November 5, 2001

GOOOOOD MORNING, A.I.I.™.... 

It's a great day here in Orem, Utah!  As some of you know, I have just returned from the Annual Meeting for the American Institute of Inspectors held this year in beautiful Reno, Nevada, at the Peppermill Hotel & Casino. 

To those who were in attendance, I hope you returned safely without any incidence and were greeted warmly by loved ones!  I know our 4 kids were very glad to see Mom & Dad come home.  Yes, Shelly was able to attend this year and it was wonderful to have her along.  She has never missed an annual meeting and only missed this year's spring conference when she was struck heavily with the Sarcoidosis diagnosis.  

To all those who were unable to attend....we missed you!  That is all there is to it.  I keep trying to reiterate that the greatest benefit one can receive when he/she attends the AII Annual Meeting is the camaraderie and fellowship among the inspectors.  It's always great to see old friends and to make new friendships with those who have never come to the conference before.

What do you think of the very first MMM??? Here are your responses to last week's question of the value of the first MMM:

Your MMM is a very great part of the glue that has held A.I.I. together and brought us to where we are today. Keep up the great work! Ron Cloyd - Klamath Falls, OR

A good start to a great continuing education system. Please keep it coming. I really enjoy all the help I have received . Do you still wear your name tag? Roy Cooke Sr. - Brighton, Ontario, Canada

Now my "name tag" consists of a logo-embroidered shirt.  Sometimes I don my yellow name badge, but usually I just wear my logo embroidered on my shirts and jackets.  Thanks for asking! Michael Leavitt 

I was fortunate enough to give my first presentation to the local MLS group at a regular meeting. I wore my new "uniform" shirt with company name and logo embroidered over one pocket  and my own name over the other. I had a folder with my logo and company name on the front for each person present, filled with info about my business and what I do, A.I.I., a list of "Inspection Red Flags," the list of "Dirty" words we don't use, a handful of business cards, and most importantly, a color copy of an inspection report so they could see the final product.

I was super nervous, but it went pretty well after I remembered to breathe and take a drink of water so I could swallow after about ten minutes. They were clearly impressed by my professional attire, attitude, and materials. A question and answer session really helped to get to know each other. Within a week, I began receiving calls from all of the offices represented, but one in particular has called the most. I would probably attribute this to the fact that I was able to talk to the Broker/Owner for quite some time one-on-one and develop a good rapport with him. I have done many inspections through that office and when I walk in the door, I am cheerfully greeted and several people are waiting in line to talk to me about a past or future inspection. I make a point of it to say hello to all by name and ask about how the kids' ball game went or the trip to Branson, etc. It has taken nearly a year to develop this relationship. They have come to respect my thoroughness and honesty, and I, in turn, treat each one of them with the same respect. 
I owe a great deal of this to my A.I.I. training and all the great tips I have picked up on the MMM. I don't respond on the hotline very often, preferring to glean all the information I can from the seasoned vets. I'll bet there are a lot more like me out here... So Keep it Coming!

My thanks to all the regular participants on the hotline and the MMM, and especially to Michael for keeping the ball rolling. Will Baley - Northwest Home Inspections - Tulelake, Ca.

In some ways, the 4 years have gone by quickly.  Some weeks I have more time and energy than others. But every week I give it all I have.  I'm glad it is of benefit to some of you.  I will continue to do my best each week and hope it adds value to your membership in AII and to your inspection business.

WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE THRILL RIDE 

Goliath at Magic Mountain! Jim Leavitt (my big brother) - Denver, CO

I have been to Disneyland at least 28 times. I did a consulting job in Irvine, CA, for about 14 months and spent any weekend I had in Southern CA at Disneyland. It is a "world" that never seems to grow old. I took my two kids to Disneyland two times and my current wife and daughter three times. It is a trip that takes the days away for awhile and you just enjoy the many events. The California Adventure has not been visited, yet; seems the draw to Disneyland is forever strong. My wife and I like Pirates of the Caribbean along with the restaurant. Fun memories. Jim Corbin - Bow, WA

Last time I was a Disneyland I was 16 years old. I really don't want to do the math and figure out how long ago that was. Our family spent the day at Six Flags / Marine World last weekend. It was a blast. I went on all the coasters. I like the big wooden ones the best. There is a good one at the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk I have ridden since I was a kid. If anyone is ever headed for Santa Cruz, go to the boardwalk on Tuesday night. It is locals night. All rides are only fifty cents, plus fifty cent hot dogs, sodas and popcorn. The coaster at New York, New York in Las Vegas was a lot of fun a few years ago. 
Jon Gudnason - Placerville, CA

I was seven years old the last time we went to Disneyland and still have wonderful memories. I can't wait until our little one that is on the way is old enough to experience the fun that awaits at Disneyland. Nathan Buckley - Klamath Falls, OR


Tell ya a little story. In 1955, I was chosen as one of 48 Eagle Scouts to participate in the dedication and grand opening of Disneyland on press preview day. Two scouts each raised one flag for each of the 48 states. It was an honor. Then we got all the food we wanted to eat and rode all the rides we wanted to go on. It was a blast. 

