Spirits were high the morning before our office Christmas party… everyone was to receive a Christmas gift of tetanus and hepatitis B vaccines! Once the bleeding stopped we fired up the grill and, all kidding aside, the mood brightened up.
It was pretty cold outside so we had to bring the party into our shop, but that didn’t stop us from having a feast. Dave Paulette, our V.P., manned the grill and cooked deer, pork oysters. We had two tables full of food – everything from BBQ and fried chicken to cookies and cakes. Mike Browning, our Shop Foreman, brought in his famous baked beans but those were gobbled up before half of us even knew they were on the table. We topped it off with a raffle for hams and gift cards.
It’s rare to have everyone under one roof since so many of our employees are constantly in the field so this was a great way for everyone to get together and relax. It was a great way to close out the year.
I found a really addictive Pac-Man style game on the WaterSense website. It’s under the kid’s section, but definitely worth checking out if you’re bored.
Collect water droplets and answer questions to gain points. Avoid “WATER WASTERS” at all costs.
I read a recent blog post which claimed that contractors and engineers do not see themselves as environmentalists. That’s just too bad. Contractors and engineers, whether builders, diggers, HVAC techs, plumbers, or electricians all work to improve the environment in which we all live. The environmental focus for these contractors has historically been on the indoors. Today, we understand a greater dependency shared between the indoors and outdoors. Movements such as LEED, Green Home, and LIDs are an indication of the growing concern and public awareness of “contractor impact”. What has come to be described as urban sprawl was unrestrained development without any regard to quality. This was an industry-wide mistake. It was not a mistake because of greed or neglect. We just didn’t know any better at the time.
Now that we do know better, architects, engineers, and contractors should always strive for the highest quality. To be an environmentalist should mean that one has a knowledge and practice of environmental quality. If the people who design and build our communities do not have our overall environmental quality in mind, whether “inside” or “outside”, are they really doing their jobs in the first place? I am an environmentalist because I am a contractor. Its a responsibility that comes with the job.
It was pretty cold outside so we had to bring the party into our shop, but that didn’t stop us from having a feast. Dave Paulette, our V.P., manned the grill and cooked deer, pork oysters. We had two tables full of food – everything from BBQ and fried chicken to cookies and cakes. Mike Browning, our Shop Foreman, brought in his famous baked beans but those were gobbled up before half of us even knew they were on the table. We topped it off with a raffle for hams and gift cards.