http://www.windowtintingconsulting.com/pblog/index.php ]]> Copyright 2012, Jeff Thompson Jeff Thompson en-US SPHPBLOG 0.5.1 http://www.windowtintingconsulting.com/pblog/index.php?entry=entry120506-212939
Last Monday I did something I have not done in over three years. I was able to wear my smaller sized pants.

One of my goals this year was to get back down to my weight when Tracy and I were first married. I had been so focused on growing our businesses the past few years that my weight slowly crept up. Like the majority of society, when something did not fit I bought a larger size. I wanted to stay focused on business growth.

Well in February I decided it was time to make a few changes in my life, weight being the priority. It was not a health reason. My annual meetings with our family doctor ends up the same way, I am healthy but he wanted me to lose weight. I knew in the back of my mind he was right, but I blew him off every time.

I really enjoy cooking and eating. For me it is like a celebration. It is about the preparation, the smells, and the anticipation of the meal. It is also about the taste, texture and the presentation of the meal. My big problem was really mid day. My normal routine never has me in the same place every day. I am traveling almost every day so most times I ate fast food. Trust me, I have never been a fan of fast food, but it was the convenience factor.

So how am I to lose weight without making myself starve and still enjoy the entertainment of preparing and eating food?

Obviously fast food is no longer the equation of my daily habit, so I had to come up with a plan to eat while traveling. I investigated the nutrition a person needs every day and found that it is nearly impossible to get it all from food. I found a multi vitamin and a few other supplements that would help keep me healthy naturally. While doing this I also found a supplement to help with my aching knees and hands.

My eating habits changed from three meals a day to eating five times a day. I replaced my fast food lunch with a nutrition shake. Actually I am drinking a double serving of the shake because I am so active throughout the day.

The first two weeks were a challenge switching over. Now it is my normal routine. I have never felt hungry. I have had food cravings. When I decided it was time, I ate my popcorn (favorite snack!) and ice cream (2nd favorite snack).

The past month I have been asked if I was losing weight by many people. I knew I was because of the scale, but did not see a change in my appearance. Over the weekend I finished clearing the last acre of our property wearing some old jeans. They felt loose all day, enough to bug me being as baggy as they were. When I came home Sunday night I was able to remove the jeans without unbuttoning them. Curiosity got to me that Monday morning and I grabbed a pair of jeans I had not worn for years. I put them on and they fit! Today I put on a brand new pair of the smaller size and they fit perfectly.

So Monday I reached the halfway point of my goal. I was able to wear clothes that have been hanging in my closet for three years because they were too small. Next goal is to wear jeans that have been hidden in my closet for over 20 years.




At JAT Consulting Services, we evaluate, educate and motivate



]]> General http://www.windowtintingconsulting.com/pblog/index.php?entry=entry120506-212939 Jeff Thompson Mon, 07 May 2012 01:29:39 GMT http://www.windowtintingconsulting.com/pblog/comments.php?y=12&m=05&entry=entry120506-212939 http://www.windowtintingconsulting.com/pblog/index.php?entry=entry120429-123817
Last weekend I was a bum and decided to watch some TV. I went through the hundreds of channels hoping to watch something entertaining. I finally went to the Food Channel and found a program called Restaurant Impossible. So I decided to watch it, hoping it would be interesting.

This is an interesting concept of reality TV. It is about this chef who tries to help failing restaurants around the country. With a small budget, he transforms these restaurants into hopefully thriving establishments in 48 hours. It is pretty amazing what he runs up against and the transformation he creates.

I saw three shows that night. Two of the restaurants were absolute dumps. Dirty, peeling wallpaper, kitchens a horrible mess, lousy staff, and produced absolutely lousy food. One episode, he told the customers that food was not being served today because of the condition of the kitchen. One was a nice establishment, but it was failing horribly.

