June 17, 2008

A new way and a new life

So I have already told most if not all of my family and most of my friends. But soon I will be drafting for a much bigger company a little more money and I will be alot closer to home. I could even take the option to go home for lunch. Something I cant justify now because driving home and back would take me an hour already.
I am excited that i will not be spending hours and hours on small house additions that should only take me a hour total on the job but then takes longer because of the 50,000 changes that come over the next few days and months. People, It's only a garage addition!!!!
I am excited because I will have the option to go to lunch with my dad more often since he will be working what will now seem like just around the corner. We will be by the food mecca of Draper. So variety will be nice.
I am excited because I will have to pay way less money on Gas to get to work on a daily basis. I spend currently $60 a week on gas if not more. Somthing that even 5 years ago I would have passed out and nearly died after seeing.
I am not excited because it means no more shorts to work and I might even have to wear a collared shirt. I think the Devil came up with the idea of a collared shirt so that we could waste material and have it rub the skin on our necks raw and possibly even give us horrible rashes. Or maybe it was the skin care people that got togeather with the clothing designers and they both decided it was a good way to make a buck. Eitherway I am going to have to find a way around wearing a collar without quitting or loseing my new job.
I am excited because my current boss will still be my boss. I won't have to total change in how I see redlines and how things are communicated to me right away.
I am excited because instead of half my medical being paid it will all be paid. So I can be a happy camper.
I am excited because I will have a way to move up in this company if I work hard. I will be able to earn more money and I will be able to pay off bills and life a better life.

May 27, 2008

Too many Questions

Ok you may be wondering why I am showing this Picture and Why I am not in it. Well that would be because I was not there. I was not informed about it and I was apperently not invited.



Yes this is a Picture of a now married friend of mine. (top left corner) That I have known since 4th grade when he moved into my neighborhood and into my school. We were great friends all the way threw highschool and saw alot of each other up until he left for his mission. I left a little later than he did. so we did not see each other or hear much from each other for about 3 years.



But maybe that is where life laughs at all of us, is the good connections that we lose over time. The things that made me sad. How busy we get and the friends we lose because of it. Well Over the past few years I have not seen or heard much from My friend lance. I got home and talked to him while I was bed ridden for about 3 weeks after some sergury. He said he was over at his parents and would be right over. I did not see or hear from him after that phone conversation for over a year. He never came over. When I asked him later he told me he forgot. So I guess I must have been his favorite friend ever to be forgotten 5 min. after our conversation. I was depressed at that time and really I feel it has affected me for years and to this day on how I react to things. Lance showing up that day would had made me feel better. Not that lance was the only one I didn't see during that time.



But Now I have to ask the Question. Are Lance and I still friends? I hear that he is enguaged from a mutual friend that heard from his sister threw myspace or facebook. So neither of us heard directly, or thats what I understand. I very rarely hear from lance. Last time I talked to him he called me on accident. So maybe I should just drop him because we really have not been friends for a few years now. Maybe he thinks he is better than me because he has been studying to be a lawyer. Maybe we were never that great of friends in the first place. Maybe I was just a stepping stone and someone for him to use to make himself feel better. Or maybe I did something to piss him off enough that he would not even think of inviting me to his wedding, and because of that he will not be invited to mine. Because why have someone around that does not want to be there or see you in the first place.

April 22, 2008

Learning a new way. Revit.


Ok for most people that have been around me for the past month or 3 have possibly heard me talk about the new drafting program I am learning called Revit. This program has been out for about 3 or 4 years now. But Up untill now there has not been a big reason to buy it. Specifically for engineers. But now we are getting more and more requests for us to start working on it. So here I am. Lucky for me I know enough about drafting and 3D, that I am not completly lost.
But I now have got to a point where I actually need to read all the help files and tutorials so that I can make a cleaner better drawing. But I do love to do some projects on revit. Adding in floor and roof joists is just fast and clean. I just pick a room and it can figure out the walls and beams and depending what wall you are on it will decide what direction the beams will be going. Also making it easier for me I can quickly change beam sizes that will change most notes that I have linked to it like Beam Schedules.
All columns go up and threw and since this is a 3D drawing. It takes out all the cordination that is usually transfered inbetween drawings. So one a drawing has been set up, any changes are much easier and less time consuming.
But this is still lacking some things I would like. Details can be difficult. Unless you are both designing and drafting. That is not something I do on a normal basis. So I still do most details in Autocad and then import them into Revit. Its also difficult to place roof beams in specific places. since so many windows and door heights are diffrent. It would be nice to be able to place a beam over a doorway. Also some I have noticed that Revit Structure shows drawings like an architect would show them. My biggest issues so far is the views. I want to place a beam over a doorway. But so far I have found the best way to do that is go to the lower level and find the door ways and then place the beams and tell them they are in the next level up. But then there is another issue. Because the beams show up but the doorways and window openings do not, or iF I lower my view cuts it either cuts out some things that are higher that I do want to see or or cuts out beams that are higher. But these might all be things that I might learn how to adjust later.
But this is they way engineering and drafting is going. 3D is a better way to work with others. because you pdate anything and all other views like elevations and details are updated also along with corresponding floor plans. I am excited to learn all of this.
**UPDATE**
I think I have decided to post a new lessong or review on the diffrent tools of Revit as I learn them. I will start with what I know and when I get to it I will post what I learn. First will be grids. Look forward to it.

April 10, 2008

I was Tagged!!!

A: Each player lists 6 facts/habits about themselves.



B: At the end of the post, the player then tags 6 people and posts their names; then goes to their blogs, leaves them a comment letting them know that they have been tagged and invites them to read your blog.



