Ugh. Am I just completely intolerant, or is anybody else annoyed by the, "Where should I intern?" threads? None of them start off with their skills, their desires, anything. There's an impertinance to it, like they assume they CAN intern anywhere they want, and that there are firms that ANYBODY would consider it could to work for, like we don't all have different priorities or anything. GRRRRRRRRRRRRR.
Yeah. There's a great deal of leaning on each other going on these days. For the time being these types of topics seem to have surpassed intellectual threads in popularity.....I admit, I asked you guys what to do in my housing debate.....
But, I guess these things come and go. Just wait until they start construction on the Freedom tower and the board will ignite in a united front of design indignance once again.
I think people are afraid to put "Other" on that category. Think about it - there are probably a LOT of people who work at sole-proprietor firms that aren't small enough to be called 'boutique', and aren't big enough to be called 'corporate', so they choose 'Starchitect' because they're boss is pretty/moderately well known. I'm definitely in that category, but I chose either corporate or boutique, but I don't remember which....
Speaking of which, I'll have been there a year relatively soon. Should I even THINK about asking for a raise if they're paying me pretty well to start with? It's admittedly about 50% ego, 50% financial. The scary thing is that they don't do annual reviews, so if I choose to ask, it'll be kind of a big deal.
speaking of the salary poll, am I weetarded or is there no way to filter by region/city/anything?
I suspect it's because I'm weetarded. a couple hours ago I spent 10 minutes trying to remember gordon mata clark's name. I could recal the titles of various works, the stories behind them and the year they were done, but I couldn't remember the guy's fsking name.
I don't know about you, but as far as architectural history is concerned, I think it's worth remembering that demolition of the Liberty Bell Pavilion is set to begin on the third anniversary of the US invasion of Iraq.
garpike - nope, no 90day probation (I already had health insurance by that point!), no reviews of any sort, nothing. I just keep showing up and they keep paying me, and there's no real discussion about it.
Thanks for asking +q. Phoenix was unfotunately a very stressful trip as I can't believe how well-off my doctor sister is compared to my paycheck-to-paycheck existance as an architect! No way will I be buying myself a convertible Mercedes for my 40th birthday!
Also, I hiked in the mountains several days and the sprawl and smog in Phoenix is so depressing - when I lived there as a kid doctors were still sending people to Arizona to live because the air was so good...those days are long gone!
But architecturally: it did reinforce for me that cities are organisms and nowhere is ever "the way it used to be" which is a good thing - no community should be stagnant. But I also drove Scottsdale Road north of where I used to live through what was once desert that my high school friends and I would party in - now it is all shopping and offices and of course McMansions. I was suddenly overwhelmed by the unbelievably enormous mass of construction materials that were represented in this suburban development. Numbers I can't even begin to quantify: hundreds of thousands of windows, millions and millions of studs, oceans of stucco...looking at it as basic material energy was dizzying. If you were to pile all that material up in what had been open desert it would be a new moutain range just west of the McDowells (the range in whose foothills Taliesen West is sited) and nearly as high!
I did see tons of gambrel quail, a few jackrabbits, some lizards...no scorpion thank goodness. Didn't do any architouring (Williams Tsien museum, Bruder library, Al-Sayad house, Bruder contemporary museum, etc) as I've seen most of it on previous trips. That Predock Children's Museum or Science Musuem or whatever - the phrase "phoned it in" comes to mind.
Phoenix is doing some fun stuff with their infrastructure - at least the pedestrian bridges over the freeways are sorta sculptural, which was fun. And I laughed when I saw that the playrgound at the park has a shade structure over it - insert "these spoiled kids today" comment: I remember blistering my hands on the damn scorching hot monkey bars as a kid! Haha.
Anyway, a nice break but a bit melancholy-inducing, I guess. I do love the desert, but it's harder and harder to find.
liberty - I not only remember the blisters, I remember wierd competitions like who could stand on the blacktop the longest. Parents probably don't let their kids do that anymore, huh?
Haha, yes, rationalist: we fried the soles of our feet with those games! And the dust storms that would blot out the entire backyard, it's probably a good thing those don't happen anymore!
