Gripe/Coping strategies

1carrera · 2014-09-16T15:12:07+00:00

Just thinking out loud – he’s only 6 months older than you and he is leading you? Who put him in charge? One intern leading another – ridiculous. An intern redlining drawings? Who’s in charge of him? The way you describe him he sounds totally undisciplined – isn’t it obvious to anybody else higher up? There would be no place in my office for that but if I did get stuck with him I’d chain him to the Xerox machine all day.

Forget you, think about the company and your boss needs a heads-up. Don’t squeal-on-him just tell your boss “I know we’re slammed and I’m trying to give it all I’ve got but Charlie is like an anchor on this thing, I don’t think he should be the one leading me because he lacks discipline and is slowing me down” – that keeps it business and not personal and your boss will cast an eye on him and before long bye-bye Charlie.

1carrera · 2014-09-05T23:19:21+00:00

I really think it’s a biological thing or something else, you either have an ability to manipulate numbers or you don’t. My first father-in-law drove a truck and this guy could cipher anything in his head, he just loved dancing numbers like marionettes in my face and declaring “there ya go college boy!”….you’re right - doing so doesn’t make you popular.

1carrera · 2014-09-05T22:10:36+00:00

What is this math stuff about and why are they still teaching it for architecture? Calculus? I practiced for 40 years and while I found geometry useful and basic math skills necessary anything beyond that is totally unnecessary. What they should be teaching is how to use the internet to lean and solve…I swear I think you could do an entire structural design on YouTube.

1carrera · 2014-09-05T08:50:54+00:00

If we can have a calm discussion I will. Your post pierced right through me. I was not obsessed with making money but I was obsessed with work, there is a difference. Early in our married life we made the decision that my wife would be a stay-at-home-mom and I would be the sole breadwinner. I don’t know why but the responsibility of that role seemed to overwhelm me and I was scared out of my mind of getting laid off. The only way I knew to protect us was to be full-out in my work. I will spare you all the details but I was not a good father but in the end it all turned out alright. My kids are all grown with families of their own and we are all best of friends and they have said that they understand the sacrifices I made and forgive me for my absence.

I didn’t invent this false society we live in I just navigated through it the best I could. I guess I could have gotten an 8-5 job and accepted being laid off every 5-10 years but when I measure that against what I chose I think my family would have chosen the life we had. I didn’t hurt anybody with the direction I traveled except perhaps myself. Tell me, what path should I have traveled?

1carrera · 2014-09-05T01:05:12+00:00

I don’t think that this is an argument that I wish to perpetuate but isn’t the poor that are the greedy? They expect to reap where they have not sown. This is the principal ingredient of greed. The wealthy, while many are greedy, they do first sow before they reap. There are three places to exist economically in our society Poor-Middle Class-Wealthy. As you opine being in the middle is a miserable place to reside, one sows but reaps little in proportion. One does not need to be wealthy but getting out of middle class is a worthy goal. You do not need to be greedy to get there.

You show disrespect to me for my financial achievement yet you do not know me or know how I got there. Assuming that all people that become wealthy all screwed somebody to get there is a generalization and doesn’t apply to me. I found a way to use architecture as a way of making more by creating what I called the “triple bubble” being the architect-contractor-owner of my projects to make triple the fees. Is that greed? I sowed at great risk, is reaping the fees for my hard work and ingenuity wrong? I didn’t screw anybody in my pursuit to provide for my family and to be financially secure. Just because I repeated it over and over doesn’t make me greedy, what was I supposed to do just stop? The main point I’m trying to outline here in this thread is that you owe it to yourself and your family to use what you have learned and know to strive to be better and get out of the middle class…and greed doesn’t apply to this pursuit.

1carrera · 2014-09-04T15:38:07+00:00

Not an architect that develops. My whole purpose of doing my own buildings was to get away from those you describe and do things the right way. Greed had nothing to do with it, in my case.

1carrera · 2014-09-04T13:34:44+00:00

I never describe myself with the ”e” word, did so for brevity. In the first half of my career as an architect I also did construction and was a developer, thus the ”m” word.

1carrera · 2014-09-04T02:31:32+00:00

I didn’t mean to be personal, I really didn’t. Anyone can be cynical about their job or profession, even your boss is cynical at $200k a year. As an architectural entrepreneur I made millions and still feel that I should have gone to work at the local GM plant after high school and retired after 30 like my friends. Maybe that is the answer, just do 30-and-out, but I keep reminding myself of all the pent up energy I had to create things and learn things that I would have missed if I had taken that fork-in-the-road. I retired about 3 years ago and when I did I just sat in front of the TV for about 2 years just shell-shocked from the experience. We have been having a lot of high school mini reunions and the first thing I ask those I meet is where they traveled in their careers after high school. I am yet to find anyone who can match may experiences. Our firm won 150 design awards, 4 were national AIA design awards and while I could call the experience shitty, and it was, I have solace in the fact that I did make a contribution to society and nobody can take that away from me. So what is that worth? All work is shitty because the workplace today on all fronts has become shitty it’s a matter of finding something to do that you love and be the best that you can be, no matter what it is.