When he is talking to the restaurant owners and managers, he asked the same questions. What are your food costs? What does it cost to operate in a day? What does it cost to run your establishment for the month? Every response was the same, a blank stare and shrugs of the shoulders. In my opinion, that is why businesses are failing, not really knowing what it costs to run a business.

90% of our business is by web or actual customer referral. During our initial meeting, I tend to ask the same questions. What are your daily operating costs? What dollar value is needed every day to stay afloat for a month? Do you have a written budget? 99% of the time I get a blank stare and silence.

I then respond by saying, “You are operating a business and at the end of the year you are trying to figure out where the money went.” Immediate response is “EXACTLY”

I was asked the other day to explain what we do. What you just read is our primary function. Every company we have worked with has a great reputation, and by appearance a thriving business. But at the end of the year they have no money. We help companies figure out what it takes to be profitable. We help them identify problems within their company and correct them. And at the end of the year, there is money in the bank.


The problem, most business owners have no idea they are failing.



At JAT Consulting Services, we evaluate, educate and motivate


]]> General http://www.windowtintingconsulting.com/pblog/index.php?entry=entry120429-123817 Jeff Thompson Sun, 29 Apr 2012 16:38:17 GMT http://www.windowtintingconsulting.com/pblog/comments.php?y=12&m=04&entry=entry120429-123817 http://www.windowtintingconsulting.com/pblog/index.php?entry=entry120405-224959 As many of you know I have been involved in the window film industry for over 25 years. I have created and sold two very successful installation companies. Throughout those years I have promoted window film to be a great tool to reduce energy demand in homes and commercial establishments.

Recently the International Window Film Association announced a study that proves that window film can reduce energy costs. This report was generated by a California consulting company and has been reviewed by the California Energy Commission and all of the major utilities in California. They used a method called TDV (time dependent valuation) which puts a greater value on energy saved during peak demand periods than energy used at different times. What is really neat about this report is that it involves four climate zones.

What I really hope happens with this report is the public’s understanding that you do not have to replace your windows to reduce energy demand. I read somewhere that of all the windows replaced in homes every year, about 30% of the windows really needed replacing. The majority of the window frames in homes work perfectly well, the glass is the issue. That is where window film comes in.

Window film is not just for making your windows darker in cars. It is also an aftermarket product designed to allow glass to perform better in homes and commercial buildings. All window films block at least 95% of the UV, major cause of fading. Window films are available from the very light to extremely dark, non reflective to the silver reflective. Also there are window films designed to hold the glass together in the event of glass breakage.




At JAT Consulting Services, we evaluate, educate and motivate



]]> General http://www.windowtintingconsulting.com/pblog/index.php?entry=entry120405-224959 Jeff Thompson Fri, 06 Apr 2012 02:49:59 GMT http://www.windowtintingconsulting.com/pblog/comments.php?y=12&m=04&entry=entry120405-224959 http://www.windowtintingconsulting.com/pblog/index.php?entry=entry120319-083850

Do you ever wonder why there are successful people and others are not? I know the answer.

Everyone dreams or fantasizes about wealth, being successful, or famous. It is what we do after those thoughts that make the difference.

Success is achieved through the backbone, not the wishbone

How many times have you come up with an idea or a dream and say to yourself, “I wish that would happen”? The majority of society wishes and never goes past the wishing part of being successful. The majority of society just laughs it off and keeps wishing

A successful person has the same dreams as you. They want better things in life, to travel more, better car, better house, etc. The difference is the successful person acts on that dream. They establish goals. They work on procedures to reach these goals. They initiate the plan to reach that goal. As they are working on achieving that goal, they adjust their methods to stay focused on that direction. Once they reach their goal, they work on improving what they achieved. It is a never ending process on staying focused.

They achieved it through their back bone, not their wishbone. Quit wishing and start acting. There is so much opportunity out there for the taking. It takes effort in your part because that opportunity is not going to just walk up to you and sit in your lap.




At JAT Consulting Services, we evaluate, educate and motivate.





