i come to work and surf the net until 10am (while eating my captain crunch). i then proceed to plan my lunch dates...play some mindbomb...and then go to lunch.
afterwards, i check which games will be on tv that evening...play some tetris (all-the-while double-billing the client)...and then cut out early to go to the gym.
oh...and if real work needs to be done, i'll do that in the evening for paid overtime!
hehehehe
I usually wake up hung over from spending all night drinking warm beer at a random hole in the wall pub. crawl out of bed hating life and contemplating calling in sick for the third time this quarter. take a shower, headache fully setting in. Jump out of the shower freezing and get dressed in whatever half matching outfit I see out of my bloodshot eyes. sit in my car and start the commute where I at least twice think about jerking the wheel into the next building. get to work and see the fake smiles on everyone's faces as they sit idly in front of their glowing screen. Take my seat near the annoying secretary that sounds like she belongs in office space. Watch one of the cad jockeys walk over to the radio and turn on some crappy pop station on a little to loud so it is just annoying enough to put a drill to your head.
Take my ipod out of my pocket, stick in the headphones and relax to whatever music is going to relax me the most at that moment. Take a look at the stack of messages that are next to my phone and contemplate calling people back for all of two seconds until I remember I hate almost all of our clients. Make one or two phone calls and call it a day. Start my computer and spend time staring at outlook trying to figure out what I wrote the day before in my task list. Start AutoCAD and realized it is sucking the life out of me as the Florissant lights above my head are the closest thing to natural light I have seen in days. Do about thirty minutes of work until I cant take it anymore and jump on the internet for about two hours. Most of this time is spent jumping from news sites to architect to see if anyone has responded to one of my attempts to be humors. Then I jump to AutoCAD again before I go to lunch.
Lunch is spent in the park or in my car if it is cold. I usually spend most of this time thinking if life in another place working for another firm would be that much better. I eat some crappy overpriced sandwich from one of the three shops around my office.
After lunch I do absolutely nothing productive. Maybe fifteen minutes of actual work and the rest of the time is spent researching competitions to enter and cool hip things to buy with the little money I make. At the end of the day I wait for at least three people to leave before I leave. I can never be the first to leave.
on the way home I tell myself I am going to go work out or go running. This is when I stop at the bar for an after work cool down. The power of alcohol is quit amazing if you think about it. When I get home I am so drained from the lights and computer screen I end up jogging for about half an hour and spend the rest of the night on the couch thinking of the next drink I am going to make to fallow the one I am dumping down my thought. Around midnight I drag my slightly buzzed self to my bed. it takes exactly 47 minutes of sports talk radio for me to fall asleep.
But other then that I am having the time of my life...
Bob Slydell: You see, what we're trying to do is get a feeling for how people spend their time at work so if you would, would you walk us through a typical day, for you?
Peter Gibbons: Yeah.
Bob Slydell: Great.
Peter Gibbons: Well, I generally come in at least fifteen minutes late, ah, I use the side door - that way Lumbergh can't see me, heh - after that I sorta space out for an hour.
Bob Porter: Da-uh? Space out?
Peter Gibbons: Yeah, I just stare at my desk, but it looks like I'm working. I do that for probably another hour after lunch too, I'd say in a given week I probably only do about fifteen minutes of real, actual, work.
I roll out of bed around 9 - drink coffee. Feed the fish. Watch the fish. Eventually I return phone calls from contractors who woke up 5 hours earlier and called with urgent questions. Then I sit down and start designing houses and buildings and stuff like that. Life would be perfect if my right wrist was made of titanium, not flesh and nerves.
but yeah...
a typical day goes something like this:
first it should be noted that after showing up on my first day w/ bloodshot eyes, a pale unshaven face, and smelling like joe camel himself, the office has turned a blind eye to my wardrobe/after-hours activities.
1)take full advantage of the "liberal" work hours by showing up 20-30 minutes late, walk immediately to the coffee machine (that way, when i sit down it looks like i'm coming from the kitchen instead of the elevator).
2) turn on computer and open outlook (the most professional-looking time killer), autoCAD(to whatever drawing was opened last), and 3 browsers: gmail, archinect, myspace. these 3 sites will occupy the better portion of my day.
4) look at "spanish-inspired" porte cochere on the CAD window, zoom in to find out that it's made of eifs, and then cover my face w/ my hands, straining to hold back tears.
3)reply to emails.
4)do whatever drawings i have to do. my bosses haven't figured out that i am pretty fast at autoCAD...this translates into me taking about 5 times as long to do something as it should. still, my bosses think i'm a computer whiz.
5) eat lunch w/ the only other cool person at work (he happens to be the drummer for my band). this usually takes 1.5 hours.
6) reply to emails.
7) email people about a new job/job interviews.
8) make playlists on itunes. sometimes i like to pretend that i'm a DJ for my own private radio station.
9) upload playlists to ipod.
10) shop on ebay/insound
11) take headphones off, only to hear my boss discuss the advantages of accurender vs. all other modelling programs, to whoever is listening. corelDRAW vs. illustrator is another argument he likes to have with himself, convinced that the cheaper lincence is always worth it.
12) disgusted, i put my headphones back on and make plans for the evening. it will probably be the exact same thing i did the night before.
13) take full advantage of the "liberal" work hours by leaving 15 minutes early.
14) on the way home i promise myself that i won't turn into the people i work with who are almost 40, unlicenced (with little desire to do so), with little or no knowledge of contemporary work, who talk more about politics than architecture, waiting desparately for happy hour to start.
repeat.
but on the bright side, i won't be doing this job much longer and i still have an enormous love for architecture. in other words, i'm not completely jaded....yet.
*est. times
7:20 - get out of bed, shower
7:50 - walk/ride bike to work
8:05 - arrive at work, turn on lights, clean out coffee filter, start coffee, pick out cds to listen to.
8:15 - sit down at computer, open check outlook, gmail, archinect, and kboard.
8:30 - others from office start arriving and i start opening archiCAD while still browsing other sites.
9:00 - start doing real work, work solidly for a few hours, answer phone calls.
12:15 - others leave for lunch, i go back to surfing the net.
1:45 - "lunch" is over the rest of my day consists of half assed work and surf.
5:35 - go home.
i really am productive though. and for the most part i like my job. on fridays (!!today!!) we usually get beer at 3:30.
7:20 wake up
7:45 arrive to work
make coffee, log on, drink coffee whilst checking my email, shift through archinect, look at m ever growing list of to do's, have another cup of coffee, check the mail file for pressing matters, make first phone call usually about 9:30, sign some papers/design something/manage staff.
4:30 think about going home
just before 5 go home and comment that i need a life or a wife (something to go home to)
Since I work on on residential, I'm "working" on probably about 10-15 different projects at any given time, and every day, i'll bill time to around 5 different projects. Since every 15 minutes of time has to be billed to someone, I have to bill creatively. I'll be efficient for clients that I like. Clients that rub me the wrong way usually get "archinect time" billed to them. I'll have 3 or four browsers open at any time, one with news, one with archinect, one with job search prospects.
I'll do five minutes of furious drafting, followed by 5-10 minutes of surfing. That's how I fill each 15 minute increment of my day.
I know all of the vantage points to my computer screen. If my boss is sitting down, he can't see my screen until he gets up.
This whole process is very soul-draining. I find it nearly impossible to bill more than 45 hours a week.
get out the door @ 7;30 to walk my dogs for half an hour. than go to here to work on residential projects.
i turn on my computer and read archinect posts, minimize window, open a dwg. work on, checking with internet every 15 minutes or so.
some times i don't have any drawings to work on, so i make tops, which is my hobby and i made tops that can turn up to 4:41 minutes in my mini lathe in the back. i use anything from t6 aluminum to junk to make tops. sometimes i film them. (my tops are far better than eames'..)
lately i am studying for my oral exam to get my licence after years of neglect and abusive habits.
i am done @ 6 or 7. i go home and read some newspapers in the net.
i have three projects under construction and usually one they a week i make rounds to observe them.
i have a low overhead. work includes janitorial, secreterial duities as well. and lately i am not behind the rent.
