Warren Buffett is not only rich, but very smart (a significant reason why he is also the former!). He is competent but humble, and he does business, not because it makes him rich, but because he loves a challenge, he loves to work, and he loves to see himself progress in ways that don't just have a dollar amount attached to it. Like his buddy Bill Gates, money is simply the by-product of passionately and tenaciously pursuing a worthy goal--it is little wonder then that they are so pro-active about their philanthropic efforts, because money is not their main objective!

People that are truly successful as a human being are givers before they get rich (if they even get rich at all), because they understand one key aspect of societal transactions that can be commonly missed by capitalistic greed, and that is something called VALUE.

As Mr. Buffett often says, “Price is what you pay. Value is what you get.” Sometimes we spend more than we need to, just to make a statement about our supposed (but false) wealth. While standardizing and assigning monetary value to goods and services is necessary for a capitalist growth economy, it should never be the sole decider, incentive, or aspect of something's value. Indeed, if we as employees, employers, or business people only ever gave to our work what something is "worth" in dollars, then genuine and heartfelt acts of service and kindness--the things that really enrich life--would seldom occur, if at all.

You might work at minimum wage, or (especially in a period of a relative slow economy) not be getting paid what you feel you are "worth," but that should never stop you from adding value and utility or happiness to your tasks and to your working environment.

With our snow guards and with our free consultation services, we really do aim to give you the best price possible, but more importantly, we try to give you the best value possible too. Our products speak for themselves--they look good, they are tough and durable, and they out-perform competitors in practice; but we aim also to provide you with a transaction experience that shows we care about your roof, your project, your property, and your peace of mind. Price is simply a number, but value--that's a way of living!

Pictured above is Warren Buffett's very nice, but still modest home. He purchased it in 1958 for just $31,500 (about $250,000 in today's money), and insists that one's wealth is determined by value and values rather than figures. Read more in this Huffington Post Article.

Normally the two words "drift" and "roof" to folks in our trade would create a picture of prevailing winds forcing a snow drift to bank its weight on one particular part of the roofing structure, creating a stress point for the building, and additional liability for any objects below that might get damaged by a pending ice or snow avalanche. However, to the rest of the world, "drift" and "roof" probably bring up an image of four smartly dressed African-Americans singing soothing tunes--that's right, the classic "Up on the Roof" by the Drifters!

As the above image illustrates, knowing the wind patterns around your structure can be an important factor in determining how many snow guards you need to place, and where they need to be placed, as to give the best and most efficient protection for your property. Of course, evenly spreading them out everywhere will do the trick too, although this could be wasteful if certain parts of the roof do not require guards.

Anyway, as important as calculating all of this might be, remember to take a few minutes today to break away from the worries of the world, and find your "roof" so you can look at life from a different vantage point, and better appreciate it when you come back down. Take time to relax, Up on the Roof.

"Gutted!" Not a word commonly used here in the states, but an appropriate one that might describe your feelings of despair when you discover your gutters have been bent, overloaded, torn off or otherwise damaged by uncontrolled avalanching of snow and ice!

As spring approaches it is important to ensure your gutters are working and functioning correctly so that rain water can flow easily and out of the way, so if you have a problem, best get it sorted asap!

Oh, and by the way, "gutted" is a British colloquialism used very often in such moments as in the picture above. Make sure you're not gutted at your gutters this season!

Yesterday marked the beginning of the Chinese Lunar New Year festival and celebrations for over a billion people worldwide. If you are turning 12, 24, 36, 48, 60, 72, 84, 96, 108 or 120, then this year of the snake should be a prosperous one for you! Just as a point of interest, it is not just the Chinese that celebrate the Lunar New Year but the Koreans, Japanese, Vietnamese, Mongolians, and several other nations as well, in addition of course to the ex-pat communities of these cultures worldwide.

So, in the spirit of Asian-inspired new beginnings, we thought we'd show you an image of some rather grandiose looking roofs from the forbidden city in Beijing, China. One of our staff spent several months living, working, and studying in the region a couple of years back and found the roof design and architecture to be quite unique and appealing. However, although snowfall in most parts of China does not rival the conditions of America's snow country, there is certainly still a clear need for snow guard and roof protection in the area, where ice commonly builds during the winter. Check out this crazy video below of a rather uniquely patterned fall of snow and ice avalanche in China: