Night Clases for CEUs

Oh, you WORK during the day?  How would you like to take your CEU classes at a time that doesn't cost you?  You can take either Business Skills or Identity Crisis from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. on two consecutive days.  Voila!  You can pick up 8 hours in two evening classes without missing work. More on the classes here.


Check out our schedule here.   Keep checking because we are adding classes--especially these after-hour classes--regularly.  The first ones will be in San Antonio in May. 

So, What's the Best Part In Using CAD?

My last post touted using CAD (computer aided design) for drawing beautiful and unique irrigation and landscape plans.   All true.  But that's not the best part. 

While I'm writing this, CAD is still relatively new.  Most irrigators and landscapers draw by hand.   They are losing some efficiencies, but, ultimately efficiency is not the name of the game.   They may have erasure marks that detract from the neatness, but that's okay too.   If they need a copy of their C or D-sized drawing, they can only depend on their local copy house and, again, that's all well and good.  

I can tell you from my own personal experience that customers view a CAD drawing differently than a hand-drawn one.  I know it may not be fair.  Design knowledge, experience and taste went into both renderings, but there's something about a color CAD rendering that says more than it should.  It says "competent, professional, accurate." 

I don't know about you, but I want and need to tap into all the help I can get!

Why Use CAD (computer aided design) When Drawing Is Faster?

Usually every class has at least one person that is there to learn how to draw beautiful plans using CAD--with a nagging thought in the back of their head.  "This is great, but I think I'm faster drawing by hand."  I can relate.  I've been using RainCAD's CAD programs over 15 years, but there is a learning curve.

Do you enjoy snow skiing? Did you enjoy it the first day you tried? Did you ever say, "Why am I doing this?  It's cold, I'm tired and besides all that I'm already at the bottom of this dumb mountain. Why do I want to get on this scary tram just to come back down again?  I've thought about it now, and it's illogical!  Where's the lodge?"  If you never got over it, you missed out on a lot of enjoyment.

When you know what you're doing and you have practiced enough to execute your craft with speed, accuracy, taste and ease, well, it's a joy.  Until then, though, it's work.  As you know, we humans are not known for wanting to think, work or change.   CAD takes all three. 

But, if you're willing to pour yourself into it and stay with it long enough to master it, new vistas suddenly appear.  Keep in mind we're talking hours, not days, weeks or months.  

You learn that measuring a property is different for CAD than hand.  It's easier and faster.  There are simple ways to check yourself so you don't have to go back out to the site and re-measure something.  Once you draw the property, you realize that you can now consider more than one plan without having to redraw (we call redrawing sawing sawdust).  

The bottom line is I can't tell you CAD will be faster for you.  It is a lot faster for me and I sincerely believe it will be for you.  It does depend on you, though.  If you will invest yourself and commit to use CAD on several plans so you can internalize what you know, you'll be able to draw faster.  

That's not even the best part.  More later . . . 

To find out more about our CAD Class click here.

Do You Believe All This "Running Out Of Water" Hype?

"We have the same amount of water now as we did when Noah was floating above Mt. Ararat."


"Lake Superior (the largest freshwater body on Earth) was too shallow to float cargo ships in the summer of 2009."*

I don't claim to understand how both of the above statements can be true.    But something is happening to water and it's not good.

A friend sent me this picture of a bridge project that is aimed at traffic congestion at the Hoover Dam.  Look behind the dam.  That white "bathtub ring on the banks of the Colorado river shows a 100' drop in water level.   That is huge! 


What is the solution?  Anyone that has studied economics at its most rudimentary level learned that demand and supply influence (dictate) price.  To mash up a quote from Will Rogers, "Buy (or save) water.  They're not making any more of it!"

*quoted from Robert Glennon's book, "Unquenchable: America's Water risis and What to Do About It"

Irrigation CEU Classes Up For First Quarter

If you know of an irrigator or landscaper that wants to learn how to use Computer Aided Design (CAD), boy do I have a deal for them!  We just got the web site updated to include all our courses.  The enrollment process should be a lot easier with more reinforcing feedback. 

