Driving Safely

For me, it’s been a very long winter for a lot of reasons. I feel like it has been the toughest winter in recent memory. As we move into Spring I’m hoping for good things, and one thing that’s heavy on my mind is driving safety. One of the tough events of this winter happened for almost no reason at all, but had tragic consequences. I’m not going to elaborate in this post, but I want you all to know that even the smallest situation on the road can become deadly in an instant.

As we sleep our way to work every morning, various things happen around us. There’s good weather. Bad weather. Someone in the vehicle passing us is surfing TikTok. Someone cuts you off. You cut someone off. Road rage. Look…..a squirrel! A testament of how many varying possibilities and challenges happen while we are driving, is the fact that self-driving cars are taking so long to develop. While human drivers are wildly inadequate, computers have yet to do better.

While we wait for computers to catch up, it’s important for all of us to do a better job than we do now. While technology has introduced more multitasking into our lives, it has also introduced more challenges and dangerous situations, especially on the road. An example is the fact that my motorcycle can send and receive text messages if I’m wearing a helmet with a headset. To me, this is great (but DEADLY) technology!

Almost all newer vehicles have the ability to use the power of a smart phone while going down the road. We can listen to music or podcasts, send and receive text messages, follow interactive maps to our destinations, and talk to people on the phone. The blatant truth is, every one of these capabilities is also a death defying distraction. They all take our attention away from the road.

Another essential driving skill is one you rarely hear about: RESPECT. While driving, it’s important to respect other drivers on the road, even if (in your opinion) they’re being dumb. Maybe they are being dumb. The best thing you can do is give them space to be dumb, so they don’t hurt you or someone else. It’s also important for you to not be dumb, and hope someone gives you space if you are.

A little courtesy goes a long way on the road. If you’re going slower than traffic, get out of the left lane. Be patient with the truck driver who is forced to a lower speed limit than everyone else. Remember that road rage kills people way too often, and you could be one of them!

One of the things that has always amazed me is, when you’re going south in Michigan and cross into Ohio, suddenly the road is a calmer place. Even people with Michigan plates are suddenly calm and polite. When you’re coming back north, even people with Ohio plates are suddenly disrespectful jerks like everyone else! It’s a sign that we can do better.

Final thought: While you’re driving, keep your eyes focused way ahead of the vehicle in front of you. By doing that, you’ll be surprised by events on the road less often. You’ll have fewer panic stops, and less risk of of a bad situation. Also, if you’re focused half a mile ahead, you’ll also be aware of everything happening along that half mile.

Thank you for listening. For our parting shot, check out Dynamic Custom Services performing roof joist reinforcement at a local department store:

Evolution

Evolution is important in nature. Stronger, more adaptable organisms tend to thrive and move on. Weaker, less adaptable organisms tend to become extinct. The same is true in the business world. Situations arise that require adaptation, sometimes quickly. The COVID situation is a good example. In nothing flat, businesses had to make decisions to change, based on almost no information. In many cases those decisions dictated whether businesses would survive. Today we are still seeing results of decisions made in March 2020 and after.

Sometimes, smaller things happen that cause an entrepreneur to think outside the box, and see an opportunity to take their business in a new direction. I’ve done it plenty of times along the way, and will probably do it again.

A good example is an ongoing situation we’re working through. There’s a beautiful tall building with an exterior fire escape that’s pushing 100 years old. We were asked to verify condition of the fire escape and find a path to repair and maintain it. Visual inspection revealed a few things that needed attention, but what we couldn’t see was condition of the anchor bolts holding the structure onto the building.

I got in touch with several companies who do ultrasonic testing, and nobody wanted to do the testing or take the time to send me a quote. It was a frustrating few weeks, but I had to get creative in order to help our customer make wise decisions.

I finally decided we needed to figure out if we could do the work ourselves, and be able to attain reliable information quickly. It wasn’t easy, but I was able to get educated on ultrasonic testing basics, and acquire the equipment needed. We spent quite a bit of time learning the equipment, doing experimental testing, and proving to ourselves that we could do the work.

While the work itself was challenging and definitely not a perfect process, we were able to develop a consistent testing routine with reliable results. Long story short, we completed the testing, wrote a good report, and we’re now equipped to do ultrasonic testing.

