I heard word that my old house in Plano had burned down.  This is the house where both my children were born.  The house were dozens of friendships were made and grew.  It was my first house.  I cut my homeowner’s teeth there.  It is gone.

The good news is that no one was hurt in the blaze.

..and the sky grew black as the night…

My six week project ( that mushroomed to ten ) is finished. I have worked sick, missed very many moments with my kids (from Cub Scouts, trips, activities, bed time stories, etc), and after being told my option was to do it or quit, I give you this:

more graph humor and song chart memes

Yes, what option did I have. “Do, or do not, there is no try.”

All that being said, I think I did a great job on a project that will come in millions over budget and have to get VE’d. That is Value Engineering for you non architectural types.

Larry the Cable Guy would be proud..

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Well, my blog posting seems to have slowed down. I guess it is like a bell curve. The big news in sports is that Boston has won the World Series! Yea!! The manager set a record of winning seven world series games in a row, then extended the record to eight games. That is the four games in the 2004 series and the four in the 2007 series for those who do not quite understand. A-Rod has decided to become a free agent because he is tired of the problem Yankees players. I do not care much about A-Rod, but it does free up 8 million a year that we have been paying to play against us. Another yea! Tony Romo has done well and got a 60 million dollar contract with 31 million guaranteed. He will now make more in one game than I will in my lifetime. Unless I invent some really cool gadget or create a really cool business. Don’t hold your breath on that one folks.

continue reading "nudder update"

Well, the ice storm that wasn’t has gone and left us. “And there was much rejoicing…..” My project has gotten an extension to the 25th, so that is good. I am not too worried. I am in good shape, if round is a shape. This weekend I get to go with the Cub Scouts for a 36 hour round trip visit to Corpus Christi and sleep on the USS Lexington. The neat thing about this is this is the WWII aircraft carrier, not one named after the WWII carrier. The only caviat is that she has been modernized. She now sports an angled flight deck, hurricane bow, and other improvements, but it is the same ship. I think that is cool.

Trey celebrated his seventh birthday on Saturday. We had a party at the house.  It was pirate themed. Trey had about eight friends over and had a great time. They went on a treasure hunt, whacked at a pinata (sp?) and had a fun time. Trey is also in the middle of Upwards basketball too. Practices are Monday nights and games on Saturday mornings. He will miss the game this week due to the ship trip.

Okay, I am tired. At least you did get some form of an update. More later.

Well, it has been long overdue….I am giving you an update.  Trey’s first basketball game was this morning, so the upwards update.  This post will contain a little about the Edwards update, but do not be confused.  That is really Debbi’s job.  I do so much around here.
continue reading "Upwards update…aka…do you believe in God(zilla)?"

I am having a conundrum at work.  What energy code to use for the project I am working on.  If I use ASHRAE 90.1 I will not be required to have vestibules.  If I use the 2003 IECC (International Energy Conservation Code) vestibules would be required according to chapter 8.  If I use AHSRAE, the MEP engineer has a lot more work to do, but less for me.  I Think I will use the DaVinci Code instead.

I registered to take the LEED exam sometime last week. Well, I got the Wednesday, 9:00am time slot. I have spent over a month reading some of the material off and on, but now was time to buckle down. I studied Sunday night (yes, after camping), Monday night, and Tuesday night. The test is difficult because of the way they ask the questions. Some questions ask you to choiose 2, 3, or 4 answers from a list of 6. It is not a real test of knowledge, but more of a test of taking tests. Something like that. The short story is that I did pass the exam! So, I am now known as Matt Speer AIA, LEED AP. That and $5.50 will get you a grande mocha cappi frappi something from Starbucks. So yea!!  I can cross that off my list. Time to try to get some sleep…the sun will start to rise soon.

I have a relevant conundrum. The USGBC (United States Green Building Council) is changing the testing for LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design). I would receive LEED accreditation when I pass the test. The conundrum is: do I take the test. I have until October 31st, and then the test changes. Will I get a raise for it? No. Will is help me stay employed? No. Does it add LEED AP after my name? Yes. So then I would be:

Matt Speer AIA, LEED AP

Impressive, huh? The test cost $250, which the firm will reimburse me for, but only if I pass. I probably only need a week or so to prepare for it, but is it worth the effort? Will it be required at a later date? Is it just a waste of time?

I dunno….

Any thoughts?