Buckeye Mike

Another very busy week at work found me at my office this morning, trying to catch up on some paperwork and get organized before the new week begins Monday. Having so many projects going at once means that it is very difficult to find desk time during normal business hours and, when I do, the constant interruptions still prevent me from getting much accomplished. I get more administrative tasks accomplished in a few hours on Saturday morning than I do the rest of the week. As I sat punching in line items on a large fire estimate this morning, one of my colleagues walked into the office to get a little catch up done himself. A seasoned technician, Patrick is currently a project manager in training and we discussed the transition and everything that comes with it. The other project manager, AJ, and I are both anxious to get him fully up to speed, believing that having a third fully functional pm will take a great deal off of our own plates. Similar to me, Patrick came from the restau...

First, allow me to introduce myself. My name is Michael Slusher and I am the Fire Project Manager at PuroClean Restoration Experts in Blacklick, Ohio. I have been writing a blog for about two and a half years. It started when I was overseas, in Santiago, Chile, running a disaster restoration project in the aftermath of a strong earthquake. Originally I began posting here as a way for my family and friends to stay up to date on how I was doing and the progress we were making. But the blog took off from there, giving me the opportunity to journal my experiences and thoughts so I can look back in the years ahead and see where the path has taken me. I shared most posts, and encourage you to go back though the archives and read a few. Some will make you laugh, some will make you cry, and some will convince you that I am just a little crazy. But no matter your reaction, I hope you will enjoy as I now share my thoughts with the people who like our work on facebook, as well as with my loyal re...

A few weeks ago, just before I was settling in to watch a Reds game, the sound went out on the TV. Not that this is a momentous occasion, as the TV wasn't on all that much anyway. With each of the boys having their own set in their rooms, the big one in the den was only watched when Tiffany kicked me out of the bedroom because she was not interested in watching baseball. Never the less, we put a new one in the budget and ordered it last week from Walmart's online store. And yesterday, I got my text that it was ready at the Morse Road store, a few miles from home. My Walmart experience today was probably not unlike many of your own over the years. I made my way through the maze of a parking lot, finally finding a place about 6.72 miles from the front door. I took my online ticket to the service desk and no one was there. I waited a minute or so. The phone on the desk rang and a girl came around to answer. She held up her index finger to show me it would be just a minute and an...

I like helping people, I really do. Taking someone by the hand at ten o' clock at night after their house just burned down and assuring them we can make it all better is one of the greatest feelings in the world. Handing someone a dollar out of the console of the car at a stop light is a no brainer. Giving back a little of the good fortune I have been blessed with is easy when you grew up with the parents I did. The examples the instilled in me are a part of my core values and a major part of what I teach the boys. Its all about Karma. All about paying it forward. So when we were fortunate enough to land an entire inventory of clothing and blankets, we were excited about being able to help out on a larger scale. As we sorted the clothing in the basement, we realized there were a lot of things that the shelters probably wouldn't take. Rabbit fur coats, wedding dresses, and Alfani leather jackets aren't typically something you see a homeless person wearing. So we decided to...

Have you ever been destitute? Really in a place where there is not a lot of hope and you are not even sure where your next meal is coming from or how you are going to come in out of the rain at night? A lot of you have fallen on hard times at one point or another in life, just as I have. Many times I have had to scrape up or borrow money just to buy a gallon of milk, a loaf of bread, or to put enough gas in my car to make it to work, not sure how I was going to make it home. I can remember my mother, even at the end of her life when she did not have to worry about money, rolling change at the kitchen table because she had done it all her life. Certainly many people who read this can relate. But I am talking about truly down and out, with no signs of things getting better. Over the last 18 months, my blogs have come to you sparingly. I have been busy making a life with Tiffany. She changed my world when she walked into Tailgaters Bar and Grill for a blind date on April 4 of last year....

To say the last 3 weeks have seemed like total chaos would be an understatement. What started as a date night for me and my sweetheart on June 29th has turned into little sleep, lots of work, and even some pain mixed in. As we headed to BW3 that Friday night, I saw the storm clouds rolling in. Knowing that our water division manager, AJ, was headed to North Carolina for vacation, I told Tiffany that if the pouring rains and gusty winds led to flooded basements, it would be a busy weekend. We ordered our wings and waited for them to arrive, all the while chatting and flirting like we did when we first met. Until the phone rang. The boss. Ugh. Fifteen minutes later I was en route to a Staples store. Having lost a big part of their roof in the storm, I was in full commercial project mode when I dropped Tiffany off at Gant's Pizza (her cousins own it, fantastic stuff, you should try it). This is what I do. Coordinate resources and assemble teams to get this retail store back open f...

I do not pretend to be anything I am not. Sure there was a time when all I wanted was for people to like me and see me as a good guy. I would turn into a chameleon depending on the day or mood or company I was keeping at any given time. But now, not so much. The failures, mistakes, moments of weakness, and episodes that found me flat on my face or ass changed me. Not in a hard way, but in a very positive, this is who I am and if you do not like it oh well kind of way. Feeling as though I am really in a groove in life is a great way to wake up every morning. From reporting to a job I love to spending my evenings with my boys and a cute little red headed girl, it is a good time to be me. I have been counting the days since everything changed and I found myself on the path I always believed I should be on. Today is day # 472. And while I cannot wait to hit 1000 days and beyond, I savor each one today as though it was the first or last. I think that is why I do not blog as much anymore...