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furnacerepairexperts · 2 years

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Exactly how to Spot a Heater Repair Work

If you presume a gas leak, you require to get a heater repair service. Also if the trouble does not appear significant, a gas leak might be hazardous. The very first thing you must do is leave your house as soon as you scent gas. An emergency situation solution can also pertain to your rescue. If the issue does not improve on its own, you might need to replace parts. This cost depends upon your heater's brand name and also model, the trouble of reaching the trouble location, and also the technician's hourly rate. Check the pilot burner. In some heaters, a slim cord poked into the orifice can eliminate particles.

After that, you need to turn off the gas and power. If you see an eco-friendly or traffic signal, inspect the control panel and also see if there's a problem. You could require to readjust the fire if it is also low. Otherwise, you ought to call an expert. Regardless, it's best to leave the fixing to a specialist. In many cases, the expense of a heating system repair work depends on the sort of system and also its substitute components. A brand-new heating system might set you back greater than the repair service of an older one. Visit this website now for more information about heating and cooling barrie.

Nonetheless, it deserves comparing repair expenses with the expense of a new heating system before you make the final decision. If the repair service costs greater than you agree to pay for a brand-new system, you need to think about a repair rather. In this manner, you won't end up with a costly repair work expense and also a damaged furnace. Another easy way to discover a prospective problem is to examine the thermostat. Some furnaces use a "longer" range to change the temperature. If your thermostat is readied to a greater setup than regular, you're likely facing a trouble with the thermostat.

You might require to readjust the thermostat to a reduced setting or alter the setting completely. If the trouble persists, you may need to call an expert electrician. You can likewise check the fuse or breaker in the house breaker panel to determine if it's a negative component. Last but not least, look for abrupt temperature level changes. Even if you have a working home thermostat, unexpected temperature level changes can signify a more significant problem. Leaking ducts can launch cozy air generated by the furnace.

A faulty ignition system can also cause the furnace to malfunction. In either instance, you'll require to call a heater fixing specialist to examine it out. A service technician will offer you with a free quote and also let you understand the expenses. The repair work might set you back anywhere from $50 to $150 a hr, relying on the size of the repair service and also the time and products used. Cleaning the blower follower can likewise be a simple repair to avoid future troubles. Check out this link for more information about heating contractors barrie.

Another common signal that your heating system is in need of a repair is that it is releasing a squealing noise. This can be caused by thermal growth. If the sound lingers, it's feasible that the belt connecting the follower to the motor has actually slid. A brand-new belt can make a large difference in your convenience. If you believe a heater is emitting a squealing sound, it may be time to change the heating system. Find out more details in relation to this topic here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HVAC_control_system.

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prorevenge · 6 years

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Two malicious compliances equals one pro revenge.

TL;DR at the end.

Several years ago, Barry, my boss, did a job for BigDaddy Construction, and got screwed. It wasn’t a huge amount of money, a couple of thousand dollars, but screwed is screwed. Basically, he accepted BigDaddy’s word on something that they denied later. Barry consulted his lawyer, and was told that since the issue was not in writing, that any legal action was likely to fail, and even if he won, that the legal costs would exceed any settlement. And BigDaddy basically said, “My lawyer can beat up your lawyer.”

Barry then asked what every lawyer likes to hear, “What should I have done differently?”

Fast forward to 2017. BigDaddy is soliciting bids for a new restaurant called FancyAss. Barry submits a bid for supplying and installing door hardware, things like doorknobs, emergency exit bars, door closers that pull the doors shut…and 3 Automatic Door Operators (ADO’s). An ADO is something you have seen before, it has a metal plate with a wheelchair logo mounted on the wall, when you press it, a motor opens the door. It’s designed to allow people with limited mobility to pass through a doorway.

Barry wins the bid, and calls a meeting. He is handling this job personally. All communication with BigDaddy is to go through Barry, and ONLY Barry. If someone from BigDaddy calls and says, “Nice weather, isn’t it?” we are to reply, “I wouldn’t know anything about that, let me transfer you to Barry’s line.” Under no circumstances is anyone from BigDaddy to be given Barry’s cell number. And the after-hours on-call techs are only to return the call and say that Barry will be in touch in the morning. Violation of any of this will be grounds for immediate dismissal for cause, is this perfectly clear?

A few weeks go by, and we get a call from “GC”, who not only is running the job for BigDaddy, but is BigDaddy’s son. He’s an entitled shitball of a tyrant, with anger issues and a vocabulary that relies heavily on profanity. I’m calling him “GC” because that’s his job title, General Contractor.

For those who don’t know, a GC is responsible for ensuring that everything gets done on a construction site in the correct order. For example, if you are building a bathroom, first you put up the wall studs, then the electrical is run and the plumbing supply lines are roughed in. next the drywall goes up, then the tile, and the baseboards. The walls, ceiling, and trim get painted, then the cabinets, light fixtures and switches are installed. Lastly the plumbing fixtures go in. So you can see, a GC has to deal with several different subcontractors and co-ordinate their efforts. It’s a stressful job, and you need the co-operation of the various people….and it’s hard to get people to work with you if you’re screaming swear words at them, something GC never figured out.

This might be a good time to give you a visual of the restaurant layout. This is by no means to scale, just a sketch to give you an idea of what’s going on.

There are 3 ADO’s to be installed, 2 on the entrance and one on the handicapped washroom. The conventional washrooms are down a set of stairs on the right, and by law, there has to be a washroom available for people using wheelchairs, marked as HC on the drawing. This is on a bit of a corridor of sorts used by the servers to bring food in and dishes out. The partitions separating the corridor are about shoulder-high, separating the corridor from the seating area, which is what the circles with 4 chairs represent. These are tables, booths, etc., with a smattering of service stands for order entry, and bits and pieces like extra cutlery.

The décor was fancy, and meant to resemble a Victorian Gentlemen’s Club, with oak throughout, and thick carpets on the floors. Worthy of mention is the feature wall at the front, with alcoves for displaying sculptures, and places to hang paintings.

So GC calls us, and they are ready for the ADO’s.

We arrive, and install. By the terms of the bid, it’s BigDaddy’s responsibility to supply dedicated 120v electricity for the ADOs and to run the 12v wires from the activation plates to the top of the doorway so they can be connected to the circuit board for the ADO. This wasn’t present at the time of the install, so he ran an extension cord to power the ADO, and used a wireless transmitter and receiver to trigger it. All of this was specified in the bid, which said that we could install, and then return to hook up the wires once they get run. Barry came and supervised the tech installing the ADOs personally. When GC signed off, buried in the description was a line or two referencing the relevant sections of the bid.

When GC signed off on the handicap washroom install there was a line noting that BigDaddy assumes all responsibility for compliance with the relevant building code section.

GC didn’t bother to read what he was signing, just scribbled a signature and took his copy. Barry made certain the tech was right beside him when GC signed off.

Malicious Compliance #1

It’s about 2 weeks before opening, and they are in the finishing stages. Barry gets a frantic call from GC that none of the ADO’s are working, and they need these to be functional, or they won’t get their occupancy permit. Barry heads down the next day with the tech.

