Time Keeps Ticking

Image courtesy of fwdthought

 

Time waits for no man...as well as bus waits for no man.  Try to define it, or understand it in any other way than a clock ticking, boggles the mind.  Then come up with a whole different theory of time and the universe.  It takes a real parallel thinker to even devise the concept.

That's what Sean Carroll has done.  Interesting theory!

http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2010/02/what-is-time/

After the Apocolypse

http://inside.flipboard.com/2012/10/26/pick-of-the-day-after-the-apocalypse/

After viewing this, the day after doesn't look so bad!  On December 22, 2012, I'm moving to San Francisco.

Uses For Cardboard

Ingenious use of cardboard.  However, given how wrinkly the t-shirts are, I'm thinking maybe folding isn't really a big concern!

Strange Days Indeed

Image courtesy of Bruce Brouwer

 

Momma never told me there would be days like these.  Allow me this.  You’re hired to a project based on credible past performance and you have the same forces on the project.  You’re on the same site, even dealing with the same people.  The job is deemed to go sideways; deadlines get missed people get angry.  You have become the bad guy?  Did you and your team suddenly get all stupid?  Maybe….but probably not.

Is it possible there may be other factors?  Maybe and probably.  Common sense might say so but it doesn’t matter.  And you HAVE gotten stupid and you ARE the bad guy.  Sadly, perception is reality.  On occasion there will be a confluence of negative events, likely most beyond your control that will take a project sideways.  When this happens….and it will….remember this.  As long as no one died, as long as you have a home to go to, as long as you have a family or friend that still loves you, then take a deep breath and muster up a laugh.

Unless you find yourself up high in the dead branches of a Baoba tree giving birth while flooding waters rage around you and you’re not sure if the rest of your family will survive the flood and if they do, you wonder will they survive the starvation….then yours is a first world problem and you will live to smile another day.  So do so!

3D HVAC

Put on your glasses as the world of 3D has arrived in HVAC industry.  With the recent advent of 3D building software such as Revit and Autodesk MEP, we now we have “modellers”.  Gone are the days of draftsmen (or the more politically correct...draftspersons).   We don’t create drawings anymore.  We build a model in three dimensions on computer, of which drawings just happen to be a by product.  The oil industry has been using this method for years, primarily because they could afford the hardware and software, but it is relatively new to the building consulting industry.

Telephone Rules

Image courtesy of Robert Linder; linder6580

I know there are rules of etiquette for emails nowadays.  There must also be for cell phones and texting.  Now how many people are remembering to use these rules??
http://www.retronaut.co/2012/09/how-to-use-the-telephone-1917/

Engineering Lessons

Image courtesy of Kriss Szkurlatowski; 12frame.eu

Ten things I wish someone had told me about engineering:

1. Contractors and salesmen have all the money. – There’s a reason why contractors and salesmen drive nice cars, live in big houses and take nice holidays.  It’s one thing to design a building on paper, it’s another thing to actually build it or sell the equipment that goes into what was designed.  When I started in the training program at Buffalo Forge, I never understood while all the goals of the American trainees were to go into sales.  Guess what!  I get it now.

Just Talk

Abraham Lincoln is credited with the quote, “Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak out and remove all doubt.”  Words to live by.

How many times have you been in a meeting and been forced to listen to someone bloviate on and on, just to hear his/her own voice?  So many times I’ve listened and wished my ears had the ability to puke!  Maybe then these verbose authorities would take the hint and clamp their traps shut.

Please, never act like the smartest guy in the room.  See the following for a great article with some tips on just this topic.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/johnbaldoni/2012/07/26/never-act-like-the-smartest-guy-in-the-room/

Working for the Weekend!

It seems to be a generational thing.  I am of the baby boom generation, but I always believed that if your work hours were eight to five, then you made sure you were at work, at your desk five to ten minutes before that.  Today’s generation use that as a “guideline”.  Even an eight hour day seems to be just a “guideline”.

A Normal Life?

"Can he lead a normal life?" "No, he'll be an engineer."

Sadly, Dilbert and Wally are not that uncommon characters in the engineering world. Mamas, don't let your babies grow up to be engineers.

Health Tricks

You can never have too many tricks to lead to good health!

http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/1F2INw/:pmpw$B+g:SKVuZoZO/www.menshealth.com/mhlists/diy_health_remedies/printer.php/

Some Smart

For five years I toiled at engineering in university. I and three buddies started, but I was the only man left standing at convocation time. Armed with new knowledge and a new code of ethics, I set out to conquer my own destiny, while my high school mates worked for the post office, the Canadian Pacific Railway or laboured at the local mine. Guess who is able to retire now with a full pension? Yep, not me. “I said you, I are an engineer, so’s I must be some smart.” I placed myself in Buffalo, New York for a four month training program. The company was run by a school of “old boys”, the kind that drank lots of scotch, wore white shoes, said goddam a lot and referred to the waitresses as “sweetheart”. My work mates were from Tonawanda, Cheektowaga and Lackawanna. Yet they still thought it was hilarious when I told them I was from Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan. The bars didn’t close until 4 am and we lived on the Canadian side in Fort Erie. Often in the wee hours of Saturday morning we’d be greeted by the border guard on the Peace Bridge asking the proverbial, “Do you have any fire arms or alcohol on your person, other than what you have consumed?” Border guard with a sense of humor. Go figure!

Houston, we've got a problem!

We’ve got a problem!  We’ve got trouble!  You’ve dropped the ball!  I’m sending you an email you’re not going to like!  This is the IRS, you’re going to be audited! 