7:50am wake up and shower
9:10am arrive at office, head down and hoping to avoid the hateful stare of my boss. immediately open outlook and acad, and pray that i don't have anything urgent to do, which, unfortunately is rarely the case.
9:15am check yahoo email, sports news, archinect
9:45am get coffee and start eating my bagel breakfast. stall, surf, and daydream.
10:30am. feel an urgent rush to get some work done before lunch time. switch on my super cad skills and work like a mad man.
11:00am feel a bit burned out. feel like i've accomplished everything that would take other people in my office a whole day to do, but i keep working anyway.
12:00pm wait for flexible lunch hour to come
12:45pm start lunch... extend the full hour until 1:45p
2:00pm feel refreshed and ready to work again, but must surf the net a little bit first.
2:30 - 4:00pm. work like a mad man. super cad skills switch still on.
4:00 - 5:00pm. super cad skills switch slowly turns off. still doing cad, but about 20% as efficiently.
5:00pm. predictably gets email from project architect with a list of redlines. feel exhausted and overwhelmed with the work load. sit back and stare at the email a bit, and ponder what to do for the next hour before official work hours are over.
5:15pm. cheat myself into thinking i can get all the redlines done by 6. gosh i'm naive.
6:15pm. see coworkers begin to leave. most of the people here dont' do real work anyway. just surfing online, playing minesweeper, checking sports.
6:45pm. i'm still in the office and still doing real cad work, albeit at 50% efficiency. pondering when everybody will leave (yes, ppl are still in the office) so i can tune the office stereo system to my liking.
7:15pm. most people are gone now. surprise surprise, i'm still here plotting. our stupid plotter doesn't work. i have to reset it after each plot, and each plot (30X42) takes about 5 minutes. so for a permit set, i'm here all night.
8:30pm. still plotting. wondering why my highly successful boss doesn't buy a better plotter. keep in mind i don't get paid OT, so he's not really wasting manpower.
8:45pm. still plotting, but all cad work is done. i begin to work on my grad school apps. call gf to complain about work, while feeling bad that i don't spend time with her anymore.
11:00pm still in office. fatigue setting in. wondering if my old, tired body (all 23 years of it!) will be able to manage grad school and all-nighters. seriously contemplating throwing the plotter out the window.
12:30am. F* it! i'm finally done plotting. Time to go home and cash in my 6 hours of sleep.
9 ISH-arrive at office, check email, nytimes.com, email gf, proceed to zone out......
7 ish....zone back in at home, eat dinner, play with dog, work on competition to refill my hopes that the next day at work may be the one that rectifies all that hard work put in during school.
I work 8.5 hours a day good and solid. I don't know who is more pathetic, me or those that surf the net all day.
Anyway, some things that I might do in a single day, today for instance. No particular order:
Call mechanical engineer for Job#1, ask for thier drawings so I can look them over. Remind him of our deadline. Ask him how much the rooftop equipment weighs.
Wonder if existing brick wall should be furred out to look nicer, or left as brick for Job#1. Decide to furr it out.
Tell structural engineer for Job#1 how much rooftop unit weighs.
Hot glue gun a bunch of material samples to a presentation board (interior designer quit a few weeks ago or else I'd have her do this)
Call owner of Job#1, leave message to have him call me back to schedule a meeting.
Answer call from electrical engineer for Job#2, he wants to know when he is supposed to be done. We discuss lighting options.
Revise interior elevations for Job#1.
E-mail photos of site conditions of Job#1 to project architect.
Consult fellow intern architect about whether or not tampon/pad dispensers belong in an elementary school. We decide yes.
Look at two manufacturers ceiling tile options, compare. Come to no conclusions about which one I will use for Job#1
Revise room finish schedule for Job#1
Eat lunch with other interns and administrative assistant in lunch room.
Call owner of Job#3 (still in potential job phase) to see if I can come out look at the existing facility.
Water plants at desk
Gab with fellow architect about architecture school and faculty
Wonder about windows to put in Job#2, revise exterior elevations accordingly
Get called into principals office, report on progress of Job#2 and Job#3. Get assigned to beginning of Job#4, a remodel, which consists of finding existing drawings. He reminds me to "not blow it (screw up)on the small jobs and cost us the future big jobs with same client. I remind him that even tho it is a small job, it is a very messy one with not so clear solutions. He agrees, sends me on my way.
Check egress requirements of Job#1
Go up to hospital surgery center wing to look at fluid applied flooring by other architect to see if I want to put it in Job#1. Am not completely impressed, but will probably put it in anyways. Take pictures. Be glad they didn't make me put on scrubs.
Search for pretty light fixtures for Job#2
Check hotmail account, surf archinect
Ask cad technician to draw a section through custom casework (a toybox) for me cause I can't. I give her a sketch and tell her what I want. She consults with me 3 times over 1 hour to narrow in on what I want. I insert it into my drawing after I am done.
Answer e-mail from electrical engineer on Job#1. Question was about clock/intercom systems and type of light swtches.
Get phone call from mom about going to see Les Miserables in January. Of course I'll go!
Get phone call from husband at 10 til 5 on Friday, he is leaving work early to go get beer and will pick me up in 20 minutes!
07:00 | Arrive at office, turn on lights, stereo, plotter… Make coffee, bring in newspaper.
07:15 | Review that nightly backup ran successfully
07:20 | Install MS SBS critical update on server & reboot
07:30 | Begin restoring MS Outlook “Tasks†folder of coworker (folder became corrupt last week and I’m just getting around to it… sorry…)
07:35 | Check news websites, skim personal email
07:45 | Reply to email from clients received overnight
08:15 | Return messages from contractors
08:45 | Issue approval to order Portsmouth Residence kitchen to GC –cc all involved to cover my ass
09:00 | Call Kolbe & Kolbe rep. regarding Bahamas Residence bid he owes me that is so f-in late and riddled with broken promises I want to change widows and doors to Marvin just to spite him. Got his voice mail and left message that †I want my 2 dollars†(reference to the movie Better Off Dead – I figured I would be funny on this call because I’m going to be really pissed when I have to call him back again later today).
09:10 | Begin reviewing & updating task status/schedule for Bahamas Residence
09:30 | Receive fax for Westerly Residence from client regarding window and door screen locations/types. Realized that this has now become an amazingly complex issue for such a simple item. Call Pella Rep. to come in and review the changes – basically delegated the coordination problem to him.
10:00 | Receive call from Portsmouth Residence GC regarding ordering of kitchen cabinets. Discuss that GC must verify as-built dimensions and let me know about any deviations before the order is processed. Set up construction observation meeting for next week to review exterior trim work.
10:30 | Complete SK design revisions to Westerly Residence master study, print and mail drawings to client for approval.
10:45 | Continue updating task status/schedule for Bahamas Residence and create new milestone dates
11:30 | Realize that we don’t have a foundation permit for Bahamas residence and begin to panic. Call consultant in Bahamas as to status and find Ministry of Public Works is still behind after hurricane damage and there is not a problem with the design – cc all involved to cover my ass.
11:45 | Call structural consultant in Nassau for Bahamas Residence to make sure the final structural drawings will be uploaded to the FTP server today and I’m told everything is on track. Hang up knowing I won’t see any drawings today. Contemplate how nice things would be if we were so laid back here in the states.
11:50 | Call general contractor in Nassau regarding Bahamas Residence DD Phase budget pricing status.
12:10 | Call landscape contractor in Nassau regarding Bahamas Residence DD Phase pool and hardscape budget pricing and outline specifications.
12:15 | Email boss regarding status of all critical path items and permitting status for Bahamas Residence to cover my ass.
12:20 | Check personal email, skim Archinect, Core77 and Art In Ruins websites.
12:30 | Take lunch
01:00 | Type up telephone conversation notes from the morning & file
01:15 | Receive email from Westerly Residence client asking for current floor plan drawings to be faxed. Cringe in fear that more SK changes are coming my way. Fax drawings anyway.