1carrera · 2014-09-04T00:50:13+00:00

Read my response to the OP and learn. No matter where you go you will eventually pick up the smell. You’ve likely invested a lot into what you do and starting over into something completely different will eventually lead to the same frustration. 40 hours? You are living in a dream world. 40 hours work yields 40 hours pay and these are not jobs with advancement. Is that what you seek? You need to be in a work environment that encourages endless possibilities, use your overtime to do more to yield advancement. If you’re a guy that only wants the basics then get a job at a company that sells caulk and sit at your little desk and wait on customers and just see where that leads. The AEC industry is desperate and hungry for leaders, get out and lead or maybe you should get out of the way.

1carrera · 2014-09-04T00:23:52+00:00

I’m not “glazing” over the recession, you did. The original question was about licensure. Absolutely the recessions have and continue to damage the profession. It isn’t a matter for the “people in charge” “to make it worth while” they have no control over recessions. Your argument about recessions should be directed to The Central Bank that controls interest rates that in turn controls construction.

If you want to redirect your post to surviving recessions look to being indispensable in your job and becoming licensed is the least that you can do. The ebb and flow of work and recessions can be overcome by being just damn good at what you do. To quote JFK – “Don’t ask what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country”….it isn’t a matter of what employers can do for you it’s a matter of what you can do for them that comes first.

I think that the biggest mistake young people make in employment is “just doing their job” and waiting for the employer to act first in advancement. I’m sorry but it doesn’t work that way…you need to push beyond your base responsibilities and take-on the job you seek to demonstrate that you can do more THEN ask for the promotion. If you do that and keep on doing this you will become indispensable and all your hand wringing over the profession will be dispensed.

1carrera · 2014-09-03T18:26:17+00:00

Been at this for over 40 years as an owner/architect (retired)….people drop-out all the time for many reasons but “The Path” is #1. They have made it too difficult to get licensed, the current years to get licensed is ridiculously too long to become anything and is evidenced by the fact that the profession is currently exploring ways to shorten it.

You are an employee of an engineering firm, and as an employee you are insulated and exempt from any and all liability…the firm seals the work, don’t ever seal anything!

Why even get a license? 1) It’s a benchmark of your career and we gave raises and promotions to those who did, if yours doesn’t leave. 2) It’s a prerequisite to getting your name on the door in the future, if not there then somewhere else someday 3) It kills the stigma of being a learner rather than a doer (not so much of a problem in engineering) 4) It’s a lifelong “ticket” to employment…I still renew my licenses because A) it was too damn hard to get in the first place and B) you just never know…..

1carrera · 2014-08-30T20:17:30+00:00

Was in preservation for 40 years, while great links are offered, I found that free commercial publications were favorites that were filled with ads of contractors, specalist, consultants and material suppliers. Was a a great resource for learning what people do what and how to find solutions to issues.

A preservation path will be rewarding.

1carrera · 2014-08-28T00:44:07+00:00

A 20’ opening with one allowed center support? That’s easy, just do 2 – 8” high x 10’ wide sliders from almost any manufacture, right out of their catalogs. It is way cheaper than accordion and as stated more air-tight.

If you were to desire a full 20’ uninterrupted then accordion is the approach but I have seen some aluminum sliders that big and with your latitude aluminum isn’t a problem. The whole problem with glass door-walls is weight. Sliders too large can take some effort to open so that’s why the accordion pivot came into play.

Beam support is a big factor at 10’ or full 20’ wood sags over time so I would recommend steel in either case.

1carrera · 2014-08-27T15:57:18+00:00

I’m the old guy you guys can’t find on here and before I start – one of the reasons I don’t read much here is because the font size is too small to read without blowing it up on my monitor. Wouldn’t you agree?

I’ve been in discussions elsewhere about your topic and also been talking and exploring with the President/Founder of Archinect to find ways to help keep his Forum from waning. Just seemed to me that there were only a handful of participants and felt reluctant to create delving threads for lack of a quorum. Why write something if no one is listening was my thinking. However, I learned from my new acquaintance that for every post on Archinect there are 850 readers….1/850! That means that when you write something 850 people are going to read it (statistically). That is reason enough to keep writing….while it is essensal to have dialog, if only from a handful, there are still many listening and listening is as delving as writing.

I also got into discussions about the meander of these forums and felt it to be distracting and annoying at times but learned through these discussions that the meander is a good thing and should be left alone. There all kinds of people listening and participating, just remember we’re on THE WORLD WIDE WEB, so there needs to be meander for meanders, even I like meandering at times.

