SH,
No only 27 just never got around to a cellular phone. Although I have thought about getting one with a data plan just so i could tweet on the go...
I have been reading some David Grahame Shane lately re: urbnaism and new forms of urban modeling etc. He seems highly influenced by Kevin Lynch...
Anyone?
Yes, folks and today this interior designer is laying out parking spaces. I'm not complaining at all, in fact I totally love it, I just am finding it humorous. Never in a million years would I ever have thought I would end up doing this kind of stuff. But alas, I think this is the kick off to my project YAY!!!
vado, that is so retro...the true contemporary architect paints the parking space, leaving the stripe visible only as negative space...big numbers as negative space on each spot is also very coolio these days.
****melt, perhaps I can relate as this architect was oft whored out to do grading plans, landscape plans, erosion control plans, etc. When the client would complain that consultants were too expensive and refused to hire a professional, I was still responsible for getting their shit thru the various departments. The principal didn't care, he included it in our basic services. And we wonder why we went under...
Kevin Lynch concepts have been known to be tested on the ARE, for those who might take them.
Sometimes I think I should explain myself, lest you all think I'm just an expert complainer (maybe it is some of both). So here goes, WARNING, RANT: The firm I worked for was under transition when I was hired. I thought I was going to work for the firm that was a leader in the urban revitalization of downtown's loft conversions, trendy restaurants and bars and historic preservation - good solid design work and pretty much my dream job. Turns out, that principal was on his way out due to corporate friction, and another was replacing him. This is a small branch of a large nationwide company with a HQ in another city. I was hired as an intern, who worked under 2 project managers finishing up the last principal's jobs for the first year or so. With the new principal however, the sweet loft projects were gone. The 2 project managers did not get along with the new principal, who was largely incompetent and both PMs quit leaving us with a young, inexperienced staff. I found myself suddenly the most competent person in the office and doing my best to be the gray-haired go-to person. The principal spent most of the time at the bar, suddenly realizing his own incompetency and choosing to drown it with margaritas. The work was very iffy, all of it from shady friends of the principals who had little intention of paying us or following thru with the projects. We took ANY job we could get our hands on, I was doing metal buildings, affordable housing, senior living, warehouses, high rises, shipping container buildings etc, by myself with no experience, and no principal or PM oversight. Only one was PARTIALLY built (that is another story). We hired a replacement for the PM's, a CAD tech with no concept of design or leadership, but was somehow our highest compensated employee. He was good friends with the principal. He worked alone on one job, a storage unit, for 14 months in SD, and lost $10,000 on it. It was never built. The principal insisted he had POTENTIAL though. Actually, it was common that the principal would periodically hire his best friends who used the office as a cushion between jobs, surfing the net and going out to 'lunch' with the principal. One of them wrote a half-assed spec that we never used over the 6 months he was there, for the bargain price of $85 an hour. We never got paid for it, and ate half a million dollars on it. Last summer, we landed 3 large projects, and while still in schematic design, doubled the square footage of the studio and hired 3 fresh newbies to screw everything up and draw 2'-13/16" hallways throughout and delete parking spots as they saw fit. (This was when I was pulling all-nighters just to fix the mistakes.) One of the principal's buddies was "PM" on one of the jobs, but he was so ineffective, the team would come to me over lunch when he wasn't around and beg me for help, sometimes the girls would cry. The project had specific design guidelines that the PM refused to acknowledge (I don't blame him for not wanting to do mediterranean revival stuff either, but that was the job). There were no roles and responsibilities, it was a free for all and everyone just drew and designed on top of each other. When the whole office complained of lack of leadership and inconsistent methodologies stemming from this job, the principal decided this was the best run project in the office and that we needed to model it from now on. Then he praised his buddy for putting in such long hours (?). Apparently he didn't see everyone roll their eyes. The 3 large projects (residential projects in Florida) fell through last fall (surprise! principal never saw it coming, I think he was too drunk), and we laid off 3 people. We never got any more work and laid off several more people and one of the principal's buddies quit. We were 4 people in a 5,000 s.f. space and 15 parking spots that we continued to pay for. When challenged by the staff, the principal insisted the extra parking spots were "only a few thousand dollars a month". Well so were the people we laid off, but don't argue with a drunk man. Most of the time there were only 2 of us there. Since I was usually there, I took the many calls from clients and consultants that basically called to scream about how incompetent and irresponsible we were or where were the drawings the principal promised? Towards the end I was getting several calls a week from angry people. As the principal and CAD tech went on longer daily drunken sprees, and the rest of the office used me as a complaint department, I lost it one day and in a moment of rage told the principal exactly what I (we) thought of him, making me an easy target for the next lay-off. I was the PM on the only billable job in the office, a high end historic remodel, when I was laid off. The highly compensated CAD tech yes-man, who we all thought should have gone, including the corporate office, was spared and given my project. Doesn't matter as I'm glad I got out of there when I did, and could take a severance instead of having to quit. They are $1.5 million in the hole and counting. They are writing proposals for anything and everything, underdogging everyone with 1% fees and still can't land a job. The staff that is left is miserable, all actively seeking jobs elsewhere, holding on long enough to get laid off. One of them still calls me and tells me he is going to quit and he is so unhappy since I left. I talk him off the ledge and tell him to wait for the inevitable lay-off so he can collect unemployment. Word is they will dissolve the office by the end of April.
I also want to say I feel sorry for the corporate office and the other branches, as I think they are good companies with integrity and ethics. I know some of them read archinect. I understand they have suspicions that something is wrong, but aren't acting on it. Unfortunately, the reputation of the company is trashed here, not that it was ever strong...
Why would I look for another architecture job now? I'm so traumatized. I guess I learned a lot, about how NOT to run an office. Architecture is so not worth it.
Jesus Christ... Sounds a lot like the firm I left in Chicago, except that we weren't a branch of a larger firm, and that our two principals were a husband and wife who hated each other.
'baery, hope you have documentation of everything to cover your ass - if you wanted to, you have grounds for a lawsuit.
I'd hire you in a heartbeat - you certainly have proven you got the chops be an excellent professional.
Take time to recover. find your passion again. it doesn't get much worse then that experience, so any job is going to be much, much better. archinect is here for you.
Gin, I was reading one of your old threads the other day and laughing about the jaguar driving principal who didn't have money for the toll. Glad you aren't there anymore. Frankly, a recession was needed to get some of these jokers out of the business world.
BTW, that is the TIP of the iceberg. Anyone care to know about the PARTIALLY built project? The building on a prominent intersection here in town that has been partially built and hanging unfinished, unenclosed and exposed to the elements, with homeless people building fires in the basement for over a year now? Yeh, that's ours. Less our fault, more the developer's fault... bur how do I market myself with that as one of my only built projects in town?
Heh... About the only good thing about working in that firm was the camaraderie among the staff, in a Hogan's Heros sort of way.
Back in Chicago I had a pretty sweet housing situation but I hated my job. Here in NYC I like my job but have to deal with crappy housing... I'm wondering if I have only enough good karma to enjoy one scenario or the other.
Archinect is here for me?! I love it. Actually, if you don't remember, you guys did help me ditch my last job (which was an awesome job, little did I know at the time) and move 700 miles to find land one.
Actually, if anyone is hiring, I think I AM the ideal candidate in this market. Cheap, young, self-sufficient, and diligent with experience in most everything at this point. I haven't sent out any resumes yet, perhaps I'm afraid I will get an offer and feel like I need to take it. But even if architecture wants or needs me, I don't want it. Time will tell. Silly, I know.
treekiller, I have no intention of suing, I believe karma is taking care of it for me.
One of the first guys to get laid off found a new job right away, and was out to lunch with his new boss when he ran into the principal and CAD tech. They stopped to chat about business, the recession, etc. I guess the principal and tech were visibly drunk and dropping f-bombs, blaming the economy for his failing business. Fucking clients stiffing us on our fucking fees, fucking clients going bankrupt, fucking writing proposal with 1% fees and still can't get fucking shortlisted...
Oh Beary that sounds absolutely miserable. I am so sorry you had to go through such an experience.
My exercise turned out to be rather simple. The new building dimensions were already sketched out on trace and once we found an engineering scale it went quickly. Then the only task was to delete some parking spots (YAY! We're almost down the min. required per code), move the dumpster and tweak the road curbs. I think I was given it b/c 1) I had nothing to do but sit and twiddle my thumbs 2) I'm assigned to the project and 3) it expands my knowledge base.
As far as the color is concerned, I'd like to go with a bright steel blue, but alas I think they'll probably end up either white or yellow
Strawbeary: I have read your rant and responses over my lunch and it is the BEST lunchtime entertainment I've had in a long while (since vado and I stopped going to strip clubs on lunch hour - kidding!).
I mean, I feel terrible for you having to go through that, and It pains me to have yet more proof of just how many idiot knuckleheads are in our profession, but man! What great reading! How well-written, and from such a calm, sane, logical and intelligent (and thank god a now OUTSIDE) point of view!
treekiller's post is right on: even if you don't sue (for what, tk?), you might someday want/need to be able to back up your statements. I would think the HQ would be interested to hear your story, though they would likely treat you not as a hero upon hearing it - they may want to kill the messenger.
I also agree with that fear of getting a job offer and feeling like you need to take it. Why not, if you guys can manage, enjoy your time off, collect your unemployment, find some mental peace from the mental havoc of your job, and prepare yourself for having a baby? Maybe look for freelance drafting or something until you have the baby - you can retool your career after the baby, many (most) women do it anyway.
Thank you so much for sharing your story. I think it should be required reading for interns - because THIS IS NOT a well-run office!
And I am all for taking the time off to regroup and, well, reproduce. I'm super financially diligent so everything is cool EXCEPT for that nasty health insurance stuff (COBRA with the subsidy works for now, but won't last forever). People don't understand the concept of not having a job though, and I get bugged about it often by family and friends. "What are you going to DO?" My brother and my godmother's response to my pregnancy were both OH NO! My mom thinks I should take a minimum wage job just to have a job. Apparently, I'm not meeting their expectations of being deep in debt and having to hold a job at all costs just to service the debt! Or something like that. I'm not exactly rolling in dough, but unemployment is a decent deal.
Strawbeary, I knew about a lot of that, from piecing it together from previous stories of yours. That's why when you said you had been laid off, i was actually relieved for you. For context, you might like to know that one of my previous jobs was in a similar situation:
Several years ago, right out of school, I was in a satellite office of a much larger A&E firm, and we were the "architecture" department in a much bigger, fairly well-run office. Except our department was about 8 people put in the hands of a guy who had been cruising at the top of a different company for so long, he had no idea how to manage a small group with actual responsibilities. And he really couldn't do it. He never crossed the line to alcoholism but he was grossly incompetent. I had just found out that he stiffed me on a bonus after putting in 140 hours of overtime over 6 months on a project he was in charge of when I had the opportunity to apply for a new job, and I got it. A meeting I had scheduled with HR about my situation turned into a meeting where I resigned, and I told them why. Around that time he was stripped of most of his responsibilities, and 6 months later he was fired. I heard that he had had an affair with one of the clients! He couldn't get another job and had to leave town. To this day, if I see him on the street, I pretend not to know him...
But anyway, that's old news. My point is, you're gone now, so if you have any respect at all for the company at large, I think they would appreciate it if you gave them some indication of what was really going on. Otherwise, how will they know? Drunky McDrunk? You could frame it as "if you want to save your business or your reputation, you might want to read this" or something a little less dramatic, perhaps. You may be surprised...you might even make new contacts from it.
I have a headache, I'm going to go lay back down until the painkillers kick in.
I am thinking, I want to help Africa, but I don't want to do it the Bono or Live Aid way, I am thinking that Dambisa Moyo is onto something. Any thoughts?
Kofi Annan, former United Nations Secretary-General
"Dambisa Moyo makes a compelling case for a new approach in Africa. Her message is that "Africa's time is now". It is time for Africans to assume full control over their economic and political destiny. Africans should grasp the many means and opportunities available to them for improving the quality of life.
Dambisa is hard – perhaps too hard – on the role of aid. But her central point is indisputable. The determination of Africans, and genuine partnership between Africa and the rest of the world, is the basis for growth and development."
Foreword by Niall Ferguson
"It has long seemed to me problematic, and even a little embarrassing, that so much of the public debate about Africa’s economic problems should be conducted by non-African white men. From the economists (Paul Collier, William Easterly, Jeffrey Sachs) to the rock stars (Bono, Bob Geldof), the African discussion has been colonized as surely as the African continent was a century ago. The simple fact that Dead Aid is the work of an African black woman is the least of the reasons why you should read it. But it is a good reason nonetheless.
Born and educated in Zambia, Dambisa Moyo also brings to her subject a rare combination of academic expertise and "real world" experience. Her training in economics took her from the World Bank to Harvard and on to Oxford, where she obtained her doctorate. Since leaving the academy, she has spent eight highly successful years at Goldman Sachs, most recently as Global Economist and strategist. It is quite a resumé."
and you could argue that bono and geldoff being irish were colonized not colonizers. i'm just sayin' but to speak in the language of the colonizer is to be colonized. to pull out a little franz fanon on ya.
beta, I too am very personally interested in this subject and have been looking forward to reading her book, although I expect I will only partially agree with it. There was an interesting short treatment of her book on NPR a few weeks back; I recommend it if you have the time to search. It may have been on Morning Edition.
franz fanon was a psyciatrist who was born in the west indies. he wrote to two famous books on the psychology of colonialism before dying from leukemia in his 30's. FranzFanon...
Dear Boss-
how can a tunnel under 6 lanes of highway be cheaper then a 2 lane bridge over the same highway? how can you construct said tunnel with out interrupting the flow of traffic?
how do I convince you to not discuss ANY traffic circulation patterns with the client before we get an engineer on board?
oh, I can't stretch the site dimension to force fit a regulation size running track, so can you try to forget that concept too?
PS, please try to remember what parcels the client owns before you start sketching...
Beary, I elected NOT to use cobra after being laid off. I now have private insurance with blue cross blue shield, and it costs - for me AND abram - around 250 a month? I think thats right. Something to think about. And I think that as long as you have insurance, then you can get insurance even if pregnant, but maybe not.
Does anybody know if I can/should use patio/deck stain on outdoor furniture? I need to stain it, but dont want to stain and then seal. Can I just use thompsons or something? I always liked their little demo box at the hardware store, that rained, lightninged, and thundered when you pushed the button....ahhh good times.
SH - Seriously? I find that rather whacked. Perhaps it's just b/c they don't have enough work to go around.
Anyway, my uppity self almost caused some trouble at the grocery store. While I was standing in line I watched the cashier put the guy's groceries into a plastic bag (actually she double bagged them, so it was two). After she was done, she turned to me and asked "Paper or plastic?" What I wanted to say is "Well in order to offset what this jackass here just did, I'm opting to use my own", instead I held up my fantastic reusable bag that folds up all nicely in my purse and said "None! I have my own". Granted I did look directly at the guy after I said it, but still, I held my tongue.
I went out for a little pro-bono work this afternoon. Looking at a house we can use a group home for our disability challenged clients.
Well managed to leave my camera and notebook at the house and had to go back and get it. I never drove the first time, just a back seat passanger. So I wasn't paying attention to where we were actually going. When I went back to find the place later managed to get lost in them there hills. I finally found a place that I knew and reoriented and damn it was just around the corner. So ended up not getting home until an hour after I planned and Mrs B let me know it.
So it was alot of pro-bono with a torch at the other end.
I use the plastic bags because they're easier to carry for five blocks than paper bags, my crappy little neighborhood grocery store doesn't give me a choice anyway, and since I'm usually on my way home from work, it's highly unlikely I'd be carrying reusable canvas bags with me. But I usually recycle them when I'm done.
our plastic bags become dog doo doo bags....I'm always finding myself in an awkward position pulling one out of my coat pocket
when I'm not out walking the dogs. ...."Be Prepared" ole boy scout motto.....
it is a very common thing in los angeles to have your own bag.
however, i am usually asking extra plastic bags and telling the cashier to give me extra bags if possible.
but at least i keep the neighborhood free of my dogs' shit.
i do support people using their bags. it also helps to buy small amounts of food and eat fresh.
I have gotten better at remembering to bring my cloth bags into the store with me. I leave them in the trunk of my car. And I'm impressed that my fellow Hoosiers, not the most progressive of people, tend to bring cloth bags with them too.
But when you have a dog, the plastic bags really do make sense and get reused - yeah, they end up in a landfill preventing poop from disintegrating as fast as it would otherwise, but some compromise must be made. And like you, Orhan, today I did my good deed and picked up the big poop some other dog's owner had left behind on the path.
I'll tell a story I think about every time I pick up poop: while riding in my boss' car across Philly with him one day, we saw a guy running after a bus. My boss said "<sigh> There's nothing less elegant than running for a bus". I pondered for a moment, then said "Well, I put a bag over my hand and pick up my dog's poop - I'd say that might be less elegant!".
To which he replied, with a laugh and the kind of graciousness I have always wished I possessed: "Well I'm sure you look elegant doing it!".
i take my own bag and invariably when i'm paying the bagger has put my milk or whatever in a plastic bag inside the bag i brought? they always do this but i never see it until i get home. plus this one guy who is like five feet tall and older than me asks me if i need help!!! wtf?!? my usual response is why didn't you ask me that before i paid!
I actually use plastic bags too snook when I scoop out my cats' litter boxes, but nine times out of ten I bring my own bags. But of late I've been thinking about seeing if I can't find ones made from cornstarch or something insdtead.
SH - I used to forget them all the time too, but now I have a nylon bag that folds up into the size of a cell phone that lives in my purse. Voila, insta bag.
I don't think I'd get so riled up about it if I didn't see about a million people leaving the store with a million bags in their cart. Contrary to popular belief, you can't really recycle plastic bags. There's a rumor going around that they may actually outlaw the use of plastic bags here in Cincy. We'll see, I kinda hope they do... or at least do what they do in Germany and charge them per bag they take.
You guys would laugh at me if you ever saw me go to the grocery store! Or at least I hope somebody gets a chuckle out of it:
-First of all, I roll up on my bike, and lock it to the bike rack.
-Then I go into Ralph's, with my right pant leg rolled up (biker style) and all of my reusable bags in my X-Large Timbuk2 on my back.
-I usually try to limit my haul to a little carry basket, but, failing that, I get a shopping cart.
-When I'm done, I then go through the Self-scan lanes, because frankly it's easier to bag your own groceries if you know how they are going to be carried. -Then I put what I can in my wee bike basket, on my back (that Timbuk2 bag could hold a couple of toddlers), and on my bike handles.
Voila! Carbon-free grocery shopping. I've been known to bike home hauling over $100 worth of groceries like that! I should blog about this....
Wow. I have noticed that I can get more groceries into the cloth bags than into the plastic ones. THat alone is reason enough to carry them - less trips from the car!
nicely done Wonder K nicely done. Question for those not in the know of biker etiquette and dress, why do you only have your right pant leg rolled up? Hmmm - btw great visuals.
Ok so after a rather sucky 1/2 day at the office where I rewrote/printed the same letters over and over killing another dozen trees or so.
Straw I'm loving the rant and look forward to the continuation. Also, and I'm sure I speak for all of TC that we rather missed your regular contributions rant or otherwise.
And I got offered a full-time post at the school of architecture. It was a verbal offer, and I have no idea about the details aside from taking over for the history prof for a year. More to come...
okay here's a fun vidyo from top gear. i post it cuz its got bikes in it and because the bikes are racing a car. the car is a coolio fiat 500 which if fiat buys chrysler may be on sale here...CarVS.BikesINBudapest...
Thread Central
SH,
No only 27 just never got around to a cellular phone. Although I have thought about getting one with a data plan just so i could tweet on the go...
I have been reading some David Grahame Shane lately re: urbnaism and new forms of urban modeling etc. He seems highly influenced by Kevin Lynch...
Anyone?
Yes, folks and today this interior designer is laying out parking spaces. I'm not complaining at all, in fact I totally love it, I just am finding it humorous. Never in a million years would I ever have thought I would end up doing this kind of stuff. But alas, I think this is the kick off to my project YAY!!!
what color are you thinking for the stripes?
vado, that is so retro...the true contemporary architect paints the parking space, leaving the stripe visible only as negative space...big numbers as negative space on each spot is also very coolio these days.