01:20 | Begin SD sketches of recreation room for Bahamas Residence
02:00 | Make more coffee
02:30 | Realize Kolbe & Kolbe rep. has not called me back. Call rep and leave messages on his cell phone and office phone. Call his assistant (he answers his phone) and rip into him because I have gotten the same excuse now for the last 4 weeks as to why we don’t have pricing. Tell him that this is unacceptable and that I expect to have the information by 5:00 today. Relay that I am seriously concerned over the customer service on this project and question if this is the way K&K will handle the project through construction and follow up. Hang up knowing I will have no pricing at 5pm. Open the Marvin book to see if they can provide Missile-D Zone-4 custom archtop casement windows and doors. Find (again) that they can’t and realize for some bizarre reason K&K is the only company under Tischler pricing-wise that can produce exactly what we want in an impact resistant window and door and get it to the Bahamas.
03:00 | Call GC for Westerly Residence to see if footing was poured this week. Let him know that 3 SK issue drawing packages will be coming his way next Monday pending final owner approval regarding changes to the crawl space/storage access, side yard terraces, shingle specifications and guardrail details. Set up construction observation meeting for next week pending foundation work start.
03:05 | Begin redline of Bahamas Residence Guest Houses so team has work next Monday and Tuesday.
04:30 | Call K&K rep. once again because 5pm is getting close and get his voice mail. Leave message regarding my unhappiness. Make note to call Marvin and Pella on Monday.
04:35 | Go back to working on rec. room schematic design sketches.
05:30 | Check FTP server for structural drawings… empty folder just as I thought. Send email to consultant regarding drawing status.
05:45 | Schedule meeting in Outlook for Monday with boss to review jobs status
05:50 | Schedule meeting in Outlook with team for Monday am to figure out how to meet next weeks goals
05:50 | Review this past week’s goal list to see if I actually go all my work done. Consider working Sunday… decide take a lesson from Nassau consultants and not worry about it…
06:10 | Stick backup tape in server, check FTP server one last time, post this to Archinect, shut off lights, copier, plotter, lower heat and contemplate where tonight’s pizza will come from while I drive home wondering why I work so much but can’t afford to stop at the liquor store and pick up a bottle of wine.
6:30 - get up & shower
6:50 - watch local news & Today Show while laying on couch
8:00 - get to office and check email
8:03 - pump cad till noon
12:00 - lunch @ home
1:00 - pump cad till 5:00
5:05 - leave
My work day today (somewhat typical?, other than crunch time before deadlines where I work 16 hour days or so...):
8:30 Meeting w/clients at their place to go over 100% DD drawings & get approval to move on to CDs.
10:30 Return to home/office. Discuss some random stuff with partner/husband. He makes some phone calls regarding a project under construction. Other partner is at job site, apparently he let the electrical sub cut something he wasn't supposed to. "Subs will be lazy if they can and you should expect it, etc."
11:00 I file some material samples and generally shuffle paperwork, check e-mail.
11:30 Head out to lunch w/former co-workers from large office.
1:15 Return from lunch. Clean up office, more e-mail. Download digital pics from various projects. Discuss some outstanding issues on projects that need to be finished up w/husband.
3:00 Start writing meeting minutes from this morning.
3:45 Distracted by archinect... will probably call my sister in a few minutes and see if she wants to hang out tonight.
6:05 AM - back to sleep by this point thoroughly convinced I need another hour of sleep
7:00 AM - i hit the snooze button on alarm 1
7:02 AM - cell phone alarm goes off which is strategically placed in another room so as i have to get up to turn it off. me or my wife at this point curse and exclaim we are going to kill that fucking phone. it is chilly in our place now because of the weather so my nipples don't like this alarm either. the alarm is turned off with the quickness of a falling down drunk, and i make my way back to the bed.
7:07 AM - i hit the snooze button on alarm 1. it plays until my wife punches me in the back because she hates the morning show on the station. i also change so it will go off at 7:30 or so.
7:30 AM - repeat last step, but alarm 1 is in fact turned off because I realize said alarm is 18-25 minutes fast and i dont have to freak out that i am going to miss the train that gets me to work on time.
7:48 AM - alarm 2 goes off and I freak out cause i am gonna miss the train tat gets me to work on time. my wife usually hits me again and my cat who is under the covers as well freaks out because people are about to roll over his fat 18 pound ass. i put on my threads for the day, find my shoes, feed the cats, try to do something with my head (which involves sticking my face into the sink to wake up and drying it off somewhat so i dont get the bathroom soaked), and if we have any cereal i usually eat two bowls and give the milk to my cats so as to distract them when i split the apartment at...
8:00 AM - I am usually in my truck which has no power steering or get up and go trying to cruise down to the train station hoping none of the stupid kids or people out will jump into my path.
8:10 AM - I am at the train station parking and getting on the train hoping i don't miss the one that will get me there 15 minutes late. if i make this train, I am usually sitting there sketching for the next 30 minutes or if so inclined i am reading something about architecture, or looking at pictures about architecture trying to figure out how the fuck they did something or why they did it.
8:42 AM - I take a trip up the longest escalator I have ever been on in my life which gave me vertigo the first time i was on it.
8:43 AM - I am at the top of the escalator hopefully after being behind a good looking girl, or having a couple of them pass me by. this usually never happens, kinda like how it never happens that i get a good looking girl next to me on the train instead of the person who smells extremely bad or who insists on humming things I know I know, but can't think of.
8:45 AM - I have officially arrived late yet again, and much like a previous post I go straight to the kitchen so as to not look like I have just gotten there. I usually check the backup tapes as well at this point since it is right next to the kitchen. after this i go to my desk and check my personal e-mail, then archinect if the boss hasn't come out of his office to ask me something yet, and if time allows (meaning my boss is nowhere to be found), I check scores if there was an interesting game on the night before, check to see if there are any new images at raph.com, check to see if i have any money in my account (in prep. for lunch) and if there is anyone who has actually written to my e-mail, personal or office, i write them back.
9:00 AM - Whatever the hell I am working on for the day, i get to whilst listening to some music in my headphones. the office radio station is a hodgepodge of glorified crap called dave fm (if there is a god, it will go under tonight, and so will the jazz station my boss likes to "jazz things up" with.)
10:00 AM - by this time, my boss has said "the prospect is" while on the phone at least ten times while in my presence alone, otherwise he is out of the office. i am usually still cranking at this point as well on microstation just wishing that we will get in a good project sometime soon.
11:00 AM - still cranking, the bosses "the prospect is" count has been replaced by the count which involves me going, "i'm going to go insane," or the count which goes "we don't communicate well enough yet." (this is in fact a bad sign, and usually means that i have not done something exactly the way he wants it, after he didn't tell me exactly how he wanted it. bottom line boils down to me either picking self monologue A: "buck up, take it like a man and get better at what you are doing," or B: "time to start working on my portfolio when i get home," or C: "what would Brian Boitano do if he were here right now."
12:00 PM - many have gone and gotten there lunch, and if I am in the zone listening to my headphones still I am still cranking out what I am working on.
1:00 PM - if when checking my bank account in the morning i find i have money, i get something to eat from downstairs. if my wife has made dinner the night before, i heat up the leftovers, or i pick out a can of ramen or styrofoam bucket of ramen out of my desk to heat up.
1:15 PM - i am done eating by this point and firmly ensconced in my three screen setup looking at archinect (screen 1), e-mail (screen 3), and architecture/graphic design/news sites (screen 2, because it is the one in the middle right in front of me and the most rapid fire).
2:00 PM - i am either already working or realize i am the only one fucking around in the office on the internet and i get back to the zone. i usually fill in my timeclock for the morning at this point as well, and by instinct wish i was back in studio in school.
3:00 PM - I am not getting much done, i have either found something on archinect which i keep checking when no one is looking, or i am so bored with what i am doing i am having a hard time concentrating. i try my best to keep going.
4:00 PM - I am still in a state of dissarray after lunch, but i keep trying to get things done.
5:00 PM - I am still trying, but having mass amounts of difficulty with concentration. My boss is usually making his rounds at this point wrapping things up for the day haveing completed his latest day long tirade of "the prospect is..." at this point realizing i need to finish things up i get back into the zone if i haven't gotten there already, and my headphones are hot.
5:30 PM - it is official, i am allowed to leave my cubicle. many people have now gotten out of their seats and are leaving. (many people meaning most ofthe staf of say 8 who are here).
6:02 PM - the alarm goes off on my phone in my bookbag, i promptly yell out "quitin time" (almost verbatim each day), i turn the alarm off, and keep working as I am now back in the zone.
6:30 PM - 7:00 PM - i realize i am the only one here and check the intenet for competition listings, e-mail, images of tara reid's newly revealed boob (today it will be Denise Richards as I haev found out she is in Playboy this month), the newest posts on archinect, and i usually look at a couple of architecture sites to keep me inspired for the train ride home.
7:15 PM - I leave by this time so i can still squeek out of the building without much grief from the frontdesk person who is pissed i can't sign out or i will miss my train.
7:20 PM - if all goes well, I am about the enter the train. if not I usually have to wait since i just missed one. I sketch and or read on the train ride home. yesterday there was a girl with headphones on who was singing her ass off in some horrible key so i couldn't concentrate)
7:50 PM - i walk to my truck from the train, and jet home.
8:00 PM - walk in the door to my apartment, and if my wife is there I am accosted with affection. if she is not there, the cats accost me with affection. i turn my computer on at this point if it is not on already.
SPECIAL EXCEPTION - since it is the only channel i get, and this should go in the confessions of an architect post, on Wednesdays I watch my hour of television which embarrassingly enough is Smallwille. I do not know why, maybe it is engrained in me cause i love comics, but i do it. there, i said it, it needed to be said, now i can move on. (and yes, i watch about 1 hour of television a week, if i feel like it on the weekend i bring my work laptop home and watch a movie or two on it.)
8:15 PM - granting it is not a wednesday, i am eating dinner and telling my cats to stay the fuck off the table.
9:00 PM - i am usually in front of my computer trying to get something of my own done, or sketching something out that i want to get done.
11:30 PM - i shower if i haven't already, and give the cats food.
12:00 PM - I am hopefully in bed ready for some action. If my wife is at work, I am probably flat asleep, or I am still in front of the computer (this being the case, i probably don't shower till the morning as I will go to bed at 1:00 AM and don't care at that point.)
All of this goes to hell on the weekends when i sleep till noon and stay up till whenever.
yesterday was in fact interesting though, because while listening to my boss on his 37th "the prsopect is" line, he was talking about a recurring client i hate and how they had stole one of our projects and reproduced it on another site without letting us know about it. the engineer who put his seal on those is in for a bad time come next week if my boss decided to crash his party.
5:45pm Finished meeting minutes & minor modifications to drawings based on client comments. Picked out & e-mailed floor color for another client (Dex-o-tex). Sitting here yapping w/partners...
I was going to post some hero-like day to make you all look bad but changed my mind.
Today:
Up at 6 and try to drag myself out the door by 7:30.
Recieve email from son who was supposed to come home from college tonight for the weekend but isn't coming until tomorrow morning. Suspect it has something to do with Halo 2.
Out the door by 8.
Go directly to empty tenant space to field measure for project. Digital camera runs out of batteries. Fortunately there is seedy dollar store nearby. Step on dead mouse while measuring.
Back in office by 11:30. Just switched office over to R2004 and everyone has lost ability to function. Field cad questions all day.
12:00 Fight w/ GC who's trying to get out of patching floor and installing door frames for disastrous jewelry store project being built underneath my office.
2:00 Post comment on ICCsafe about code analysis for school project. Turns into fairly long but helpful discussion.
2:30 Discover that space have just measured is larger than space already measured and laid out by equipment supplier who wouldn't release cad drawings to us. Try to contact equipment supplier who says their really in Pennsylvania despite Michican address and New Yord area code. Suspect they don't really exist. Also suspect from phone conversation with receptionist they're an outsource company in India.
3:00 IT person arrives to shut down server and install new hard drive. Totally forgot about this. Half office leaves. 15 minutes later server is back up.
4:00 Review requisition. Contract amounts differ between requisitions because client refused to sign contract until after work started. VP of contracting firm sits on board of directors of client. I could burn the damn thing and it wouldn't make a difference.
8:00 IT person finally gets hard drive installed and I get to come home.
7 - 8 am wake up, shower & dress. feed cat, water plants, eat breakfast. drive to university
9 - 11 teach freshman studio. after 11, try to escape desperate freshmen trying to get me to tell them how to do their project. then try to escape without dean noticing me and asking me to do yet another 'favour' [meaning work for the university for free, try to use my old contacts for the school's benefit, developing curriculum or interviewing some aspiring teacher or reviewing an aspiring student's portfolio]
11:30 if lucky or 12, back at home, check email, archinect, etc. and try to get some work done before lunch.
13h feed cat, lunch and rest
14h00 or later if i'm feeling lazy: back at the notebook warm up with email but try to get to work. sometimes i need to review students work. having to put grades on their work is what i hate the most, it really feels unfair to put a number on someone's work but needs to be done.
16h00 recheck if there's anything i need to take to the school. there are hardly any books and i often take books for my students to look at. sometimes have to print essays i've had to translate for them. the afternoon class is thesis and although they're doing their project they still need to be reading as their documents are not strong enough yet.
17h30 drive to university again. 30 minutes.
18h00 - 20h30 teach the thesis class. patience, patience. try to find potential in sometimes miniscule talent. try to be patient but firm with gifted talented students that don't want to work. try to be understanding with kid that has to work full time to keep his family and has almost no time to work on his thesis. try to be patient with girl that has nothing to do whole day and still manages to advance nothing.
21h00 back at home, too tired to eat. munch some nuts, browse email, archinect.
22h ish give up, go read.
that's mondays and wednesdays. tuesdays and thursdays is all work, fridays only the thesis class and then work but then it's harder to work on friday afternoon. will probably work on the weekend to make up for it.
while purposelessly fucking around all day in the office and being all over archinect, i picked a rubber band and made base solos like Charlie Haden, near my left ear (stretch the rubber band and pick with both thumbs while adjusting the tension to move up and down the bars), made a curicial call to contractor to find out where he is at with a bid, talked to the client about adding a little more to the budget which was ok. got a call from the other project about a backfill and compac
10:10 | Check personal email and realize Monday is the 15th (billing) meaning I forgot to complete and submit my project reports for the close of work today. Having just drank the last of 3/4 bottle of wine I found in the fridge (wife just watched since she is 5 months along now and was not looking to happy I was having a beverage and she was not) I feel it will be best not to write them tonight and try to get them done tomorrow morning before I leave for my studio where I will go and play with a TIG machine for 6 hours.
10:15 | Skim Archinect postings. R.A. Rudolph you are my hero.
10:20 | Post update to Archinect thread and wonder when exactly it was that I stopped going out on Friday nights… hmmm…
7 to 12: Today anyway - Energy Code Seminar for CE credits and eating pastries from a Bar Association Brkfst and telling lawyer jokes to same (lawyers not pastries) /// usually [*]
12 to 1: lunch usually sometimes billable
1 to 6: [*] and Archinect lurking
6 to 8: Dinner and Playing with Son
8 to 11: [*] and Archinect posting
[*] = Never in a predictable order >
Master Planning, designing buildings and sketching them, writing specs, drawing and coloring with computers, signing checks, talking on phone, writing things on paper, attending city council or planning commission or community appearance board or variance or code appeals meetings (usually in the evening - a contributing reason why I'm divorced), meeting in office with client or lawyer or contractor, flying on planes, traveling in taxi, driving places, reading newspapers.
