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Estimator’s Edge

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2018 March

Pain in the Addenda

Sometimes I feel like I been tied to the whippin’ post…—from “Whipping Post,” by Gregg Allman Some weeks are just like that. You get an invitation from a friendly GC to bid a...

2018 February

Help Wanted!

Where have all the young men gone, long time passing?—the late Pete Seeger, American folksinger Happy days are here again—sort of. One of the most obvious indicators of the health of an economy...

January 2018

First Things

“After all, tomorrow is another day.”—Scarlett O’Hara (Vivien Leigh) from “Gone With the Wind” It is Monday. You are dazed, amazed and dumbfounded, and not from a residual fog owing to the typical...

2017 December

An Eighty-Eight Percent Day in the Life

I’m emphatic: Jobsite walks should be mandatory for every estimator. In fact, each bidmeister should be required to perform one at least once a month, if not more often. A regular hike through the work-in-progress...

2017 November

Hear! Hear!

No one dared disturb the sound of silence.—Paul Simon We all make a lot of noise. It seems inherent in all of our post-modern endeavors—our collective fabrications, our pursuits, our transportation, our communication,...

2017 October

See How the Other Half Lives

Do I contradict myself? Very well, then I contradict myself; I am large—I contain multitudes …—Walt Whitman I want to say that I am conflicted today, but that would be a gross understatement....

2017 September

My Little PTO (Part 2)

Why do estimators dread vacations? Let me count the ways. Foremost, extended breaks don’t perform the function they’re designed to provide. A vacation is supposed to be a restful respite from the daily stresses and...

2017 August

My Little PTO (Part 1)

“I mean it, Vince. You’ve been going without a serious break for the better part of two years now. It’s time you took some PTO.”      My boss was wearing his stern face, the...

2017 July

A Burning Issue

We didn’t start the fire; no, we didn’t light it but we try to fight it.—Billy Joel Without question, an estimator’s most dreaded foe is ambiguity. I have catalogued an entire litany of...