Barry: “Well, I found the problem.” GC: “So fix the fucking problem” Barry: “There’s no 120v run to the doors, and there’s no 12v wires to hook up the buttons.” GC: “You didn’t run the power? Why didn’t you run the power?” Barry: “It’s not in the scope of work in the bid. You’re supposed to do it.” GC: “Why didn’t you tell me that when you were here the first time.” Barry: “I did, and you signed off on it.” GC: “Where’s the fucking electrician? Electrician, get your ass over here.” Electrician: “What’s up?” GC: “Why isn’t there any power for these door operators?” Electrician: “It’s not part of my scope of work.” Barry: “There’s some good news…” GC: “What?” Barry: “If we use wireless for the buttons, we won’t need 12v wires. I’ll have to bill you for it as an add-on, but once you get me 120v, these ADO’s will be working.”

NOW GC realizes how fucked he is. The interior of the restaurant is 90% complete, and there is no power to a critical part of the building. Without it, no permit. BigDaddy has fucked up big time, assuming that either Barry or the Electrician would run the wires, and not putting it into the scope of either bid. The electrical panel is in the back of the kitchen, and there’s no way to bring 120v to the front entrance, except across the ceiling, which would be nearly impossible. All of the lighting and the ornate false ceiling was already in. Even if he was able to magically do that, he would either have to run a metal conduit down the surface of the feature wall, or rip out a good chunk of it, run the wires, and reinstall it. The handicap washroom ADO wasn’t as much of a problem, since it was closer and the wires could be run through the false ceiling. The section that contained the handicap washroom also had offices and storage with a t-bar ceiling, unlike the main room, that had 20 foot ceilings. The electrician charged GC big dollars for the extra work.

Malicious Compliance #2

Remember the handicap washroom? When the building inspector came to do a pre-check, they discovered that the square footage of the washroom, minus the area taken up by the in-swinging door, was less than the required minimum. They needed a quick fix, as dismantling the washroom, moving a wall, and relocating the plumbing fixtures would be too expensive, and would take too long. So GC decided to reverse the swing of the door, and have it swing into the corridor, rather than into the washroom. This had a really bad effect on the operation of FancyAss once it opened, as any time someone wanted to use the washroom, the door blocked the flow of servers in and out of the kitchen. And people are lazy…even able bodied people were prone to using this washroom as it was closest. I don’t know what the conversations between FancyAss and BigDaddy were like, but I imagine they were pretty intense….but who gives a fuck. GC signed off on that, too.

And Barry got to invoice for a whole new ADO, as the original was a “pull” style, and reversing the swing meant that a “push” style was required.

Pro Revenge

GC called a few days after discovering that the entrance doors needed 120v, to tell Barry that the 120v was available. Barry heads down with the tech to check it out.

In the vestibule was a heater known as an “air curtain”. It’s a big heater, designed to push a high volume of warmed air into the vestibule, to mitigate cold outside air entering the restaurant. It pulls a significant amount of electricity every time it kicks on, and GC had tied the 120v for the entrance door ADO’s into the same circuit.

Barry explains that the bid specified that the ADO’s require their own dedicated circuits, one for each. GC responds that he doesn’t give a shit, hook the goddamn things up, so Barry does, and has GC sign off again. Only this time buried in the sign off sheet is an acknowledgement that by not providing dedicated circuits, all warranties are void, and subsequent service would be billable. Just like usual, GC scribbles his signature and takes his copy without reading it.

These ADO’s are finicky about power. There’s a motor (obviously) controlled by a circuit board that determines how fast the door opens, how long it stays open, how fast it closes, how much force is used, that sort of thing. If it takes a spike in power it fails, and the ADO no longer functions.

A power spike blows a fuse and damages one of the components of the control board. This is replaceable, and the part is worth about 30 bucks. The control board can be fixed in about half an hour, with another half hour on a scope to make certain everything is good. Barry had sent one of the techs to the manufacturer to be certified in rebuilding the board, even though our standard was to just ship them back to the manufacturer and get a replacement.

Sure enough, a couple of days later GC calls in a panic. They have the final occupancy inspection scheduled for the next day, and one of the ADO’s at the entrance is down.

GC: “Your fucking ADO isn’t working. Get down here and fix it.” Barry: “Okay, but this isn’t covered under warranty. It’s billable.” GC: “What the fuck are you talking about? It’s not even been a week and it’s broken. It’s warranty.” Barry: “No, warranties were all voided when you didn’t provide clean power.” GC: “Fuck that. Get down here and put in a new ADO.” Barry: “It doesn’t need a new ADO. It needs a new control board. And I can get a new control board from the manufacturer in 4 to 6 weeks.”

GC loses his mind. There’s no way he can delay the opening of FancyAss for 6 weeks waiting for a part. He calls Barry every name in the book, threatens legal action, etc.

Barry responds, “Look GC, I have a control board on the shelf that was rebuilt by a factory certified technician. I can let you have it at 80% of the list price of a new one, and I can have it installed by noon tomorrow. Do you want the rebuilt, or the new part, and do you agree that this is billable as per the terms of the bid?”

GC: “Yes! Just get the fucking thing fixed by tomorrow!”

Now Barry knows that GC and BigDaddy were going to fuck him just like they did years ago. That ended up being a “I never said that” dispute. What GC didn’t know was every time he called Barry, the call was recorded. You know the “This call may recorded for quality assurance purposes” that you get when you dial in? Well Barry never used his cell phone, never initiated a call, and every time GC called in it was recorded and archived. Every. Single. Time.

Sure enough, another couple of days go by, and an ADO goes down again. Barry asks if GC is good with the rebuild, gets confirmation, removes the blown part, installs the rebuild, then takes the blown control board back to the shop and rebuilds it.

A new control board is $750.00. The rebuild he’s charging $600.00, for a part that maybe costs $75 to get back into shape. The bid specified that non-warranty service was $125/hr minimum 4 hours, so tack on another $500.00 for labour, and it takes maybe 45 minutes to install a new control board and dial it in. So every control board replacement was generating $1,100.00.

There were 27 blown control board swaps in the first 2 months. GC called in every one of them, and Barry got his verbal approval. If someone from FancyAss called in, we gave them GC’s number, and said that we could only come and fix it if GC was the one to call it in.

Then Barry gets a call from Daddy of BigDaddy wanting to know what this invoice for almost 30 grand is for. Barry explains, and a meeting is called, Barry brings his lawyer, and all copies of the sign-off sheets, as well as transcripts of every conversation he had with GC. It becomes very apparent that GC fucked up large, and that Barry had every “I” dotted and every “T” crossed.

BigDaddy is glaring daggers at GC, and basically tells Barry that if he wants to get paid, he’s going to have to sue for the money.

Barry smiles, and slides his ace across the table. It’s a Contractor’s Lien against BigDaddy, FancyAss Restaurant, and Massive Realty Company, the owners of the building.

Here’s the thing. FancyAss was owned by Internationally Famous Chef (IFC), who makes his living getting Very Important People to invest in opening a new restaurant. This is a place where they go to be Very Important, and bring their business contacts with them. After a short time, when the restaurant is the happening place in town, the investors sell the place, and cash out large. IFC sticks around, helps with the transition, and makes a percentage of the restaurant’s profits for the use of his name. He’s built an income stream with the investor’s money, and the investors make a nice return.