Nov 12, 04 11:53 pm ·
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Describe your typical day as an architect
Describe your typical day as an architect. Whether you work at a corporate firm, boutique, or any other job/position you may hold.
i come to work and surf the net until 10am (while eating my captain crunch). i then proceed to plan my lunch dates...play some mindbomb...and then go to lunch.
afterwards, i check which games will be on tv that evening...play some tetris (all-the-while double-billing the client)...and then cut out early to go to the gym.
oh...and if real work needs to be done, i'll do that in the evening for paid overtime!
hehehehe
I usually wake up hung over from spending all night drinking warm beer at a random hole in the wall pub. crawl out of bed hating life and contemplating calling in sick for the third time this quarter. take a shower, headache fully setting in. Jump out of the shower freezing and get dressed in whatever half matching outfit I see out of my bloodshot eyes. sit in my car and start the commute where I at least twice think about jerking the wheel into the next building. get to work and see the fake smiles on everyone's faces as they sit idly in front of their glowing screen. Take my seat near the annoying secretary that sounds like she belongs in office space. Watch one of the cad jockeys walk over to the radio and turn on some crappy pop station on a little to loud so it is just annoying enough to put a drill to your head.
Take my ipod out of my pocket, stick in the headphones and relax to whatever music is going to relax me the most at that moment. Take a look at the stack of messages that are next to my phone and contemplate calling people back for all of two seconds until I remember I hate almost all of our clients. Make one or two phone calls and call it a day. Start my computer and spend time staring at outlook trying to figure out what I wrote the day before in my task list. Start AutoCAD and realized it is sucking the life out of me as the Florissant lights above my head are the closest thing to natural light I have seen in days. Do about thirty minutes of work until I cant take it anymore and jump on the internet for about two hours. Most of this time is spent jumping from news sites to architect to see if anyone has responded to one of my attempts to be humors. Then I jump to AutoCAD again before I go to lunch.
Lunch is spent in the park or in my car if it is cold. I usually spend most of this time thinking if life in another place working for another firm would be that much better. I eat some crappy overpriced sandwich from one of the three shops around my office.
After lunch I do absolutely nothing productive. Maybe fifteen minutes of actual work and the rest of the time is spent researching competitions to enter and cool hip things to buy with the little money I make. At the end of the day I wait for at least three people to leave before I leave. I can never be the first to leave.
on the way home I tell myself I am going to go work out or go running. This is when I stop at the bar for an after work cool down. The power of alcohol is quit amazing if you think about it. When I get home I am so drained from the lights and computer screen I end up jogging for about half an hour and spend the rest of the night on the couch thinking of the next drink I am going to make to fallow the one I am dumping down my thought. Around midnight I drag my slightly buzzed self to my bed. it takes exactly 47 minutes of sports talk radio for me to fall asleep.
But other then that I am having the time of my life...
the profession of architecture is pure excitement
One long party, oh, sorry have to go, we are lining up for our meds now.
Bob Slydell: You see, what we're trying to do is get a feeling for how people spend their time at work so if you would, would you walk us through a typical day, for you?
Peter Gibbons: Yeah.
Bob Slydell: Great.
Peter Gibbons: Well, I generally come in at least fifteen minutes late, ah, I use the side door - that way Lumbergh can't see me, heh - after that I sorta space out for an hour.
Bob Porter: Da-uh? Space out?
Peter Gibbons: Yeah, I just stare at my desk, but it looks like I'm working. I do that for probably another hour after lunch too, I'd say in a given week I probably only do about fifteen minutes of real, actual, work.
I roll out of bed around 9 - drink coffee. Feed the fish. Watch the fish. Eventually I return phone calls from contractors who woke up 5 hours earlier and called with urgent questions. Then I sit down and start designing houses and buildings and stuff like that. Life would be perfect if my right wrist was made of titanium, not flesh and nerves.
but yeah...
a typical day goes something like this:
first it should be noted that after showing up on my first day w/ bloodshot eyes, a pale unshaven face, and smelling like joe camel himself, the office has turned a blind eye to my wardrobe/after-hours activities.
1)take full advantage of the "liberal" work hours by showing up 20-30 minutes late, walk immediately to the coffee machine (that way, when i sit down it looks like i'm coming from the kitchen instead of the elevator).
2) turn on computer and open outlook (the most professional-looking time killer), autoCAD(to whatever drawing was opened last), and 3 browsers: gmail, archinect, myspace. these 3 sites will occupy the better portion of my day.
4) look at "spanish-inspired" porte cochere on the CAD window, zoom in to find out that it's made of eifs, and then cover my face w/ my hands, straining to hold back tears.
3)reply to emails.
4)do whatever drawings i have to do. my bosses haven't figured out that i am pretty fast at autoCAD...this translates into me taking about 5 times as long to do something as it should. still, my bosses think i'm a computer whiz.
5) eat lunch w/ the only other cool person at work (he happens to be the drummer for my band). this usually takes 1.5 hours.
6) reply to emails.
7) email people about a new job/job interviews.
8) make playlists on itunes. sometimes i like to pretend that i'm a DJ for my own private radio station.
9) upload playlists to ipod.
10) shop on ebay/insound
11) take headphones off, only to hear my boss discuss the advantages of accurender vs. all other modelling programs, to whoever is listening. corelDRAW vs. illustrator is another argument he likes to have with himself, convinced that the cheaper lincence is always worth it.
12) disgusted, i put my headphones back on and make plans for the evening. it will probably be the exact same thing i did the night before.
13) take full advantage of the "liberal" work hours by leaving 15 minutes early.
14) on the way home i promise myself that i won't turn into the people i work with who are almost 40, unlicenced (with little desire to do so), with little or no knowledge of contemporary work, who talk more about politics than architecture, waiting desparately for happy hour to start.
repeat.
but on the bright side, i won't be doing this job much longer and i still have an enormous love for architecture. in other words, i'm not completely jaded....yet.
*est. times
7:20 - get out of bed, shower
7:50 - walk/ride bike to work
8:05 - arrive at work, turn on lights, clean out coffee filter, start coffee, pick out cds to listen to.
8:15 - sit down at computer, open check outlook, gmail, archinect, and kboard.
8:30 - others from office start arriving and i start opening archiCAD while still browsing other sites.
9:00 - start doing real work, work solidly for a few hours, answer phone calls.
12:15 - others leave for lunch, i go back to surfing the net.
1:45 - "lunch" is over the rest of my day consists of half assed work and surf.
5:35 - go home.
i really am productive though. and for the most part i like my job. on fridays (!!today!!) we usually get beer at 3:30.
7:20 wake up
7:45 arrive to work
make coffee, log on, drink coffee whilst checking my email, shift through archinect, look at m ever growing list of to do's, have another cup of coffee, check the mail file for pressing matters, make first phone call usually about 9:30, sign some papers/design something/manage staff.
4:30 think about going home
just before 5 go home and comment that i need a life or a wife (something to go home to)
Since I work on on residential, I'm "working" on probably about 10-15 different projects at any given time, and every day, i'll bill time to around 5 different projects. Since every 15 minutes of time has to be billed to someone, I have to bill creatively. I'll be efficient for clients that I like. Clients that rub me the wrong way usually get "archinect time" billed to them. I'll have 3 or four browsers open at any time, one with news, one with archinect, one with job search prospects.
I'll do five minutes of furious drafting, followed by 5-10 minutes of surfing. That's how I fill each 15 minute increment of my day.
I know all of the vantage points to my computer screen. If my boss is sitting down, he can't see my screen until he gets up.
This whole process is very soul-draining. I find it nearly impossible to bill more than 45 hours a week.
get out the door @ 7;30 to walk my dogs for half an hour. than go to here
to work on residential projects.
i turn on my computer and read archinect posts, minimize window, open a dwg. work on, checking with internet every 15 minutes or so.
some times i don't have any drawings to work on, so i make tops, which is my hobby and i made tops that can turn up to 4:41 minutes in my mini lathe in the back. i use anything from t6 aluminum to junk to make tops. sometimes i film them. (my tops are far better than eames'..)
lately i am studying for my oral exam to get my licence after years of neglect and abusive habits.
i am done @ 6 or 7. i go home and read some newspapers in the net.
i have three projects under construction and usually one they a week i make rounds to observe them.
i have a low overhead. work includes janitorial, secreterial duities as well. and lately i am not behind the rent.