****melt, perhaps I can relate as this architect was oft whored out to do grading plans, landscape plans, erosion control plans, etc. When the client would complain that consultants were too expensive and refused to hire a professional, I was still responsible for getting their shit thru the various departments. The principal didn't care, he included it in our basic services. And we wonder why we went under...
Kevin Lynch concepts have been known to be tested on the ARE, for those who might take them.
Sometimes I think I should explain myself, lest you all think I'm just an expert complainer (maybe it is some of both). So here goes, WARNING, RANT: The firm I worked for was under transition when I was hired. I thought I was going to work for the firm that was a leader in the urban revitalization of downtown's loft conversions, trendy restaurants and bars and historic preservation - good solid design work and pretty much my dream job. Turns out, that principal was on his way out due to corporate friction, and another was replacing him. This is a small branch of a large nationwide company with a HQ in another city. I was hired as an intern, who worked under 2 project managers finishing up the last principal's jobs for the first year or so. With the new principal however, the sweet loft projects were gone. The 2 project managers did not get along with the new principal, who was largely incompetent and both PMs quit leaving us with a young, inexperienced staff. I found myself suddenly the most competent person in the office and doing my best to be the gray-haired go-to person. The principal spent most of the time at the bar, suddenly realizing his own incompetency and choosing to drown it with margaritas. The work was very iffy, all of it from shady friends of the principals who had little intention of paying us or following thru with the projects. We took ANY job we could get our hands on, I was doing metal buildings, affordable housing, senior living, warehouses, high rises, shipping container buildings etc, by myself with no experience, and no principal or PM oversight. Only one was PARTIALLY built (that is another story). We hired a replacement for the PM's, a CAD tech with no concept of design or leadership, but was somehow our highest compensated employee. He was good friends with the principal. He worked alone on one job, a storage unit, for 14 months in SD, and lost $10,000 on it. It was never built. The principal insisted he had POTENTIAL though. Actually, it was common that the principal would periodically hire his best friends who used the office as a cushion between jobs, surfing the net and going out to 'lunch' with the principal. One of them wrote a half-assed spec that we never used over the 6 months he was there, for the bargain price of $85 an hour. We never got paid for it, and ate half a million dollars on it. Last summer, we landed 3 large projects, and while still in schematic design, doubled the square footage of the studio and hired 3 fresh newbies to screw everything up and draw 2'-13/16" hallways throughout and delete parking spots as they saw fit. (This was when I was pulling all-nighters just to fix the mistakes.) One of the principal's buddies was "PM" on one of the jobs, but he was so ineffective, the team would come to me over lunch when he wasn't around and beg me for help, sometimes the girls would cry. The project had specific design guidelines that the PM refused to acknowledge (I don't blame him for not wanting to do mediterranean revival stuff either, but that was the job). There were no roles and responsibilities, it was a free for all and everyone just drew and designed on top of each other. When the whole office complained of lack of leadership and inconsistent methodologies stemming from this job, the principal decided this was the best run project in the office and that we needed to model it from now on. Then he praised his buddy for putting in such long hours (?). Apparently he didn't see everyone roll their eyes. The 3 large projects (residential projects in Florida) fell through last fall (surprise! principal never saw it coming, I think he was too drunk), and we laid off 3 people. We never got any more work and laid off several more people and one of the principal's buddies quit. We were 4 people in a 5,000 s.f. space and 15 parking spots that we continued to pay for. When challenged by the staff, the principal insisted the extra parking spots were "only a few thousand dollars a month". Well so were the people we laid off, but don't argue with a drunk man. Most of the time there were only 2 of us there. Since I was usually there, I took the many calls from clients and consultants that basically called to scream about how incompetent and irresponsible we were or where were the drawings the principal promised? Towards the end I was getting several calls a week from angry people. As the principal and CAD tech went on longer daily drunken sprees, and the rest of the office used me as a complaint department, I lost it one day and in a moment of rage told the principal exactly what I (we) thought of him, making me an easy target for the next lay-off. I was the PM on the only billable job in the office, a high end historic remodel, when I was laid off. The highly compensated CAD tech yes-man, who we all thought should have gone, including the corporate office, was spared and given my project. Doesn't matter as I'm glad I got out of there when I did, and could take a severance instead of having to quit. They are $1.5 million in the hole and counting. They are writing proposals for anything and everything, underdogging everyone with 1% fees and still can't land a job. The staff that is left is miserable, all actively seeking jobs elsewhere, holding on long enough to get laid off. One of them still calls me and tells me he is going to quit and he is so unhappy since I left. I talk him off the ledge and tell him to wait for the inevitable lay-off so he can collect unemployment. Word is they will dissolve the office by the end of April.
I also want to say I feel sorry for the corporate office and the other branches, as I think they are good companies with integrity and ethics. I know some of them read archinect. I understand they have suspicions that something is wrong, but aren't acting on it. Unfortunately, the reputation of the company is trashed here, not that it was ever strong...
Why would I look for another architecture job now? I'm so traumatized. I guess I learned a lot, about how NOT to run an office. Architecture is so not worth it.
diZAMN, girl!
Jesus Christ... Sounds a lot like the firm I left in Chicago, except that we weren't a branch of a larger firm, and that our two principals were a husband and wife who hated each other.
