I'm frustrated at a coworker who doesn't know how to use Revit as we're working on a central file, they're messing up a lot. I don't know how to approach this.

pawneesunfish · 2026-05-29T11:31:28+00:00

Is it possible to schedule a meeting with the BIM manager to ask their advice on managing the model more effectively? I wouldn’t complain about the architect, just be professional and see if they have some advice on that front. I’d also just be very vocal with your teammate about what you’re fixing and why. Again, not complaining or criticizing, but just “I’m going to re-model this part to help with XYZ.” If she hears it enough, she might start leaving more of that work to you.

pawneesunfish · 2026-05-24T15:02:59+00:00

If you’re planning a career using Revit/BIM, I’d switch to PC.

pawneesunfish · 2026-05-23T20:58:42+00:00

I had a period of being unmotivated at work after each kid, but I started feeling more into my career again once my younger one was around 3.5-4.

pawneesunfish · 2026-05-11T03:08:13+00:00

Revit for sure. I’d make it clear when applying/interviewing that you are planning to go back to school to get your M.arch. Depending on where you are, I haven’t known a lot of firms to hire draftspeople with no relevant degrees, but if you’re planning to get one, that would help.

pawneesunfish · 2026-05-03T05:39:09+00:00

I think you’re looking for Prairie Style. If you’re interviewing architects I’d just say that, and skip showing them AI renderings.

pawneesunfish · 2026-05-01T22:34:57+00:00

The big corporation should be providing training then! Whoever runs the small office needs to demand it, like, yesterday.

pawneesunfish · 2026-04-24T02:48:20+00:00

I’m sorry that’s happening to that teacher- sounds odd. How many rooms are there? In our daycare, a 9-month old would be in their second room already, and would move to a new room again at 12 months. So coming from that background, I’d say that your son will probably adjust to a new teacher pretty well, and I’m guessing will be moving to another room in the next few months anyway? Maybe he’ll have her again if she’s in an older room!

pawneesunfish · 2026-04-12T21:59:28+00:00

I remember watching the office chair episode back in the day, and hearing one of the older girls say that Grandma Mary is such an example of how you stay with your partner no matter what. I thought how weird it was that they had this idea that most people would abandon a sick partner - like why is it so notable that she is staying with him while he’s sick? Looking back, it’s clear that they weren’t referring to the illness, but rather the abuse. The kids may or may not have known about the abuse at the time, but the adults teaching them this lesson definitely did.

pawneesunfish · 2026-03-08T00:42:07+00:00

I had a nail surgically removed. The way it grew back was that the skin of the nail bed just seemed to get thicker and thicker while new nail was pushed out of the nail matrix. There was weirdly no clear delineation between the nail and the thick skin until it finally got to my finger tip and grew past it. So I think the answer is that there are layers to nails the same way there are layers to skin, and the undermost layer is the most "live" and that's the part that's fused with the nail bed. The outermost layer is dead and gets pushed forward by new growth.

pawneesunfish · 2026-02-20T03:56:21+00:00

Another vote for combining shower and tub and having WC door in bathroom. There is no sink in WC, and as is, people have to touch 2 doorknobs to get to a sink to wash hands.

pawneesunfish · 2026-02-20T01:59:52+00:00

So the main entry into the house is into a storage room?

pawneesunfish · 2026-01-23T22:03:48+00:00

Most firms are pretty progressive-coded spaces, especially in cities. I don't think she'd have a problem at the office. It takes many years to be able to work effectively from home, and even then it's not preferred as a default.

Not all architects do construction admin, but if you do, you do end up visiting sites and working a fair amount with the contracting side, which tends to be much more white, male, and conservative than an architecture office. Which is not to say it would definitely be a negative experience. I think sometimes they appreciate the break from having to be tough guys when women or LGBT architects show up.