We have
CAD Class - Basic, one day, 8 hours of CEU credit from the TCEQ
CAD Class - Advanced, one day, 8 hours of CEU credit from the TCEQ
CAD Class - Combo, two days, 16 of CEU credit from the TCEQ
Business Skills - one day, 8 hours of CEU credit from the TCEQ
Identity Crisis - one day, 8 hours of CEU credit from the TCEQ

So, if you know of an irrigator, pass this along.  We will be teaching classes in Dallas/FortWorth, Austin, San Antonio and Houston.   There's a $25 early bird discount for signing up 7 days before the class starts.  Too, there is an additional Alumni discount if they've taken one of our courses before.

Are We Saying "Good Bye" to the Phone Book?

There are several mailboxes grouped together where I live. Two days ago a package of 12 phone books was draped over a couple of the mailboxes. With two day's mail having come and gone, three books had been claimed by our six households. I got one of them. I wanted to see the Yellow page ads we pay $2k for.

I know this lacks a lot in sophistication and polish. But, back in the 17th century, when the Dodo bird became extinct, don't you think people started noticing changes?

I don't use the phone book. I don't even use the Yellow Pages. I know ads there are paid for by the business that benefits. Nothing wrong with that, but now there are more credible ways.


Do you use the phone book? I know there are a lot of people that do, but how long before it's just not used?


Now, for another potential Dodo extinction: do you wear a watch? If so, why? I hope it isn't because you want to know what time it is because your cell phone already does that--and corrects itself--and you carry it with you anyway.

We are in time where we simply cannot assume that the way we did business yesterday is going to survive tomorrow. If water is precious, it will also get expensive. It will be the target of more and more regulation and oversight. And, if you happen to be in an industry that uses a lot of water, you will be centered in the cross-hairs of anyone wanting to take a pot-shot at an easy scapegoat. That would be irrigators, irrigation designers, sprinkler manufacturers, landscapers, sprinkler service crews, ...

The picture of the Dodo bird is from the Oxford University Museum of Natural History.

The New INTERNATIONAL Home of ceuWOW

We have just finished our first CAD class since it has been approved by the TECQ for Texas landscape irrigators. As it turned out, two of the class members had Mexican-sounding surnames. That's not unusual anywhere in Texas, but especially not in San Antonio. When I asked them where they were from, they said they were irrigators from Monterrey, Mexico!

That's makes our company an international provider of CAD training. So, just in case you had missed the largeness of it all, I hope you are duly impressed. ;-)

New CAD Class Approved

ceuWOW would like to announce that our new CAD Class, a 16 hour continuing education unit (CEU) class, has been approved by the TCEQ for Texas Licensed Irrigators.

We are holding the class in the major market areas of the state now. At this posting we still have room in the Houston and Austin classes. Classes are small due to the hands-on nature of the instruction, so enroll early.

The CAD Class teaches irrigators how to use RainCAD's latest software offering, Pro Contractor Studio.

The cost of the class is $275 for both days.

Forgetting the Purpose--So Easy

May I tell you about a distaseful conversation I had Thursday with a yellow pages salesman? The conversation was completely amicable, but, at least for me, tense.

We had tried this new phone book for two years. Last year we even put in a different phone number so we could really test the book's effectiveness. It wasn't. I was dropping our investment from about $2,000 for the year to $300--and would have gone lower if I could have.

When the salesman asked about what I wanted to do in the white pages, I said I wanted just a regular listing. He said that would be an extra $10 per month. I didn't think he understood so I clarified by saying, "No, I don't want bold or anything--just a plain, regular listing." He understood all along and reiterated that it would be $10. "You mean I have to pay just to get my name in the book?" I said incredulously. He said I could take my chances, but if I wanted to be sure it was there, I'd have to pay. I told him I'd take my chances.

Now understand, our day job is sprinkler repair and about 70% of our business comes from the yellow pages. I need the yellow pages. The yellow pages represent a form of advertising that works for us. I have no ax to grind with the yellow pages. But . . .

The yellow pages are only good as an advertisement for me if the book is seen as a valuable and complete reference book for our prospects. The reason I don't use this new telephone book is because I could not consistently and reliably find the phone numbers I was looking for. I have to assume ditto for the rest of Waco.