This is how market conditions can encourage evolution. Who knows? Maybe this is a new direction for us. If nothing else it’s another trick up my sleeve, and as I attain higher levels of certification my confidence will grow. As most of you know, I can do anything I set my mind to, and I’ll continue to evolve.

Cold Weather Thoughts

Now that really cold weather is approaching, it has occurred to me that a lot of people aren’t prepared for it. It’s not necessarily because they don’t know or they haven’t had time. It’s more likely a “ya I know it could happen but I’m doing other things” situation.

I can honestly tell you, from my upbringing in the mountains of Colorado to my military years in Nebraska and Wyoming, not being prepared to inclement weather is a risk to your life. We can sit at home, turn the thermostat up, and make ourselves believe we’re OK, but things can change without warning, and they often do. Let’s talk about common situations a lot of people aren’t prepared for:

It’s 10 below with 30 below wind chill. There’s 18 inches of snow on the ground and your road probably won’t be plowed for 24 hours or more. You’re nice an warm in your house, watching Netflix while the kids play video games. You have a little food in the refrigerator and the electric bill has been paid, so you’re in good shape, right?

Suddenly a Chevy slides off the road and hits a power pole a mile away and knocks out power to the whole neighborhood. Without power, your TV doesn’t work. Worse yet, your furnace doesn’t work! What are you going to do?

Preparation in advance can prevent serious problems later. With a cheap little generator and a little freely accessible knowledge, you can make enough power to run your generator, refrigerator, and a couple of lights…..enough to survive if you have to. It doesn’t cost a lot, but it could save your life.

Next scenario: You own a diesel vehicle. You filled up the tank before the cold snap, and it’s the middle of the night. Nobody is out on the roads, but you have to go check on Grandma. You left without a coat because the heater in your vehicle works really well. You’re out in the middle of nowhere when the engine dies as if it’s out of fuel. Now you have no motion, no way to stay warm. There’s no cell phone service where you are. The clock is ticking.

Again, preparation in advance could save your life. Packing a winter survival kit is cheap and easy and doesn’t take up a lot of space in your vehicle. One thing few people who own diesels think of, is Diesel 911 (or similar). When diesel gets cold it turns to gelatin and becomes so thick a fuel pump can’t pump it. It can happen going down the road, even with a newer vehicle. Worse yet, some gas stations will wait until absolutely necessary to buy “winter blend” fuel, which has anti-gel additives. If you had Diesel 911 in your vehicle, you could pour some in your fuel tank, wait 5-10 minutes, start your vehicle, and keep driving. I’ve done it and it works great….potentially life-saving!

However continuously using Diesel 911 or similar additives could do damage to your engine. Use in case of emergency ONLY.

3rd scenario: You’re driving to check on Grandma. You round a curve and slide off the road, landing in the trees where nobody can see you from the road. The vehicle won’t start, but at least you have enough supplies to survive a few hours. However your cell phone battery is almost dead. Before you call for help, it might be a good idea to change your voicemail message to give your location. That way if the call for help gets dropped anyone trying to call your phone will know your location whether your phone works or not!

I hope these tips are useful to you, and I hope you never need them! None of us will know if you’ll need them until it’s too late, so please be prepared for the worst and hope it never happens!

For our parting shot, check out Adrienne dressed for the weather as we repair a hangar door:

Weekend Warriors

When you’re in the service business, meaning you serve people when their needs arise, a lot of times their needs don’t arise when it’s convenient. Sometimes you can initiate a “temporary fix,” and other times you’re stuck with doing it right when the moment is very inconvenient.

Very early in my military career I learned to always be ready for those inconvenient times, and there have been very few instances where I didn’t at least have a contingency plan in place. I’ve learned to know my customers’ needs, and make sure I could engage a worst case scenario fully prepared.

A typical case began about 5 weeks ago. A truck hit a VERY expensive high performance door at an ambulance facility we’re responsible for. We immediately gathered tools and equipment, and went to assess the problem. After a couple of hours of bending this, straightening that, and programming the door’s computer to be more tolerant of questionable conditions, we managed to make it so the door could be opened in an emergency, and verified the other identical door was going to be fully operational until the manufacturer could send us a new curtain, hardware, and seals. We provided the building owners with instructions as to how to open the broken door in an emergency, and got replacement parts on order.

When replacement parts came in, we reminded ourselves that getting that door operational is a high priority, because if an ambulance can’t get out of that building then someone’s life will be at stake. We got materials and equipment on site that day, which was a Friday, and proceeded to do major surgery on the door the next morning.