Only now they can’t sell, with a lien on the place. And these investors have rabid fucking pitbulls as lawyers. Hell, some of them ARE lawyers.

See you in court, BigDaddy. Only you’re not facing Barry’s lawyer, you’re facing a whole new level of legal expertise. Have fun with that.

Barry got his revenge, and then withdrew service based on the disputed invoice. He’s the only company allowed to service and install this brand of ADO as he has a protected territory from the manufacturer, and does seven figures worth of business with them a year. The only other companies anywhere nearby were warned off by the manufacturer, who even relayed the fact that BigDaddy had called them directly looking for service, and they referred BigDaddy to Barry.

Barry will definitely get paid, as it’s a standard to hold back 10% of the payment to a construction company for a year, and the holdback will definitely cover the invoice. So FancyAss will pay Barry and then take it out of BigDaddy’s holdback. Either that, or they will sue BigDaddy into dust, and force BigDaddy to cough up and settle the lien.

Who knows what company BigDaddy picked up to cover the ADO’s. Barry has friends in the industry and warned them all off, but there are asshole competitors, and Barry didn’t say a thing to them. Maybe BigDaddy is screwing over one of the competition, and what hurts his competition, helps Barry.

What makes this deliciously Pro? You think maybe, just maybe, Barry, who has decades of experience in the industry, might have had an Electrician friend that could show him the Electrical bid? And that maybe Barry knew from the beginning that there was no provision for 120v in either package? Or that the washroom was too small? Or that GC, a corner cutter, would take the easy way out and hook the ADO’s into the air curtain?

Way to go, Barry. Nicely played.

TL;DR A subcontractor complies with a bid, to the letter, and covers his ass in all correspondence, General Contractor ends up paying big dollars for their error, allowing subcontractor to recover money he was screwed out of years ago.

(source) (story by balles_de_acier)

#prorevenge #by balles_de_acier #pro revenge #pro revenge stories #pro #revenge #revenge stories #revenge story #last10

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bloojayoolie · 5 years

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Bloods, Church, and Clock: LIG 70% 12:10 ADD MEMORY OPH ADD PHOTO SHARE THIS TRIBUTE JOSEPH A HELLER, JR 1937 - 2019 Obituary Obituary of Joseph A. Heller, Jr. Joe Heller made his last undignified and largely irreverent gesture on September 8, 2019, signing off on a life, in his words, "generally well lived and with few regrets." When the doctors confronted his daughters with the news last week that "your father is a very sick man," in unison they replied, "you have no idea." God thankfully broke the mold after Joe was born to the late Joseph Heller, Sr. and Ruth Marion (Clock) on January 24, 1937 in New Haven, CT. Being born during the depression shaped Joe's formative years and resulted in a lifetime of frugality, hoarding and cheap mischief, often at the expense of others. Being the eldest was a dubious task but he was up for the challenge and led and tortured his siblings througha childhood of obnoxious pranks, with his brother, Bob, generally serving as his wingman. Pat, Dick and Kathy were often on the receiving end of such lessons as "Ding Dong, Dogsh*t" and thwarting lunch thieves with laxative-laced chocolate cake and excrement meatloaf sandwiches. His mother was not immune to his pranks as he named his first dog, "Fart," so she would have to scream his name to come home if he wandered off. Joe started his long and illustrious career as a Library Assistant at Yale Law School Library alongside his father before hatching a plan with his lifelong buddies, Ronny Kaiser and Johnny Olson, to join the Navy and see the world together. Their plot was thwarted and the three were split up when Joe pulled the "long straw" and was assigned to a coveted base in Bermuda where he joined the "Seabees," Construction Battalion, and was appointed to the position of Construction Electrician's Mate 3rd class. His service to the country and community didn't end after his honorable discharge. Joe was a Town Constable, Volunteer Fireman and Ambulance Association member, Cross walk guard, Public Works Snow Plower and a proud member of the Antique Veterans organization. Joe was a self- taught chemist and worked at Cheeseborough- Ponds where he developed one of their first cosmetics' lines. There he met the love of his life, Irene, who was hoodwinked into thinking he was charming individual with decorum. Boy, was a she ever wrong. Joe embarrassed her daily with his mouth and choice of clothing. To this day we do not understand how he convinced our mother, an exceedingly proper woman and a pillar in her church, to sew and create the colorful costumes and props which he used for his antics. Growing up in Joe's household was never dull. If the old adage of "You only pull the hair of those you love" holds true, his three daughters were well loved. Joe was a frequent customer of the girls' beauty shops, allowing them to "do" his hair and apply make-up liberally. He lovingly assembled doll furniture and built thema play kitchen and forts in the back yard. During their formative years, Joe made sure that their moral fibers were enriched by both Archie Bunker and Benny Hill When they began dating, Joe would greet their dates by first running their license plates and checking for bald tires. If their vehicle passed inspection, they were invited into the house where shotguns, harpoons and sheep "nutters" were left clearly on display. After retiring from running Bombaci Fuel, he was perhaps, most well-known for his role as the Essex Town "Dawg Kecher." He refused to put any of his "prisoners" down and would look for the perfect homes for them. One of them was a repeat offender who he named "A**hole" because no owner would ever keep him for very long because he was, in fact, an daily a**hole. My Dad would take his buddy on rides in his van and they'd roam around town with the breeze blowing through both of their fur He never met a dog he didn't like, the same could not be said for the wanna-be blue bloods, snoots and summer barnacles that roamed about town. His words, not ours. Well maybe not exactly his words as those would been much more colorful. Joe was a frequent shopper at the Essex Dump and he left his family with a house full of crap, 300 pounds of birdseed and dead houseplants that they have no idea what to do with. If there was ever a treasure that he snatched out from under you among the mounds of junk, please wait the appropriate amount of time to contact the family to claim your loot. We're available tomorrow. Joe was also a consummate napper. There wasn't a road, restaurant or friend's house in Essex that he didn't fall asleep on or in. There wasn't an occasion too formal or an event too dour that Joe didn't interrupt with his apnea and voluminous snoring. Besides his beloved wife, Irene, and brother, Bobby, Joe was pre-deceased by his pet fish, Jack, who we found in the freezer last week. Left to squabble over his vast fortune, real estate holdings and "treasures" are his three daughters Michelle Heller (Andrew Bennett) of Newton, MA, Lisette Heller (Lenny Estelle) of Ivoryton, CT and Monique Heller (John Parnoff) of Old Lyme, CT. He relished his role as Papa and Grampa Joe to Zachary, Maxwell and Emily Bennett, Megan, Mackenzie and Ryan Korcak, and Giovanna and Mattea Parnoff and hopes that he taught at least one of them to cuss properly. Left with decades of fond and colorful memories are his siblings Pat Bedard of Madison, Richard (Pat) Heller of Oxford, and Kathy Heller of Killingworth, sisters-in-law, Kathy McGowan of Niantic and Diane Breslin of Killingworth, and 14 nieces and nephews. No flowers, please. The family is seeking donations to offset the expense of publishing an exceedingly long obituary which would have really pissed Joe off. Seriously, what would have made him the happiest is for you to go have a cup of coffee with a friend and bullsh*t about his antics or play a harmless prank on some unsuspecting sap. If we still haven't dissuaded you and you feel compelled to waste your hard-earned money to honor his memory, donations may be sent to: Seabee Memorial Scholarship Association, PO Box 667, Gulfport, MS 39502. A celebration of his life, with Joe laid out in all his glory, will be held on Thursday, September 12, at the Essex Fire Department, 11 Saybrook Road, from 4-7. A light dinner will be served as Joe felt no get-together was complete without food. None of his leftovers or kitchen concoctions will be pawned off on any unsuspecting guests. Feel free to be as late as you'd like as Joe was never on time for anything because of the aforementioned napping habits. Joe despised formality and stuffiness and would really be ticked off if you showed up in a suit. Dress comfortably. The family encourages you to don the most inappropriate T-Shirt that you are comfortable being seen in public with as Joe often did. Everybody has a Joe story and we'd love to hear them all. Joe faced his death and his mortality, as he did with his life, face on, often telling us that when he dropped dead to dig a hole in the back yard and just roll him in. Much to his disappointment, he will be properly interred with full military honors (and maybe Jack) next to his wife on Friday, September 13, at 10:00 am in Centerbrook Cemetery. The family is forever in debt to his neighbor, Barry Peterson, for all of his help in recent years. We couldn't have done it without you. Sorry, Mom, Lisette and I did the best we could to take care of him and keep him out of your hair as long as we could. Back in your court now. Add Condolence THURSDAY 12 SEPTEMBER GET DIRECTIONS VISITATION 4:00 pm - 7:00 pm Thursday, September 12, 2019 Essex Fire Company

