Some of the roofing projects I have been involved with over the years;

Johnson & Johnson
Bausch & Lomb
Xerox
Kodak
The Dioceses od Rochester Schools and Churches
Rochester Institute of Technology
Alfred State College
Roberts Wesleyan College
Nazareth and St John Fisher Colleges
Monroe Community College
Midtown Tower
University of Rochester
Strong Memorial Hospital
Rochester Psychiatric Center
Highland Hospital
Parkridge Hospital
St Mary's Hospital
Animal Hospitals
Penfield, Webster, Irondequoit, Brighton, Pittsford, Henrietta, Churchville, Chili, Greece, Genesee Valley Central Schools
City of Rochester Central School District (15 schools)
Monroe County Offices
American Red Cross
Wegman's (11 stores and multiple warehouses, meat processing, freezers and bakery)
Kraft Foods
Constellation Foods
Mott's Foods
Various Town Halls
Rochester Gas and Electric
Time Warner Communications
Mobil Chemical
Al Sigel Center
Keeler Towers
US Consulate and other Federal Buildings
Banks, Restaurants and Mega Malls
South View Towers
St Anne's Nursing Home
St John's Nursing Home
Multiple Recreation Centers, Strip Malls, Small Businesses
Many Fire Houses, Town Garages, and Ambulance Centers
Research Centers, Telecom Hubs

The list goes on and on and on.

I try to explore many of the places we work, asking questions about the business and its processes. Many have been new construction projects. I get to see what goes on inside the walls and under the floors. I find the manufacturing facilities the most fascinating. Many have robotics and sterile clean rooms, lots of conveyors and injection molding machines. One plant used Tobasco Brand Hot Sauce in its product and had several 55 gallon drums of it in a special storage area. It was considered a hazardous material, understandably so.

The coolest building I ever roofed was the Wegmans 20 below freezer, equivalent to 2 1/2 football fields and 90' high. Yeah that's a big freezer.

One of the most interesting was the now defunct U of R Tandem Particle Accelerator. I did get to tour the facility.

Soon I expect to retire. Maybe I'll take up something less physically demanding, like rugby. I played rugby in college. It was way more fun and less demanding on the body than roofing is.

What is your job like? Do you enjoy it? What do you like best? What do you like least? Is it what you wanted to be when you grew up?

I wasn't going to do this, but I thought it might be fun to give it a whirl, with a twist...

Seven answers are completely and totally false. See if you can guess which ones.