Somehow the management of this new phone book has lost sight of the purpose their book absolutely must nail with perfect precision. There's really just two points:

1. They must have a book that has every person and every business in alphabetical order with their correct phone number.

2. They must make sure that book is in everyone's hands that lives or works in the area they intend to serve.


If they don't do that, they have no reason to expect advertisers to patronize them. I don't hope they go out of business. I hope they change.

We believe that our purpose is to repair sprinkler systems as quickly and painlessly as possible. May we never loose or confuse that purpose with anything else.

My Double Life

Only recently have I thought of my business life as going down two different paths, but, from the perspective of the customer, the paths have two very different destinations.

On the CEU side, I see the target as you being blown away by our classes. (www.ceuwow.com) We try to engage through asking a lot of questions, using surprise to teach and using different media to get across ideas. We want to be idiosyncratic with the idea that you will love us and come back again and again.

But, I also own an irrigation company. (www.rainstat.com)

And yes, we want people to love us, but on a different level. Beginning when we answer the phone, there's no theatrics. There's not even a hint of anything outside of "get your head in the game, fix this thing and get out." (all we do is repairs and upgrades)

And that's the two choices with any business isn't it.

One is to WOW and be effective and different--even fun, entertaining, having an emotional element.

And the other is to reduce the pain as quickly and painlessly as possible.

Right?

Designing the CAD Class

The past four days I've been hold up in a hotel in Fort Worth with one purpose in mind: Designing a CAD class that was something other than the same ol' type of class. I thought of every detail and every skill-set we wanted to convey and wrote it down on a Post-It note. I used the hotel's wall to start placing these benchmarks in order (right) and started the task of building slides to support it.

I hope you'll join us when we come to your town and let me know how we're doing. We are trying to make this class engaging and an experience that you will remember for a long time.

Remember this is specific to RainCAD's Pro Contractor Studio. It is not transferable to RainCAD 10. Call if you have questions: 866.728.9834 or doug.s@ceuwow.com.

Surprising Best Tool for Pro Contractor Studio

Just press an arrow key and magic happens. At least if you're comparing your productivity to getting out the pencil, ruler and compass. That's because arrow keys invoke a tool on RainCAD's Pro Contractor Studio's CAD program they refer to as "point polar." If you're familiar with RainCAD's other editions, it would be something like the Drafting tool.

The arrow keys don't "do" in that they don't really move the cursor. But press any one of the keys and Pro Contractor Studio brings up "Point Polar," which looks something like a field compass (as opposed to drawing compass). "North" is 90º, south is 270º. Now all you need to do is enter the number of feet you want the line to be drawn and press the Enter Key and, viola! you're line is drawn in that exact direction for that exact number of feet.

I realize that the newbie to CAD might not be all that excited about this, but believe me, mastering it, although not difficult at all, is huge.

ceuWOW's CAD Class teaches this new, robust, and affordable software package to irrigators. If you're in Texas, you know our law has changed to require a scale drawing for every installation. Deviations from the drawing can be made, but they have to be reflected on an updated "as built."

If you'd like to enroll in one of our classes, we will have them in the major market areas. Just check our schedule here.

Are You Setting Up Your Bussiness to Sell?

I know, I know. You're always looking for customers. May I suggest that you need to be looking for only ONE customer; the one that will eventually buy your business.

In our Business Skills CEU course we talk a lot about the value of your business. We calculate your business' worth as if you were a prospect for purchasing your business. We ask the question, "What is this business worth as an investment?" We do this for two reasons:

• It gives you a good idea of where you are as you build your business.
• You discover if your business is a good investment for you. (By extension, you can look at your business from the eyes of your Ultimate Customer, the person that will eventually buy your business.)

Here's a place to start: Can your business operate without you? Do you have people trained that can repeat your desired outcome day after day? Does everyone know their job? Are the patterns and procedures that generate your desired outcome (excellent installations, perfect repairs, etc.) written down?

Please don't kid yourself into thinking that it can't be done. Not only can it be done, it simply must be done if your business is going to be sellable.

Maybe today would be a good day to do something to attract your Ultimate Customer–your business' new owner.

A Phone Call You Never Want to Get (continued)

There it was in the mail. The State is so reliable in sending out these license renewal notices three months early. “Time flies,” I think to myself.

I don’t think of myself as being particularly stupid and I don’t think my bookkeeper is either. But we both did something that, looking back on it, was just dumb.