I forgot you are there, damn, I would have called you up for a drink! Next time....
don't worry about it, I'm not anymore. I came out to LA for school and just never left. I don't get back to Phx. as often as I'd like, but I'm planning a visit the relatives, drop in on Arco Santi, camp at the Grand Canyon driving tour of the state for later in the year, though. I'm just not sure when - my project doesn't end until May, and by that time we're past pleasant camping weather. So it may wait until September or so when it cools off a little again.
this is one of my biggest pet peeves, and architects get hit with it especially hard for some reason: the feeling that you don't "deserve" a raise because you are paid more than you expected to be in the first place.
Think of it this way. The rate they are paying you at now is the rate THEY felt you were qualified to earn THE DAY YOU WALKED IN THE DOOR TO THEIR OFFICE. Think of ALL you have learned since then. You know the ins and outs of their quirky little office, you are involved heavily in projects--if you were taken out of the picture, wouldn't they be screwed?! It would take them months and months to find someone like you AND get them to the point where they function as well in the office as you do. The point you are at now is far beyond the point you were at when they hired you. When you ask for your yearly raise and review this will be glaringly obvious, and they will be happy to give you a raise.
Remember that in most jobs, even in architecture, a raise is basically mandatory after a year. Also remember, and if you need to, remind them, that if you switched firms your salary would jump enormously, because this is a standard rule of business--lateral shifts result in much higher employee compensation than "working your way up." This should remind them that you have loyalty to the firm, which is SERIOUSLY worthwhile for a firm and needs to be compensated, and that you COULD demand much more than you are.
GO GET YOURSELF A RAISE, IT IS EXPECTED AFTER ONE YEAR AND YOU DESERVE IT AND MORE.
excellent point by myriam.
------
i was watching sopranos last night (i think the soap got better and more complex by confronting the personalities with who they really are and stuff...
so, tony gets shot by uncle junior and he is in a coma.
cut to; emergency meeting among his immediate gang. one of them says,
"fuckin' uncle junior. let him die in jail. he fuckin' marvin gaye'd his own nephew".
Also, rationalist, if they DON'T give you a raise after a year, something is seriously wrong and you need to find a job that values you and is more in touch with the business world. Never give any of your time to a job that undervalues you. I get so angry particularly when other females are in that position, it makes me want to go beat out-of-touch idiot bosses up!
But, chances are they will give you one. AS THEY SHOULD.
I was thinking that I might come up with a generic response for every thread that starts off with "what do you think..." and see if anyone noticed. A prototype response, if you will.
Thanks guys. = ) Y'all give me lots of confidence. And Myriam, you hit the nail RIGHT on the head. The reason I was uncertain WAS because I'd gotten more than I expected in the first place. But then, I also have been sharing the duties of our cad manager who never seems to be here when there's a problem. And maybe, just mayyyybe, I might be LEED accredited by the time my year hits (I'm at 10 months now). Maybe that should be my goal test date, just for more leverage.
I still don't understand what kind of person makes a bunch of entries but doesn't comment. I mean, they have the balls/curiosity to post a whole new thread, but then never come back to say anything about it?! So weird, like people who go to 5-8 years of grueling school for architecture and then work on picking up redlines for Walmart Superstores for the next 20 years. I have no clue what kind of personality does these things.
Equally mystifying to me are the people who read stuff on here but don't ever comment.
Its all fun, but I dont care whats in your pockets/backpack/bag; I dont care about drawing tubes; I dont care about what car you drive [although I did contribute]; I dont care about movies that have got architects in them [by now you must be disappointed, so fuggedaboutit]; I dont care about what sketch book you sketch in.
I want to know your stories, personalities, aspirations, desires, interests. I reckon as architects we should do some architecture.
I fully support an Archinect competition - lets see what we've got.
Still, it could be that there's really nothing going on...
arrrrgh!! My McAfee wasn't letting me log in, finally figured it out. But I'm sure diabase is gone to bed by now...dia, I was going to ask you if the form follows function thread wasn't piqueing your interest even a little? Yes it's one of those obnoxious "simplisitic statement: discuss" threads, but newstreamlined and Steven especially and I are trying our damndest (in a half-assed kinda way) to get some kind of discussion going.