#funny #lol #humor #memes #meme #memehumor #dank memes #funny pics #rolf #lmao #Bloods #Church #and C

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simalangridge-blog · 5 years

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Tips To Keep Your Work Clothes Wanting Their Finest

When an person wears equivalent, they seriously come to feel as equal and revel in carrying them in heading for a operate or a wander daily basis. Even the employee feels in preserving with what they're working. The cause for a costume code is to set up clothing that appears good and suitable in addition to color. A good policy for a corporation can supply the workers to consider that they are the company. The workers would hopefully actually truly feel a lot more expert and self-assured in work .

Don't open up the doorway for anyone you don't know or who doesn't have identification from their employer. This is a great idea for any home-owner. Even adult men dressed in Work clothes must be asked to exhibit identification, as it is not unheard of for burglars to scope out the community working with a uniform in get to arrive throughout as an electrician or some other property repair service employee. I found the Bitten line for females, which was linked with Sarah Jessica Parker and the Expensive AB line of jeans. For around 9 dollars you could acquire fantastic clothes perfect for any situation. Steve and Barry's began offering footwear, attire, bags and add-ons in addition to the denims and t shirts everyone anticipated from this economical retailer. During the war yrs, women enlisted in the military. They took on employment formerly done the men who experienced long gone to war. abbigliamento barman had to be functional. Females began to put on trousers at manufacturing unit employment and for informal dress in. Comfort and Simplicity. You ought to also prioritize your possess staff's relieve. Do your employees be satisfied with the Work uniforms that they're putting on? It is critical to give them with cozy Workwear. For case in point, when your staff members are subjected on the snow, you should to present them with wintertime workwear specifically workwear jackets that they'll really really feel far more at ease with. They can be substantially additional successful must they have outstanding workwear clothing in the course of the wintertime year. I have handed by this mill perhaps a hundred times in the last several a long time and it was generally closed. It turns out that the mill was initially destroyed in Hurricane Fran in 1996 practically to the stage of getting a full reduction. From that time, the county governing administration repaired the dam. Keep in mind, some athletics venues can have unruly supporters. If you transpire to be sitting down near these forms, it might make an disagreeable experience. Sporting activities may possibly be superior for dates down the road when you both equally are more at ease with every other. scarpe Comode per lavoro cameriere

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scotianostra · 6 years

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At around ten o'clock in the evening of July 6th 1988 the Piper Alpha oil platform in the North Sea was rocked by a huge explosion.

The 30th anniversary of the disaster will be remembered at a special memorial service tonight in Aberdeen at the Piper Alpha Memorial Garden in Hazlehead Park. The names of all 167 men who lost their lives on July 6 1988 will be read out during the ceremony to be attended by their relatives, friends and representatives from the oil and gas sector.

The vast human tragedy of that day sent shockwaves around the world and forced the industry to take a painstaking look at its practices. On that night, there were more than 220 men on board Piper Alpha, with most in the accommodation section and more than 60 working on the night shift.

After a gas leak on the North Sea platform a series of explosions followed and, minutes later, it was engulfed in a fireball. By the time the rescue helicopters arrived, flames were reaching 300ft and could be seen from 70 miles away. The smoke and fire made evacuation by helicopter or lifeboat impossible, and many people gathered in the accommodation area. Remaining there meant certain death. With the platform ablaze and exploding, some men jumped off from 175ft above the North Sea. Others plunged from lower levels or clambered down ropes and hoses before plummeting into the water. Poundland to stop selling kitchen blades because of rise in knife crime

There were only 62 survivors that night in what remains the world’s worst offshore disaster. An inquiry led by Lord Cullen opened in Aberdeen in January 1989, ended in February the following year, and published its report of several hundred pages nine months after that. It led to North Sea safety being shifted from the Department of Energy to the Health and Safety Executive, and meant that automatic shut-down valves were made mandatory on rigs to starve a fire of fuel.

It's not often I would name all those that perished, but on the 3oth anniversary I think it is only fitting to do so, RIP to the 167......

Robert McIntosh Adams, 39, rigger George Alexander J Anderson, 29, baker Ian Geddes Anderson, 33, dual service operator John Anderson, 45, catering manager Mark David Ashton, 19, trainee technician/cleaner Wilson Crawford A Bain, 34, valve technician Barry Charles Barber, 46, diving consultant Craig Alexander Barclay, 24, welder Alan Barr, 37, electrical technician Brian Philip Batchelor, 44, seaman Amabile Alexander Borg, 51, non-destructive tester Hugh Wallace Brackenridge, 47, roustabout Alexander Ross Colvin Bremner, 38, production operator Eric Roland Paul Brianchon, 32, technician Hugh Briston, 40, scaffolder Henry Brown, 27, welder Stephen Brown, 39, assistant chef/baker Gordon Craib Bruce, 42, helicopter landing officer James Bruce, 52, logger Carl William Busse, 31, directional drilling supervisor David Campbell, 23, cleaner David Allen Campbell, 29, scaffolder Alexander Watt Cargill, 39, electrician Robert Carroll, 34, safety operator Alan Carter, 43, lead production operator Robert Cleland, 33, derrickman Stephen Colin Cole, 40, radio officer Hugh Connor, 35, instrument technician/lecturer John Edward Sherry Cooke, 59, plater John Thomas Cooper, 37, instrument technician William Nunn Coutts, 37, chef William John Cowie, 32, steward Michael John Cox, 26, scaffolder Alan Irvin Craddock, 31, drilling supervisor Edward John Crowden, 47, electrical technician Bernard Curtis, 45, deputy production superintendent Jose Hipolito Da Silva, 26, steward John Stephen Dawson, 38, telecom engineer Eric Deverell, 51, production clerk Alexander Duncan, 51, steward Charles Edward Duncan, 29, floorman Eric Duncan, 49, drilling materials man John Duncan, 33, engineer Thomas Irvine Duncan, 39, roustabout William David Duncan, 38, crane operator David Alan Ellis, 28, steward Douglas Newlands Findlay, 38, supervisor mechanic Harold Edward George Flook, 51, production operator George Fowler, 40, electrical technician Alexander Park Frew, 41, plater Samuel Queen Gallacher, 30, pipe fitter Miguel Galvez-Estevez, 36, assistant chef Ernest Gibson, 45, mud engineer Albert Stuart Gill, 32, roustabout Ian Gillanders, 50, instrument pipe fitter Kevin Barry Gilligan, 35, steward Shaun Glendinning, 24, painter John Edward Thomas Goldthorp, 37, motorman Stephen Robert Goodwin, 22, geologist James Edward Gray Gordon, 38, floorman David Lee Gorman, 41, safety operator Kenneth Graham, 40, mechanical technician Peter John Grant, 31, production operator Cyril James Gray, 49, safety operator Harold Eugene Joseph Green, 44, rigger Michael John Groves, 44, production operator John Hackett, 49, electrical technician Ian Hay, 31, steward Thomas Albert Hayes, 39, rigging supervisor James Heggie, 45, production services superintendent David William Henderson, 28, lead floorman Philip Robert Houston, 35, geologist Duncan Jennings, 28, geologist Jeffrey Grant Jones, 37, assistant driller Christopher Kavanagh, 49, plater William Howat Kelly, 43, electrical technician Ian Killington, 33, steward John Brian Kirby, 51, production operator Stuart Gordon Charles Knox, 37, roustabout Alexander Rodger Laing, 38, steward Terence Michael Largue, 34, scaffolder Graham Lawrie, 39, roustabout Findlay Wallace Leggat, 37, scaffolder Brian Lithgow, 34, photographic technician Robert Rodger Littlejohn, 29, pipe fitter Martin George Longstaffe, 22, logger William Raymond Mahoney, 60, steward John Morrison Martin, 33, rigger Sidney Ian McBoyle, 36, motorman Robert Borland McCall, 39, chief electrician James McCulloch, 51, HVAC technician Alistair James McDonald, 33, mechanical technician Alexander McElwee, 45, plater Thomas O’Neil McEwan, 38, electrical chargehand William George McGregor, 48, leading steward Frederick Thomas Summers McGurk, 51, rigger William Hugh McIntosh, 24, floorman Gordon McKay, 33, valve technician Charles Edward McLaughlin, 46, electrician Neil Stuart Ross McLeod, 47, quality assurance inspector Francis McPake, 49, steel erector/rigger David Allison McWhinnie, 36, production operator Dugald McLean McWilliams, 31, welder Carl Mearns, 20, rigger Derek Klement Michael Millar, 32, supervisor Alan David Miller, 31, industrial chemist Frank Miller, 33, scaffolder John Hector Molloy, 32, engineer Leslie James Morris, 38, platform superintendent Bruce Alexander Ferguson Munro, 29, floorman George Fagan Murray, 37, steward James Cowie Niven, 27, roustabout Graham Sim Noble, 37, materials man Michael O’Shea, 30, electrician Robert Rennie Pearston, 25, mechanic Ian Piper, 38, motorman Wasyl Pochrybniak, 37, lead roustabout Raymond Leslie Price, 59, production operator Neil Pyman, 32, engineer Terence Stephen Quinn, 28, service engineer William Wallace Raeburn, 38, maintenance controller Donald Reid, 44, chargehand engineer Robert Welsh Reid, 27, roustabout Gordon MacAlonan Rennie, 52, process operator Robert Miller Richard, 45, production operator Alan Riddoch, 44, steward Adrian Peter Roberts, 28, roughneck Alexander James Robertson, 50, lead production technician Donald Nicholson Robertson, 54, mechanical technician Gary Ross, 29, roustabout Michael Hector Ryan, 23, roustabout Stanley Sangster, 56, foreman scaffolder James John Dearn Savage, 41, electrical technician Michael Hugh Brodie Scorgie, 28, lead foreman William Alexander Scorgie, 46, pipe fitter John Francis Scott, 26, scaffolder Colin Denis Seaton, 51, offshore installation manager Robert Hendry Selbie, 32, turbo drill engineer Michael Jeffrey Serink, 26, logger Michael Bernard Short, 41, foreman rigger Richard Valentine Skinner, 41, assistant driller William Hamilton Smith, 43, maintenance lead hand James Speirs, 42, mechanical technician Kenneth Stuart Stephenson, 37, rigger Thomas Cunningham Boswell Stirling, 27, cleaner Malcolm John Storey, 38, seaman James Campbell Stott, 40, plumber Jurgen Tilo Stwerka, 36, research chemist Stuart Douglas Sutherland, 21, student/cleaner Terrence John Sutton, 28, mechanical fitter Alexander Ronald Taylor, 57, roustabout Alistair Adam Thompson, 45, telecom engineer Robert Argo Vernon, 51, production operator John Edward Wakefield, 35, instrument technician Michael Andrew Walker, 24, technician Bryan Thomas Ward, 48, rigger Gareth Hopson Watkin, 42, offshore medical attendant Francis John Watson, 38, head chef Alexander Whibley, 28, roustabout Kevan Dennis White, 42, maintenance supervisor Robert Whiteley, 39, roustabout Graham Gill Whyte, 42, aerial rigger James Gilbert Whyte, 53, aerial rigger Alan Wicks, 40, safety supervisor Paul Charles Ferguson Williamson, 24, floorman David Wiser, 65, survey technician John Richard Woodcock, 29, technical clerk

#Scotland #disaster #North Sea

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hardrocklandscaping · 3 years

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Four Tips to Choose Right Outdoor Lighting Barrie for Your Landscape

Have you invested in creating the most beautiful landscape for your home? If so, you might want your neighbours to marvel at the beauty in the day and night. After all, the whole idea of creating a magnificent landscape was to make your neighbours jealous, right? And that’s why you must not forget to light up your landscape or parts of it with the right outdoor lighting Barrie.

Outdoor lighting is a great way to enhance the appearance of your landscape and thus the look of your house. However, you will get the desired effect based on the type of lighting you choose. And there are a few tips in this article that will come in handy.

• Start by taking the inventory of already existing lighting fixtures and basic setup. If you have a basic setup, make sure you call an electrician to look at the fixtures to ensure they are safe to use.

• The next thing you can do is decide what parts of the landscape you want to highlight with outdoor lighting. Is it the specific herbs and shrubs? Or a fountain? Or a sculpture? Once you decide the thing you want to highlight, you can think about the outdoor lighting design.

• For outdoor lighting design, you can choose different types of designs such as path lighting for walkways, string lighting if you are creating a dinner area in the backyard, wall lighting to illuminate the low sitting area, and more.

• Also, make sure to choose the lighting colours, temperature, and effects carefully. This will determine the overall look of the space.

If you want professional outdoor lighting Barrie Ontario services to light up your landscape, you can contact Hard Rock Landscaping right away.