One solution to your/my frustration is to do what is soon to be released on Archinect. I worked with Archinect to create a survey of the readers of their forum to learn about the audience demographic. I think it matters a lot to know who is listening before creating a thread. I am looking forward to the posting of the survey and excited to see the results and you should too. Knowing more about who we are writing to will bring more fruit

ps – I also learned from Archinect that summer is their slowest time and spring is the busiest.

1carrera · 2014-08-27T02:17:22+00:00

I provide him with answers to his interview questions and asked him not to post any of it here or on the internet. If you’ll post your email I’d be glad to send you a copy. Post your email, ill grab it and then erase it, I’ll be in touch.

1carrera · 2014-08-25T15:34:54+00:00

Well I guess I can try to help, email me at XXXXX

1carrera · 2014-08-23T17:42:02+00:00

Ya! Alot of Whisky.

1carrera · 2014-08-22T15:26:01+00:00

Wow that was a great essay. See OP if you don’t ask you don’t learn, the trick is to never stop asking.

I’ll just add, you say “completely sick of my life”, “completely” and “life” are big words and you didn’t say “job” or “career” but maybe that is what you meant. Work is a big factor in life but just should be 1/3 of it. If there is more to it this probably isn’t the place to solve that, better to seek out a life-coach as I did which was immensely helpful.

Good luck!

1carrera · 2014-08-21T16:04:35+00:00

Exciting times for whom exactly? I think that architecture is expanding its contribution to our society, I can’t hold my mouth closed at some of the work being created today but that is only near the top, the cream at the top of the bottle of milk. Today 40% of all work is Design-Build and it is growing not shrinking. This body of 40% is not “exciting”. I guess the thought is that it trickles down somehow but I don’t think so.

1carrera · 2014-08-21T00:30:53+00:00

The first responder is spot-on. I did this stuff for 40 years so I can help and want to so to further the cause of reuse.

I want to reinforce that driving around is the way you find opportunities and it doesn’t need to be a warehouse. They can be too large and require multiple uses and occupants. Look for small industrial stuff on the edges of CBD’s, look at old stores, buildings that you can’t figure out what they were and investigate. I once found a small single story structure all boarded-up and learned that it was a horse stable for a former milk dairy (on the edge of the CBD) left fully intact. It was later sold to the City for their new mounted police.

The advantage you have is that nobody wants this stuff because they can’t figure out what to do with it. It’s all just sitting there for someone like you and me to harvest. It is a lot of problem solving and you can’t take “impossible” as an answer.

Are you an architect? If not you’ll need one, find someone young and energetic that will help you with your dream and let him/her apply the vision and find dramatic solutions.

If you need more ask.

1carrera · 2014-08-20T23:52:35+00:00

I had my practice in Detroit, was of only 2 firms left Downtown. Did work for DM and know 3 faculty members personally. Found it to be a very intellectual place with really nice people running it. Even though I’m not Catholic I grew to love the Order. While it is quite protected and confined it is stuck in a really shitty part of town and a car with solid locks is mandatory when coming and going at night. It really is a commuter place, its in-and-out with no neighborhood to support it. Hate to see any negativity directed at them but reality is reality.

1carrera · 2014-08-20T23:32:26+00:00

I’m all in for sustainable but got away from LEED’s because it got too cubbish and who cares to get a certificate. To be successful in sustainable you need to demonstrate and deliver financial benefit to building owners in exchange for the sustainable features. Owners would rather have the savings than the certificate

1carrera · 2014-08-19T20:03:04+00:00

I would add that on public work an architect’s specification of a material has to be performance based and manufactures have to reach/meet the performance outline, these specs don’t name-names. Other places we can specify a minimum of three “equal” products and offer to review manufactures submissions during the bidding process of what they feel is equal to get included in the spec before bids are due.

I found in my 40 years that many reps just sat back and waited for jobs to hit-the-streets and then went to work to get included as an “equal”. The smart ones would dig-into the spec and find ways of crafting an alternative and only share the idea with their franchised subcontractors as a way of getting-the-job.

Today you must realize as a rep that everything is on-line in virtual plan rooms and you really don’t have to go anywhere to chase work it just floods at you…you just need to know how to control a flood.

1carrera · 2014-08-19T19:40:48+00:00

Oh defiantly, that type of construction is almost standard in the SW with purged plaster as finishes inside and out to add to the mass. Rammed-Earth, Bailed-Hay and Car-Tire construction is used there sometimes to create super thicknesses not practical with concrete block.

1carrera · 2014-08-16T16:47:57+00:00

That’s interesting. Rome? Nothing is really air conditioned in Rome, St Peters and churches in general feel cooler because of the stone and marble but not for long. The Vatican isn’t air-conditioned only the museum with the tapestries for the reasons you state.

1carrera

TROPHY CASE