1. I constantly check my e-mail and myspace accounts. although I do not always reply to them because I say to myself I will later and then I forget.



2. I WRITE IN CAPS ALOT BECAUSE I AM DRAFTING MOST OF THE TIME THAT I AM ON A COMPUTER. SO I AM NOT REALLY YELLING AT YOU. I AM JUST NOT TAKING THE TIME TO HIT THE CAPS LOCK BUTTON.



3. I am usually ready early for anyplace that I am going. If I am late it's because I got the time wrong or I was waiting on someone.



4. I love to sit and Spec out new computers in my spare time. If I could build a computer once a week I would be happy. But that is an expensive hobby



5. Even though I don't go every day. I love to go jogging and if I had the time during the day I would go everyday. But I don't like to jog in the cold so that cuts out most mornings and nights right now.



6. I am currently Addicted to buffets. Right now I am in love with Sweet Tomatoes. Honestly I never thought I would be like my dad and crave a good salad this often. But dang it!!! I make an good salad at sweet tomatoes.

So I don't have 6 people to tagg. I know pathetic. But I am tagging the Burton Family and Kevin and Lachelle.

March 19, 2008

Rooting for the underdog.

I have an issue and most people are starting to get on my nerves with this. But why does everyone have to root for the underdog? is it they desire change because thier life is crap? Is it just some stupid human desire to see someone who has not trained as hard or as long to win? is it that we want to be able to say that everyone we don't like is evil and the underdog is fighting for us? Then also who really is the underdog anyway? Do you cheer for Lex Luthor to defeat Superman? No we do not! Maybe that is self preservation though.
But why do we cheer on the guy that only got to where he is not because he was able to back stab everyone else that was better than him in the first place?
Examples of these things are mostly seen in sports. Like most recently the Superbowl. I wanted to see history happen by the Patriots making history by finishing off a tuff but otherwise undefeated season. But many people only wanted to see the Giant win soley for the fact to see the Patriots lose. Not that they were Giant fans all year, or that ultimatly the Giants were a better team. They just wanted the Giant to win just to see the Patriots loose. The Patriots who had worked hard all Season long to win every game. To do everything right on the field, and proved they were one of the best teams ever in football history.
Other examples of this I have seen have been in most every sporting event. Baseball, Basketball, Soccer, and even in the Olympics. But Sports is not the only place it is seen. Buisness is also a place where we cheer on the underdog. Not because the ultimatly bring us a much better product. But because we feel the Big corperation has done well for too long and needs to be de-throned.
I see this mostly in Game forums myself. Most notably recently is many game geeks that Bash Sony, then Microsoft, But all praise Nintendo. Now I will admit that Nintendo is not an evil company. But they are not a saint company by any means. You might read my review on Nintendo. Mainly the Nintendo Wii. Although it is a ok system. I still see why it should be the underdog. It is a bad console compared to the the PS3 and the Xbox 360. They gave you a reboxed gamecube with another crapy controller. But people defend the Wii as if it was thier own child. saying things like Nintendo did not want to compete with Microsoft or Sony, Or Nintendo does not care about graphics. This is all a lie in my opinion for Nintendo because they tanked with the Gamecube and the N64 was not much better. Nintendo did not want to compete with Sony or Microsoft because the cannot compete with them. Nintendo only success has been in the handheld market for the past 10 years. Thier Consoles have been lacking. and so have thier games with those consoles. That is why you see a new Mario Kart and Mario game each time. Those are the only games they can do right each time. But We in the end see them as the underdog and so we cheer them on. Praise them for thier short commings and buy and promote thier underdone & underworked console.
So why do we Root for the underdog? They don't really do anything for us. They don't give us pride in our country, or the ability to see history in the making. They don't give us anyting consistant. I will root for someone to finish a race but not to win it. But they only give us a moment that in the end is not always the best.

March 13, 2008

Printing Printing Printing.


For anyone that Does not know. I own a small Print Buisness on the side. I wish it was a little smaller though in the fact that I have a very large Large format printer. 54" to be exact. But For the Past two days I have come across a snag. I am able to print The color just fine and the rip send it to the printer in good time.

But for the Past two days I have been trying to print a double sided banner. I don't think that my printer likes the material or me right now it keeps bunching up and printing big black marks on the banner media. Why? because it does not like me and the banner media is too soft and is getting pushed in. Also there must be an issue with the banner media. it just wrinkles up even more in certin areas. some tape was in one area. and I am not sure of the others. But either way. I am not happy and I am done with printing it. I might just have to farm it out to someone else and take the hit because I am just burning money now.

I never want to print a double sided banner ever again. Of course I said that before and I should have ment it then.

March 11, 2008

Summer is upon us. Finally!!!

Yea! Finally warm weather is comming back to us. I have got so sick of snow for the past few months. From the mud packed wet slushy roads, and the freezing cold weather. To just the plain fact that sometimes after a little snow fall I could barely walk up my driveway to get inside much less drive up it to get into the garage. The Massive heaps of snow that we built up along with all the snow plows is finally melting away and I can actually see the road when backing out. The stores are getting parking spaces back. I have missed the sun. I know I am a sickly pale year round. But I still enjoy the ability to go outside and feel the warm sun on my skin. I Also get to go golfin now without fear of loosing my white gold ball in the snow. I only have to lose it in the sun as it flys way off course and into someones back yard. I can go hiking up in the mountains with out special snow shoes. I love the colors that come out in spring, and Finally I go go jogging outside again without all my body turning blue.