Hard Rock Landscaping is amongst the leading companies in Simcoe County that are known to provide outstanding landscaping and outdoor lighting services. Established in 2001 by Ian Morton, the company has served numerous residential and commercial properties to enhance the landscape design. The company uses tech-driven solutions to deliver the finest quality landscaping services. Each member of their professional team has a minimum experience of 2 plus years. And being in the business for more than 20 years now, you can expect high-quality landscaping services. Contact them now to know more.

About Hard Rock Landscaping:

Hard Rock Landscaping is a leading company known to provide landscaping, outdoor lighting, and outdoor fireplace Barrie services.

For more information, visit https://hardrocklandscaping.ca/

Original Source: https://bit.ly/3hYVhxT

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gtahomeservice · 29 days

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Find Expert Electrician Richmond Hill on GTA Home Service

Homeowners may perform many little home repairs on their own. However, only a qualified electrician should perform upkeep, updates, and repairs on the electrical system. Not only could you make a grave error, but you might also get hurt. Dealing with electricity is frequently risky and, if done incorrectly, can lead to accidents. An experienced electrician Richmond Hill is aware of how to solve the issue without endangering anyone's safety. Before visiting your home, skilled electricians have solved hundreds of problems. They possess the requisite knowledge to locate the issue and effectively resolve it. The majority of electricians are also going to guarantee their work, so any future issues will be fixed at no additional cost. By hiring a professional through an electrician service company Richmond Hill, one can ensure that every little problem with their electrical appliances and wirings could be taken care of with superior expertise. This is why you should contact GTA Home Service – a top service platform in Canada with qualified professionals. For more details click :

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currentconnectionsinc · 3 years

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Contact

Address: Toronto, ON M5V 1M9

Phone Number: 416-859-0564

Website URL

http://currentconnections.ca/

About Us

Electrical work in Toronto shouldn't be shocking, either from a price or performance perspective. At Current Connections, Inc, our experienced electricians are top shelf and our services, such as new installations, inspections, and lighting are all affordably priced. Dial 416-859-0564 to schedule your local visit.

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Working Hours

Monday-Friday: 7am - 5:30pm Saturday and Sunday: Appointment Only

GMB Listing

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amits4g2 · 4 years

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Tips to Buck Up the Web Designers Out of Their Irksome Web Design Process

When you are running a web design business, it is very important for you to understand that your clients are the part and parcel of your business. The type of clients you agree upon to work with speaks a lot about you and your web design firm. Similarly, the grounds on which they delegated the responsibility on you to produce a design speaks a lot about them. Maintaining a good relationship with the client is though a hard nut to crack, but a lot of it spins around the web designers' knack to edify their customers and set expectations so that both sides end up with gratification.

Many of the designers go off the beaten track in a way to gratify their clients. They make continual edits, re-designing, Last minute changes, moreover the add-in features that had never been discussed. Web designers just give in to each and every caprice of their clients but then at the end they end up getting underpaid and feeling frustrated, rebuffed and jaded.

Most web designers might relate this to worst example in a web design process. There are a few absurd expectations for a project to go quickly and smoothly. The minute these expectation ruins out of delays in the completion of the project or the bad designs or due to the coding bugs, etc., both the client and the web designer as well gets irked. Nevertheless, there is a trick out of which you can make your irksome design process a pleasant experience for you and your client as well. Edifying your clients is not a great part of your business project but you can make certain that it will aid you greatly in recuperating the working relationship with your client.

Wondering what tags along a general list of some significant lessons that must outline the scaffold for the education process? Well, a few key points are brought into a limelight below:

Tip 1: You are a Professional Designer, Not a Laborer

People never tell their Doctor's and electricians how they need to do their jobs. They understand that the doctors and electricians obviously more on familiar terms with their respective field of work than them. This attitude on the other hand ought to persist with the webmasters too. Many clients have a set mind that just browsing through the websites qualifies the webmasters to make design decisions. They treat web designer as the annex of their brains. And because of this kind of false premonition the designers are often wrongly taken as the laborers who are born to get their task done, and not the professionals who are creative and talented with the skills and experience that others professionals to might have in their area of work. Moreover, the clients forget that the Web Designers too are the part of the design process equally.

This pathetic situation occurs generally in the case of freelancers where the clients presume that if the designers don't have their office then they can work in any odd hour of the day too as if they don't have their family or other things around to be taken care of!

Thus it is imperative for the web designers to make certain that their clients understand that they are experts and that their opinions are grounded in the research before the web design process initiates.

Tip 2: Communication is Vital

Lack of communication can often badly ruin the whole of the project. Generally, the clients tend to keep themselves involved and vocal in the initial stage of the project. This as a result ends up with the designers' belief that the things are going well until when the clients hand over them the laundry list of edits.

So, bringing this clause under the contract that you might need your client's feedback throughout the project from an issue as large as payments and billings to the minuscule subjects like the color combinations etc. so that you can generate a better product in less time period.

Tip 3: The Web and the Print Medium are like chalk and cheese

There are some of the clients who are going through the web design process for the first time and web is a strange and foreign place for them whilst there are a few who are incapable of figuring out the difference between the print medium and the web.

There are also a few clients who want their website to represent itself just like a brochure of their product or services.

Therefore, being an expert of this design arena, it's the designer's responsibility to enlighten their clients about the things like their website can be very well fabricated like a brochure as per their desire but doing this might fail to plug the real power of the internet eventually setting them up as the failure on the web. The web designer's having their lives almost certainly been spent surfing the web should never take these little things for granted. Edifying the clients over the nuance and the subtlety of the web can help aid the wrong illusions that the clients might have.

Thus, to wrap-up, the art of learning the management of clients is a major challenge for any service-oriented business. If one wants to maintain good working relationships then, edifying clients are one of the wisest ways. Web designing is an essential fragment of the service-industry and thus follows the same rules. The toughest job to do ever is to stand up your client or boss but as a matter of fact doing this regularly can make your irksome website process a pleasant experience for yourself and for your clients as well.

Nisha Dawrani is a content writer at Solushunz Technologies. It is a leading Web Designer Company located at Kanpur. For any guidance on web designing, feel free to contact Web Design.

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#web design web service

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prorevenge · 6 years

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Two Malicious Compliances Equals One Pro Revenge

very long story. tl:dr at the end.

Barry then asked what every lawyer likes to hear, “What should I have done differently?”

So GC calls us, and they are ready for the ADO’s.

When GC signed off on the handicap washroom install there was a line noting that BigDaddy assumes all responsibility for compliance with the relevant building code section.

GC didn’t bother to read what he was signing, just scribbled a signature and took his copy. Barry made certain the tech was right beside him when GC signed off.

Malicious Compliance #1

Malicious Compliance #2

And Barry got to invoice for a whole new ADO, as the original was a “pull” style, and reversing the swing meant that a “push” style was required.

Pro Revenge

GC called a few days after discovering that the entrance doors needed 120v, to tell Barry that the 120v was available. Barry heads down with the tech to check it out.

Sure enough, a couple of days later GC calls in a panic. They have the final occupancy inspection scheduled for the next day, and one of the ADO’s at the entrance is down.

GC loses his mind. There’s no way he can delay the opening of FancyAss for 6 weeks waiting for a part. He calls Barry every name in the book, threatens legal action, etc.