11:00am - 5:00pm - Pimp hose*
5:00pm - 2:00am - Clock grip
repeat
7:50am wake up and shower
9:10am arrive at office, head down and hoping to avoid the hateful stare of my boss. immediately open outlook and acad, and pray that i don't have anything urgent to do, which, unfortunately is rarely the case.
9:15am check yahoo email, sports news, archinect
9:45am get coffee and start eating my bagel breakfast. stall, surf, and daydream.
10:30am. feel an urgent rush to get some work done before lunch time. switch on my super cad skills and work like a mad man.
11:00am feel a bit burned out. feel like i've accomplished everything that would take other people in my office a whole day to do, but i keep working anyway.
12:00pm wait for flexible lunch hour to come
12:45pm start lunch... extend the full hour until 1:45p
2:00pm feel refreshed and ready to work again, but must surf the net a little bit first.
2:30 - 4:00pm. work like a mad man. super cad skills switch still on.
4:00 - 5:00pm. super cad skills switch slowly turns off. still doing cad, but about 20% as efficiently.
5:00pm. predictably gets email from project architect with a list of redlines. feel exhausted and overwhelmed with the work load. sit back and stare at the email a bit, and ponder what to do for the next hour before official work hours are over.
5:15pm. cheat myself into thinking i can get all the redlines done by 6. gosh i'm naive.
6:15pm. see coworkers begin to leave. most of the people here dont' do real work anyway. just surfing online, playing minesweeper, checking sports.
6:45pm. i'm still in the office and still doing real cad work, albeit at 50% efficiency. pondering when everybody will leave (yes, ppl are still in the office) so i can tune the office stereo system to my liking.
7:15pm. most people are gone now. surprise surprise, i'm still here plotting. our stupid plotter doesn't work. i have to reset it after each plot, and each plot (30X42) takes about 5 minutes. so for a permit set, i'm here all night.
8:30pm. still plotting. wondering why my highly successful boss doesn't buy a better plotter. keep in mind i don't get paid OT, so he's not really wasting manpower.
8:45pm. still plotting, but all cad work is done. i begin to work on my grad school apps. call gf to complain about work, while feeling bad that i don't spend time with her anymore.
11:00pm still in office. fatigue setting in. wondering if my old, tired body (all 23 years of it!) will be able to manage grad school and all-nighters. seriously contemplating throwing the plotter out the window.
12:30am. F* it! i'm finally done plotting. Time to go home and cash in my 6 hours of sleep.
7:50am. repeat.
what happened to the "typical architect life" everyone in archinect talks about. the late nights of bloodshot eyes and all the workload it entails.
actually tabaho, that's a pretty heavy day... but as for the others.. haha
9 ISH-arrive at office, check email, nytimes.com, email gf, proceed to zone out......
7 ish....zone back in at home, eat dinner, play with dog, work on competition to refill my hopes that the next day at work may be the one that rectifies all that hard work put in during school.
I work 8.5 hours a day good and solid. I don't know who is more pathetic, me or those that surf the net all day.
Anyway, some things that I might do in a single day, today for instance. No particular order:
Call mechanical engineer for Job#1, ask for thier drawings so I can look them over. Remind him of our deadline. Ask him how much the rooftop equipment weighs.
Wonder if existing brick wall should be furred out to look nicer, or left as brick for Job#1. Decide to furr it out.
Tell structural engineer for Job#1 how much rooftop unit weighs.
Hot glue gun a bunch of material samples to a presentation board (interior designer quit a few weeks ago or else I'd have her do this)
Call owner of Job#1, leave message to have him call me back to schedule a meeting.
Answer call from electrical engineer for Job#2, he wants to know when he is supposed to be done. We discuss lighting options.
Revise interior elevations for Job#1.
E-mail photos of site conditions of Job#1 to project architect.
Consult fellow intern architect about whether or not tampon/pad dispensers belong in an elementary school. We decide yes.
Look at two manufacturers ceiling tile options, compare. Come to no conclusions about which one I will use for Job#1
Revise room finish schedule for Job#1
Eat lunch with other interns and administrative assistant in lunch room.
Call owner of Job#3 (still in potential job phase) to see if I can come out look at the existing facility.
Water plants at desk
Gab with fellow architect about architecture school and faculty
Wonder about windows to put in Job#2, revise exterior elevations accordingly
Get called into principals office, report on progress of Job#2 and Job#3. Get assigned to beginning of Job#4, a remodel, which consists of finding existing drawings. He reminds me to "not blow it (screw up)on the small jobs and cost us the future big jobs with same client. I remind him that even tho it is a small job, it is a very messy one with not so clear solutions. He agrees, sends me on my way.
Check egress requirements of Job#1
Go up to hospital surgery center wing to look at fluid applied flooring by other architect to see if I want to put it in Job#1. Am not completely impressed, but will probably put it in anyways. Take pictures. Be glad they didn't make me put on scrubs.
Search for pretty light fixtures for Job#2
Check hotmail account, surf archinect
Ask cad technician to draw a section through custom casework (a toybox) for me cause I can't. I give her a sketch and tell her what I want. She consults with me 3 times over 1 hour to narrow in on what I want. I insert it into my drawing after I am done.
Answer e-mail from electrical engineer on Job#1. Question was about clock/intercom systems and type of light swtches.
Get phone call from mom about going to see Les Miserables in January. Of course I'll go!
Get phone call from husband at 10 til 5 on Friday, he is leaving work early to go get beer and will pick me up in 20 minutes!
Friday 12 Nov. 2004
Boutique
Associate/PM
07:00 | Arrive at office, turn on lights, stereo, plotter… Make coffee, bring in newspaper.
07:15 | Review that nightly backup ran successfully
07:20 | Install MS SBS critical update on server & reboot
07:30 | Begin restoring MS Outlook “Tasks†folder of coworker (folder became corrupt last week and I’m just getting around to it… sorry…)
07:35 | Check news websites, skim personal email
07:45 | Reply to email from clients received overnight
08:15 | Return messages from contractors
08:45 | Issue approval to order Portsmouth Residence kitchen to GC –cc all involved to cover my ass
09:00 | Call Kolbe & Kolbe rep. regarding Bahamas Residence bid he owes me that is so f-in late and riddled with broken promises I want to change widows and doors to Marvin just to spite him. Got his voice mail and left message that †I want my 2 dollars†(reference to the movie Better Off Dead – I figured I would be funny on this call because I’m going to be really pissed when I have to call him back again later today).
09:10 | Begin reviewing & updating task status/schedule for Bahamas Residence
09:30 | Receive fax for Westerly Residence from client regarding window and door screen locations/types. Realized that this has now become an amazingly complex issue for such a simple item. Call Pella Rep. to come in and review the changes – basically delegated the coordination problem to him.
10:00 | Receive call from Portsmouth Residence GC regarding ordering of kitchen cabinets. Discuss that GC must verify as-built dimensions and let me know about any deviations before the order is processed. Set up construction observation meeting for next week to review exterior trim work.
10:30 | Complete SK design revisions to Westerly Residence master study, print and mail drawings to client for approval.
10:45 | Continue updating task status/schedule for Bahamas Residence and create new milestone dates
11:30 | Realize that we don’t have a foundation permit for Bahamas residence and begin to panic. Call consultant in Bahamas as to status and find Ministry of Public Works is still behind after hurricane damage and there is not a problem with the design – cc all involved to cover my ass.
11:45 | Call structural consultant in Nassau for Bahamas Residence to make sure the final structural drawings will be uploaded to the FTP server today and I’m told everything is on track. Hang up knowing I won’t see any drawings today. Contemplate how nice things would be if we were so laid back here in the states.
11:50 | Call general contractor in Nassau regarding Bahamas Residence DD Phase budget pricing status.
12:10 | Call landscape contractor in Nassau regarding Bahamas Residence DD Phase pool and hardscape budget pricing and outline specifications.
12:15 | Email boss regarding status of all critical path items and permitting status for Bahamas Residence to cover my ass.
12:20 | Check personal email, skim Archinect, Core77 and Art In Ruins websites.