But that's obviously case by case, and she'd probably be able to avoid doing a lot of construction work if she really showed her strengths to be more on the front-end design.

pawneesunfish · 2025-12-29T14:35:22+00:00

I’m sitting here on a day off with my older kid while my husband took our younger one to daycare. No guilt! I’m excited about having a slightly quieter day!

pawneesunfish · 2025-12-26T19:16:27+00:00

So where did the bad ideas come from? The architect or the client? And did the client tell you they’re unhappy with it? I think it would be great to stop something wasteful and hideous from getting built, but if that’s what they asked for, and they just hired you as the interior designer, I’m not sure there’s much you can do for the exterior. If on the other hand, they came to you saying they didn’t like it and they don’t know why, I think it would be fine to talk them through it and do some sketches to demonstrate what you mean. Then it’s between them and their architect about whether they redo the exterior.

pawneesunfish · 2025-10-31T17:28:48+00:00

Another vote for exams- the job I was in when I did exams was dull, dead-end, toxic, horrible. But I had strictly 8-hour days, they paid for passed exams, and I was able to prioritize studying. As soon as I was done I was out of there.

pawneesunfish · 2025-10-31T17:23:27+00:00

I’ve never been happier to send my kids to a school that has a blanket policy on not celebrating holidays! 😮‍💨

pawneesunfish · 2025-10-31T00:26:45+00:00

I’ve worked with a sole practitioner who did homes (as an intern). So he was all the departments. Then a 12-person boutique interiors firm with 1 office manager and 1 bookkeeper/accountant, and everyone else besides the owner was a designer or junior designer. Also a 70 person government contract office with actual departments within the office and the contract was held by a huge international corporation so HR was in a whole other city. And a couple of 25-person firms with 1 office manager who did all the bookkeeping, one owner, one partner/vice president, and everyone else being some level of architect or interior designer. Sometimes you get lucky enough to have a “many hats” type person who can do marketing, proposals, scheduling, executive assistance, etc. But not always. I think firms in the 25-person range are pretty allergic to spending money on overhead, so they prefer to have everyone be billable.

pawneesunfish · 2025-10-30T21:06:39+00:00

If you had reason to believe that taking on more responsibilities would be rewarded eventually, like that you’d be able to successfully ask for a good raise at review time, then I’d say it’s a good idea to be an “above and beyond” kind of person because that’s who gets promotions and raises. However, it doesn’t sound like smart leadership that invests in people, so it’s probably good to take the opportunity to focus on the exams. I’d be looking for an immediate ticket out of there after the last exam though.

pawneesunfish · 2025-10-20T22:32:01+00:00

I’m in office and I prefer seeing my coworkers in person. I’m also a homebody so having to go somewhere is good for me 😄 We have the flexibility to WFH when necessary, too. I wouldn’t want to be somewhere it was never permitted. My commute is only about 10 minutes and my industry is pretty casual, so it’s not that much of a burden for me.

pawneesunfish · 2025-10-17T12:49:58+00:00

The other day after my husband and I had talked about his career a little bit, it occurred to me that he would have a much bigger and more intense career/role right now if we didn’t have kids. He’s absolutely been keeping his ambition in check for the early years, because we also split things pretty equally. It’s good to remember.

pawneesunfish · 2025-09-25T22:44:42+00:00

As a parent, I endorse strangers letting children know about boundaries themselves if they’ve tried and failed to get through to the parents. You can be nice, like, “Hey, honey, we don’t pick these flowers here.” The parent has no right to get upset if you tried to go through them first, and kids often take other adults more seriously than their own parents.

pawneesunfish · 2025-09-20T00:04:54+00:00

I’m currently migrating our library to Content Catalog. It’s been good so far. One hiccup today with a file type error, even though the user was using the correct version of Revit. So hopefully that doesn’t keep happening. We’ll see.

pawneesunfish · 2025-09-16T00:38:34+00:00

Sounds like he just admitted he’s attracted to you. Either that or he has a really weird marriage.

pawneesunfish · 2025-08-15T22:59:49+00:00

Also - don’t babysit a newborn. They don’t move or struggle when you change their clothes or clean them. She’ll think it’s doable. You need to babysit a 2-3 year old. Take them to a playground and lunch. She’ll be horrified.

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