GC: “Yes! Just get the fucking thing fixed by tomorrow!”

BigDaddy is glaring daggers at GC, and basically tells Barry that if he wants to get paid, he’s going to have to sue for the money.

Barry smiles, and slides his ace across the table. It’s a Contractor’s Lien against BigDaddy, FancyAss Restaurant, and Massive Realty Company, the owners of the building.

Only now they can’t sell, with a lien on the place. And these investors have rabid fucking pitbulls as lawyers. Hell, some of them ARE lawyers.

See you in court, BigDaddy. Only you’re not facing Barry’s lawyer, you’re facing a whole new level of legal expertise. Have fun with that.

Way to go, Barry. Nicely played.

(source) (story by balles_de_acier)

#prorevenge #by balles_de_acier #pro revenge #revenge stories #pro revenge stories #pro #revenge #revenge story

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nextstepelectric · 5 years

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home electrician near me Nepean Ontario

Contents

Big city.. 199 texas

Full service electrical

Home.. service times

Commercial electrical contractor

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For us, this is a great "close to home" campground to test out new camping gear. It is clean, well-maintained, well-treed and quiet. It is in the greenbelt of Ottawa and is therefore super close to any attractions in the Ottawa/Gatineau area.

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Since its inception in 1977, Ziebarth Electrical Contractors Limited (ZEC) has become Ottawa's premier full service electrical construction and maintenance.

Eastern Ontario's largest independent electrical, lighting, and automation distributor – Kingston, Ottawa and Brockville.

Like winning a lottery finding Cardy on the web for Dirt Devil parts in Canada. The local guy was a dirtbag saying he would order what I needed and call me back. After multiple tries from me I finally realized he could not be bothered with my order and Cardy welcomed me like I was a government procurer. The filters works well also

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The Electrical and Plumbing Store is a Ottawa based Plumbing, Lighting and Bathroom fixtures store. We are one of the largest showroom in Ottawa. Come visit.

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Barry's Electric is a residential & commercial electrical contractor working. repairs, full rewires and new custom homes focusing on energy efficient solutions .

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barrieinteriordesign · 5 years

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Reliable Interior Design Contractors in Barrie

There are so many different directions home and property owners can go when it comes to remodeling or renovating their homes. Choosing the project’s contractor is as important of a step as there is in the entire process.

This is where you make sure that you find the right individual or team of experts to bring this new idea for an existing room or an addition, to life. There are a lot of companies that claim to have experience with all types of projects, when in fact; they are only actually qualified to properly complete a few.

A genuinely experienced contractor with a number of different specialties isn’t impossible to find. There are a couple of options that people in the Barrie area have been working with for years. When you put a team of talented craftspeople, designers, electricians, and virtually any other tradesperson together, then you get a group of people you know can finish any job.

What you want to make sure of is that they have a solid standing in the business community and within the industry itself. Consumer and online reviews are equally valuable when researching your next general contractor for a home remodel.

Also keep in mind that the companies that offer these services are generally pretty versatile (at least the good ones are). They also do home repairs, build outdoor areas such as patios and decks, and can organize and manage the entire project. This includes handling all of the product and material ordering, vendor and subcontractor oversight, and quality and safety control as well.

#contractors

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swedna · 5 years

Link

It was a legendary Hollywood battle, one filled with so much back-stabbing and subterfuge that Vanity Fair likened it to a horror movie: “Wall Street as directed by Hitchcock."

For months starting in the fall of 1993, two media titans, Sumner M Redstone and Barry Diller, fought each other for what was then the entertainment industry's ultimate prize: Paramount Pictures, the 62-acre studio behind classic films like The Godfather and Chinatown and contemporary blockbusters like Top Gun and Beverly Hills Cop.

The home entertainment boom was showering Hollywood with cash. But Paramount was more than a money machine. Legacy studios like Paramount — founded in the 1910s, operating sumptuous soundstage complexes and controlling vast film libraries — rarely came up for sale. Owning one made you a permanent power player, a certified member of the cultural elite.

With a bid of $9.75 billion, or $17 billion in today’s money, Redstone’s Viacom took the spoils. “Don’t tell me I don’t buy you anything for your birthday,” he told his then-wife, Phyllis, as they celebrated with lawyers at the 21 Club in New York.

Flash forward 25 years, and Paramount once again finds itself at the center of a battle. Only this time the historic studio is not the belle of the Hollywood ball, not even remotely. Today, Paramount is fighting for its very existence.

Almost slapstick mismanagement by Viacom — cleaving off a lucrative TV business, firing the horror maestro Jason Blum, missing the opportunity to buy Marvel Entertainment, describing Steven Spielberg as “completely immaterial” — has left Paramount on life support. The studio racked up nearly $900 million in losses between 2016 and 2018. It has placed last at the domestic box office for seven years running. The 29-soundstage Paramount lot is long overdue for improvements; $700 million in upgrades, unveiled in 2011, have yet to happen.

Paramount, along with the rest of Hollywood, is also colliding with Silicon Valley. Netflix, which occupies a rented office tower six blocks from Paramount headquarters, has been swallowing the entertainment business whole. This year, the streaming service will pump out about 90 movies, including documentaries. To compare, the five conventional studios left standing — Paramount, Universal, Sony, Disney and Warner Bros — will make about that many combined. Paramount is set to contribute 13. The old-line film business is only going to become tougher as streaming services proliferate. Apple intends to roll out its multibillion-dollar TV and movie offering in the months ahead. Facebook has recently gotten serious about marketing its Watch video-on-demand platform.

Scrambling to keep pace, entertainment companies like Disney and Warner Media have bulked up — Disney with its $71.3 billion purchase of 21st Century Fox assets and Warner by selling itself to AT&T for $85.4 billion — and plan to introduce their own megawatt streaming services by the end of the year.

Next to those supertankers, Viacom is the corporate equivalent of a canoe.

All of which has agents, directors, writers and producers confronting uncomfortable questions. Can Paramount — the studio that, more than any other, symbolises Hollywood itself — find a path forward as a stand-alone studio? Or, as they did at Fox, could its end credits roll?

“I knew it was challenged,” said Jim Gianopulos, a veteran film executive who took over as Paramount’s chairman in 2017 and is leading a resuscitation effort. “I didn’t know how much.”

“Suddenly people’s eyes light up. Yours just did.”

Stroll around the Paramount lot, as we did one afternoon late last year, and you’ll see a frenzy of activity. Fleets of forklifts carry newly fabricated sets from the in-house woodworking mill. Gardeners tend the hibiscus hedges. Electricians hang lights. Production staffers whiz around on golf carts. At a glance, Paramount seems every bit as vibrant as it was when Redstone took over in 1994.

But the bustle is mostly an illusion. Few movies are shot in Los Angeles anymore, by Paramount or any studio. Of the 100 top-grossing films in 2017, only 10 were shot in California, according to Film LA, which tracks production. It’s cheaper to make movies in states like New Mexico and Georgia, which offer fat subsidies. TV series are still taped on studio lots, but Redstone chopped his business empire into two pieces in 2005, and Paramount’s entire small-screen division went to the CBS Corporation.

