YouDig?

Dear YouDig? Archives

10.21.20

Build Your Community One Vote at a Time

Dear YouDig? Readers,
YouDig? is about constructing bridges from the past into the future and from mystery to knowledge. We seek connectivity and community. Nothing screams “community” more than Election Day, which at long last has arrived. Wherever you are on the political spectrum, today YOU have the power to construct your community, region and country one brick and one vote at time.
 

You want change? Be a catalyst, educate yourself and VOTE.

You want status quo? Be a catalyst, educate yourself and VOTE.

You want consensus or influence? Yep. You guessed it.  BE A CATALYST, EDUCATE YOURSELF AND YOUR COLLEAGUES …  AND VOTE.

Honorable humans:

Don’t repeat lies! (VOTE)
Don’t hate! (VOTE)
Are too smart for hyperbole! (VOTE)
Respect their adversaries! (VOTE)
Seek intelligent discourse and debate! (VOTE)

When you are right and your issue or candidate wins? Respect the losers, honor the process and then do it all again next time.

When you are wrong and your issue or candidate loses? Respect the winners, honor the process and do it all again next time.

If you don’t VOTE and you complain … ?  You are off the list.  YouDig?

10.9.20

CREEPS? PUT THEM BACK IN THE GROUND

Dear YouDig?,

We are a subcontractor and we pride ourselves on being ethical and fair in all aspects of our business. Why is it then that we seem to end up getting burned by dishonest, shady, disgusting creeps? A liar about change orders. A forged check. Overstatements on their ability to do the job. Revisionist historians. Offensive idiots that are generally disgusting to be around.

What is happening in this world and what can we do about it?

-Creep Buster

9.28.20

Throwing Shade

 

Dear YouDig?,

We are a tree service contractor and some shady property manager is trying to give us a haircut. We don’t want a haircut. We like our hair AS IS.

We had a contract. We changed the scope through agreed upon change orders. We finished all of the work on time. No complaints. Now, a month later, it is time to pay. The manager is challenging our work and offering only 2/3 of the balance due.

A bunch of lies. The job is small and the legal cost of pursuing this would eat up the margins. Very Frustrating.

-Throwing Shade

9.11.20

Project Leadership – Find Your Quarterback and Win!

By John Swansinger, Partner in the Real Estate and Construction Practice Group at
Buckingham, Doolittle & Burroughs

Dear YouDig?

I am CEO of a mid-west  manufacturing company. At long last, those extremely tough times have drifted away. We are thrilled with our plans to construct a new state-of-the-art facility opening in 2021. The options for construction delivery methods have expanded since we were sacked in the recession. Now we have to choose between design bid build, design build, construction manager at risk, multiple primes and others.  What factors should we consider?

-Sacked

8.28.20

Overcoming FORO

Dear YouDig?,
I admit it. As an engineer I like to tinker. A few months in to a factory project our team tinkered up a change in the materials and the delivery system that would save the owner a bucket of money for just a little more time. Once we offered to split the savings, the owner claimed it was all a part of our fee … and then departed to the witness protection program. Is that what they call being “ghosted?” Give us a break– great ideas come at their own pace. We get paid to think. Where is the incentive to keep our brains on once the original plans are set? What can we do to create a “win-win” with value engineering?
-Fear of Rip Off