What was the last thing you put in your mouth? A fistful of crushed multi-grain round tortilla crumbs.
Have you ever kissed anyone named Matthew? Yes, the Godfatherofgreenbay and I make out every other night. I like to French kiss him deep with my tongue.
Where was your profile picture taken? On Mt. Crumpet.
Can you play guitar hero? I can play guitar and I can be your hero, but I has never played Guitar Hero.
Name someone that made you laugh today?  My entire roofing crew makes me laugh every day.
How late did you stay up last night and why?  Dark-thirty, Because it was half past dark and I lack infravision.
If you could move somewhere else, would you? I am pretty sure I could move almost anywhere I go, unless I was encased in concrete or something.
Ever been kissed under fireworks? When ever we kiss there are fireworks.
Which of your friends lives closest to you? The invisible kangaroo that used to live in Aunt Lucille's school. Aunt Lucille passed away and they tore down the old school, so now the kangaroo lives in our attic.
Do you believe ex's can be friends? Some ex cons are pretty close, so yes. 
How do you feel about Dr Pepper? What kind of question is that? Who has feelings for soda pop?
When was the last time you cried really hard? When I stubbed my big toe against the dinning room table. I thought it frickin broke.
Where are you right now? In the international space station 263.54 miles high, 50.967 N x 37.39 W, moving at 17,139.82 mph.
What bed did you sleep in last night? I slept in the Lincoln Bedroom at the White House. President Obama invited me over for pizza and wings, but really it was a ruse just to get me to fix a roof leak over the Oval Office. It got dark early and he let me stay for the night.
What was the last thing someone bought for you for dinner? Pizza and wings.
Who took your profile picture? A Who.
Who was the last person you took a picture of? Lorilily. 
Was yesterday better than today? I don't even remember yesterday. I live in the moment. This is a pretty good moment right now.
Can you live a day without TV?  I live for TV, I have a TV in every room, on my phone, in the garage, several at the cabin, and we even watch TV while we are roofing. 
Are you mad about anything? Only dogs get mad. 
Are you upset about anything? Yes. In 1986 while camping with my good friend, we were cooking bacon for breakfast when a pretty young green eyed red headed girl from two campsites down stopped by our campfire and flirted with us. All the while our whole pound of bacon was cremated. I miss that bacon.
Do you think relationships are ever really worth it? Worth what? The price of a movie ticket? Worth sacrificing a limb? A box of macaroni and cheese? This is really a silly open ended question.   
Are you a bad influence? Better a bad influence than having no influence at all, I always say.
Night out or night in? Warm nights out, cold nights in.
What items could you not go without during the day? Toilet paper or at least a fistful of leaves. 
Who was the last person you visited in the hospital? Dad, and he was ticked that we sent him there. The nerve of us thinking it was serious that his heart had stopped.   
What does the last text message in your inbox say? I have an inbox???  
How do you feel about your life right now? Say what? Is this a trick question? Ohhhh "life". I thought it said "wife". I love my wife. 
Do you hate anyone? Whos, and all their Who noise noise noise. 
If we were to look in your xanga inbox, what would we find? 27 how to get in touch with me mass messages.
Say you were given a drug test right now, would you pass? Maybe, if it was multiple choice or true false. 
Has anyone ever called you perfect before? Everybody.
What song is stuck in your head? The theme from the Monkees... "Here we come, walking down the street, get the funniest looks from... everyone we meet... Hey Hey...
Someone knocks on your window at 2am, who do you want it to be? My future self bringing me tomorrow's winning mega millions numbers.
Wanna have grandkids before you’re 50? That would be cool. I'll have to go back in time and have kids first, seeing as how I am 52 now and don't have any kids of my own, yet. My stepson has a 5 year old daughter so I can say that I had a granddaughter by the time I was fifty. As long as I am traveling back in time I could give my past self the winning mega millions numbers.
Name something you have to do tomorrow? I think it is a safe bet to say I am going to have to pee. Then I am going to look for a time machine.  
Do you think too much or too little? I think too much about little things, like Higgs-Boson particles and antineutrinos. 
Do you smile a lot? Define smile.
Who was your last missed call on your Mobile phone? Bill Gates, He left a voice mail asking for some roofing advice on the fore cabin of his yacht. I don't answer his calls. He is so chatty, Blah blah, my stocks this and blah blah Microsoft that. Jeez, Bill you need a hobby.
Is there something you always wear? Nope nothing, or, I would wear nothing if the neighbors would stop calling the cops. 
What were you doing 30 minutes ago? ??? How quickly do you think I completed this survey? I was still on question 4!   
Did you have an exciting last weekend? Yes, after saving the earth from forces of dark matter which were inadvertently released by The U of R Laser Lab during a fission experiment gone wacky, I rescued sixteen passengers on a runaway rollercoaster at the Seabreeze Amusement Park, then I plugged an out of control natural gas well and prevented a 1 billion kiloton explosion, which would have relocated the Niagara Falls 800 miles to the south.
Have you ever crawled through a window? Who hasn't? A better question would be have I ever crawled through a second story window and yes, but never a third story window.
Have you ever dyed your hair? My hair has all but died. I could rub shoe polish on my bald spot and run a comb across it to make little hair lines. 
Are you wearing a necklace? I am wearing a v-neck t-shirt, but no necklace. 
Are you an emotional person? NO!!! NOT AT ALL!!! I NEVER EXPERIENCE EMOTIONS!!! NOR DO I EXPRESS MY EMOTIONS IN ANY WAY!!!
What's something that can always make you feel better? Bubble wrap.
Will this weekend be a good one? Not if an asteroid hits the earth and we all perish in a cataclysmic apocalyptic event. Otherwise I suspect it should be ok.
What do you want right now? I'll tell you what I want, what I really really want. 
Have you ever worn the opposite sex's clothing? Once I wore an old lady dress in a play. I wore a grey wig too. 
Have you ever worked in a food place? In them, on them and all around them. Food places need roofs too.
What's on your schedule for tomorrow? I don't make a schedule. I just go with the flow. What day is tomorrow anyway? 
Does anyone know your xanga password? Yes. Me.

From my comment to the Xanga Team,

"Just some thoughts on fundraising and financial support... Perhaps you have already considered this, but I would like to contribute a few of my thoughts anyway...

Not everyone blogs regularly, and for the person who just posts a few times a year, a sort of personal journal if you will, they are very likely to be unwilling to pay the same price as a person who posts everyday and upload thousands of pictures. The fees should be tiered and perhaps based on gigabyte usage.

Xanga could offer a free tier for a basic blog with a few simple features and a middle priced tier for those who want to develop more elaborate sites and finally a premium tier for the serious blogger who creates large data consuming posts.

