Drought Season

If you've been paying attention to the news, the Korean peninsula is facing the worst drought in 100 years. India's water shortage is so severe that some hospitals have canceled surgeries. Closer to home, much of the western United States is experiencing drought conditions.

Wasting water only makes the dire situation worse. An invisible and soundless toilet leak can leach away hundreds of gallons -- or even thousands, if you're this resident. So what can we do to help the situation?

The LeakAlertor, which made its debut in 2009, detects silent and invisible toilet leaks. It electronically monitors your toilet and notifies you visually and audibly when the flapper is leaking. It can't bring water to a parched region, but it can help conserve water that's already there before it literally gets flushed down the toilet.

How do you conserve water? Let us know in the comments.

Behind The Scenes at nth Solutions: The Sales Extraordinaire

(Blogger’s note: n^th Solutions boasts a crop of resourceful, skilled personnel.  Here’s a glimpse of one of our many talented staffers.)

His job might be a lot easier if n^th Solutions sold products to the big box stores.  But with his jovial demeanor, distinctive Philly accent and offbeat humor, he provides tailor-made solutions for the independent retailers he serves.

His name is Bob Klein, and he’s n^th’s national sales manager.  He’s been in sales pretty much since birth, at least that’s how he tells it.

“Remember insurance debits?” he says, referring to insurance where a premium may be collected on a weekly basis. “My father was in sales and he’d drive around each week collecting insurance debits.When I was a little kid I would ride with him and keep his books. My mother worked in sales at Penn Fruit.”


The Penn Fruit Company, a regional Philadelphia and Baltimore grocery chain, gave Bob his start.He worked as a grocery clerk starting at age 15.But he didn’t even attend his high school graduation – he was already on his way to Coast Guard basic training.


“I joined the Coast Guard because they weren’t going to Vietnam,” he says, wryly. “Guess where I ended up?”


Sure enough, the USCGC Morgenthau sailed to Vietnam in 1968, and Bob, a newly-minted cook, went with it.


“I cooked for the LORAN stations (navigation systems for ships and aircraft) and watched the C-130s do touch-and-gos as they dropped us supplies,” he says, excitedly fidgeting in his chair.“They’d shove out the skids of supplies out the back of the plane and by the time we were getting the stuff they’d be gone.”


After stints on the USCGC Eagle and USCGC Tamaroa, Bob got out of the Coast Guard in 1972 and went on to college, earning his degree in food marketing from St. Joseph’s University.


“My goal was to stay in (grocery) stores, but Penn Fruit went out of business,” he muses.


His first sales job out of school was selling kosher meats.But it’s his 15 years with Johnson Wax that cemented his sales skills: he won top salesperson of the year for the United States twice and once was a runner-up for top sales manager worldwide.Beside Johnson Wax, he’s worked for 7 Up Corporate, Wells Lamont, Hercon Laboratories and Aptiv.But at n^th he’s called the Bug Man for his years selling Raid pesticides.


“I never missed a Raid objective in 15 years,” he says proudly.


And he loves to tell wacky stories from his many sales calls.
“One time I walked into a store and the employees made me put on a pair of rubber boots before I could see the store buyer.I ended up pitching him while he was slaughtering cows!” he says, chortling. “The buyer told me that he bought from me because I stood there and didn’t throw up!”

With that kind of persistence, it’s easy to see why Bob is an important part of the n^th Solutions team.

Bob climbs the rigging on the USCGC Eagle.

Bob's Big Jump - "swim call" in Bermuda off of the Eagle.

USCGC Morgenthau in New York. Note the construction of the Twin Towers in the background.

Stinkin' Up The News - Thursday Edition

Here are a few news tidbits about the shield-shaped invaders, gathered from various sources.

