What is going on with the unitary air conditioning companies this year? Trane sells off the American Standard plumbing business and then is taken over by Ingersoll-Rand. Goodman is bought by another holding company.

No, I haven’t been hitting the eggnog … yet. Is there any rule that says you have to send a greeting card to an animate object? Not that I know of. For some of you contractors who know where I am headed and know the spiel, bear with me. For those of you who think the headline is just an attention grabber and nothing more, listen up.

Over the holidays, time permitting, I plan to sit down at my computer and explore ALL of the Websites of ALL of the candidates vying for the White House. Right now I am leaning toward voting for Hilary Clinton, but I can definitely state I am not totally convinced that she is the right person to be the next President of the United States.

The recent ice storms stretching across the nation’s midsection have brought a stark reminder about what is necessary to sustain life. I’m not talking about comfort - I am talking about life. The residents and business owners of many communities are dealing with no electricity, no heat, and no water - the very things necessary to sustain life.

I’ve run into people in the past that believe taking responsibility for one’s actions somehow makes non-performance OK. It doesn’t. What if your spouse had an affair, and came to you with the line, “I take complete responsibility for my actions”?

How cool is this? Forbes.com just wrapped up the voting in its first Boost Your Business contest. Nearly 1,000 contestants entered the contest, which boasts a $100,000 grand prize. The five finalists made their cases before a panel of judges in New York City recently.

OK, I knew that headline might grab you, but I really DO want to know whom I should vote for in 2008. Who is the best person to step in after George W. (thankfully?) walks away? Really, I seek your input here. Give it to me.

I have seen and experienced several business cycles in our industry in the last 30 years. None of them have been fun but this time something is different. The residential HVAC market has been sliding for several months, no thanks to the housing market downturn but the industry hasn’t hit the panic button.

Corn futures jumped for a while as everyone and his brother thought ethanol production would be the next Google on the stock market. Now, it’s sweet potatoes making news. A group of researchers at North Carolina State University have found that the sweet potato can out-produce corn by quite a stretch.

Compared to police officers or firemen, being an HVAC service tech should not be a dangerous job. In fact, if a tech follows proper safety procedures he or she might find their jobs to be extremely safe. But sometimes things get out of whack and a tech has no control over a situation he/she finds himself/herself in.

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