]]> General http://www.windowtintingconsulting.com/pblog/index.php?entry=entry120319-083850 Jeff Thompson Mon, 19 Mar 2012 12:38:50 GMT http://www.windowtintingconsulting.com/pblog/comments.php?y=12&m=03&entry=entry120319-083850 http://www.windowtintingconsulting.com/pblog/index.php?entry=entry120306-213228
A few years ago Tracy worked for a high-tech company working as the second fiddle. At the same time I sold my last company and was taking time off to work on the property. A few times a week I would stop by her office to take her to lunch. If I stopped by in the evening, we would do dinner and a movie.

When I arrived in the afternoons I usually saw a little girl in her office. One of the employees was a single dad and Madeline was in kindergarten. It was really cute having her in the office. She had a little bit of homework each day which took her a few minutes to do. She had her own little desk that the crew put together at the office. After her homework and a snack, she would head of to Tracy’s office. You see, Madeline decided that she now had a job. Her job was to be Tracy’s assistant. When I would see her in Tracy’s office she would be typing away at a typewriter or calculator. She had her little notebook and she took her job seriously. If Tracy was not in the office, Madeline would ask if I would like to leave a message. I would give her one as she scribbled in her notebook. The entire staff had a blast with Madeline.

Tracy left that company and she saw Madeline every once in a while in town.

A little over a year ago we got word Madeline had cancer. She had gone through chemotherapy and beat that nasty thing. Everyone thought she was in the clear. But it came back with a vengeance and devastated her little body. It seemed like the entire town attended her funeral.

For us the hardest part about the ordeal was feeling helpless. All we could do was offer moral support. We made dinners for the dad and his family when she was reaching the end. One of the things I kept remembering was stories about Madeline being so embarrassed without hair. That is when I heard about Locks for Love. You can donate your hair and they make wigs for children going though these treatments.

So after the funeral I decided not to cut my hair. At first it was no big deal. But by November my hair started to have a mind of it’s own. You see, I have curly hair. If I did not dump a gallon of goop on my hair, it would be all over the place. By January my hair was on my shoulders and the looks I would get when I made cold calls. People would look at me strange while I talked about how I could help their business. It started to get comical with these looks so I would mention to them what I was doing. After that people understood why my hair looked the way it did.

February was a real tough one. The winds were blowing every day and the month was a very wet one. High humidity and winds are not friends with curly hair. My curls curled so much I felt like a gigantic Shirley Temple. The back of my head was nothing but corkscrew curls.

So last weekend we made a trip to the local hair salon. We told them what we were doing and in the chair I went. The stylist combed out my corkscrew curls. My hair was now over each shoulder before they put it into a ponytail. To be honest, I was surprised the hair was that long. Next was the scissors and it took three snips. Off went the tail and it was placed on the counter. I kept chuckling while looking at it. It looked like a grey/ silver squirrel’s tail.

All done and off the tail went to the post office. It is a very odd feeling not having my hair now.

It was very frustrating dealing with my hair. It was a ton of work, more than I expected. It never looked right and it was constantly in my face. I feel it did hinder generating new business but who cares. I just kept reminding myself why I was doing this. It was not about me, it was about helping a child deal with the effects of this horrible illness. I did it, I reached the goal. I hope this small effort in my part brings a smile and happiness to a child. It was the least I could do.



At JAT Consulting Services, we evaluate, educate and motivate



]]> General http://www.windowtintingconsulting.com/pblog/index.php?entry=entry120306-213228 Jeff Thompson Wed, 07 Mar 2012 02:32:28 GMT http://www.windowtintingconsulting.com/pblog/comments.php?y=12&m=03&entry=entry120306-213228 http://www.windowtintingconsulting.com/pblog/index.php?entry=entry120220-104247

Last week I had to use this saying. It was not fun and it was embarrassing to say it.

When I do training sessions, the first thing we discuss is safety. It is extremely important in this industry because we are constantly using some type of razor blade. In many occasions, we are up on tall ladders, scaffolding, and man-lifts.