Students go buggy at the school play:

http://articles.glendalenewspress.com/2012-04-06/news/tn-gnp-0407-bugz-invade-keppel-school-in-glendale_1_stink-bug-federal-grant-arts-magnet

An Ashburn, Va., resident speaks out against cutting programs that include stink bug education:

http://www.leesburg2day.com/opinion/letters/article_463e4798-8259-11e1-8a83-001a4bcf887a.html

The brown marmorated stink bug’s pest partner in crime, the kudzu bug, terrorizes Georgia:

http://www.neighbornewspapers.com/stories/Kudzu-bugs-leaving-Paulding-in-a-stink,183295?content_source=&category_id=6&search_filter=&event_mode=&event_ts_from=&list_type=&order_by=&order_sort=&content_class=&sub_type=&town_id=&page

Allentown and The Great Hitchhiker

When we talk about stink bugs, we often speak of them as an invasive species.  Outside, they decimate whatever agriculture they can nibble on, causing millions in crop damage and drawing the ire of farmers.  Inside, they make themselves a nuisance to homeowners with their haphazard, clumsy flight and noxious odor.  Yes, it’s easy to feel invaded.  But stink bugs may view themselves more like biological tourists – they must have really liked the song “Allentown” by Billy Joel, because they felt they needed to stow away aboard a cargo container from Asia in the late 1990’s and see this mystical Pennsylvania town for themselves.  Watch the stink bugs’ American adventure unfold in our newest video: The Great Hitchhiker.

All joking aside, stink bugs have spread quickly to 36 states in the last few years. They’ve taken a shine to the warmer climates, and are rapidly expanding throughout the southeastern United States.  It’s there that farmers grow tons of tasty snacks that are perfect for stink bugs – soybeans, for one.  Stink bugs will also be happy to take up residence in the Midwest’s Corn Belt, since corn is a choice morsel for stink bugs.

Our main concern is homeowners: people driven absolutely batty by the smelly, shield-shaped invaders.  Whether they’re flying into your hair, crawling on your toddler or dive-bombing you while you sleep, we want to help.  Feel free to email us or interact with us on Twitter.

Why U.S. Manufacturing?

In his third State of the Union address, President Obama emphasized the importance of American manufacturing.  Political affiliations and ideologies aside, the topic of American innovation and manufacturing is especially important to us at n^th Solutions.

“Proudly and 100% Made in the USA” isn’t a tagline we toss around lightly.  It’s the core of our business.  Because we manufacture all of our products at our Exton, Pa., facility, we can deliver product into the marketplace quickly.  (No waiting for the slow boat from Asia!)  We can maintain tight quality control, and best of all, employ American workers and keep jobs here.  We’d rather hire several workers at a fair wage than produce a lower-cost item in a foreign factory with dubious working conditions.  And it’s better for the environment to source and ship material domestically.  Check out our Made in the USA video on Youtube!

Some say that shifting manufacturing overseas would be more cost-effective.  Yes, it would be cheaper, but the long term benefits of retaining domestic manufacturing can’t be denied.

What do you think about manufacturing in the United States?  If you were president, how would you go about improving the economy?  Let us know in the comments, or catch up with us on Twitter.

Spring Stink Bug Infestation Facts

In September 2011, after several years of research and development, n^th Solutions introduced The Original Indoor Stink Bug Trap – the first in its line of stink bug control products.

Pennsylvania is ground zero for the Brown Marmorated Stink Bug, an invasive species from Asia.  But stink bugs aren’t just hanging out in Pennsylvania.  Instead, stink bugs are rapidly migrating across the country, eager to snack on the country’s rich agriculture.  They become an indoor pest as they invade homes and businesses first in the fall when they look to overwinter (sort of like hibernating), and again in the spring when they trek back outside.

In the last few weeks, stink bugs have started to come out of overwintering in the Mid-Atlantic region.  They’ve become a nuisance to homeowners as they make their way outside to feed, mate and lay eggs.  And the media have increasingly covered the stink bug infestation as consumers get more irritated by the invasive pest.

What’s a homeowner to do?  The easiest, no-gimmick way to get rid of stink bugs is to place an Original Indoor Stink Bug Trap where you see the most stink bugs inside.  Attics are often a prime hiding place for the bugs, too.  You can see our easy setup video here.

Of course, if you prefer communing with the smelly, shield-shaped intruders, feel free to “be one with nature” and practice stink bug yoga.