I just sent the 56th and almost final weekly invoice for the big project at Wayne State University. While it's gratifying to look back at the pictures from the beginning and compare them to the massive structure that exists now, the biggest gratification comes in that I feel like Amerivet Services has been able to make a big contribution to this project, solve countless problems, and change the lives of quite a few people, including ME.
I've gained quite an education during the course of this project, and it's evident that I still have quite a bit to learn. This is all stuff you don't learn in the military, or in college. You have to do it. You have to stick your head outside of the box, even if the box is rolling down a hill. Just force yourself to have some fortitude and go for it, and don't forget to take your brain with you! Yup, it's that kind of project.
There have been plenty of ups and downs, and the end has a bit of a twist to it, but all adventures do. The ending is never what you thought it would be. In the middle, there's suspense, personal challenges, team challenges, and crazy stuff you'd never imagine. But in the end, the Amerivet Services team of four people have really done incredible things that we can be proud of for a lifetime. How many teams of four can say that they've done almost all of the structural welding for three structures totaling 23 stories of vertical space and 400+ apartments, all in just a year? And if you count the incredible side projects along the way, we've really done a huge amount of work and solved thousands of problems over the last year!
We've also changed lives. We've provided living space for students that would have had to find other alternatives. We've hopefully made life easier for other contractors, who would have had to find other, more complicated means to do the work we've done. There have been chances to change the lives of employees. One is an underwater welder who wanted to be home more often and make good money doing it. Two wanted to find new, challenging jobs that weren't just production welding. Another wanted to get away from his parents' business and find a new life in the welding world. NONE of them wanted to work in a stuffy shop!
The cool part about this is, MY dream is to make these kinds of things happen for people, and make money doing it! It's really gratifying to see my dream happening every day, even through the blur of the daily challenges and crappy weather and political drama. Underneath all of that, it's my dream. It's what I want to do with myself. It's what I've always done!
So where do we go from here? Well, that's really up to you, my "fan base." While we have promises of other, similar projects, we also want to do new things. We need a lot of projects to keep this ball rolling, because the "ball" is about new problems and new adventures. I literally asked "the team" last week what they want to do most, and they said, "Solve problems, change lives, and make it challenging."
I think Wayne State has given us a chance to prove we're up for pretty much anything. So, if you see an upcoming challenge, I want to know about it. Just tell me "who" we can help and where I can find them. I'll contact them, make the project happen, and send you a nice finder's fee. Simple as that!
Amerivet Services has more capacity than ever before. We now have six portable welding machines that can travel almost anywhere, any time!
Call Amerivet Services! We'll solve your problems and change your life!
This time around I'll leave you with a couple of parting shots:
Here's Tory relocating clips on the steel/concrete podium that will soon be a 6 story building in Brush Park, Detroit:
...and here are the final touches on the "obscuring wall" at Highland House Restaurant