Four years later, Walt Disney contacted an Indian dance group I belonged to and asked if we would dance in Frontierland when he dedicated a new section. He had seen us dance at the Hollywood Bowl and was impressed. Of course, we accepted. Those were great days (and nights too).

In high school and college we went to Disneyland on Friday nights as there was a different popular band playing at each of the four "lands". That was something short of incredible! Jim Lucas - Camino, Calif.


We've been to Disneyland 3 times over 25 years, and my favorite ride has always been the "Pirates of the Caribbean" Robert E Lee - Rochester, MN


When I was a kid, my Dad moved us around the country as he climbed the corporate ladder. He always had the intention of moving back to where he was born and raised, Northern California. When I was 7 it was time to move again, this time back to California. I was very happy where we were in New Jersey and cried real hard when my Dad broke the news to us at dinner one night. I was absolutely inconsolable, nothing my parents said could make me feel better. Then my older brother piped up, "Hey Scottie, California is where Disneyland is!" My attitude changed in an instant, and I was suddenly eager to get out there with Mickey and Goofy. Once we made the move, my parents kept their promise to take me to Disneyland. When my birthday came up, our whole family took the day off and we had our day at Disneyland, which I think was the only theme park in the country at the time. For the next two years we spent my birthday at Disneyland. Then my Dad got his ultimate promotion and got to return to the San Francisco Bay area where he finished out his career. Oh, to answer your question, my favorite ride was the Autobahn, or whatever they called it, where you drove around a track in cars with real motors and real noise. Scott Merritt - Grass Valley, CA

It's called Autopia, Scott.  And it was my kid's favorite, too.  We rode it 4 times and would have ridden it more if I would have let them!

Adobe Acrobat eSeminar Available... 

You're on a tight deadline. You need approval right away. Even overnight mail isn't fast enough. What are you going to do? 

Send your documents electronically as Adobe® Portable Document Format (PDF) files with Adobe Acrobat® 5.0 software! 

Attend the Adobe Acrobat eSeminar and participate in a live and interactive online seminar where you'll discover why efficient businesses upgrade from the free Acrobat Reader to the more powerful Adobe Acrobat 5.0 software. 

View this online seminar from the comfort of your desk using any Web browser with a minimum 56k Internet connection and a phone.

Register today for the FREE Adobe eSeminar featuring Acrobat 5.0

Create And Send Adobe PDF Files Quickly And Easily ...
With Acrobat 5.0, you can instantly convert documents from Microsoft Office applications to Adobe PDF files. All it takes is a click of your mouse! Then you can send your files to clients, colleagues, or partners who have downloaded free Acrobat Reader software.

Look At Research In A Whole New Way ...
Acrobat 5.0 makes it faster and easier than ever to do research! Simply collect your data and then convert single Web pages or entire Web sites into Adobe PDF files in one simple step. All links will remain intact so you can use, print, e-mail, or archive your files!

Work Smarter As A Team ...
Acrobat 5.0 can also help you speed up your review and approval process. You can add electronic sticky notes, highlights, strike-throughs, and e-signatures to Adobe PDF files -- enabling you to work smarter, not harder.

You'll be amazed at everything you can do with Acrobat 5.0. Attend Adobe's Acrobat eSeminar and learn how to reliably create, send, and share Adobe PDF files with your colleagues -- whether they're located across the hall or around the globe -- and to get the reviews and approvals you need ... in seconds instead of days!

If you or a colleague would like to attend this Acrobat eSeminar, please click here or call 1-877-303-9422.

If you are a regular reader of the MMM, you already know how I feel about Adobe Acrobat.  I have signed up for this seminar even though I know quite a bit about the program already.  If you currently email reports to clients or think you may do so in the near future, I encourage all of you to sign up and participate in this presentation. The entry investment is FREE and the registration is very simple.

As to Sylvan Stenge's most recent question, the answer is....... "It is a non-issue once you upgrade to Acrobat 5.0 because 5.0 has only a Distiller driver and does not use a PDF Writer." Now that you can use 5.0 with 3D, I recommend that Acrobat users upgrade and change the needed settings."