All things you don’t like to hear when you answer the phone.  It’s meant to shock.  I get that and if you like confrontation and putting people immediately on the defensive, then that’s the correct approach.

I, on the other hand, don’t react well to that approach.  As a matter of fact, my level of respect drops for people who use this tact.  And I have met a lot of professionals over the years who believe using a loud voice and carrying a big stick works in the professional world.  I turn them off, but that’s just me.  Others may quiver and react when threatened.

I believe that people in the professional world, in general, aim to please.  Everyone makes mistakes and there are challenges to be faced every day.  Offering respect, choices and solutions go a lot further in my books.  That’s why I like the quote, “You can catch more flies with honey than vinegar”.  Words to live by.

Wave of the Future?

Is it really going to reduce carbon emissions?  Maybe, depending on where you live.  In Alberta, approximately 50% of the electricity produced comes from burning coal.  Electric generation by coal is not as efficient as gasoline and thus produces more CO2.  However, if you take into account that Canada purchases about 55% of its oil from other countries, and taking into account the energy required to ship and refine this oil, the coal burning option now looks more attractive and coal driven electrical power actually beats out gasoline in carbon efficiency.

Regardless, it's the way of the future and an impressive looking vehicle to boot!

Stop Complaining

Stop complaining and be thankful!  Wow, you think it would be so easy after watching this.  What an inspiration.  Thank-you Nick Vujicic.

Architects and Engineers

A contractor, an engineer, and an architect were standing inside their recently completed building, looking out at the street. A VERY attractive woman walks by. The contractor whistles, the engineer says, “Did you see the legs on that woman?” The architect says, “Did I miss something, I was admiring my reflection”

Thirty Day Challenge

God willing and the river don't rise, you will be doing something for the next thirty days.  Why not make it worth while.  Matt Cutts did it and has inspired me to do the same.  I've done several challenges now and challenged my family to do the same.  It actually got my son his learner's license as I challenged him to study his book for fifteen minutes every night for thirty days.  He passed with flying colours.

I picked up my guitar and played it once a day for thirty days.  I also meditated for ten minutes a day, gave up sugar and am now rolling out my Iliotibial Bands (look it up, I'm not explaining it) once a day.  It's an awesome way to actually accomplish something measurable.  Try it!

Corporate Cuts

When the axe swings, duck!  Easier said than done.  It never ceases to amaze me that when the time comes to down size, how the wrong people are on the chopping block.  Those who can, do, those who can’t are promoted to a higher position of authority and are responsible for making decisions that have a direct affect on the lives of the employees.

Don't Sweat the Small Stuff

I remember early on in my career, I used to sweat the small stuff even though I didn’t know what the small stuff was.  I distinctly have memories of dreaming of ducts and pipes on drawings when I woke up the next morning from a deep sleep.  Every mistake was an offense against me personally and professionally…at least that’s the way I saw it.

Life in Balance

For most of life, nothing wonderful happens. If you don't enjoy getting up and working and finishing your work and sitting down to a meal with family or friends, then the chances are you're not going to be very happy. If someone bases their happiness on major events like a great job, huge amounts of money, a flawlessly happy marriage or a trip to Paris, that person isn't going to be happy much of the time. If, on the other hand, happiness depends on a good breakfast, flowers in the yard, a drink or a nap, then we are more likely to live with quite a bit of happiness. - Andy Rooney

Are You a Genius?

With tongue firmly planted in cheek, I like to tell people, “Yeah, I made a mistake once.  I thought I was wrong.  Turned out I was right”.

Watch Your Back!

Several years ago a colleague applied for professional status in a member organization.  He had passed all of the exams and completed all of the requirements but still needed to provide three references.  It seemed logical to approach his manager at the time for one of the references.  The manager gladly agreed.

Neat Guys

Driving home after work through downtown Buffalo one afternoon, my three workmates and I pull up to a red light.  Some thug on the corner yells,

Slow Motion Bullets

Believe it or not, sometimes engineering can be entertaining.  An ultra slow motion camera is someone's engineering marvel at one million frames per second.  The entire video of bullets piercing steel is about ten minutes long, but if you make it through the first two minutes, you may find yourself compelled to watch the remainder.  The bullets shattering into molten metal at about the 6:20 mark are almost artistic in their aftermath!

Stuttering Tips

One of the trainees from Buffalo stuttered when he spoke.  I can’t pretend to know what it might be like to go through life with that affliction, but he managed very well.  I didn’t know he stuttered and when I first met him he gave me instructions on photocopying. 

Buffalo Forge

Photo © 2003 Stephen Corbett

I walked the same hallowed halls that Mr. Willis Carrier did when he invented the first air-conditioner!  The building was razed in 2006.  I don't know how many were employed at Buffalo Forge in 1982 but I know there were several hundred.  Land being at a premium also made parking a premium as well.  There was a lot right across the street where all the employees parked bumper to bumper.  No getting out at anytime during the day.  At precisely 5 o'clock (or was it 4) every employee would leave the building and go to their car.  Anyone being more than a few minutes late could hold up hundreds trying to leave for home.  This meant....no overtime!!!  Them was the good ole days!

Fan Diameter?

Right out of university I worked for a manufacturing company in southern Ontario.  The start of the recession in the early 80’s slowed down business.  Fortunately (or unfortunately) the company kept the young grads on staff

Right or Left Brain?

I’m a right brain person working in a left brain world.  I take some comfort in the fact that I’m not alone in this circumstance as I have met others following the same path.  I guess I only have myself to blame since as a teen I never really knew what I should do when “I grew up”.