By John Gaudio,

Last Tuesday, March 16th, 2010, in just under five hours Keeley and Sons installed this thirty seven foot composite bridge over Little Canteen Creek in Fairview Heights IL.  The bridge was built in Denver, Colorado by Infrastructure Composites International, and trucked to Illinois late last year.  It consists of four sections, two of which include integrated guard rails.  See link below for more photos.

The bridge was built using Infrastructure Composites' proprietary large cell honeycomb technology, developed by John Kunz, one of the owners of Infrastructure Composites, and his father Ben Kunz.  This makes it possible to create bridges with remarkable strength at weights typically 75-85% less than traditional steel or concrete bridges, making the installation of a complete bridge much faster, easier, and less expensive, when compared to the installation of typical bridges.  Pre fabricated bridges like these have a projected lifetime of 50-75 years, and can be installed at the site in one day.  This avoids lengthy road shutdowns, traffic disruption, and the high costs associated with both.

This technology can also be used to put new decks on older bridges, making it possible to re-rate those older bridges for a much greater traffic load than that for which they were originally designed, and solving a common problem with bridges built decades ago for lower load ratings.  Why can these bridges be re-rated?  Because the existing structure now has to support only 15-25% of the static deck load for which it was originally designed, leaving a great deal more capacity for increased traffic loads, and eliminating the need for a new bridge. This makes for huge savings, not only in money, but in time, and labor as well, when compared with the cost of replacing existing bridges with conventional steel and concrete technologies.

Infrastructure Composites can be reached at 858-537-0715.
 
(Disclosure: I have known John Kunz for over 20 years, own a small amount of stock in Infrastructure Composites International, and provide photo, video, and Internet marketing services for the company.  Please contact me at 303-870-1044 if you need similar services.)

By John Gaudio,

I was pleasantly surprised to see Colorado Biz Magazine publish this excellent article by Diane Schwenke on government interference in business.  Colorado Biz Magazine lost considerable credibility in my eyes when it endorsed Barack Obama for president, along with his big government and anti business policies.

To see even this lone article making the point that big government is not a friend either of business or the people, is a refreshing and positive thing.  I hope it demonstrates a shift in the right direction at Colorado Biz Magazine, when it comes to issues of government interference both with business, and with the will of the people of Colorado.

Some of the "unforeseen" consequences, of this legislation were foreseen by many of us.  Please check out my January post on these new and unconstitutional taxes.

Dennis Prager puts it quite eloquently.  The larger the government, the smaller the citizen.

Precinct caucuses are this Tuesday.  Please take the time to get out and help choose great candidates so we will have good choices in November.  Then, let November be the month we tell our politicians, and some of our Supreme Court Justices, in no uncertain terms, that we, the people of Colorado, will not stand for this governmental abuse.

Also, if you're an entrepreneur interested in business, please check out EntConnect, a conference/retreat coming up later this month.

John Gaudio, john@gaudio.com  303-870-1044

By John Gaudio

Do we follow conservative principles and preserve the finest health care system in the world, or do we settle for socialized medicine by following Barack Obama, Nancy Pelosi, and Harry Reid, as they attempt to replace our outstanding health care system with socialized medicine?  That is the debate we face, and face again, as the socialist leadership of the Democratic party tries to shove Obama Care down our throats.  We must tirelessly debate our liberal friends, neighbors, and politicians, pointing out the fatal flaws in their logic, and stopping Obama Care in its tracks.

Buy this 77 minute debate, and learn from the best, Hugh Hewitt, how to debate your liberal friends.  Hugh is a master at asking questions, then letting his liberal opponent make the conservative case for him.  Hugh debates in a pleasant and respectful manner, allowing a friendly exchange of ideas in which liberals can learn for themselves the flaws in Obama's plan.  Hugh takes the offensive without being offensive.  That makes him a powerful voice in this debate, but Hugh's voice alone is not enough.

Each of us must take the time and make the effort to speak out at every opportunity.  Learn from this video, and share what you've learned.  Play it for your church group, your Home Owner's Association, your Prager Fan Club, your family, and your friends.

Hugh lays out the case beautifully, and even liberal law professor, Paul Campos, makes it clear that he is not supporting President Obama's specific legislation, so much as the proposition that serious health care reform is needed.  Both men do a fine job educating and entertaining us, and now it's our turn to educate those around us.  Please listen to the opening statements at left, then order the video to learn more of what you can say to convince your friends, neighbors, and elected officials, that, as Hugh Hewitt says, "Obama Care is to Health Reform what Acorn is to Child Protective Services.   It does not work!"

We thought the battle was over when the people of Massachusetts elected Scott Brown 41 to fill "the people's seat" and cast the 41st vote required to stop Obama Care, but Obama, Pelosi, and Reid now threaten to use the nuclear option to oppose the will of the people.  Please contact your Senators and Representatives now.  Tell them that we do not want to be a socialist country, that we do not want socialized medicine, that we will strongly support the opponents of any elected official that tries to force this upon us, and that we, the people, will ultimately prevail.

According to Hugh Hewitt's article last Friday, this battle will be won or lost in The House.  Check out the list in Hugh's article to find contact information for your Congressman, and make the call to voice your opinion.