Those that are still stuck on the differences between the two drivers should consider using the PDF writer when you don't really want to mess with the file sizes of the converted reports. If you want to reduce the file size of graphic-laden reports, then use the Distiller driver. Next, open up Distiller and change the resolution settings to either the medium, low or lowest.  I personally use the lowest setting and have had no complaints about my pictures. This will take a 3 meg PDF writer file and reduce it to 400k. Some quality is lost, but the clients sure are a lot happier with the download time.

Hope this information helps!

CPSC FINES HONEYWELL 

For Immediate Release CPSC Contact: Scott Wolfson October 31, 2001 (301) 504-0580 Ext. 1189 Release # 02-031 

Honeywell Consumer Products Agrees to Pay $800,000 for Delay in
Reporting Defective Humidifiers, Ceramic Heaters, and Baseboard Heaters

WASHINGTON, D.C. - The U. S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) announced today that Honeywell Consumer Products Inc. (HCP), of Southborough, Mass, has agreed to pay a civil penalty of $800,000. The penalty settles allegations that Duracraft Corp. failed to report to the CPSC in a timely manner incidents associated with its humidifiers, ceramic heaters, and baseboard heaters as required by the Consumer
Product Safety Act. Honeywell Inc. acquired Duracraft Corp. in May 1996, which later became HCP d/b/a Duracraft Corp.

The CPSC alleges that Duracraft began to receive in 1990 complaints about the ceramic heaters smoking or flaming. In December 1995, Duracraft began to receive reports from consumers who observed that the baseboard heaters were smoking or flaming. As of February 1996, Duracraft had notice of at least 33 incidents involving overheating in the ceramic heater, as well as 68 reports of humidifiers emitting smoke, sparks, or catching on fire. In November 1996, a 6-year-old child died during a fire, which CPSC attributes to a failed humidifier.

Duracraft's product tests on several failed ceramic heater units, conducted between May 1996 and June 1997, confirmed the units could fail. Duracraft's testing in February 1996 on the failed baseboard heaters revealed that low fan speeds were causing the failures.
Duracraft was aware of failures of the humidifier's safety device, beginning in 1993.

CPSC charges that prior to the acquisition, Duracraft Corp. failed to report these fire hazards to the CPSC. In addition, CPSC charges that after the acquisition, HCP also failed to report to the CPSC in a timely manner. In agreeing to settle this matter, HCP denies the CPSC's allegations and denies that it violated the Consumer Product Safety Act or any other laws administered by the CPSC.

In cooperation with CPSC, in 1997 and 1998 Duracraft recalled about 1 million humidifiers, 50,000 baseboard heaters, and over 1.6 million ceramic heaters. The humidifiers subject to the recall are model DH-901 through DH-904 units with date codes that fall within the range of 900101 to 941231 and all model DH-3001 through DH-3006 units. The model number and, if applicable, date code are located on a sticker on the bottom of each humidifier's base. The model CZ-520 Space Saver baseboard heaters' exterior housing is constructed of white thermoplastic and a black steel grill, and has two heating control knobs on the right side. The word "Duracraft" is written in gray on the top, right side of the unit. The model number, CZ-520, is located under the words "Made in China" on a silver sticker on the bottom of the heater. The ceramic heaters were sold under the Duracraft and DeLonghi brand names. Duracraft models CZ-303, CZ-304, CZ-308, CZ-318, CZ-319, and DeLonghi model CER-1 are subject to the recall. The model number is located on a silver sticker on the bottom of the heater. For more information about the three recalls, contact HCP at (800) 431-2165.

To link from your web site to this press release on CPSC's web site, go
to: http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/prhtml02/02031.html

AII™ ANNUAL MEETING

Because the trainings and socializing are so fresh in my mind, I would like to take some space to capsulate the experience in this week's MMM.

Thursday night was the AII Board Meeting.  It was just over 3 hours long and some of the items we covered were the new A.I.I. logo, dates for the next meetings, announcement of ballot results and other pertinent business. Minutes from this meeting should be posted in next week's MMM.

Friday had two pre-conference classes.  One was a 3D Level 200 class taught by myself.  I would like to take the time to thank Carl Fowler of 3D Systems for coming to our conference this year.  His input was invaluable, not only in the 3D class, but throughout the conference.  We had a few challenges in the class, but eventually overcame all and hopefully good information was shared and retained by all who signed up. The most memorable moment was when I realized that my self-extracting zip file wiped out the database portions of the participant's Office Management systems........ That moment brought tears to my eyes. 