Without the free tier, there is no substantial audience base for the premium bloggers to appeal to, and thus diminishes the incentive to pay a premium to blog. There are some very serious bloggers who will pay significantly more if their blogs are getting enough traffic.

Because of Xanga I have sold many paintings that I would have not done so otherwise, even though it was never my intention to do so. This incentive helps to justify my decision to pay for a good blogging site.

There are many authors who rely on blogs to get samples of their work out, who are willing to pay, but there are also many bloggers who simply desire to express themselves intimately with a select group of friend with whom they feel they can confide in.

Additionally, advertising is still a viable way to provide additional funding. Small banner ads, that pop up initially at the top or bottom of a page when it opens and then disappear after 10 to 15 seconds would not be overly intrusive.

There are many other ways to increase revenues, but I believe in keeping it simple and making it fun. Perhaps when the new model is up and running we could revisit this subject as a community. You could ask for some input as to possible ways in which Xanga could increase its revenues and thus decrease the need to charge fees for it's most basic users, and then select from the more practical suggestions."

Celebrating Xangans through music!

You. Yes you. You who left anonymous footprints on my Xanga at 2:00 in the morning. You who commented on my silliest posts. You who sent me mass messages telling me to check out your latest post. The ones who friended me, subscribed to me, flattered me, made me smile, made me angry. Yes, even the trolls who tried to troll with me, even though you failed miserably. (I just could not be trolled). All the drama kings and queens, the poets and photographers, the moms and grand moms bragging about their kids and grand kids, Frank, Michel, dog lovers and cat lovers and even a hedgehog lover. You are all number one.

There is a great divine place in my being where all the wondrous spirits dwell, including the anti religious fanatics side by side with the evangelists and the plain ole ordinary folks. Capitalists, conservatives liberals all alike. No one takes a back seat. Everybody gets to ride shotgun today, even The Godfather.

My fellow artists, bouncy wouncy siblings, equine, long lost sisters, sarcasticwitchmothers, pirates, clerics, butterflies and jewels. We all dance together to the music of eternity in my dreams. From each of the six continents, (alas I never saw a single footprint from Antarctica) you came to me and I in turn to you. Young and old, rich and poor, sunshine and rain, I held you all in my heart and each of you was first and foremost important to me.

Many of you went on to explore the world beyond my reach, but I never forgot my love for you. Be you knights or peasants, home makers or wanderers, every word I wrote, every note I played, every drawing and every canvas covered in color, I did for you. And I thank you all for the privilege of letting me do so.

I think this will be my final post here. By the time I log back in tomorrow I expect this Xanga to be no more. Perhaps with a little luck and much hope, a new Xanga will emerge. If not, and you have come to this place to read my final words, know this, good or bad, happy or sad, you were always number one to me.

Now to do something I have wanted to do since the day we first met... KISS!

From the garden to the stars...

May God's love be with you, always

john

I have been sorting through the hundreds of mass messages I have received from friends and subscribers offering new contact information. I doubt that I will get them all copied into my Xanga Contacts MSWord file but I think I did get most of them.  

Although it is not quite the end, I just have to share yet another Doors tune, which of course many of you already probably had running through your heads anyway... 

Break on through to the other side...

The end of Xanga 1 is just around the corner. There isn't much time left for blogging here, so I figured I had better make the most of these next few days.

So. I just went to a free sound effects site, Freesoundeffects.com to download a burp. I really really wanted to go out big. The free sound effects site however charges $2.95 to download a 2 second burp.  Um. How does $2.95 equal free? The world sure has changed a lot since I was in grammar school.

Instead I shall simply regale you with an imaginary burp, free. Yes that is correct absolutely and totally free, with no hidden charges, shipping or handling extras, no tax, no nada, nothing!

BUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUURRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRP!

Okey Dokey ya'll. Stay out of trouble and come back real soon.

I have no where to go
and am in no hurry to get there
I have nothing to say
and no one to say it to

Oh there are horses to feed
and cows to milk
driveways to sweep
and a lawn to cut

But all those things can wait
till I see you
give you a kiss
and a warm gentle embrace

There are plains to catch
and trains to take
groceries to fetch
and plans to make

But first I want to see you
hear you tell me
all about your day
Was it joyous, miserable or just ok?

Yes there are chores to do
biscuits to bake
beans to pick
and leaves to rake

but nothing is so important
that it takes my time from you
just sit with me for a while
and let the magic fill the air...

...and the days are long

oh how I long

to have you

by my side