SHARING OUR HEART
Today marks the Centennial of Arizona’s statehood, as well as 34 years that Desert Star Construction has been in business doing what we love. And what we love most is the personal aspect of the relationships formed with clients and trades alike. We truly consider each of you as friends and an integral part of Team DSC®, and we want to say thank you. This has only been possible by your continued referrals and support.
It is the DSC Standard® to put our heart into everything we do, but perhaps nowhere is it as manifest as it is at the Phoenix Dream Center with the Dream Rooms. We have been overwhelmed by your response to join us. For all of us to come together and pool our skills and resources in order to provide shelter and protection for women who have been victims of sexual exploitation through human trafficking, is truly inspirational. It validates what we have always known about the caliber of the people we work with, and we cannot thank you enough for teaming up with us in this endeavor. Below you will find an update about the Dream Rooms as well as some pictures taken during construction. If you’ve been down there, you just may recognize someone.
From our heart to yours,
Jerry Meek and Team DSC®
DREAM ROOMS
We are all excited to report that the Framing of the rooms is complete! We are just wrapping up the Plumbing, HVAC, and Electrical, and this week and next will be the Insulation and Drywall.
GREEN-SAVING GREEN GADGET
A smart way to manage power: Part USB hub, part power strip, part surge protector, the GE Green Mobile Power Station is masterful at managing power to a range of devices, from computers and monitors, to peripherals and desk lamps. Using a lithium-ion battery to bolster charges, the mobile power station manages power to charging devices, and shuts off sockets after gadgets are juiced up. And even though the $119 device is energy efficient, it’s still powerful enough to run printers, faxes, and servers.
WHAT MATTERS IS ‘WHAT YOU CATCH’
Consider the case of Steve Jobs, whose recent biography casts him as more of a tweaker than a large-scale inventor. Jobs borrowed the mouse and screen icons from Xerox. He introduced the iPod after seeing how existing music players could be improved. And he introduced the iPhone nearly a decade after smart- phones appeared on the scene. Jobs, writes his biographer, “had noticed something odd about the cell- phones on the market: They all stank, just like portable music players used to.”
So many aspects of Apple’s break-through designs were due to Jobs’ perfectionism. He had developers make tweak after tweak, until he saw something he liked. At Xerox, engineers had built a personal computer “and were beside themselves figuring out how to get whatever was on the screen onto a sheet of paper,” says an outside engineer who showed them how to do that.
Never mind that Xerox gave away its crown jewel–the PC–to Steve Jobs, and all it kept was the printer. In the messy world of ideas, you give up the thing you don’t understand for the thing you do. The laser printer made billions for Xerox.
“There will be some ideas that don’t get caught in your cup,” says Nathan Myhrvold, a former Microsoft executive. “But that’s not what the game is about. The game is what you catch, not what you spill.”
Adapted from “Creation Myth,” Malcolm Gladwell, The New Yorker
WELCOME TO THE TEAM
Please join us in welcoming Chris Johnson a 20 year veteran of Custom Residential Construction Supervision with projects ranging to $15,000,000 and 20,000 sq. ft. Chris holds a Bachelor of Science in Construction Engineering from ASU and a Bachelor of Arts in Education from Kansas State University.
Coming Soon: Meet Team DSC® Featured Profile! Next issue – David Schumm