Paramount in many ways has become a glorified rental property. HBO leases Stage 17 for Barry, a comedy about a hit man who wants to change professions. The weepy This Is Us, a Fox production that airs on NBC, sprawls across three stages. Sony and Amazon rent other Paramount stages.

“The decision to move all of Paramount TV really crippled Paramount Studios,” said Frank J Biondi Jr, who ran Viacom from 1987 to 1996.

Along with filling stages, TV production provides studios with a stable revenue stream — something to fall back on when big-budget films bomb, as some inevitably do. TV has also been Hollywood’s growth engine over the last decade. At least 495 original scripted programs aired in 2018, up from 288 in 2012, the result of new buyers like Netflix and Hulu.

To pull Paramount back from the brink, Gianopulos and a new lieutenant, Nicole Clemens, are rebuilding the studio’s TV operation. Paramount restarted television production in 2013 and now has nine series running, including The Alienist on TNT and Jack Ryan on Amazon Prime. Gianopulos said he hoped to have 20 series in production by the end of the year. Viacom said Paramount Television generated $400 million in revenue last year; Gianopulos said the division’s profit was on track to double this year compared with 2018. With the pressure on her to deliver, Clemens was still zealously working at 6 pm on a recent Friday. As we waited outside her office door, two assistants dialed phones as if their lives depended on it.

Clemens eventually came out from behind her desk. “Oh, this is calm,” she said. “You should have seen us earlier.”

As important as TV is to Paramount’s financial future, Gianopulos said movies would always be the company’s anchor. To that end, in September 2017 he hired one of Hollywood’s top producers, Wyck Godfrey, whose resume includes the Twilight blockbusters, as president of the film division. Supporting Godfrey are new marketing, publicity and animation chiefs.

“It sounds trite, but you are only as good as your team,” Gianopulos said. “And all of the key people that I have brought in are accomplished, experienced executives.” He added of the new hires, perhaps commenting indirectly on hotheads who have left the studio: “None of them are screamers. None of them are hyperbolic. They’re all grown-ups. They’re all collaborative.” Godfrey had experienced Paramount's dysfunction firsthand as a producer. In 2016, the studio abruptly pulled the plug on one of his projects, a movie adaptation of John Green’s novel Looking for Alaska, amid a casting dispute.

“From my outsider's perspective, this place had become very fear-based, and so my first job was to try and change that,” Godfrey said. “I've said to anyone who will listen, ‘We are going to start taking real chances on things we believe in.’ I will take the responsibility, the heat, when we miss, which is inevitable. But just go for it.

“We have to make more movies and also movies that stand the test of time,” he continued. “We have no choice. It’s the only way.” Paramount hopes to make 17 movies in 2020. Godfrey's coming film lineup emphasizes big-budget, global-audience movies, known in Hollywood as tentpoles. A long-gestating Top Gun sequel is finally happening. Godfrey is working to breathe life into the tired Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Terminator, Star Trek and G I Joe franchises. Paramount also has high hopes for films tied to Viacom’s cable networks, including Dora the Explorer, a live-action, big-screen adaptation of the Nickelodeon cartoon.

Whatever its box-office viability, though, such fare doesn’t quite scream “stand the test of time.”

But Godfrey insisted otherwise. Imagine, for instance, Paramount giving Star Trek to Quentin Tarantino. “Suddenly people’s eyes light up,” Godfrey said. “Yours just did.”

He also pointed out that "Mission: Impossible — Fallout," released by Paramount in August, had proved naysayers wrong. That film, the sixth chapter in a 23-year-old series, received euphoric reviews and generated $791 million in global ticket sales, 16 percent more than its franchise predecessor. Two more "Mission: Impossible" installments starring Tom Cruise are moving ahead.

Fallout and another unexpected hit from last spring, A Quiet Place, helped Paramount post an operating loss of $39 million for 2018, compared with a loss of $280 million a year earlier. To compare, the industry leading Walt Disney Studios had 2018 profit of $2.98 billion, up from $2.36 billion.

More recent Paramount movies have delivered mixed results. Bumblebee, a well-reviewed Transformers prequel, has taken in roughly $370 million, a respectable number if not exactly a breakout hit. A pair of fall comedies, Nobody’s Fool and Instant Family, fizzled at the box office.

Gianopulos said a turnaround was still early. He expects the studio to return to profitability this year. “In a four-quarter game,” he said, “we’re halfway through the second quarter.” “You see the studio eating itself” Ask Hollywood’s power brokers how Paramount went from prestige to debris and they will say they don't want to speak ill of the dead. And then they will proceed, at length and with great verve, to speak ill of the dead.

Gianopulos’s predecessor, Brad Grey, who led the studio for 12 years, resigned under pressure in February 2017. He died from cancer three months later, stunning the movie capital. Almost no one knew he was sick.

Looking back, there were signals. Toward the end of his run, Grey was rarely seen at Paramount. A rumor took hold, calcifying into legend, that his chauffeur would drive the car onto the lot and park — so it would look as if Grey were somewhere on the premises — and then take a taxi home. The studio’s vice-chairman, Rob Moore, was also frequently away. He spent a lot of time in China, where he worked on an unconsummated deal to sell a minority stake in the studio. He was also dating a Chinese TV host.

An absentee overlord may have contributed to the studio’s decline, but the decay can be traced to Redstone’s battle with Diller in 1993. Redstone, viewed by Hollywood as cocksure and uncouth, wanted to acquire Paramount to prove that he’d made it — that he belonged. That he was more than his cable business of VH1, Nickelodeon and MTV, a media company that the real bigwigs called The House That Beavis and Butt-Head Built.

Diller also had emotional ties to Paramount; he had run the studio from 1974 to 1984, finding hits like Grease, Raiders of the Lost Ark and Beverly Hills Cop. But Diller had visions of using Paramount to push Hollywood into a new era: that a budding “information superhighway” called the internet might someday run through the studio, bringing movies and TV shows directly to computers. In other words, Netflix.

Redstone, who ended up acquiring Blockbuster (yes, that Blockbuster) to get the deal done, and his lawyers, made fun of Diller’s interest in the internet. They ribbed him for bringing a computer — one of Apple’s early brick laptops — into the negotiating room. The joke, it turned out, was on Redstone, whose Viacom would miss internet opportunities at nearly every turn over the next 25 years. Diller went on to found IAC, a thriving collection of web businesses.

Other shortsighted decisions by Redstone and his cronies — rooted in hubris and old-fashioned greed — dragged Paramount down. Longtime entertainment executives likened the studio’s mismanagement under Grey and his boss, Philippe P. Dauman, who ran Viacom from 2006 to 2016, to an old horror movie. Perhaps Invasion of the Body Snatchers.

“You have this aching sensation in your belly when you see the studio eating itself,” said Jonathan L Dolgen, chairman of Paramount in the 1990s.

The real debacle started in 2005. To fortify Paramount’s slate, the studio bought DreamWorks SKG, bringing Steven Spielberg, Jeffrey Katzenberg and David Geffen into the fold. But the alliance quickly became a clash of personalities. At one point, Dauman told investors that Spielberg — the most powerful director in Hollywood then and now — was, in effect, “completely immaterial” to the company’s earnings. Geffen pried DreamWorks loose from Paramount and Viacom in 2008.

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