
Another one was 'Shut Up, Stop Whining, And Get A Life' by Larry Wingett.  When I read that one, parts of it (ok, most of it) made me laugh out loud because what this guy is saying is exactly how I was raised! 

So thank you Dad, for making me who I am today.  I'm still a work in progress and far from perfect, but I have a hell of a good foundation under me.

A horse show with Kim, part 2

After a morning of watching a whole lot more halter classes than I like to admit to the show moved on to the under saddle classes.  At a regional show like this one, there were 5 judges.  One of them was a rather large lady would had on a spankin'-brand new pair of Wranglers that were tight enough that when she bent over to pick up a judging card that she had dropped, she had the whole bobbing bird on one leg thing going.  If I remember correctly, it took her three bobs to get low enough to pick it up!  Of course Kim and I had a good laugh over that one. 

The arena that the show was in is a multi use facility that houses hockey in the winter, smaller concerts, etc. and there is a wide wooden platform that runs between the bleachers and the arena boards.  I've already told you about how a lot of these horses are jazzed up outside the ring before their classes for animation in the ring.  The under saddle classes aren't quite as bad as the halter classes are, but they're still a little wide-eyed.  One gal came in on a horse that had to be 15 3, or 16 hands that was waaaay too much horse for her to begin with.  A couple of kids were doing what kids do and running up and down the platform when ol' horse headed down the long side of the arena at a long trot.  He got to just about even with them and all of a sudden he alamand-left and dumped this poor girl right there.  After ol' horse was collected and the girl was asked if she was all right, she was allowed to re-mount her horse and continue the class.  I don't know the Arabian Horse Show rules, but most classes that I've seen if you're unseated you are excused from the class.  Well, this girl gets over to her horse and she's built like the one judge I was telling you about only shorter, and between that and the fact that her horse was so tall, she couldn't get back on.  Ok, now what.  One of the judges held the horse, and another tried to give her a leg up.  That didn't work either.  One holding the horse, and 2 now trying to push her up.  No good, ol' horse keeps moving away.  One holding the horse, one on the other side so he doesn't move over, and 2 pushing her up.  Finally, success!  I think if that had been me, I would have excused myself! 
Kim and I laughed most of the rest of the day over that one and unfortunately that was the end of the shenanigans.