Just another "Manic Monday"

Hello blogoshere, should i start tweeting? The newest thing will be burp.com or fart.com It's taking tweeting to a new level.

Uncrowded surf.

Hey party people! What's up? I'm doing a quick blog to check and make sure everthings working. My last blog May 3rd started out positive, then it seemed like I was whining-well i actually was a little bit. everyone get's frustrated- even the "Zenbuilder" Did you ever think that some day an oil well might just keep spurting up oil until all the worlds oil just shoots out of the same hole, and that's it! Thats the end of oil! Just go surfing and leave the cleanup to B.P.

scrap materials

Here is a photo of a Manjotar that i made from scrap wood found in my shop. I did have to buy the strings, but everthing else is scrap or secondhand. There was no plan for this instrument it was just free-form creativity. this is what I do to unwind after work( when I'm not playing tennis) My next project is a painting of my son. I am currently finishing the sketch part right now. Oh yeah as far as building custom homes is concerned, I now only work for people who are deserving of my talent. This new economy has taught me some valuable lessons. The most important lesson in business is the same for life in general- "Do not let anyone waste your time- it is finite."

Global warming. custom cabinets

Today was abnormally hot for March, global warming? No one knows for sure, but I can tell you one thing burning more oil than the great lakes have water- that's a lot of exhaust going into the atmosphere.... it makes one wonder. I just finished building a beautiful island cabinet out of white oak. I also built several other cabinets for the same job. I used Blum, "Tandem Plus" for the drawer slides as they are some of the finest hardware available. It seems there are lot's of small jobs out there, so I am going to take a pass on the big ones for know, as people still think they can get an incredible deal from contractors to the point of getting something fo free... almost. I'll bet there will be a lot of litigation from all the shoddy work that is being done these days for such a great price. Remember " The sweet taste of a low price leaves the mouth as soon as the bitterness of a crummy job set's in. Zenbuilder out!

Bad customers, deceitful people.

Hi! It's already March and I have been real busy, and seeing as how I am basically a one man show- I haven't blogged in over a fortnight. Now that I am back I am going to do something totally different, I'm going to share my true thoughts with the world come hell or high water! During the last year of this tough economy I have been basically used by unscrupulous people to give them itemized bids for their jobs, when they basically had no intention of hiring me ( In many cases.) - they just wanted some free financial analysis. This is similar to getting the architect to create elevations for free- before he or she is hired. Read my lips, this is not going to ever happen again! It's one thing to give a free estimate, and quite another to spends hours and hours for free. To all you people who think your clever by manipulating eager contractors to give you their time and hard work for free- why don't you have a drink of Jones- Town coolaid.... on me. like I said, the gloves are coming off now.... embrace the truth people!

Where have I been?

In late August of last year I was abducted by alien beings from another world. I was taken aboard their beautiful ship and shown things no human has ever seen! Actually I suddenly got very busy with my business, My wife and son went to abroad and I found new excuses not to blog. Oh yeah did i mention my computer crashed and i lost all my files etc. But now I'm back and I got plenty of new photos to show everyone what i have been up to. Stay tuned.

A very tough job.

Just putting the finishing touches on a silhouette for a new house, and auxiliary structure - a 600 sq. ft. pool house. This silhouette was the toughest one in recent memory. Structures and ice plant, trees and rocks on the roof. Every type of obstacle you can imagine. but the end result was another fine job by Riviera Rich Contractors.