The other class was Ron Cloyd's Pest and Dry Rot certification class.  As always, Ron did an excellent job sharing the information and training those who came to hear his wisdom in this field.  During the breaks you could hear all the discussion of subterranean termites, carpenter ants, and wood boring beetles.

On Saturday, the conference started with a great continental breakfast and chit chat among old and new friends.  Ron Cloyd, the Chairman of AII, started the conference off on the right foot with a brief message about A.I.I.  

Don Pearman's class on Stucco and Cement was next. Don is a wonderful presenter because his information comes from his real life experiences.  As a professional legal witness, Don has had to sit in the witness box and defend his inspection findings hundreds of times.  The underlying fact of most concrete and traditional stucco is that they all crack.

Just before lunch, I taught a marketing class.  I had more than an hour and a half's worth of information and hopefully was able to share some tips and ideas that spurred everyone to go home and jump on the marketing wagon in their area.  I could have spent an hour alone on the technology of today and how to use it to benefit your marketing and advertising.  I shared some of the member's websites and want to pass along those addresses today.  There are many inspector's who have gone to a lot of expense and/or time to put together these fine websites.  You should consider doing the same if you do not already have one up and running. The following are just a few examples:

www.oregonhomeinspector.com

www.washingtonhomeinspections.com

www.ThePacificTeam.com

www.pbhomeinspections.com

www.kenives.com

www.justicehomeinspections.com

www.masterinspector.net

www.inspectmyhouse.com

www.pre-spect.com

Check out these sites and see what you like and dislike.  Don't duplicate exactly, but get a feel for what you think looks good.  Remember, if you create the website yourself, be sure and check out your page on different browsers.  It may look good on your browser and lousy on others.  During the marketing class, we were graced by a visit from none other than "Billy Bob, the Half-Price Home Inspector...Half the house at half the price!"  What a riot!  This was worth the price of admission alone!  Thank you Scott DeWitz for once again helping me out.

Saturday afternoon you could choose between a great electrical seminar taught by Jerry Hanlon and a code book seminar taught by the founder of AII, Bill Ball.  Both were excellent sources of information.

Saturday night we held our banquet in a beautiful, two-story suite.  Dinner was delicious and the cowboy poet and singer who entertained us was very funny and quite talented at real western songs.

At this point, I would like to comment on the hotel and meeting facilities.  It was a beautiful hotel with excellent staff and excellent food.  Kudos to Betty Buckley for all of her hard work and planning.  We also would like to thank Misty Buckley who also spent many hours during the conference assisting Betty in making the conference go smoothly. Each participant was given a very classy name tag as well as an AII pen and folder.

Everyone seemed to enjoy the wide selection of food and the rooms were very nice for a great price.  Those who like to gamble could easily fill up any spare time they had.  We had quite a few inspectors walk away from the casino richer than when they entered.  The winners were successful in part due to a new service that I was offfering.  I became the money changer.  Every 15 minutes I made the rounds and skimmed off their winnings.  This left the gamblers with enough to continue playing, but they soon lost track of the chips piling up inside my pockets.  As each one would give me their "excess" money  a) they wouldn't realize how far up they were and get cocky and bet it all, and b) they wouldn't delve back into their winnings if things started to turn bad for them.  Was it helpful?....... Nathan Buckley was up $40.  Scott Merritt was up $117.  Carl Fowler raked in $297.

Sunday morning we again had a Sunday service offered by Greg Justice who is a pastor in his home town.  It was a wonderful opportunity to gather people of all faiths together and hear the word of God.  Greg preached the gospel from his heart and those in attendance were blessed by Greg's efforts.

Sunday's meeting started off with a continental breakfast and then John Rebenstorff and Robert Fischbach gave a presentation on solar heating.  With the power shortages in California these systems are becoming more popular.  We are lucky to have these two presenters within our ranks.

Sunday afternoon the conference ended with a very informative class on earthquake safety evaluations by Bill Ball.  The information shared was well compiled and this is a course that I would recommend to all Inspectors.  

It was sad to leave all my fellow inspectors.  I always gain so much each time we get together. Like Jim Corbin, our incoming President was heard to say, "I only wish we got together 4 times a year instead of only 2!"  My friendships within the association run deep and I treasure each moment spent together.

To those who were unable to come, I hope you will make it a priority to attend the Spring Conference.  The dates are the second weekend in April and it will also be held in Reno, Nevada.  To those who aren't sure it will be valuable to them, I assure you, you will not find a better group of people anywhere.