Given the complexity of changing a high performance door curtain, especially when it weighs 2200 lbs., there was serious concern about safety, keeping the paint pristine, etc. It was very stressful, but by the end of the day there was a beautiful new door curtain in place, and the door was fully operational, on a Saturday afternoon! The EMT’s literally applauded us and cheered “Many thanks!”

What’s the lesson here? Even if problems can’t be solved overnight, they’re still a priority. Dynamic Custom Services takes pride in our ability to solve problems, and we take EVERY problem seriously!

Call us at 810-522-9002 or reach out using our contact page!

#commercial overhead doors #rollup doors #garage door repair #emergency service

Why Is Dynamic Different?

During my adult life I’ve operated quite a few different businesses. When I was in the Air Force I always had a “side business,” repairing vehicles, welding, repairing computers, building web sites, building internet kiosks (remember that 5 minutes when they were popular?), you name it. After retiring from military life, I only made it a couple of years before I felt the need to be back in business, in charge of my own destiny.


I grew up in a business environment. My parents always had (and still have) various businesses going. It’s really hard to me to think of life in a different way. Yes, I loved my military career, but it was the freedom and challenge of making money other ways that kept me going.

Business hasn’t always been easy and it hasn’t always been fun. Yes, I’ve gotten my butt kicked a few hundred times. On the flip side it’s very gratifying to develop a good relationship with a customer, do a good job for them, and of course make money doing it.

Since we started Dynamic Custom Services, I’ve had quite a few people ask me “Why?”, and “What’s different?” The big WHY is, COVID brought a lot of changes to the business environment, and the construction world in general. Those changes forced us to rethink what’s important, and how to serve the best customers using our best talents. Dynamic Custom Services is our way of doing that.

So what’s different from the past businesses? Everything and nothing all at once. Dynamic Custom Services is more focused than past businesses, and it’s back to being reliant on “mostly me” for the labor/technical side. With Charlene working marketing and management, Adrienne and I can focus directly on serving customers. As the business grows, we’ll be very cautious about who we hire and make absolutely sure they will fit into our team, both talent-wise, and customer service-wise.

While Dynamic Custom Services is primarily focused on exterior access, like overhead doors, architectural fences, gates, access controls, industrial fabrication, metal building repairs, etc., our primary focus is on serving old customers in new ways. We have a lot to offer, and of course we need to have a million conversations with people we’ve known a long time.

Long story short, if you know us and you need help with something, let’s talk about whether your need fits our new business. Odds are good we can help you, and if we can’t we can help you figure out who can.

We’re very optimistic about the future of Dynamic Custom Services! Give us a call at 810-522-9002 or fill out our contact form so we can help you with your future!


First Response Requires a Team

Last Friday I was woken up at 3:30 AM. An ambulance door had broken a cable and wasn’t operable. Of course, that’s not a situation that can typically wait a week to address, so I drug myself out of bed and went to take care of it. That’s NOT where I’m going with this story:

We do a lot of work in support of first responders. We perform maintenance on overhead doors, exterior access doors, aircraft hangar doors, and almost anything else first responders need. We even work on jail cell doors and security gates from time to time! When you think about the importance of a simple door or gate, the conversation becomes critical when it comes to first response. Here’s why:

If the door in question had broken with the ambulance inside the building, and you’re Facebooking your way to work while eating a donut….happen to cut off a semi truck and get smacked….Is that door going to mean the difference between life and death for you or the semi truck driver?

There are things in this world that are easy to ignore. One of them is an ambulance sitting there waiting for you to have a bad day is supported by a whole team of people you’ll probably never meet. At the same time, their focus is on making sure that if you get into a situation they will be able to get you out of it!

Those people procure and maintain the ambulances, make sure medical equipment and supplies are in them. They build and maintain entire buildings and make sure there’s power and heat to keep everything perfect when you’re at your least perfect moment.

They maintain and fly helicopters and airplanes in case you need to be airlifted to a hospital or need an organ transplant. They spend countless hours making sure that fire truck is ready and they are fully trained for you to have a bad day.

They make sure that police car has had it’s oil changed on time, tires rotated and balanced, and it’s equipped to perform a million different tasks.

