Recipe for [Success]
By Donna Speidel

Baking cakes is one of my hobbies. It has been as long as my children have been having birthdays, and almost as long as I’ve been in the pavement marking industry. A recipe in a magazine back in 1981 inspired the first wedding cake creation, and I’ve made many since then. That recipe is my all-time favorite chocolate cake; and the magazine is worn and spattered. But when someone asks for chocolate, it’s my go-to choice.

I think I can recite it by heart: 6 eggs, 4 cups of flour, 2 tsp baking powder, 1 tsp of salt, ½ tsp baking soda, 2 cups of sugar, and 1 cup of water... It serves 150 people, 3-tiers, complete with fondant. It’s lovely.

But it’s not the recipe that’s the biggest challenge. Sure, I have to carefully review all of the ingredients so I don’t forget the salt (I’ve done that too many times), but the biggest challenge lies in the details.

Baking a tiered cake for 150 people takes about two days from start to finish. But the project is only half done at that point. There is an equal amount of time and even more effort required to pay attention to the details of décor. It’s an art form, and it’s why you parents of daughters out there shell out big bucks for wedding cakes.

Putting the finishing touches on a cake always compels me to draw parallels to painting markings on the airfield. It’s really no wonder then why I consistently suggest resident/consulting engineers spend project dollars to properly inspect marking applications and protect their organizations. High quality markings do not happen by accident; they are the icing on the cake.

Perception is reality: markings can make or break your project. Try making Sightline’s expert inspection services part of your design, and you’ll quickly see its value as an ingredient in your recipe for success.

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