As many of us know, the terms “legal” and “ethical” are not necessarily synonymous. How many times have we read the paper and wondered how someone managed to get away with something simply because it was not technically against the law. I am not, of course, saying that laws are arbitrary. I am simply saying that laws are designed to be completely impersonal, unemotional and followed to the letter. Morals, or ethics, on the other hand, are a little gray around the edges. Morals are deeply personal and they can vary from individual to individual. 

I am not a hunter, which places me as a minority in my family. Living with a family of hunters and huntresses, though, has given me a small insight into the sport. Even though people can go hunting together, it is not a team sport, and the goal is not to score the most points. Hunting is usually a much more personal matter than other sports. The motivation behind hunting differs for each person and the feelings that are evoked are often unexplainable. Just as with other sports, there are certain rules that need to be followed if you do not want to get kicked off the court. With hunting, however, these rules are just the beginning of right and wrong. 

There are different types of ethical hunting standards, including fair chase, but these are not black and white rules, they are guidelines based on the individual hunter’s moral compass, comfort level and abilities. 

Not long ago, I read a blog entry called Would You Shoot One? on Arthur’s Simply Outdoors blog. The question referred to an albino deer. Would you shoot an albino deer if you had the opportunity? There was no right or wrong answer, this is simply one example of the many questions that hunters may or may not have to answer based on their own comfort level and internal code of ethics. There are, however, other situations, while not technically illegal, are generally accepted as a rule among hunters and huntresses.  For example, it is generally considered unethical to leave a wounded animal. Even if you must track the animal for hours on end, it is usually the only moral course of action to take after wounding an animal.

So, now that I have written my thoughts on the subject, what are yours? Are there any actions that, while not technically legal, are not exactly ethically correct either, in your opinion?

I am interested in hearing everyone’s feedback.

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Recently my customers have been asking me about Pole Barns and what makes them inferior to a complete steel structure.  A Pole Barn is a building that uses wood poles or wood posts inserted into the ground to form the side walls and wood trusses for the roof.  Steel sheeting covers the walls and roof and is always a poorer quality and in a very thin gauge of steel.  Some of the disadvantages are: 

 - Poles are set directly into the earth and offer no resistance to flood and frost heaving.  Because the foundation frame members shift, pole barns may have to be straightened every 5-7 years at an additional cost.

 - Pressure treated wood warps and shrinks, it’s not recommended for permanent installations.  Pressure treated wood is poisonous and unsanitary and is not recommended for livestock.

 - Property and fire insurance is higher annually for pole barns.

 - Usually no assembly documents, plans or blueprints are available.  This usually causes problems when obtaining permits or assembling large or complex buildings.  Parts are not usually numbered or sorted, causing assembly problems on even small pole buildings.  Assembly involves “many hours” of tedious sorting, cutting and fitting of material.

 - Pole barns may have to have sheeting reattached regularly and painted often.  The steel being in contact with wood makes it more likely to rust.  Some pole barns may have to be completely re-sheeted every 7-10 years.

 - Class A fire rating — The lowest resistance to fire hazard.  Pole barns are not recommended for public use.  Pole barns meet only the most lenient code standards for permanent structures.  They are prohibited in many zoning districts.   

If you would like to discuss the advantages of our buildings, call me at 1 (800) 668-5111 Ext. 268.
 

Kevin Parke

Feeling a little sad over the neglect that this blog has been experiencing, I have invited a couple of more authors to start participating. They are very knowledgeable about Future Steel Buildings specifically and metal building kits and the steel building industry in general. Hopefully they will start posting soon (hint hint, in case they are reading). I will continue posting of course so don’t expect me to go away!

Our sister company is down a person in their marketing department so I have been pulling double duty. Of course that means my upkeep of this blog has been suffering a teensy bit and for that I am sorry. Plus blogging is the fun part of the week so I am VERY sorry!

I did, however, come across a very cool video. What would you do if you found a ginormous alligator in your kitchen? Call 911 of course. Here is a video of the alligator capture and a voiceover of the 911 message.

‘There’s an alligator in my kitchen’

Argh. And the bad news keeps on coming. Jim Shockey, the author of North American Hunter’s “Shock Therapy” is retiring his column. The April/May issue out right now will be his last run.

Pardon my language but that is really sucky. Every month I really look forward to reading about the latest adventures of Mungus and humorous run-ins with Wifezilla. Plus I get to read it for free and at work because, like his column, the Future Steel Buildings ad is always in the back of North American Hunter. If anyone catches me reading about Mungus at work and looks at me accusingly, I get to haughtily flash the Future Steel ad and look at them like “Why are you interrupting my important market research?” Then, if it is not my boss, I can sniff for added effect.

Ah well, I guess everyone should get to retire sometime. Besides, I can still go to his website, www.jimshockey.com, and he also has an - I will assume - funny book out. Maybe I will pick that up if I start suffering from withdrawal next month.

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