I have a theory about airplane travel and it goes like this; You get no more than 10 good flights in a row, then you’re in for a flight from hell. That’s just the way it is. This is why I always feel so good the morning after one of those miserable travel days; I know my next few trips should be hassle-free.

Last week I spent more than 10 hours on a plane for a trip that should have taken only four hours. I could have made it from Chicago to Maui in that amount of time. Thank you, Mother Nature. It’s days like this – when I’m trapped on a plane in no-man’s land between the gate and the runway – that I think of coworkers who are under the impression that when I’m on business trips I’m off sightseeing, getting massages and eating lobster every night. I’d like them to tag along with me some day so they can experience the ton of fun I have on my trips.

Despite bad travel days like the one I had last week, and despite the late dinners, the long days, the crazy schedules and bad convention-center food, I’m grateful for the ability to travel. I’m thankful for my job that lets me go out of town to conduct business, strengthen my magazine’s brand and renew important relationships. When I’m able to travel for work, I cram as much business as I can into my trips. I make the most of it.

Even when I’m not traveling on business, when I’m in the office day after day, and my workload increases and there never seems to be enough time in the day to get my work done or deal with the hundreds of emails I get each week, I’m happy for the job I have. I appreciate being able to work. I think of all the designers, architects and builders who are struggling, and those that have closed shop for good, and I want to work harder.

Does any of this resonate with you? Do you feel the same way? Do you appreciate anything a little more these days? During this recession are you approaching work with a different attitude than you did when business was better?

Share your thoughts with everyone. Scroll up to the first paragraph of this blog entry, look to the right and click where you see, “Leave a comment” or “Post or view comments.”

Or, send me an e-mail.

I hope you don’t mind, but I’d like to get away from writing about custom home design and construction today to discuss something else. I want to know how you’re grounded.

When you’re stressed out, or when you’ve had all you can take at work, or when you’re out of town on a business trip, how do you clear your head? What keeps you grounded?

For me, it’s running. I love it. I’ve been running for 24 years now, and I would love nothing more than to stay healthy enough to keep running as long as I live.

I go running in the mornings. I’m up early, before the sun. I’m lucky enough to live about a half mile from a wealthy community where I see one home every 10 acres. On most morning runs I never encounter another human; not in a car, not on a bike and not on foot. It’s great.

Here’s a picture of the road.

I can get so close to deer eating on the side of the road I swear I can tackle them if I wanted to. I try to pick out all the different bird songs I hear. I say hello to the cows grazing on the one remaining farm in the neighborhood. That farmer’s ancestors at one time most likely owned all the land where I see beautiful mansions today. Sometimes I hear a pack of coyotes yelping in the distance and I try to determine how close they are. My favorite game is guessing how close I can get to the raccoons feasting in front of me on the evening’s road kill before they spot me coming and run away.

Here’s a picture of the barn on the farm.

When I’m out of town on business, I go for morning runs because it makes me feel great. I don’t drag my feet while walking the trade show floor if I’ve run that morning. If nothing else, running makes me feel less guilty about all the calories I consumed the day before during convention-center lunches and business dinners that always begin way too late in my opinion. Don’t restaurants open earlier than 8 p.m. when conventions are in town?

Here’s one of the homes in Barrington Hills.

When I miss a morning run for whatever reason, I feel off balance all day. On those days when I’m in town, I get jealous of runners I see on my drive home after work.

What grounds you?
What’s your passion outside of the office?
What’s your hobby?
What makes you feel like yourself when you’re out of town?
What keeps you focused?

Tell me. Send me an email.

Or, tell everyone. Join RD&B’s LinkedIn group and post your comments for other members to see. LinkedIn is free to join and you won’t get e-mail spam if you join.

We have almost 300 members in the RD&B group who you can network with. Check it out.

On June 1, the city of Austin, Texas, began requiring residents who are selling homes built more than 10 years ago to obtain an energy audit before any sale is completed. Owners are not required to make upgrades after the audit (like they are in San Francisco and Berkeley, Calif.), but failure to comply results in a being charged with a misdemeanor.

As expected, some people like the new law and others don’t.

Opponents say the $200 to $300 cost for the audit is a burden during this recession and at a time when homes are already difficult to sell. They also fear buyers will use the results of the audit to negotiate a lower selling price.

Supporters say the law is intended to reduce energy use and ultimately avoid building a new power plant by 2020. Supporters also hope homeowners will be encouraged to upgrade their homes with more-efficient air conditioners, better windows and insulation.

An article in the Wall Street Journal states that in more than 300 audits already completed, Austin Energy found that, on average, homes had duct systems that leaked more than double what was recommended and attic insulation that was six inches thinner than ideal.

So what if an owner opts not to perform recommended upgrades, and the buyer asks for a few thousand bucks be knocked off the price in compensation, and the deal gets done. Sure, the home is sold, but there’s no guarantee that the upgrades will ever be done. In this situation, the only winner is the company that performed the energy audit.

On the other hand, if buyers are trying to choose between two 15-year-old homes which need similar energy upgrades, do you think they’ll pick the one whose owners have done the upgrades or the one whose owners have no intention of dishing out more money for the upgrades? Right – they’ll pick the one with the upgrades. So even though the law lacks sharp teeth by not requiring owners to make any upgrades, it creates fear of losing buyers to sellers more willing invest in energy savings.

Some people say an incentive-based program is the best and most fair way to encourage homeowners to improve the efficiency of their homes. This makes sense.

Ultimately, I like the Austin law for two reasons: 1) it has the future in mind by encouraging energy conservation, and; 2) it doesn’t force owners to make recommended repairs. Let the free market determine what happens to each home. Stick with enforcing laws and codes on new construction.

What do you think? Send me an email and let me know.

When the judges for our 2009 Excellence Awards couldn’t stop talking about one of the contest entries a few weeks ago in our offices, it caught my attention. Several times during the day — as the project was passed from judge to judge — conversations would start up again and again about how awesome this house is; What a great job the builder did; How it perfectly addresses the homeowners’ needs.

It was so good, the judges discussed giving it best-in-show recognition, even though we don’t have a Best-In-Show award. So, they talked about creating one, but ultimately decided to table any action until they had time to thoughtfully develop rules and requirements for such an award. The judges — two builders, two architects and an interior designer — control who wins what, so their decision was final.

However, they never said anything about giving the project exposure on this blog, so I’m going to give you a sneak peek at the project that got the judges so worked up. The project won the Vacation Home category. Here are some stats:

Location: Texas
Size: 1,300 sq. ft. (perfectly sized, the judges said)
Cost: $260,000
Builder: Laughlin Homes and Restoration
President: Richard Laughlin

Now, here are a few photos of this perfectly sized vacation home the judges liked so much (click image for larger version). Enjoy, and look for the rest of the winners in our July/August 2009 issue.