As I write this, the U.S. leads in total medals (82) in the 2008 Summer Olympics. However, China has won more gold medals (45) than the U.S. (26) and Russia (13) combined, and more than the U.S. and Great Britain (26) combined.

The U.S. is expected to gain ground in the gold medal race in basketball, softball, volleyball, and track and field events. Whether it can win the race for gold will be decided by the end of the Olympics this weekend.

So beyond national and individual pride, which are priceless, what are the gold medals actually worth?

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Several events this month have made me feel a tad on edge, at least at first.

First, it was the Olympics. I’m sure many of you saw the opening ceremonies, and like me you probably thought it was quite a spectacle. You probably also remember commentator Matt Lauer’s comment as 2,008 drummers played in unison with amazing precision and ferocity. Paraphrased, he said many American viewers may find such a thing intimidating. That included me.

Scanning manufacturing news at the time, I read a report from the Manufacturers Alliance/MAPI. Daniel Meckstroth, the organization’s chief economist, produced a report stating that though the manufacturing sector had seen a temporary boost, “housing activity continues to worsen, job losses continue, inflation is rampant, credit is more difficult to obtain, and firms remain cautious about capital investments in the United States. We think manufacturing will remain in a slow, shallow, downward trend until early 2009.”

Yeesh.

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I just came back from a 10-day vacation. My wife and I visited England and Ireland for four days each. The trip was fun, but it’s hard to just put your life on hold for an extended period nowadays.

As we slept in our tiny hotel room built for none on the fourth day, I tried not to think about work, but the mind drifted to responsibilities of the job. The FABRICATOR’s fall issues tend to be some of the largest of the year, and plenty of assignments were left incomplete before I jetted away. Additionally, what was I going to write about for this week’s blog.

So in a lame attempt to tie in some of my vacation stories with the world of metal, here I go.

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One of my co-workers always ends her e-mails with a profound one-liner. Her current gem is: Events are less important than our response to them.

My immediate reaction to these words of wisdom was also a one-liner: Truer words were never spoken.

Life is a continual learning process. A lesson that we can't learn too early is that while we can't control everything that happens to us—in our personal lives or at work—we can control how we react. I think it's high time people begin to accept responsibility for their reactions and temper them as necessary—especially now that desk rage is on the rise.

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This week the Center for Automotive Research (CAR) holds its Management Briefing Seminars in Traverse City, Mich. After reading event news trickling onto the Internet, news that includes automotive execs opining away about industry troubles, I’ve come to a conclusion.

They should listen to Eric Borman.

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This post isn't about the dog days of summer, nor is it a list of Paris Hilton's "that's hot" endorsements. Rather it's a glimpse of one metal bending company that has a $7.4 billion backlog of projects—now that's hot.

It also is about the hottest manufacturing sectors in the U.K. And it touches on something that definitely is not hot.

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Hidetsugu Masuda revels as a tour guide.

The president of KantoSeiko Co., Ltd. Group, in Fuji-Gun, Shizuoka Prefecture, isn’t your typical Japanese shop manager. The shop’s main meeting room is lined with photos of customers and other shop managers from Japan and, indeed, around the world who have toured his facility. Each tour is usually a learning experience both for Masuda and his guests.

Last week I was lucky enough to be one of those guests.

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If you missed the headlines last week, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. stepped in and closed the First National Bank of Nevada and First Heritage Bank N.A. last Friday. That comes just about two weeks after the same folks closed the doors on IndyMac bank.

Of course, that led to Treasury prices going up as the public was given one more reason to believe former Sen. Phil Gramm’s “ mental recession” may be manifesting itself in the physical world.

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Confession time. At last year's FABTECH International & AWS Welding Show in Chicago, I had the opportunity, along with several of my co-workers, to try welding. Sue from ESAB graciously invited us to the company's Solutions Tour Truck Booth to suit up and weld under the guidance of a professional welder. Unfortunately, my schedule was so packed that I had to refuse. Right.

Truth is, I'm a little claustrophobic (ask the anesthesiologist who put me under for my recent surgery), and was concerned about wearing a welding helmet, but the main reason I refrained from taking advantage of the opportunity was a four-letter word—fear.

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When I say everyone is worried about rising material prices, it’s not that far of a stretch.

A summer survey of 72 senior-level manufacturing company owners and managers revealed that 93 percent of them consider rising material prices to be the No. 1 cost pressure facing the industry. That’s up from 43 percent in a survey conducted in January.

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