Supply Chain Connections

Oct 6 2008 8:19AM | Permalink | Email this | Comments (2) |
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By Glenn Singer

Last week I attended the NAHB Fall Board of Directors’ meeting in San Diego and it was down right depressing. Congress was in the process of debating on the bailout bill that Secretary Paulson requested. NAHB’s senior officers and senior staff were urging all of us to call our senators and congressmen. There were stories of banks coming to builders asking them for more equity as they reevaluated their loans; some builders haven’t sold a home in six months. There were horror stories about excessive price increases by manufacturers whose raw materials were steel and oil-based products and major cut backs on spending and personnel.

I must admit that it was quite depressing but one great thing happened – My son and daughter-in-law live in the San Diego area and they got us tickets for a rock concert at San Diego State University for Thursday evening. Yeah, that’s right, a rock concert for a 66 year old man!! It turned out that this was this was the most productive event of the week. The group we saw was My Morning Jacket and they were fantastic! I watched the theatrics, the presentation, watched the crowd and enjoyed the music. And, at the end, I was totally relaxed, content and forgot about all of our industry problems. There is a lesson here in that life goes on and one has to step back from everyday problems, relax and enjoy life. If we do this, most problems won’t be that insurmountable.