Yes, we maintain doors and gates and repair the buildings. We’re a very small part of a HUGE team of people who are diligently working to make your day less crappy, and hopefully help you live to see a better day.

Next time you’re rolling down the freeway and have to pull over to let a fire truck and 2 ambulances pass, please put your phone down and be thankful and in awe of the huge effort it has taken for your day to be slightly inconvenienced. THEN, when you get to the scene, make sure you slow down and give first responders room to safely do their jobs!

….And of course it’s important to call Dynamic Custom Services so we can be part of your team too!

What is ButterflyMX?

A lot of people have asked me what ButterflyMX is, and how we ended up choosing them as our main access control supplier. Of course there are hundreds of other ways to control access, and I know how to make most of them work. The hardware and solid infrastructure is easy and semi-standard across most platforms. It’s mostly stuff I learned in 1983 and have improved upon ever since.

First, let’s talk about “why.” Quite honestly, one thing that didn’t exist in 1983 (at least in today’s form) is RFID (Radio Frequency Identification). We have a really good customer who begged me for years to find a way to use RFID to allow their vehicles seamless access into and out of multiple buildings. I contacted several access control companies, including one owned by a close contact. Quite honestly, none of them had time to entertain a new contract, so I had to figure it out myself. Never challenge Gary like that….he’ll put himself into business in nothing flat!

Long story short, I did a lot of research, found a lot of options, and made contact with them all. In the end, we have great contacts with a lot of companies, but ButterflyMX has allowed and encouraged us to become a certified dealer and certified installer. They offer the most reliable and classiest interfaces around, and they support me (as installer) and you (as customer) as if we’re both made of gold! So of course, I’m very excited about dealing with the best.

Now the “what.” ButterflyMX can be interfaced with any access control anywhere, anytime, anyplace that you can get power and internet. With technology like Starlink out there, there almost isn’t a limit! (Isn’t this world a great place?) Of course, wired connections are more reliable and so forth, but there are plenty of ways to make things happen!

ButterflyMX has access controls that range along keypads, temporary/permanent QR codes, video interfaces, NFC (touch a phone, card, badge, etc), and many other ways to allow access. Controls are scalable across a single door or gate all the way up to entire manufacturing plants, communities, or worldwide corporations. They work in both commercial and residential environments.

  • A resident in a condo complex can be on the beach in Florida, and let the plumber in “for an hour” in Michigan.
  • A plant maintenance manager can be signing a customer in the front door while they’re on a forklift in a different building.
  • A security team can manage access to multiple gated properties from multiple locations while they’re patrolling the properties personally! No more sitting at a security gate all night!
  • A homeowner can control access to their property from the comfort of their living room, visually seeing the person wanting access, verifying the need, and opening the gate via video interface. Alternatively they can send Aunt Martha a QR code via text, email, etc., and that QR code can be a onetime use, time limited use, or permanent key, and of course they can revoke access after they taste her apple pie recipe 😉

With ButterflyMX, the range of options is limitless, and Dynamic Custom Services provides the hardware, expertise, and ongoing support you need to put it all together.

When you need to discuss access control, remember ButterflyMX isn’t our only option, but it’s our favorite! Contact Dynamic Custom Services at 810-522-9002 so we can discuss what’s right for you!

New Directions

Those who know me, know that my mind goes a lot of directions in life. I know quite a bit about a million unique things. Those who know my best friend Charlene, know it’s hard to slow her down too. We’ve always been a great team and will continue to be. We’d like to welcome you to the world of Dynamic Custom Services! Dynamic is a new direction for us, and is a culmination of our business experience together. We believe Dynamic will meet needs that the world is screaming for while being easier to manage than our other ventures.

What does Dynamic Custom Services do? We do a lot! Our biggest service involves doors…..Big ones! Commercial overhead doors and aircraft hangar doors are our specialty, AND we are a certified dealer/installer of the coolest cloud based access controls for doors, elevators, and gates on the planet. We are also expanding our service/repair of industrial equipment.

Dynamic Custom Services has a CoPro+ contract, which is available to all government agencies and municipalities in Michigan. Please contact us for more information!

In the meantime, it’s important for us to acknowledge the great people who have cheered us on all these years. Without your support, we truly wouldn’t have made it. The small business world is a very vicious place!

As we move forward, I intend to get back to sending you my monthly thoughts. Thanks again for your ongoing support!

Gary