'baery, hope you have documentation of everything to cover your ass - if you wanted to, you have grounds for a lawsuit.
I'd hire you in a heartbeat - you certainly have proven you got the chops be an excellent professional.
Take time to recover. find your passion again. it doesn't get much worse then that experience, so any job is going to be much, much better. archinect is here for you.
Gin, I was reading one of your old threads the other day and laughing about the jaguar driving principal who didn't have money for the toll. Glad you aren't there anymore. Frankly, a recession was needed to get some of these jokers out of the business world.
BTW, that is the TIP of the iceberg. Anyone care to know about the PARTIALLY built project? The building on a prominent intersection here in town that has been partially built and hanging unfinished, unenclosed and exposed to the elements, with homeless people building fires in the basement for over a year now? Yeh, that's ours. Less our fault, more the developer's fault... bur how do I market myself with that as one of my only built projects in town?
Heh... About the only good thing about working in that firm was the camaraderie among the staff, in a Hogan's Heros sort of way.
Back in Chicago I had a pretty sweet housing situation but I hated my job. Here in NYC I like my job but have to deal with crappy housing... I'm wondering if I have only enough good karma to enjoy one scenario or the other.
Archinect is here for me?! I love it. Actually, if you don't remember, you guys did help me ditch my last job (which was an awesome job, little did I know at the time) and move 700 miles to find land one.
Actually, if anyone is hiring, I think I AM the ideal candidate in this market. Cheap, young, self-sufficient, and diligent with experience in most everything at this point. I haven't sent out any resumes yet, perhaps I'm afraid I will get an offer and feel like I need to take it. But even if architecture wants or needs me, I don't want it. Time will tell. Silly, I know.
treekiller, I have no intention of suing, I believe karma is taking care of it for me.
One of the first guys to get laid off found a new job right away, and was out to lunch with his new boss when he ran into the principal and CAD tech. They stopped to chat about business, the recession, etc. I guess the principal and tech were visibly drunk and dropping f-bombs, blaming the economy for his failing business. Fucking clients stiffing us on our fucking fees, fucking clients going bankrupt, fucking writing proposal with 1% fees and still can't get fucking shortlisted...
VERY professional, no?
Oh Beary that sounds absolutely miserable. I am so sorry you had to go through such an experience.
My exercise turned out to be rather simple. The new building dimensions were already sketched out on trace and once we found an engineering scale it went quickly. Then the only task was to delete some parking spots (YAY! We're almost down the min. required per code), move the dumpster and tweak the road curbs. I think I was given it b/c 1) I had nothing to do but sit and twiddle my thumbs 2) I'm assigned to the project and 3) it expands my knowledge base.
As far as the color is concerned, I'd like to go with a bright steel blue, but alas I think they'll probably end up either white or yellow
Strawbeary: I have read your rant and responses over my lunch and it is the BEST lunchtime entertainment I've had in a long while (since vado and I stopped going to strip clubs on lunch hour - kidding!).
I mean, I feel terrible for you having to go through that, and It pains me to have yet more proof of just how many idiot knuckleheads are in our profession, but man! What great reading! How well-written, and from such a calm, sane, logical and intelligent (and thank god a now OUTSIDE) point of view!
treekiller's post is right on: even if you don't sue (for what, tk?), you might someday want/need to be able to back up your statements. I would think the HQ would be interested to hear your story, though they would likely treat you not as a hero upon hearing it - they may want to kill the messenger.
I also agree with that fear of getting a job offer and feeling like you need to take it. Why not, if you guys can manage, enjoy your time off, collect your unemployment, find some mental peace from the mental havoc of your job, and prepare yourself for having a baby? Maybe look for freelance drafting or something until you have the baby - you can retool your career after the baby, many (most) women do it anyway.
Thank you so much for sharing your story. I think it should be required reading for interns - because THIS IS NOT a well-run office!
Also, jump: right on, you totally know what's cool when it comes to parking "spaces", William-san!
I just re-read jump's post and indeed that would be quite kickas. Unfortunately I don't think it would fly with the client :o/
lb, if you like that story, I have plenty more!
And I am all for taking the time off to regroup and, well, reproduce. I'm super financially diligent so everything is cool EXCEPT for that nasty health insurance stuff (COBRA with the subsidy works for now, but won't last forever). People don't understand the concept of not having a job though, and I get bugged about it often by family and friends. "What are you going to DO?" My brother and my godmother's response to my pregnancy were both OH NO! My mom thinks I should take a minimum wage job just to have a job. Apparently, I'm not meeting their expectations of being deep in debt and having to hold a job at all costs just to service the debt! Or something like that. I'm not exactly rolling in dough, but unemployment is a decent deal.
I like jump's parking spaces too.
Strawbeary, I knew about a lot of that, from piecing it together from previous stories of yours. That's why when you said you had been laid off, i was actually relieved for you. For context, you might like to know that one of my previous jobs was in a similar situation:
Several years ago, right out of school, I was in a satellite office of a much larger A&E firm, and we were the "architecture" department in a much bigger, fairly well-run office. Except our department was about 8 people put in the hands of a guy who had been cruising at the top of a different company for so long, he had no idea how to manage a small group with actual responsibilities. And he really couldn't do it. He never crossed the line to alcoholism but he was grossly incompetent. I had just found out that he stiffed me on a bonus after putting in 140 hours of overtime over 6 months on a project he was in charge of when I had the opportunity to apply for a new job, and I got it. A meeting I had scheduled with HR about my situation turned into a meeting where I resigned, and I told them why. Around that time he was stripped of most of his responsibilities, and 6 months later he was fired. I heard that he had had an affair with one of the clients! He couldn't get another job and had to leave town. To this day, if I see him on the street, I pretend not to know him...
