One adage you’ll hear from some salespeople is that “he who speaks first loses.” A friend and sales consultant, Drew Cameron, tells me there shouldn’t be any losers. I agree, but talking too much is definitely a detriment to success - and to getting any rest on a plane.

Examine thoroughly the profiles of students that earned scholarships awarded by the Plumbing-Heating-Cooling Contractors-National Association (PHCC) Education Foundation and its industry partners. Believe it or not, more than $100,000 in scholarships was handed out this year.

Our parents are to blame for the lack of interest in the HVAC trade. That thought was reinforced by a very good book that I just finished reading, titled boys adrift by Leonard Sax, M.D., Ph.D. I thank my friend, Mike Beaver, an HVAC contractor from South Carolina for the recommendation.

The fifth fuel, as it is referred to in environmental circles, is energy efficiency. Oil and gas dependency is old school. Who wants to be at the mercy of the Middle East, Russia, or Hugo Chavez? A single bomb dropped on Iran will make $100/barrel oil look cheap - so says my chief energy advisor, who must remain anonymous lest he start charging me for stock tips.

It would be great if this much-needed industry (hey, everyone needs to be cool inside, warm inside, and refrigeration, right?) could duplicate the successful American advertising campaign created by the advertising agency Goodby Silverstein & Partners for the California Milk Processor Board in 1993, which was later licensed for use by milk processors and dairy farmers.

Now you see it, now you don’t. I’m talking about copper. One minute the tubing is there and the next minute it is not. Copper thieves are as common as bees on honey, as flies on… Oh well, you get my drift.

I just saw a comment from a visitor to www.achrnews.com that accused our magazine of being “a shill for the manufacturers.” I think he was only partially correct. He should have said The NEWS is a “shill” for the industry and I would have been honored.

I have to take time out to congratulate HVAC instructor Robert Stringham and some of his thoughtful students at Edison Academy in Alexandria, Va. Stringham, students, and some staff members were scheduled to put on their third (and final) carbon monoxide awareness workshop Saturday (Oct. 27) at the Lowe’s store in nearby Woodbridge, Va.

As the HVAC world becomes ever-more enveloped in the green wave, it seems that the focus of many companies is on environmental concerns. No problem with that. However, what about refrigerants? The HCFC changeover that begins in 2010 has actually already begun.

I give up. I surrender. Technology has beaten me down. I am coming out of my Baby Boomer closet and admitting that I cannot keep up with the tech wars.