Then get this video at the Hugh Hewitt store, and learn the fine points, directly from Hugh Hewitt, of how to debate a liberal, and stop Obama Care in its tracks.

By John Gaudio, 303-870-1044

Some people say I get carried away, but I don't think shooting 1,994 photos in 4 hours forty one minutes, about seven pictures a minute, is so bad, especially when so many people are having such a great time.  Something I could never have done with a film camera, though it's certainly possible with a modern digital camera.  Last night I shot close to a thousand Moms and sons, with a Nikon D90, Digital SLR camera, and a Nikon Speedlight SB-800 strobe.  I set the D90 for the highest jpeg quality and resolution available, letting me crop the original photos, in some cases making two or three "new" photos from one.  Working with these 5 MB files also allows the creation of sharp clean enlargements up to 30 by 45 inches.

Of course they're not all worth keeping.  One of the secrets to maintaining a reputation as a good photographer is taking lots of pictures, and never letting anyone see the bad ones.  Forty years of practice helps too.  With luck I'll get fifteen hundred usable shots, a hundred or two of which should be excellent.  Now for the task of culling and cropping.  It's a matter of balance, getting rid of any shots that make people look bad, while keeping some less than perfect shots that show Regis' moms and their sons having a wonderful time.  So much for my reputation as a good photographer.  ;-)

I'm a people person, and I love taking photos.  While shooting took just under five hours, culling and cropping will take three to five times that long.  The really hard part though, until now, has been getting the photos to my customers.  What's changed to make that easier?  I've found a new partner that seems to handle display, selection, order taking, printing, and shipping, quite beautifully.

SmugMug, like flickr, photobucket, snapfish, and many other photo sharing sites, makes it possible for me to upload photos, and for my customers to find, download, and print them.  Unlike most of the other photo sharing sites though, SmugMug offers a "Pro" account, letting me use my own URL, YesterdaysPhotos.com, set my own prices, and determine my own profit.  Smug Mug handles fulfillment by effectively making the prints, photo mugs, photo t-shirts, etc. and shipping them to my customers.  I get detailed reports on who's buying what photos, when their photos have shipped, and how much money I make on the transactions.  More on SmugMug in a future post.

In short, I like people, and I've always loved taking their pictures, especially at weddings, Mom Proms, and other events where they're having a wonderful time.  Modern digital cameras, powerful strobes, fast Internet connections, and companies like SmugMug, have come together to make it profitable for me to do what I love.  So please wish me luck on my latest business, http://YesterdaysPhotos.com, let me know if you need an event photographer or videographer to capture the smiles, hugs, dances and fun at your next event, and please, smile if you see me.  I'd love to take your picture.

by John Gaudio,

Andrew Onorato (145) took first place in regional competitions at Cherokee Trail High School yesterday, while John Crowley (160) and Gordie Pisciotta (171) each took second place honors, qualifying them to compete in the State Wrestling Championships next weekend at The Pepsi Center.  Adam Lomas (140) took sixth place.

This year's state tournament will be held February 18, 19, and 20 at The Pepsi Center in Downtown Denver.  See links below for details on ticket sales and other tournament information.

Congratulations to Andrew, John, Gordie, and Adam, and to all the wrestlers who have worked so hard preparing for this competition.  Thanks to Coaches Adam Reid, Wyatt Yates, Jake Herman, Brian Tang, Paul Hooper, and all the assistant coaches, parents, and others who make this wrestling program possible.  Visit links below for more photos.

Go Raiders.  Take state!

by John Gaudio,

Thank you, Audi.  I know it wasn't your primary purpose, but the image you created of the "Green Police" was the greatest advocacy ad I could have imagined, and while I, like you, believe firmly in protecting our environment, I greatly fear what those who want to control our lives might do in the name of conservation.

Cap and Tax appears to be dead, but in addition to those who deliberately lie to us, there are many millions who honestly believe those lies.  We must show these Global Warming / Climate Change / Cap and Trade con games for the frauds that they are.  Your Super Bowl commercial pokes fun at the "Green Police" in a way that should help those who believe "The sky is falling," to look at the real data, and to learn how Al Gore, Nancy Pelosi, and others might try to control our lives.

I've also included the trailer for the movie, "Not Evil Just Wrong", which shows the fallacy of Al Gore's "An Inconvenient Truth", and points out, among other things, that people are more important than birds.  Links below will also help you to learn the truths that Al Gore really finds inconvenient.

Please look at the facts.  Know that Al Gore does not personally practice what he preaches, and recognize the very real danger associated with blindly following those who would control every aspect of our lives, in the name of going Green, and to the loss not only of our freedom, but of our very ability to survive and to thrive.

by John Gaudio,

One of the great thinkers of our time, Dennis Prager, strives for clarity over agreement.  Dennis, and his good friend and producer, Allen Estrin, have created Prager University, a collection of five minute videos on YouTube.  Their motto, "Give us five minutes, and we'll give you a semester."

I've met Dennis on several occasions, and produced a video of his debate last year with self proclaimed Progressive, David Sirota.  "What's Better for America, Liberal or Conservative Ideas?"

Dennis' quote "The Bigger the Government the Smaller the Citizen." reminds me on several levels of one of my other favorite quotes by another outstanding American, Thomas Jefferson, who said nearly two hundred years ago,  "The government is best which governs least,"

God bless them both.