12:30 | Take lunch
01:00 | Type up telephone conversation notes from the morning & file
01:15 | Receive email from Westerly Residence client asking for current floor plan drawings to be faxed. Cringe in fear that more SK changes are coming my way. Fax drawings anyway.
01:20 | Begin SD sketches of recreation room for Bahamas Residence
02:00 | Make more coffee
02:30 | Realize Kolbe & Kolbe rep. has not called me back. Call rep and leave messages on his cell phone and office phone. Call his assistant (he answers his phone) and rip into him because I have gotten the same excuse now for the last 4 weeks as to why we don’t have pricing. Tell him that this is unacceptable and that I expect to have the information by 5:00 today. Relay that I am seriously concerned over the customer service on this project and question if this is the way K&K will handle the project through construction and follow up. Hang up knowing I will have no pricing at 5pm. Open the Marvin book to see if they can provide Missile-D Zone-4 custom archtop casement windows and doors. Find (again) that they can’t and realize for some bizarre reason K&K is the only company under Tischler pricing-wise that can produce exactly what we want in an impact resistant window and door and get it to the Bahamas.
03:00 | Call GC for Westerly Residence to see if footing was poured this week. Let him know that 3 SK issue drawing packages will be coming his way next Monday pending final owner approval regarding changes to the crawl space/storage access, side yard terraces, shingle specifications and guardrail details. Set up construction observation meeting for next week pending foundation work start.
03:05 | Begin redline of Bahamas Residence Guest Houses so team has work next Monday and Tuesday.
04:30 | Call K&K rep. once again because 5pm is getting close and get his voice mail. Leave message regarding my unhappiness. Make note to call Marvin and Pella on Monday.
04:35 | Go back to working on rec. room schematic design sketches.
05:30 | Check FTP server for structural drawings… empty folder just as I thought. Send email to consultant regarding drawing status.
05:45 | Schedule meeting in Outlook for Monday with boss to review jobs status
05:50 | Schedule meeting in Outlook with team for Monday am to figure out how to meet next weeks goals
05:50 | Review this past week’s goal list to see if I actually go all my work done. Consider working Sunday… decide take a lesson from Nassau consultants and not worry about it…
06:10 | Stick backup tape in server, check FTP server one last time, post this to Archinect, shut off lights, copier, plotter, lower heat and contemplate where tonight’s pizza will come from while I drive home wondering why I work so much but can’t afford to stop at the liquor store and pick up a bottle of wine.
6:30 - get up & shower
6:50 - watch local news & Today Show while laying on couch
8:00 - get to office and check email
8:03 - pump cad till noon
12:00 - lunch @ home
1:00 - pump cad till 5:00
5:05 - leave
Dave, you are my hero...
My work day today (somewhat typical?, other than crunch time before deadlines where I work 16 hour days or so...):
8:30 Meeting w/clients at their place to go over 100% DD drawings & get approval to move on to CDs.
10:30 Return to home/office. Discuss some random stuff with partner/husband. He makes some phone calls regarding a project under construction. Other partner is at job site, apparently he let the electrical sub cut something he wasn't supposed to. "Subs will be lazy if they can and you should expect it, etc."
11:00 I file some material samples and generally shuffle paperwork, check e-mail.
11:30 Head out to lunch w/former co-workers from large office.
1:15 Return from lunch. Clean up office, more e-mail. Download digital pics from various projects. Discuss some outstanding issues on projects that need to be finished up w/husband.
3:00 Start writing meeting minutes from this morning.
3:45 Distracted by archinect... will probably call my sister in a few minutes and see if she wants to hang out tonight.
No wonder I don't make any money :-)
6:00 AM - wake up feeling wide awake
6:05 AM - back to sleep by this point thoroughly convinced I need another hour of sleep
7:00 AM - i hit the snooze button on alarm 1
7:02 AM - cell phone alarm goes off which is strategically placed in another room so as i have to get up to turn it off. me or my wife at this point curse and exclaim we are going to kill that fucking phone. it is chilly in our place now because of the weather so my nipples don't like this alarm either. the alarm is turned off with the quickness of a falling down drunk, and i make my way back to the bed.
7:07 AM - i hit the snooze button on alarm 1. it plays until my wife punches me in the back because she hates the morning show on the station. i also change so it will go off at 7:30 or so.
7:30 AM - repeat last step, but alarm 1 is in fact turned off because I realize said alarm is 18-25 minutes fast and i dont have to freak out that i am going to miss the train that gets me to work on time.
7:48 AM - alarm 2 goes off and I freak out cause i am gonna miss the train tat gets me to work on time. my wife usually hits me again and my cat who is under the covers as well freaks out because people are about to roll over his fat 18 pound ass. i put on my threads for the day, find my shoes, feed the cats, try to do something with my head (which involves sticking my face into the sink to wake up and drying it off somewhat so i dont get the bathroom soaked), and if we have any cereal i usually eat two bowls and give the milk to my cats so as to distract them when i split the apartment at...
8:00 AM - I am usually in my truck which has no power steering or get up and go trying to cruise down to the train station hoping none of the stupid kids or people out will jump into my path.
8:10 AM - I am at the train station parking and getting on the train hoping i don't miss the one that will get me there 15 minutes late. if i make this train, I am usually sitting there sketching for the next 30 minutes or if so inclined i am reading something about architecture, or looking at pictures about architecture trying to figure out how the fuck they did something or why they did it.
8:42 AM - I take a trip up the longest escalator I have ever been on in my life which gave me vertigo the first time i was on it.
8:43 AM - I am at the top of the escalator hopefully after being behind a good looking girl, or having a couple of them pass me by. this usually never happens, kinda like how it never happens that i get a good looking girl next to me on the train instead of the person who smells extremely bad or who insists on humming things I know I know, but can't think of.
8:45 AM - I have officially arrived late yet again, and much like a previous post I go straight to the kitchen so as to not look like I have just gotten there. I usually check the backup tapes as well at this point since it is right next to the kitchen. after this i go to my desk and check my personal e-mail, then archinect if the boss hasn't come out of his office to ask me something yet, and if time allows (meaning my boss is nowhere to be found), I check scores if there was an interesting game on the night before, check to see if there are any new images at raph.com, check to see if i have any money in my account (in prep. for lunch) and if there is anyone who has actually written to my e-mail, personal or office, i write them back.
9:00 AM - Whatever the hell I am working on for the day, i get to whilst listening to some music in my headphones. the office radio station is a hodgepodge of glorified crap called dave fm (if there is a god, it will go under tonight, and so will the jazz station my boss likes to "jazz things up" with.)
10:00 AM - by this time, my boss has said "the prospect is" while on the phone at least ten times while in my presence alone, otherwise he is out of the office. i am usually still cranking at this point as well on microstation just wishing that we will get in a good project sometime soon.
11:00 AM - still cranking, the bosses "the prospect is" count has been replaced by the count which involves me going, "i'm going to go insane," or the count which goes "we don't communicate well enough yet." (this is in fact a bad sign, and usually means that i have not done something exactly the way he wants it, after he didn't tell me exactly how he wanted it. bottom line boils down to me either picking self monologue A: "buck up, take it like a man and get better at what you are doing," or B: "time to start working on my portfolio when i get home," or C: "what would Brian Boitano do if he were here right now."
12:00 PM - many have gone and gotten there lunch, and if I am in the zone listening to my headphones still I am still cranking out what I am working on.
1:00 PM - if when checking my bank account in the morning i find i have money, i get something to eat from downstairs. if my wife has made dinner the night before, i heat up the leftovers, or i pick out a can of ramen or styrofoam bucket of ramen out of my desk to heat up.
1:15 PM - i am done eating by this point and firmly ensconced in my three screen setup looking at archinect (screen 1), e-mail (screen 3), and architecture/graphic design/news sites (screen 2, because it is the one in the middle right in front of me and the most rapid fire).
2:00 PM - i am either already working or realize i am the only one fucking around in the office on the internet and i get back to the zone. i usually fill in my timeclock for the morning at this point as well, and by instinct wish i was back in studio in school.
3:00 PM - I am not getting much done, i have either found something on archinect which i keep checking when no one is looking, or i am so bored with what i am doing i am having a hard time concentrating. i try my best to keep going.
