Deck: Power washed, primed & stained

It took five days in total but, we finally completed our modest 10' x 12' deck.

Kudos to Cabot's for answering the phone on a Sunday afternoon... and having a U.S. English speaking person doing the job.

My loving Wife pressure washed... what a trooper!
I taped off the parts we didn't want stained.

... and then we started with Cabot's oil based primer.
Two gallons and we still didn't get everything primed the recommended two coats. However, I did make sure all the horizontal surfaces got two coats.

We both worked on the final coat (Cabot's Solid Color Acrylic Stain - Chestnut Brown).

















A few take aways:

1. Don't waste your money on Wagner's DeckMate...total waste of time and money! Didn't do what was claimed on the box.
2. If you have to go back for more stain...bring the label. Apparently, Cabot's makes several different versions of the same color... we learned. Thankfully, we didn't get too far into the newer can that we realized we were mixed the wrong color.
3. The railings were a killer! We now see a value in composite decking.

Add Cabot's to our list of good companies still employing U.S. Customer Service personnel.

Rich Barber: Farewell Uncle Rich...Farewell

So many nice things have been written about you Uncle Rich. Apparently, it was your turn to go join the big party in the sky and join the rest of the cosmos.
I don't think I'll ever understand why it had to be you, in your early 50's, on this week. It stings even more that it had to be a member of the family that I cared about and admired.
You know... we were just there, on the River you loved, only a few weeks ago! Celebrating July 4th. You said it was a pretty large party even by your own standards for this holiday. But, you were in your element! The deck was freshly power washed and the gathering so large you had two shifts! Even in this celebration you were helping a friend. That was you...no surprises there.
The fireworks were tremendous, the food was delicious and everyone had a good time. That night when I said "See you later", I expected that I would. I guess now I'll have to wait my turn... to join that party in the sky to make good on it.

Vote for Asheboro Alcohol

I just received the letter from the Randolph County Board of Elections that I was hoping! My neighbors and I can vote in the July 29 alcohol referendum. In most election cycles we vote in Randleman. But, because we live within the City of Asheboro limits (and receive/pay for City services of water, sewer) we are eligible to vote on July 29. Count my household and four other households For Asheboro.

If you want to discuss this with neighbors and others head over to Randolph Is Talking.

5 of 10 Web Analytics Predictions as forecasted by Eric Peterson

one of the buildings on the SAS Campus - Cary, NC

On Wednesday I made the trip from the Triad to the Triangle for Web Analytics Wednesday - Cary, NC hosted by SAS. I arrived a bit early... Mingling with a crowd of ~ 15 was great!
The host Richard Foley and guest of honor Eric Peterson where gracious and generous with their time.
I will attempt to summarize five of the ten points from Eric's presentation... (from memory)

1. A large scale analytics data loss event
2. Consolidation of the available Analytics Tools. More activity like Google acquiring Urchin.
3. (For the U.S) Lawmakers attempting to legislate use of 3rd party cookies.
4. The rise of what Eric calls Web 3.0 made possible by iPhone (version 2) geospatial/global positioning. Allowing advertisers, search engines and others to target locally. (e.g. displaying searches for cafes within walking distance as opposed to the user having to specifying a location first in their search.
5. The commoditization of analytics services. First, with Google offering Urchin for free and second, the possibility that Yahoo might do the same with their recent purchase of IndexTools. In Eric's opinion IndexTools is equal in functionality to CoreMetrics. If Yahoo gives away IndexTools to compete with Google we may all have a better (and Free) option with Yahoo. This will be bad news for the smaller and less popular analytics
and log file analyzer tools.

DYI: Front bed border/retaining - complete

After some man-u-al labor and waiting for a break from the rain, we recently wrapped up the border (Oldcastle®8" Lodgestone Tan) for the front bed. It was mostly a relocation of border material from other areas of the yard to bring some focus and cohesion. We also installed some solar lighting. Our yard slopes so, instead of building a level wall, I opted to step up each level.


This is a view looking towards the drive (at top of picture)

This is the view from the driveway towards the front door.

Other work is in process. If we could just get rid of the weeds at the same time we were waiting for grass seed to germinate... that would we fantastic.

Adwords PPC Optimization Over Kill

I was surfing tonight and encountered an Adwords ad to own a McDonald's franchise. Note: I am not looking in to quick serve opportunities... just curious what the landing page had to say. What I saw was a lot of highly emphasized text... that made no sense.

• The headline for the page "Fast Food Franchises Franchise" didn't make all that much sense. A plural and singular form of the word in the headline doesn't read all that well. Does it?
• The main call to action: "Request More Information from Fast Food Franchises Franchise" repeats the grammatical errors of the headline. But, more than just a grammar error does it instill in the visitor that they are submitting information to a trustworthy source?

The other thing that struck me was this landing page, that the advertiser paid for me to land on, is also advertising other franchise opportunities at the top of the page!

Scotts Lawn Care, Your Email Doesn't Render in Gmail

Scotts,
Your Lawn Care Update e-mail newsletter doesn't render completely in GMail. So, I am missing out on "Crabgrass" information, "Drought Tips" & "What To Do Now".
Luckily, there is a web page version.
If you're in email marketing don't forget: Test, test, test. A couple of throw away/"free" email accounts on Yahoo!, GMail and Live! will save a few headaches.