Generation Next

Generation Next | Ohio | March 2009

Construction Chronicles - Fleming Builders of Greenville, SC is Rockin' My Hizouse

Look to the sky and give thanks. I've found one. Fleming Builders of Greenville, SC (and the rest of the Upstate) is the answer to my prayers. Thus far, I've had the absolute best experience with this construction company, a company that wasn't afraid to come in and take over when another Greenville construction company failed horribly in trust, communication and professionalism.

The wife and I interviewed three additional contractors to come in and pick up the pieces. When I asked the first about subcontractors, he automatically assumed that I was speaking about race/culture/whatever and promptly stated that he doesn't hire many Mexicans. STRIKE.

I informed the second one that I would be blogging about my home improvement experience and that I had done so already. He was also very hesitant to come in when the dealings with the other construction company were still open. All I can assume is that he found my blog and read about my first experience, which might have frightened him a little. However, he called back two months later when the construction market was taking a major hit. UH, STRIKE.

Jimmy Fleming, president of Fleming Builders, followed up on the original meeting frequently. He wasn't badgering me, just a professional making sure we had all of our questions answered. He was upfront, honest, and seemingly trustworthy. I say seemingly trustworthy only because I was coming off an experience that left me lacking the trust of any contractor. He was gracious and understanding of our situation every single time we spoke.

Fleming Builders wasn't the cheapest quote we received, which Jimmy actually said would be the case during our first meeting. However, I'm long enough in the tooth to understand that value is far more important than price. Value during such a major project is an amalgam of trust, honesty, cost, time, and quality. We finally told him that we wanted Fleming Builders to build our expansion.

Both Jimmy and I thought the process would be faster. However, our old construction company decided to play a few games and delay the dreams of our family. Long story short, our family had to put Jimmy on hold for about two months or more while we wiped our hands of dirt. As soon as the new loan was approved, Fleming Construction began work. Seriously, the permits were ready the day we signed the loan. Within days the grading started. Within a week the foundation was poured. Within two weeks the entire bottom floor was framed. The only thing holding us up right now is a forecast of four days worth of rain.

Bottom line, Fleming Builders is kind, honest, gracious, and professional. They understand proper communication and thus far have provided quality craftsmanship.

...to be continued.

One last thing. For those who have be bugging me to post the final chapter of the RC Jones / JD Hale Construction Chronicles, it's written. Feel free to zip me an email if you would like an advanced copy.

Envious of Bath

Envious of Bath | March 2009

Snow in Greenville, SC

Snow in Greenville, SC | March 2009 | f3.5 @ 4 seconds

Actualities, Certainties, and Factoids

Okay, I give in. I've been tagged about a billion times to post 25 silly little tidbits of self-centered trivia so that others may indulge their voyeuristic ways. But hey, we're all voyeurs. So on with the show-n-tell.

1) I am a Christian and have strong faith in God. I voted for Obama. I am pro-choice, anti-abortion and pro sexual education. I believe in evolution. I believe creation came first. I believe Adam and Eve were real but that the story was written so that we could comprehend it. Because of of my Obama vote, a Christian brother once called me "less of a Christian". I am not that kind of Christian.

2) I've always been severely ADHD but wasn't properly diagnosed until age 32.

3) ADHD drugs changed my life horribly. ADHD drugs changed my life wonderfully. The horrible part is now in the past. The wonderful part continues.

4) I have two acoustic guitars, three awesome electric guitars, one bass guitar, four amps, a mandolin, and a full set of drums, but I'm a horrible musician.

5) I have a slight obsession with not being defeated.

6) That person who everyone calls when his or her computer malfunctions, I'm that guy.

7) I am a complete Mac snob. I can't understand why everyone hasn't figured out that a Mac is a far superior computer. You'll never go back, I promise.

8) My father died when I was 10-years-old. It profoundly affected me then as it does now. As I near the age of my father when he died, I've found myself truly appreciating some of those important things that we all frequently take for granted.

9) I will spend hours on end tweaking one photo until I believe it's as perfect as it can be.

10) I never finished a novel until I was 32-years-old (see #2)

11) I worked on a island one summer during college and at the Grand Canyon the following summer.

12) An incident while hiking/camping in the mountains during 8th-grade caused me to dig a hole and burry my underwear.

13) I was honored with two Emmy Awards, a National Headliner Award, and approximately 20 AP & RTNDAC Awards during my time as a TV news journalist.

14) I've come to the realization that I have issues, and so does everyone else.

15) I still have several great friends from high school with whom I continue to keep in contact, and did so before Facebook.

16) Buddy Baily and I once heated up a quarter to a red glow and tossed it in the hallway during change of class. Mr. Kornhaus found out, pulled both of us out of our following classes and went ballistic.

17) I think that the strengths of women are egregiously underestimated most of the time.

18) I've interviewed astronauts, murders, presidents, rapists, rock stars, famous athletes, and even Billy Graham. I've seen a man's brains put into a body bag with a shovel, a burned body hanging out of a bus and the aftermath of a day-trader's killing spree. I've searched for Eric Robert Rudolph in the mountains of North Carolina. I've covered the Susan Smith trial, the 1996 Olympics and the shootings of police officers. I've stood on an overflowing mound of pot in the bed of a truck . I've done live shots from three hurricanes, flown in a hot air balloon, and hung from the skids of a sheriff's helicopter while shooting video. Still, the best part about being in TV news was the ordinary, every-day person who trusted me enough to tell his or her ordinary, every-day story.

19) I'm taking three days vacation this coming April to go see the Grateful Dead in Boston. It will be my 11th and 12th times. The first 10 were with Jerry.

20) Being a daddy of two daughters has presented a big challenge to me when it comes to playtime. It's tough for a man who grew up destroying things to play with dolls, frilly stuff, and other things that are pink.

21) I have the most wonderful wife in the entire world. We may not always agree on things, but she is always there for me.

22) The most important thing that I've learned while working at Clemson University is that education in any form is all about taking something and making it meaningful to someone.

23) I'd rather look at html code and java script instead of internet porn.

24) I once watch several emergency room doctors and nurses work on a 14-year-old boy who was still wearing his football practice pants and cleats when he arrived unconscious. The boy's mother, father, younger sister, and football coach were all watching, too. Then I watched the doctors stop and pronounce the boy dead. I can still hear the screams of his mother.

25) I believe that being rich has nothing to do with money and everything to do with trust, family and personal integrity.