transitions
Back in the 1960s there was a sign on a road entering Alaska that read, "Choose your rut carefully - you will be in it for the next 200 miles." Changing lanes in business can be stressful and risky, but sometimes it's the wisest choice because the road you're on could be leading nowhere. That's what happened to our company, Laughing Waters. I started out in the pond business as a teenager and for years we were full-speed ahead installing naturalistic water features, including ponds, streams
If you haven't already heard, there are two huge development in the world of WaterShapes, the first having to do with a transition, the second with an addition. Both are exciting and please me more than I can say. First, as was announced a just few days ago, Eric Herman will soon come aboard
The Number One question I have been asked since the announcement of the acquisition of WaterShapes by Watershape University is fairly blunt: "What does this mean for WaterShapes?" My usual answer is, "Not much - and everything!" The "not much" part pertains to the fact that
I'm almost ready to board a plane for my trip to New Orleans and the 2019 International Pool|Spa|Patio Expo, and I have to say I haven't been this curious about what's going to happen at a trade show for many, many years. Change is definitely in the wind these days - with
I've just returned from the latest International Pool|Spa|Patio Expo, a bit weary of foot but heartened by the many conversations I had with old friends as well as brand-new acquaintances. The show itself ran true to form, with
‘Stairs, to borrow an immortal phrase from Rodney Dangerfield, “get no respect.” ’ That’s how Bruce Zaretsky opened his August 2008 column in WaterShapes, then continued: ‘[I]f my observations through the years tell me anything, the stairs set in far too many landscapes are strictly utilitarian objects – no more than a means of getting from one level of a space to another. The only thought that seems to go into some of them has to do with avoiding trip hazards, which is important but hardly the most
I've recently returned from four days of celebrating the 20th anniversary of Genesis with friends and colleagues in Paso Robles, Calif. - about 35 miles away from where it all started for them at Morro Bay on the state's Central Coast. The weather wasn't as brilliant as it might have been, but everything else about the event was top notch and
Many of the projects we work on could best be classified as show-stoppers: big, elaborate installations with undulating surfaces, multiple planes intersecting at odd angles and elaborate mosaic patterns - interior finishes with a level of technical difficulty that makes lots of tile applicators head in the other direction at a rapid clip. We at Rock Solid Tile (Calabasas, Calif.) enjoy just that sort of technical challenge. It's why we invest so much time in training, take our work so seriously and keep expanding the range of what we can accomplish for our clients. But truth be told, we occasionally like tackling installations where