Or has form v. function just been so overdiscussed it's about as interesting as brick v. cmu?
I don't know what amazes me more: that the accepted to grad schools yet? thread hit 1,000 posts, or that it managed to stay on topic. Seems that Fancy Graphics Lovers took a lot longer to get to 1k.
must be cuz i am slightly drunk on some very fine italian wine tonight but i just spent way too much time wondering why the bolts on the builder button above are not symetrical. now why would they do that?
happy birthday er, y'all. Are quondam, stephan, and rita really all the same person?
BTW, favorite new poster = OldFogey. So on the money, man. Just thought I'd drop mention in Thread Central of what a cool and sensible dude he seems to be.
Thread Central
Ugh. Am I just completely intolerant, or is anybody else annoyed by the, "Where should I intern?" threads? None of them start off with their skills, their desires, anything. There's an impertinance to it, like they assume they CAN intern anywhere they want, and that there are firms that ANYBODY would consider it could to work for, like we don't all have different priorities or anything. GRRRRRRRRRRRRR.
i don't know about internship seekers but I'm gonna shoot the next person who asks a one-sentence school question
Does anyone ever peruse the salary poll?
Are there really that many starchitects around?
I think for a lot of people, their boss is a star.
Yeah. There's a great deal of leaning on each other going on these days. For the time being these types of topics seem to have surpassed intellectual threads in popularity.....I admit, I asked you guys what to do in my housing debate.....
But, I guess these things come and go. Just wait until they start construction on the Freedom tower and the board will ignite in a united front of design indignance once again.
I think people are afraid to put "Other" on that category. Think about it - there are probably a LOT of people who work at sole-proprietor firms that aren't small enough to be called 'boutique', and aren't big enough to be called 'corporate', so they choose 'Starchitect' because they're boss is pretty/moderately well known. I'm definitely in that category, but I chose either corporate or boutique, but I don't remember which....
Speaking of which, I'll have been there a year relatively soon. Should I even THINK about asking for a raise if they're paying me pretty well to start with? It's admittedly about 50% ego, 50% financial. The scary thing is that they don't do annual reviews, so if I choose to ask, it'll be kind of a big deal.
rationalist, wait for the 15 month point. That is if you had 90 day probation.
I went from Star to Other.
speaking of the salary poll, am I weetarded or is there no way to filter by region/city/anything?
I suspect it's because I'm weetarded. a couple hours ago I spent 10 minutes trying to remember gordon mata clark's name. I could recal the titles of various works, the stories behind them and the year they were done, but I couldn't remember the guy's fsking name.
- quondam, from the non-event cities thread
: something to ponder.
i need a quondam calendar. hard copy version for all those days that i'm not plugged into a computer.
garpike - nope, no 90day probation (I already had health insurance by that point!), no reviews of any sort, nothing. I just keep showing up and they keep paying me, and there's no real discussion about it.
oh, and manamana, it's not just you. There is no filter. We all wish there was though.
LB., how was your AZ trip?
can we have an archinect slideshow?
Thanks for asking +q. Phoenix was unfotunately a very stressful trip as I can't believe how well-off my doctor sister is compared to my paycheck-to-paycheck existance as an architect! No way will I be buying myself a convertible Mercedes for my 40th birthday!
Also, I hiked in the mountains several days and the sprawl and smog in Phoenix is so depressing - when I lived there as a kid doctors were still sending people to Arizona to live because the air was so good...those days are long gone!
But architecturally: it did reinforce for me that cities are organisms and nowhere is ever "the way it used to be" which is a good thing - no community should be stagnant. But I also drove Scottsdale Road north of where I used to live through what was once desert that my high school friends and I would party in - now it is all shopping and offices and of course McMansions. I was suddenly overwhelmed by the unbelievably enormous mass of construction materials that were represented in this suburban development. Numbers I can't even begin to quantify: hundreds of thousands of windows, millions and millions of studs, oceans of stucco...looking at it as basic material energy was dizzying. If you were to pile all that material up in what had been open desert it would be a new moutain range just west of the McDowells (the range in whose foothills Taliesen West is sited) and nearly as high!
