From the fabricator: Japan

When I posted my blog last week and mentioned the devastation in Japan, it was still very early in the aftermath. Now, with more than a week past, the one word that comes to mind is “incomprehensible.” It is seriously mindblowing what that country and its people are going through now and will go through for many years to come. And this is surely not something that we, as a continent, can watch and assume we are far enough away for it to not affect us. Japan--with its technology, goods, and services--is a bigger part of the fabric of North America than you might think. As the New York Times called it: This is a crisis the markets just can't grasp. It's like nothing we've ever seen before. From an industry standpoint, this could affect glass supply (even though some reports are saying all is fine; we’ll hope that’s right) that was due to be tight to begin with (it’s already insanely tight on the auto glass end) and will surely affect gas and cost of living indexes. There’s no doubt that this horrible and tragic event will be yet another hurdle for our world to get over. Here’s again hoping and wishing for our friends in Japan to see some light and good sooner than later.

Elsewhere…

• There was a regional glass event last week, and the rumor mill was working overtime. All I can say is about 99 percent of the things that were spread are pretty far-fetched. But that’s what happens when you get a bunch of people in a room, with too much time and not enough business on their hands.
• The New York Times reported on a takedown of the good 'ole Department of Energy by the Inspector General. Evidently, poor recordkeeping that leads people to wonder where their tax money is really going was the subject. Count me as absolutely unsurprised. In watching the DOE and the members I came in contact with, their desire to be led by the nose by special interests while ignoring any other viewpoint was a major turnoff and red flag. This is not the first time the DOE has been ripped by a governmental report, and I just wish for all of our sakes it would lead to some actual change there. But instead, excuses are made and the same tired bureaucrats keep pumping out the same dreck.
• If and when we get the whole true blue Glass Hall of Fame going, I will nominate the designers of the Atlanta Hartsfield Airport Rental Car Complex for an achievement award in the usage of glass. The complex used glass absolutely everywhere possible, and it was exciting for a glass geek like me. They didn’t go crazy on colors and decorative, but the fact that glass was all over was cool enough for me.
• The folks at Glasslam announced a new spacer manufacturing system this past week. Basically, this system would allow their users to make their own warm-edge spacer and control the game. With everyone looking for an edge, this could be a player.
• Glass Week and BEC are kicking off later this week. Next week’s post will cover the highlights, so it won’t be up on my normal site until late Monday night and will still appear in e-glass weekly (as long as the fine people at Glass Magazine still want me) on Tuesday.

Read on for links and clip of the week...

Max Perilstein is chief marketing officer for Vitro Architectural Products, Memphis. Write him at mperilstein@vitro.com.

The opinions expressed here are those of the individual author and do not necessarily reflect those of the National Glass Association, Glass Magazine editors, or other glassblog contributors.