For flat glass applications I talk about the different types of ladders and their ratings. I also discuss importance of how to stand on ladders, especially the importance of not being on the top of the ladder. Next is the scaffolding and man-lifts. I talk about how important it is to secure the system, and secure yourself in high situations. This is not the section “do as I say, not as I do”.

The next item is the importance of safety using razor blades. In the window film industry, we use many types of blades from six inches wide to pen sized knives. Everything we use is extremely sharp. My conversation usually starts by saying the blade will cut off an appendage. I usually get their attention by saying this.

Using four and six inch wide blades to scrape glass can be very unsafe if not used properly. We use these blades to clean glass. We want to have the glass as smooth as possible before applying the solar control, decorative film, or safety film to the glass. Many times we have to remove existing window film, and other debris so extreme caution is very important. I am constantly reminding people to place the cover over the scraper blades to protect themselves from being cut. No this is not the section, “Do as I say not as I do”.

Next sharp object is the knives we use. These knives are very sharp. They are the size of a pen that you break off the tips to create a constant sharpness of the blade. These knives are sharp enough to score glass and bullet resistant glass if not used properly.

Well, during my sessions I explain the importance of safety while using these knives. While using the knife it is important to slide the blade back in the holder when not in use. I constantly tell people, “If you drop a knife or scraper blade, never ever try and catch it”. Now it is time to insert “do as I say, not as I do”.

I was preparing for a demonstration with a decorative film to install on some sample pieces of glass. The knife I was using was my favorite knife. When you slide the blade out of the handle, it will lock into position. It is great when installing thicker products.

I was cutting the film at eye level. While I was trimming the film, the knife slipped out of my hand. My instant reaction was to retrieve the knife before it fell to the ground. I have pretty good reflexes and by the time the knife reached chest level I caught the knife. About that time I told myself don’t grab it. It was too late. I felt a very sharp pain in my hand and immediately let loose of the knife. Unfortunately the knife did not let go of me until I shook the knife out of my hand.

The knife was locked with the blade sticking out about ½”. When it hit my chest, the force of the knife made a very nice clean deep cut in my thumb muscle. I was very lucky the knife was not facing the opposite direction. It would have easily entered my chest.

You know the saying, “The bigger they are, the harder they fall”? Well that saying is very true when you talk about blood and needles. I lower my head to say I am one who gets very weak knees and I will do anything to keep from being stuck with a needle. It took me about 20 minutes to get the wound cleaned and covered. When Tracy saw it, she just had to see what I had done. When I opened my bandage, it immediately opened back up. She demanded I head directly to the immediate care and have it stitched up.

Now picture a big guy like me arguing with little Tracy about why I do not want stitches. I lost the argument and since Tracy had a teleconference, I had to go to that place ALONE. The people there were very nice and accommodating. The experience of the needles was a tough one for me. I don’t pass out anymore, I just get lightheaded and hyperventilate. The worst part was the Novocain did not work so well. As most of you know, it burns when they inject you with this stuff. I told the doctor that he would need to hurry because that numbing sauce just does not last long in my body. At no time did it numb enough to just feel a tug. I felt everything. I felt the pain of each hook going in and I felt the twinge each time he tied the stitch. Actually the stitching was worse than the stabbing. When it was finally over, I counted five stitches. They wrapped up the wound nicely, gave me instructions and I was off my merry way.

Today the hand feels pretty good until I move my thumb. The entire muscle is bruised so every time I use it, I am reminded to listen to my own instructions.

So do as I say and not as I do. If you drop a sharp object, let it go. Do not try and catch it. It is much less expensive to replace the blade instead of being stitched up.



At JAT Consulting Services, we evaluate, educate and motivate.





]]> General http://www.windowtintingconsulting.com/pblog/index.php?entry=entry120220-104247 Jeff Thompson Mon, 20 Feb 2012 15:42:47 GMT http://www.windowtintingconsulting.com/pblog/comments.php?y=12&m=02&entry=entry120220-104247