A recent article from an engineering journal has shed some new light on an age old issue-the drop of productivity in construction. The article is titled “Don’t Blame the Worker.”

Walls & Ceilings magazine has published a few stories about the “Underground Economy” and “Misclassification” in recently.

Bill Rogers wrote a story on customer service that struck me as “what-a-coincidence.” I recently had some work done on my home. We needed a stairway remodel and I may be a plasterer, but truly awful at finish woodworking. My wife and I got two bids, and like Bill experienced, they wanted money up front.

Redlands is a city in California, and like all cities, they are suffering through a budget crisis. Unlike other cities though, there are no lay-offs. The reason is all city employees agreed to take a 10 percent pay-cut to meet the budget shortfall.

This is an ongoing debate with the drywall industry. What is a true level 5, skim coat joint compound, drywall primer that equalizes porosity or a proprietary product?

The news about Chinese drywall omiting a sulphur gas and corroding wiring in homes and making people ill is not what our industry needs. It appears the problem is confined to South Florida. My question is: Is this for real?

My question is, where is our bailout? I, like everyone I talk to, has mixed feelings about the bailout money. For the car companies, it would certainly hurt for them to go under. But what was management and labor thinking? The gravy train would last forever?

It is odd how a name sticks. Sometimes really sticks. For example, casing bead for stucco is still called “Milcore” in many areas of California.

I was walking along Venice Beach in California recently. I noticed a lot of Obama shirts for sale by vendors, among the rows of tattoo parlors, head shops and other alternative services.

There has been some controversy over the article I wrote titled "Magnificent Seven."