I had heard someone say that “they” (whoever “they” are) expected more license lapses due to only one notice being sent and that notice so far ahead of the due date. I’m the poster child for that theory.

When my wife called me back, she had bad (really bad) news. (If this isn't making sense, read the post below this one.) As it turned out, I gave my license renewal to our bookkeeper and told her that this was really (really, really) important. She took what I said to heart and instead of placing the bill in the normal pattern for bills, she put it someplace special–giving it the priority treatment I wanted.

Bad move.

I, having confidence in my bookkeeper, did not check on that bill’s progress–so the fault is ultimately mine. When my wife went to our bookkeeper’s office she found the bill, still in the “special” place (so she wouldn’t forget).

Let’s look at the sunny side first.

•The State said that “if I passed” they would re-issue my old license number, 4767, instead of the current 17,000+. That was important to me because I teach CEU classes and didn’t want people thinking I am a newbie.
•I DID learn some things in this beginner class and the review was good.
•I could say something about “getting away from the office,” but that was not a positive to me.
•And, I passed.

And on the not-so-sunny side . . .

•The course costs $500.
•The state’s fees were another $211.
•The course was for four days out of town so there was travel and lodging for four days.
•The test was also out of town requiring me to get there the previous day–more meals and lodging.
•I ate out three times a day for four days for the class and one-plus days for the test.
•I missed five days work taking the class and two days taking he test.

I figure the bottom line for this little mishap–figuring time at our regular rate at just eight hours a day–was $8,261.00! You may charge more or less, but it costs a lot!

And I think I have a solution to the problem.

More tomorrow.

A Phone Call You Never Want to Get

When I answered the phone, I heard the familiar voice of Michelle. She’s with the city and handles our permits. “Mr. Saylor, we did a routine check and you are no longer licensed.”

I don’t know what goes through your head when something like this happens, but my mind shared room for a certain perturbness and stark fear. “There’s got to be some mistake. I’ll check into it.” I happened to be mobile at the time so my checking ability was stunted. I called our bookkeeper first but couldn’t get her. I called my wife to go to her office and see if she could find where we paid for my renewal. That was about all I could do.

When I returned to the office, I got on the Internet and confirmed that, yes, the State shows that I am not licensed. It also ruled out another possible fly in the ointment, my CEUs. There they were; all sixteen hours. So it had to be that they didn’t get my check–or, perish the thought, we didn’t send it. Just then, my wife called. “Here’s the story and it’s not good.” My heart, which was already on the floor, descended to an abyss that I cannot easily described. My mind did a quick inventory of what this meant if I had to do what you have to do to get your license back.

First, I have to take that 32 hour Basic Irrigation Class–and spend 5 days out of town because no one does this class in Waco. I have to take this class because I’ve done irrigation (and made it my living in this trade) since before the State mandated this basic (see also preparatory, elementary, rudimentary) course.

My heart changed from despair to pain.

Second, I had to sit for the exam and pass Design, Installation, Backflow, and Hydraulics. Was I right in remembering that there is only a 13% pass ratio?

Okay, my heart changed back to stark fear.

More tomorrow.
DJS

New Computer Aided Design (CAD) Class Offered

A convergence has occurred that has been the impetus for a new Computer Aided Design (CAD) class.

•The Texas law changed January 1, 2009 that requires a plan on every new sprinkler installation.

•RainCAD introduced a new, affordable and robust CAD package called ProContractor Studio.

We are teaching this software package in a 2-day class to ensure that each student "gets it" and "keeps it." We intend to give irrigators another tool to not only comply with the new regulations but also to separate their company from the competition. We have all been exposed to a marketing philosophy that was pioneered by Sears Roebuck--the "good-better-best" comparison. Hand drawing makes multiple options a huge time consumer. But, with CAD, it's much easier. For one thing, you don't have to draw the property over again. You can just lay out a different method of sprinkling. The automatic material takeoff makes bidding much easier.

We hope that Texas Irrigators will check out our web site and enroll. The cost is $275 and we are trying to get to the major market areas. If you can get a minimum of 10 folks together, we will come to you.

CeuWOW is committed to bringing excellent and relevant educational classes to Texas Irrigators. The new CAD Class is NOT for Texas CEU credit.