But anyway, that's old news. My point is, you're gone now, so if you have any respect at all for the company at large, I think they would appreciate it if you gave them some indication of what was really going on. Otherwise, how will they know? Drunky McDrunk? You could frame it as "if you want to save your business or your reputation, you might want to read this" or something a little less dramatic, perhaps. You may be surprised...you might even make new contacts from it.
I have a headache, I'm going to go lay back down until the painkillers kick in.
I am thinking, I want to help Africa, but I don't want to do it the Bono or Live Aid way, I am thinking that Dambisa Moyo is onto something. Any thoughts?
Kofi Annan, former United Nations Secretary-General
"Dambisa Moyo makes a compelling case for a new approach in Africa. Her message is that "Africa's time is now". It is time for Africans to assume full control over their economic and political destiny. Africans should grasp the many means and opportunities available to them for improving the quality of life.
Dambisa is hard – perhaps too hard – on the role of aid. But her central point is indisputable. The determination of Africans, and genuine partnership between Africa and the rest of the world, is the basis for growth and development."
Foreword by Niall Ferguson
"It has long seemed to me problematic, and even a little embarrassing, that so much of the public debate about Africa’s economic problems should be conducted by non-African white men. From the economists (Paul Collier, William Easterly, Jeffrey Sachs) to the rock stars (Bono, Bob Geldof), the African discussion has been colonized as surely as the African continent was a century ago. The simple fact that Dead Aid is the work of an African black woman is the least of the reasons why you should read it. But it is a good reason nonetheless.
Born and educated in Zambia, Dambisa Moyo also brings to her subject a rare combination of academic expertise and "real world" experience. Her training in economics took her from the World Bank to Harvard and on to Oxford, where she obtained her doctorate. Since leaving the academy, she has spent eight highly successful years at Goldman Sachs, most recently as Global Economist and strategist. It is quite a resumé."
First you gotta get a degree from cambridge(the real one) and then work for goldman sachs.
and you could argue that bono and geldoff being irish were colonized not colonizers. i'm just sayin' but to speak in the language of the colonizer is to be colonized. to pull out a little franz fanon on ya.
beta, I too am very personally interested in this subject and have been looking forward to reading her book, although I expect I will only partially agree with it. There was an interesting short treatment of her book on NPR a few weeks back; I recommend it if you have the time to search. It may have been on Morning Edition.
that's an interesting quote vado although i've never heard of franz fanon. who is he?
franz fanon was a psyciatrist who was born in the west indies. he wrote to two famous books on the psychology of colonialism before dying from leukemia in his 30's. FranzFanon...
For any NYC lurkers:
Our own Cameron will be drinking at Peculiar Pub on Bleeker Street tonight in celebration of AFH's 10-year anniversary, starting at 9 PM.
[rant]
Dear Boss-
how can a tunnel under 6 lanes of highway be cheaper then a 2 lane bridge over the same highway? how can you construct said tunnel with out interrupting the flow of traffic?
how do I convince you to not discuss ANY traffic circulation patterns with the client before we get an engineer on board?
oh, I can't stretch the site dimension to force fit a regulation size running track, so can you try to forget that concept too?
PS, please try to remember what parcels the client owns before you start sketching...
[/rant]
Dear Treekiller,
You are a smart cookie, you'll figure it out. I'll be at the bar.
Love,
da Boss
i am getting close to making either a stupid decision or the best decision of my life, and it scares the piss out of me.
Vado, why/how do you know that?
Beary, I elected NOT to use cobra after being laid off. I now have private insurance with blue cross blue shield, and it costs - for me AND abram - around 250 a month? I think thats right. Something to think about. And I think that as long as you have insurance, then you can get insurance even if pregnant, but maybe not.
Does anybody know if I can/should use patio/deck stain on outdoor furniture? I need to stain it, but dont want to stain and then seal. Can I just use thompsons or something? I always liked their little demo box at the hardware store, that rained, lightninged, and thundered when you pushed the button....ahhh good times.
Well, not only can I NOT find a job, nobody wants to let me work for free either! Talk about pitiful.
I was visiting my mother all afternoon in "my" hospital. See was in for tests after a fall.
Love all the TC rants today!!!
SH - Seriously? I find that rather whacked. Perhaps it's just b/c they don't have enough work to go around.
Anyway, my uppity self almost caused some trouble at the grocery store. While I was standing in line I watched the cashier put the guy's groceries into a plastic bag (actually she double bagged them, so it was two). After she was done, she turned to me and asked "Paper or plastic?" What I wanted to say is "Well in order to offset what this jackass here just did, I'm opting to use my own", instead I held up my fantastic reusable bag that folds up all nicely in my purse and said "None! I have my own". Granted I did look directly at the guy after I said it, but still, I held my tongue.
