Working with Steve - reflections of building the first Apple Store

I was lucky enough to be chosen as the project manager for the first design build Apple store, the Valley Fair store and I had a hand in the first 17 stores to open. I never worked harder, I loved almost every minute and I learned more than I had on any other project. I worked with many amazing people including Ron Johnson (left) and Steve Jobs for two years.

1. Never say Never
2. Get it done on time no matter what
3. The Steve Jobs Vortex is a true phenomenon

Handy Hint

The most common error I see in houses is that the sliding door are installed inside out. This might seem like a trivial matter but two things happen when the doors are installed wrong:
1. A vandal can easily lift off the sliding door off it's track and enter your house.
2. The track fills with outside dirt and becomes difficult to slide.
How to tell if your sliding door is installed backwards? Easy
The door that slides should slide in the inside of your home. If it slides on the exterior side, it's backwards.

Trekking out to jobsites

Lately I have been giving estimates of foreclosures, short sales and other distressed properties.

Buyers want me to give them an accurate measure of what it's going to cost to upgrade the house to code or just to livable conditions and help them decide if it's worth buying.
Some of the best and most distressed properties are "off the grid", difficult to find, and off the paved roads.

This weekend I tried to find a property and meet with buyers in the forest above Morgan Hill. The last few miles of unpaved roads left me confused as to whether or not I was even on the right path. When I finally saw another driver, I flagged her down and asked how to get to the next road. I knew I was in trouble when the landmarks she gave were "you go up the road here a bit, then you'll see some abandoned cars on the side, keep going, then you'll see four barking dogs and about a quarter mile after that you turn left." Oh great, I thought, I'm in an area where barking dogs are a landmark.

I drove past the abandoned cars, and came upon an eight foot tall fence with barbed wire at the top, a second layer of chain link added and an electric wire running through it. Then the four dogs charged the fence barking. Two of the dogs were wolves, one was a german shepard and the other a rottweiler. Distinct landmark indeed.

My six pound terrier ferociously barked back from the safety of the truck, as if...

I got within two miles of the house only to find a road repair on a closed road. I did meet up with the buyers a couple days later by going the long way around in another direction. It's actually a really cool property and I hope with my help they decide to buy it and fix it up to live in it. But keep the kids away from the fence with the four barking "dogs".