I did see tons of gambrel quail, a few jackrabbits, some lizards...no scorpion thank goodness. Didn't do any architouring (Williams Tsien museum, Bruder library, Al-Sayad house, Bruder contemporary museum, etc) as I've seen most of it on previous trips. That Predock Children's Museum or Science Musuem or whatever - the phrase "phoned it in" comes to mind.
Phoenix is doing some fun stuff with their infrastructure - at least the pedestrian bridges over the freeways are sorta sculptural, which was fun. And I laughed when I saw that the playrgound at the park has a shade structure over it - insert "these spoiled kids today" comment: I remember blistering my hands on the damn scorching hot monkey bars as a kid! Haha.
Anyway, a nice break but a bit melancholy-inducing, I guess. I do love the desert, but it's harder and harder to find.
liberty - I not only remember the blisters, I remember wierd competitions like who could stand on the blacktop the longest. Parents probably don't let their kids do that anymore, huh?
Glad the trip was good.
Haha, yes, rationalist: we fried the soles of our feet with those games! And the dust storms that would blot out the entire backyard, it's probably a good thing those don't happen anymore!
I forgot you are there, damn, I would have called you up for a drink! Next time....
don't worry about it, I'm not anymore. I came out to LA for school and just never left. I don't get back to Phx. as often as I'd like, but I'm planning a visit the relatives, drop in on Arco Santi, camp at the Grand Canyon driving tour of the state for later in the year, though. I'm just not sure when - my project doesn't end until May, and by that time we're past pleasant camping weather. So it may wait until September or so when it cools off a little again.
damn you lb, taking the bottom of page 5, ofcourse this had to happen over the weekend...
AP I think you lost a bet....
ya...I hardly noticed until SBD mentioned it...
damn.
updated mid-century walls of brass! WOW factor.
what a surprise inside!
out of character spanglish.
done, done, done!
rationalist,
this is one of my biggest pet peeves, and architects get hit with it especially hard for some reason: the feeling that you don't "deserve" a raise because you are paid more than you expected to be in the first place.
Think of it this way. The rate they are paying you at now is the rate THEY felt you were qualified to earn THE DAY YOU WALKED IN THE DOOR TO THEIR OFFICE. Think of ALL you have learned since then. You know the ins and outs of their quirky little office, you are involved heavily in projects--if you were taken out of the picture, wouldn't they be screwed?! It would take them months and months to find someone like you AND get them to the point where they function as well in the office as you do. The point you are at now is far beyond the point you were at when they hired you. When you ask for your yearly raise and review this will be glaringly obvious, and they will be happy to give you a raise.
Remember that in most jobs, even in architecture, a raise is basically mandatory after a year. Also remember, and if you need to, remind them, that if you switched firms your salary would jump enormously, because this is a standard rule of business--lateral shifts result in much higher employee compensation than "working your way up." This should remind them that you have loyalty to the firm, which is SERIOUSLY worthwhile for a firm and needs to be compensated, and that you COULD demand much more than you are.
GO GET YOURSELF A RAISE, IT IS EXPECTED AFTER ONE YEAR AND YOU DESERVE IT AND MORE.
word.
excellent point by myriam.
------
i was watching sopranos last night (i think the soap got better and more complex by confronting the personalities with who they really are and stuff...
so, tony gets shot by uncle junior and he is in a coma.
cut to; emergency meeting among his immediate gang. one of them says,
"fuckin' uncle junior. let him die in jail. he fuckin' marvin gaye'd his own nephew".
Also, rationalist, if they DON'T give you a raise after a year, something is seriously wrong and you need to find a job that values you and is more in touch with the business world. Never give any of your time to a job that undervalues you. I get so angry particularly when other females are in that position, it makes me want to go beat out-of-touch idiot bosses up!
But, chances are they will give you one. AS THEY SHOULD.
:)
What do you think about threads that start off with "what do (you) think"?!?
what do think
what do think?