Yikes... Remind me never to go grocery shopping with you!
I tend to forget my bags at home, and then remember only as im checking out.
I went out for a little pro-bono work this afternoon. Looking at a house we can use a group home for our disability challenged clients.
Well managed to leave my camera and notebook at the house and had to go back and get it. I never drove the first time, just a back seat passanger. So I wasn't paying attention to where we were actually going. When I went back to find the place later managed to get lost in them there hills. I finally found a place that I knew and reoriented and damn it was just around the corner. So ended up not getting home until an hour after I planned and Mrs B let me know it.
So it was alot of pro-bono with a torch at the other end.
namhenderson, thanks for the shout out on the modeling thread!
I use the plastic bags because they're easier to carry for five blocks than paper bags, my crappy little neighborhood grocery store doesn't give me a choice anyway, and since I'm usually on my way home from work, it's highly unlikely I'd be carrying reusable canvas bags with me. But I usually recycle them when I'm done.
our plastic bags become dog doo doo bags....I'm always finding myself in an awkward position pulling one out of my coat pocket
when I'm not out walking the dogs. ...."Be Prepared" ole boy scout motto.....
it is a very common thing in los angeles to have your own bag.
however, i am usually asking extra plastic bags and telling the cashier to give me extra bags if possible.
but at least i keep the neighborhood free of my dogs' shit.
i do support people using their bags. it also helps to buy small amounts of food and eat fresh.
'snook dude doggy daddy' would know!
I have gotten better at remembering to bring my cloth bags into the store with me. I leave them in the trunk of my car. And I'm impressed that my fellow Hoosiers, not the most progressive of people, tend to bring cloth bags with them too.
But when you have a dog, the plastic bags really do make sense and get reused - yeah, they end up in a landfill preventing poop from disintegrating as fast as it would otherwise, but some compromise must be made. And like you, Orhan, today I did my good deed and picked up the big poop some other dog's owner had left behind on the path.
I'll tell a story I think about every time I pick up poop: while riding in my boss' car across Philly with him one day, we saw a guy running after a bus. My boss said "<sigh> There's nothing less elegant than running for a bus". I pondered for a moment, then said "Well, I put a bag over my hand and pick up my dog's poop - I'd say that might be less elegant!".
To which he replied, with a laugh and the kind of graciousness I have always wished I possessed: "Well I'm sure you look elegant doing it!".
i take my own bag and invariably when i'm paying the bagger has put my milk or whatever in a plastic bag inside the bag i brought? they always do this but i never see it until i get home. plus this one guy who is like five feet tall and older than me asks me if i need help!!! wtf?!? my usual response is why didn't you ask me that before i paid!
I actually use plastic bags too snook when I scoop out my cats' litter boxes, but nine times out of ten I bring my own bags. But of late I've been thinking about seeing if I can't find ones made from cornstarch or something insdtead.
SH - I used to forget them all the time too, but now I have a nylon bag that folds up into the size of a cell phone that lives in my purse. Voila, insta bag.
I don't think I'd get so riled up about it if I didn't see about a million people leaving the store with a million bags in their cart. Contrary to popular belief, you can't really recycle plastic bags. There's a rumor going around that they may actually outlaw the use of plastic bags here in Cincy. We'll see, I kinda hope they do... or at least do what they do in Germany and charge them per bag they take.
there are two plastic bags stuck in the tree outside my window.(im on the fourth floor.)
You guys would laugh at me if you ever saw me go to the grocery store! Or at least I hope somebody gets a chuckle out of it:
-First of all, I roll up on my bike, and lock it to the bike rack.
-Then I go into Ralph's, with my right pant leg rolled up (biker style) and all of my reusable bags in my X-Large Timbuk2 on my back.
-I usually try to limit my haul to a little carry basket, but, failing that, I get a shopping cart.
-When I'm done, I then go through the Self-scan lanes, because frankly it's easier to bag your own groceries if you know how they are going to be carried. -Then I put what I can in my wee bike basket, on my back (that Timbuk2 bag could hold a couple of toddlers), and on my bike handles.
Voila! Carbon-free grocery shopping. I've been known to bike home hauling over $100 worth of groceries like that! I should blog about this....
Wow. I have noticed that I can get more groceries into the cloth bags than into the plastic ones. THat alone is reason enough to carry them - less trips from the car!
what about the carbon dioxide you exhale? or do you hold your breath while shopping?
nicely done Wonder K nicely done. Question for those not in the know of biker etiquette and dress, why do you only have your right pant leg rolled up? Hmmm - btw great visuals.
Ok so after a rather sucky 1/2 day at the office where I rewrote/printed the same letters over and over killing another dozen trees or so.
Straw I'm loving the rant and look forward to the continuation. Also, and I'm sure I speak for all of TC that we rather missed your regular contributions rant or otherwise.
And I got offered a full-time post at the school of architecture. It was a verbal offer, and I have no idea about the details aside from taking over for the history prof for a year. More to come...
coolio techno!
okay here's a fun vidyo from top gear. i post it cuz its got bikes in it and because the bikes are racing a car. the car is a coolio fiat 500 which if fiat buys chrysler may be on sale here...CarVS.BikesINBudapest...
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