4:00 PM - I am still in a state of dissarray after lunch, but i keep trying to get things done.
5:00 PM - I am still trying, but having mass amounts of difficulty with concentration. My boss is usually making his rounds at this point wrapping things up for the day haveing completed his latest day long tirade of "the prospect is..." at this point realizing i need to finish things up i get back into the zone if i haven't gotten there already, and my headphones are hot.
5:30 PM - it is official, i am allowed to leave my cubicle. many people have now gotten out of their seats and are leaving. (many people meaning most ofthe staf of say 8 who are here).
6:02 PM - the alarm goes off on my phone in my bookbag, i promptly yell out "quitin time" (almost verbatim each day), i turn the alarm off, and keep working as I am now back in the zone.
6:30 PM - 7:00 PM - i realize i am the only one here and check the intenet for competition listings, e-mail, images of tara reid's newly revealed boob (today it will be Denise Richards as I haev found out she is in Playboy this month), the newest posts on archinect, and i usually look at a couple of architecture sites to keep me inspired for the train ride home.
7:15 PM - I leave by this time so i can still squeek out of the building without much grief from the frontdesk person who is pissed i can't sign out or i will miss my train.
7:20 PM - if all goes well, I am about the enter the train. if not I usually have to wait since i just missed one. I sketch and or read on the train ride home. yesterday there was a girl with headphones on who was singing her ass off in some horrible key so i couldn't concentrate)
7:50 PM - i walk to my truck from the train, and jet home.
8:00 PM - walk in the door to my apartment, and if my wife is there I am accosted with affection. if she is not there, the cats accost me with affection. i turn my computer on at this point if it is not on already.
SPECIAL EXCEPTION - since it is the only channel i get, and this should go in the confessions of an architect post, on Wednesdays I watch my hour of television which embarrassingly enough is Smallwille. I do not know why, maybe it is engrained in me cause i love comics, but i do it. there, i said it, it needed to be said, now i can move on. (and yes, i watch about 1 hour of television a week, if i feel like it on the weekend i bring my work laptop home and watch a movie or two on it.)
8:15 PM - granting it is not a wednesday, i am eating dinner and telling my cats to stay the fuck off the table.
9:00 PM - i am usually in front of my computer trying to get something of my own done, or sketching something out that i want to get done.
11:30 PM - i shower if i haven't already, and give the cats food.
12:00 PM - I am hopefully in bed ready for some action. If my wife is at work, I am probably flat asleep, or I am still in front of the computer (this being the case, i probably don't shower till the morning as I will go to bed at 1:00 AM and don't care at that point.)
All of this goes to hell on the weekends when i sleep till noon and stay up till whenever.
Mondays suck.
yesterday was in fact interesting though, because while listening to my boss on his 37th "the prsopect is" line, he was talking about a recurring client i hate and how they had stole one of our projects and reproduced it on another site without letting us know about it. the engineer who put his seal on those is in for a bad time come next week if my boss decided to crash his party.
5:45pm Finished meeting minutes & minor modifications to drawings based on client comments. Picked out & e-mailed floor color for another client (Dex-o-tex). Sitting here yapping w/partners...
I was going to post some hero-like day to make you all look bad but changed my mind.
Today:
Up at 6 and try to drag myself out the door by 7:30.
Recieve email from son who was supposed to come home from college tonight for the weekend but isn't coming until tomorrow morning. Suspect it has something to do with Halo 2.
Out the door by 8.
Go directly to empty tenant space to field measure for project. Digital camera runs out of batteries. Fortunately there is seedy dollar store nearby. Step on dead mouse while measuring.
Back in office by 11:30. Just switched office over to R2004 and everyone has lost ability to function. Field cad questions all day.
12:00 Fight w/ GC who's trying to get out of patching floor and installing door frames for disastrous jewelry store project being built underneath my office.
2:00 Post comment on ICCsafe about code analysis for school project. Turns into fairly long but helpful discussion.
2:30 Discover that space have just measured is larger than space already measured and laid out by equipment supplier who wouldn't release cad drawings to us. Try to contact equipment supplier who says their really in Pennsylvania despite Michican address and New Yord area code. Suspect they don't really exist. Also suspect from phone conversation with receptionist they're an outsource company in India.
3:00 IT person arrives to shut down server and install new hard drive. Totally forgot about this. Half office leaves. 15 minutes later server is back up.
4:00 Review requisition. Contract amounts differ between requisitions because client refused to sign contract until after work started. VP of contracting firm sits on board of directors of client. I could burn the damn thing and it wouldn't make a difference.
8:00 IT person finally gets hard drive installed and I get to come home.
Just burned dinner while typing this stupid post.
7 - 8 am wake up, shower & dress. feed cat, water plants, eat breakfast. drive to university
9 - 11 teach freshman studio. after 11, try to escape desperate freshmen trying to get me to tell them how to do their project. then try to escape without dean noticing me and asking me to do yet another 'favour' [meaning work for the university for free, try to use my old contacts for the school's benefit, developing curriculum or interviewing some aspiring teacher or reviewing an aspiring student's portfolio]
11:30 if lucky or 12, back at home, check email, archinect, etc. and try to get some work done before lunch.
13h feed cat, lunch and rest
14h00 or later if i'm feeling lazy: back at the notebook warm up with email but try to get to work. sometimes i need to review students work. having to put grades on their work is what i hate the most, it really feels unfair to put a number on someone's work but needs to be done.
16h00 recheck if there's anything i need to take to the school. there are hardly any books and i often take books for my students to look at. sometimes have to print essays i've had to translate for them. the afternoon class is thesis and although they're doing their project they still need to be reading as their documents are not strong enough yet.
17h30 drive to university again. 30 minutes.
18h00 - 20h30 teach the thesis class. patience, patience. try to find potential in sometimes miniscule talent. try to be patient but firm with gifted talented students that don't want to work. try to be understanding with kid that has to work full time to keep his family and has almost no time to work on his thesis. try to be patient with girl that has nothing to do whole day and still manages to advance nothing.
21h00 back at home, too tired to eat. munch some nuts, browse email, archinect.
22h ish give up, go read.
that's mondays and wednesdays. tuesdays and thursdays is all work, fridays only the thesis class and then work but then it's harder to work on friday afternoon. will probably work on the weekend to make up for it.
while purposelessly fucking around all day in the office and being all over archinect, i picked a rubber band and made base solos like Charlie Haden, near my left ear (stretch the rubber band and pick with both thumbs while adjusting the tension to move up and down the bars), made a curicial call to contractor to find out where he is at with a bid, talked to the client about adding a little more to the budget which was ok. got a call from the other project about a backfill and compac
(con’t from above)
10:10 | Check personal email and realize Monday is the 15th (billing) meaning I forgot to complete and submit my project reports for the close of work today. Having just drank the last of 3/4 bottle of wine I found in the fridge (wife just watched since she is 5 months along now and was not looking to happy I was having a beverage and she was not) I feel it will be best not to write them tonight and try to get them done tomorrow morning before I leave for my studio where I will go and play with a TIG machine for 6 hours.
10:15 | Skim Archinect postings. R.A. Rudolph you are my hero.
10:20 | Post update to Archinect thread and wonder when exactly it was that I stopped going out on Friday nights… hmmm…
7 to 12: Today anyway - Energy Code Seminar for CE credits and eating pastries from a Bar Association Brkfst and telling lawyer jokes to same (lawyers not pastries) /// usually [*]
12 to 1: lunch usually sometimes billable
1 to 6: [*] and Archinect lurking
6 to 8: Dinner and Playing with Son
8 to 11: [*] and Archinect posting
[*] = Never in a predictable order >
Master Planning, designing buildings and sketching them, writing specs, drawing and coloring with computers, signing checks, talking on phone, writing things on paper, attending city council or planning commission or community appearance board or variance or code appeals meetings (usually in the evening - a contributing reason why I'm divorced), meeting in office with client or lawyer or contractor, flying on planes, traveling in taxi, driving places, reading newspapers.
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