WindowFilm - 2006 - May/June

Volume 10, Issue 3 May/June 2006

DEAR READER
by Brigid O'Leary

Pet Peeves

Can I vent for just a second? I’ve got quite a number of pet peeves; I recognize this. People who don’t use their blinkers when driving; mispronunciation of certain words (“pasgetti,” for example, instead of spaghetti, or “Pacific” instead of specific) and the rapid-fire channel-changing during commercial breaks that some people (my husband) do while watching television (“Sweetie, use the ‘guide’ button. That’s what it’s there for.”) just to name a few.
Well, one of my pet peeves revolves around travel. As most of you know, I travel a lot for my job, both as editor of Window Film and news editor for some of Window Film’s sister publications. For the most part, this travel takes place on airplanes and it annoys me to no end when travelers put their coats in the overhead compartments. I see travelers of all sorts doing this, but it usually seems to be the business travelers who are most guilty of the offense.
Sometimes it’s the men with their blazers, sometimes it’s the trench coat, but the minute I see them starting to shimmy out of the sleeves, taking up the aisle way and slowing down the boarding process, I just want to yell “C’mon people, that’s prime real estate! If you don’t want to wear your coat, take it off and put it under the seat in front of you, hold it in your lap or, for goodness sake, ask the flight attendant if they can hang it somewhere.” And sometimes I’m not nearly as nice in my head as I am on paper, either.

Those thoughts recently ran through my head as I flew to Chicago in March for the Spring Meeting of the Protective Glazing Council (PGC), which, as usual, was a most informative and entertaining meeting. I hope everyone in the industry who handles architectural film will have the opportunity to attend an event such as this. In case you don’t, I’ve got a recap of the most recent one here on pages 18-21 and strive to bring you comprehensive reviews of the biannual event every chance I get.

The coat thing is not my number-one pet peeve. It just happens to be the most apropos for me to write about in my column. (Hey, I may be random, but at least I bring it all back to the topic at hand, right?)
On a less random note, Les Shaver’s contribution to this issue is a look at the state of the West Coast window film market. What he has to say may surprise you; of course, if you live on the West Coast, it may not. Moving back eastward, I’d like to introduce you to Jerry Burns, a local window film business owner and installer in Denver, who has built quite a successful little business in his area and shared with me how he did it
and what his concerns are for the industry.

In this issue I’d also like to introduce you to George Reyna and Kyle Moody who took second place in the 2006 International Tint-Off™ automotive and architectural competitions, respectively. They are the subjects of our “15 Minutes With” interviews on pages 8 and 9.

Ladies and gentlemen, it’s spring. Birds are blooming, trees are singing, and no, I don’t actually call my husband “Sweetie.” WF

Brigid O’Leary is the editor of Window Film magazine.