work is WORK
Instead of counting the number of DAYS I have worked, I have graduated to WEEKS, and before long it will turn into months and then possibly a year... or years. But for now I am comfortable sticking with weeks.
For the first week I was thrown into a project where [much like my first architecture job] I was working on building elevations. The drawings were the product of another firm whom I can only guess employed a very coordinated monkey [with skillful apposing thumb]. The Elevations that I was to take on as my own were in dire need of correcting, in ways that I couldn't imagine. Never did I think that a single set of drawings could be this badly drawn. There were so many errors in my four drawings was unbelievable, and when we matched them up to the building plans... forget about it... there were even more there. But as the week went by I clicked my mouse eight hours at a time and the corrections were made. This project extended into the second week where I had my second deadline, which that was more stressful for my co-workers than it was for me, even though I pulled a few hours of overtime.
But this week on my 3rd week I was given something to think about. I was approached by one of my boss men and asked to do a site analysis for a project that they were competing for. He wanted my opinion. After he explained the project, its parameters and pretty much what I was to do, he left my desk. He left me with a roll of trace paper, a site plan, and a clueless look on my face.
Don't get me wrong I have done site analysis before on several projects, but this time it didn't click. I blankly stared at the proposal that another firm had done for the prep-work, but it left me wondering "what was I to do...come up with more?" I sat there flipping though the booklet and thinking, "Whoever did this pamphlet is surely smarter than I am, and has had loads more experience... what ideas can I come up with, that they haven't?" Seriously it felt as if Thomas Edison handed me a light bulb and said, what's next. And in reply I would say: "Lunch?"
But it felt good to get the cogs turning again. The rust slowly was shaken from the rotating parts in my brain and pen hit the paper with the intent of making more than just doodles on the corner of the page. The last site analysis I did was way back in January and February... so it took a bit to shake off the cobwebs, but now I have something on paper and starting to show the way that I think about things. It may not be perfect or even what my boss is looking for but at least I am doing some critical thinking as opposed to just critical mouse clicking.
For the first week I was thrown into a project where [much like my first architecture job] I was working on building elevations. The drawings were the product of another firm whom I can only guess employed a very coordinated monkey [with skillful apposing thumb]. The Elevations that I was to take on as my own were in dire need of correcting, in ways that I couldn't imagine. Never did I think that a single set of drawings could be this badly drawn. There were so many errors in my four drawings was unbelievable, and when we matched them up to the building plans... forget about it... there were even more there. But as the week went by I clicked my mouse eight hours at a time and the corrections were made. This project extended into the second week where I had my second deadline, which that was more stressful for my co-workers than it was for me, even though I pulled a few hours of overtime.
But this week on my 3rd week I was given something to think about. I was approached by one of my boss men and asked to do a site analysis for a project that they were competing for. He wanted my opinion. After he explained the project, its parameters and pretty much what I was to do, he left my desk. He left me with a roll of trace paper, a site plan, and a clueless look on my face.
Don't get me wrong I have done site analysis before on several projects, but this time it didn't click. I blankly stared at the proposal that another firm had done for the prep-work, but it left me wondering "what was I to do...come up with more?" I sat there flipping though the booklet and thinking, "Whoever did this pamphlet is surely smarter than I am, and has had loads more experience... what ideas can I come up with, that they haven't?" Seriously it felt as if Thomas Edison handed me a light bulb and said, what's next. And in reply I would say: "Lunch?"
But it felt good to get the cogs turning again. The rust slowly was shaken from the rotating parts in my brain and pen hit the paper with the intent of making more than just doodles on the corner of the page. The last site analysis I did was way back in January and February... so it took a bit to shake off the cobwebs, but now I have something on paper and starting to show the way that I think about things. It may not be perfect or even what my boss is looking for but at least I am doing some critical thinking as opposed to just critical mouse clicking.
[click on the title 'work is WORK' to find a helpful link]
posted by Lindihar at 6:30 PM
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