What do you think about Dual Degree Architecture programs?
I was thinking that I might come up with a generic response for every thread that starts off with "what do you think..." and see if anyone noticed. A prototype response, if you will.
Then again I just gave it away so nevermind.
Thanks guys. = ) Y'all give me lots of confidence. And Myriam, you hit the nail RIGHT on the head. The reason I was uncertain WAS because I'd gotten more than I expected in the first place. But then, I also have been sharing the duties of our cad manager who never seems to be here when there's a problem. And maybe, just mayyyybe, I might be LEED accredited by the time my year hits (I'm at 10 months now). Maybe that should be my goal test date, just for more leverage.
Try Google is the new Spelling Bee Champion.
(sorry Smokety...)
unless that's your new cover....hmmmm.
(going for 68:1360)
I still don't understand what kind of person makes a bunch of entries but doesn't comment. I mean, they have the balls/curiosity to post a whole new thread, but then never come back to say anything about it?! So weird, like people who go to 5-8 years of grueling school for architecture and then work on picking up redlines for Walmart Superstores for the next 20 years. I have no clue what kind of personality does these things.
Equally mystifying to me are the people who read stuff on here but don't ever comment.
Glasses and shoes and sketchbooks have all been covered, so I guess all there is to talk about are drawing tubes.
thread with special guest star Silent Disapproval Robot.
Where are all the architecture threads?
Its all fun, but I dont care whats in your pockets/backpack/bag; I dont care about drawing tubes; I dont care about what car you drive [although I did contribute]; I dont care about movies that have got architects in them [by now you must be disappointed, so fuggedaboutit]; I dont care about what sketch book you sketch in.
I want to know your stories, personalities, aspirations, desires, interests. I reckon as architects we should do some architecture.
I fully support an Archinect competition - lets see what we've got.
Still, it could be that there's really nothing going on...
Oh man drafting tubes? Oh man. I have never owned one. But if I did it would be green!
Yeah!!!
Wooo!!!
arrrrgh!! My McAfee wasn't letting me log in, finally figured it out. But I'm sure diabase is gone to bed by now...dia, I was going to ask you if the form follows function thread wasn't piqueing your interest even a little? Yes it's one of those obnoxious "simplisitic statement: discuss" threads, but newstreamlined and Steven especially and I are trying our damndest (in a half-assed kinda way) to get some kind of discussion going.
Or has form v. function just been so overdiscussed it's about as interesting as brick v. cmu?
I don't know what amazes me more: that the accepted to grad schools yet? thread hit 1,000 posts, or that it managed to stay on topic. Seems that Fancy Graphics Lovers took a lot longer to get to 1k.
around this week is quondam's birthday.
happy birthday stephen lauf.
Happy Birthday quondam!!!!
Happy birthday quondam - and happy birthday to your brother too, right? Aren't you a twin? Maybe I'm mis-remembering...
OH MY GOD I just hit my breaking point:
I might get a C in one class, should I even bother applying to Columbia now?!?
GGGGAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
lb- I just came from that thread, and somehow managed to not say anything mean or sarcastic!
PS- I just forgot a dimension line- IS MY CAREER OVER?!?!?!?!?!?
Happy Birthday quondam/stephen!
lb, it's ok. deep breaths. deep breaths.
must be cuz i am slightly drunk on some very fine italian wine tonight but i just spent way too much time wondering why the bolts on the builder button above are not symetrical. now why would they do that?
methinks it is time for sleep...
no, jump, you're OK - I totally wondered that about the bolts too!!!
happy birthday quondam Rita.
bob the builder is all about that! ever see him lay brick? he runs a line to lay the course to, but then ignores it completely!
feliz cumpleanios quondam/stephen/rita
happy birthday er, y'all. Are quondam, stephan, and rita really all the same person?
BTW, favorite new poster = OldFogey. So on the money, man. Just thought I'd drop mention in Thread Central of what a cool and sensible dude he seems to be.
Yeah, I too like OldFogey.
lb, I'll check the thread and see if I can't lower the tone just a little bit...
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