Wednesday, April 30, 2008
One Year at OMP
Today was my one year anniversary of starting at OMP! Time has flown by and have enjoyed this year and look forward to more.
Sunday, April 27, 2008
Work Is Criminal...Courthouse
For the most part my life these days has been revolving around work (IE we haven't been traveling a ton just yet, though the summer is almost upon us), so I thought I might try to paint a clearer picture of what that means for all of you.
Every morning I get up, shower, brush my teeth, shave, floss, dress, and lock the door on my way out. The walk to work takes about 20 minutes. Some days I listen to music, some days I just think. I have a bowl of cereal while I watch my computer shutter to a start and the slow squeaky grind of AutoCAD getting off its feet. Then I more or less draft...the process of drawing beautifully accurate vectors on a glossy glass screen via commands and letters tapped out on the keyboard...all day long. Some times I'm drawing something interesting, but most of the time I'm just drawing something. Something that needs to be drawn, for whatever reason, whether it seems useful or not.
This all starts at 9:00am. At 11:00 am I take a tea break, where I drink half a cup of coffee. Then lunch at 1:00 pm, usually consisting of a salad or sandwich, made by yours truly. We have ample refrigerator space at work, so I typically just pick up a weeks supply of food on the way to work Monday and I'm set. At 4:00 pm another tea break where I try not to drink another coffee because somehow that second half a cup seems to push my stomach over the edge. At breaks I am often joined by my friends at work where we talk about everything from world politics, to cracking jokes, to flat out bitching about work.
At 5:30 pm I leave...hopefully. I had never worked overtime before coming to Ireland. Kind of ironic, I know, but on this project it is just necessary sometimes...often.
The project is the new Dublin Criminal Courthouse. All in all a very interest project, a courthouse. Unfortunately by the time I got involved (otherwise arrived in Ireland) the project was well past the initial design phases (from here on known as the "fun part") and largely steeped in development and production documentation. This is the part of the project where it goes from being just another pretty picture to being a real thing.
Invariably complicated, with at least six different groups of people using the building - Judges, Jurors, Criminals (or at least accused criminals), Facility Management Staff, Solicitors and Barristers (otherwise know as lawyers), and Joe Public - all of which requiring separate paths of circulation (for their own safety of course), culminating in a meeting within the courtroom itself. Added to that all of the other security concerns and safety precautions, topped off by the building being shaped like a donut...
Yes...a donut. My take on dramatic geometry in buildings is to only do it when absolutely necessary (IE when the design foundation for the building makes it the best and most appropriate solution), because it inevitably makes everything more complicated, more expensive, and often leaves some pretty nasty leftovers. Unfortunately, in this case, the decision was rooted in a good design foundation (I'm not going to bore our non-architecty readers with this, but they had thought about it a good bit beyond "it looks cool"). Not only did the shape have to be complicated, but the exterior of the building had to be complicated (this part was more about the look, but makes for a pretty impressive visage, so completely forgivable). So now we have a complicated program with a complicated shape covered by a complicated skin. This equals complicated building.
My part of this tends to be broken into fragments. The project is so big that there are a good ten people working on it full time (one of which is our director and two are the project managers for design and construction), each of us with our own little parts. For a good while I was "section boy." Before that I was "bathroom boy," "jury dining boy," "concrete construction drawing boy," and "balustrade boy." Currently I am "interior glazing boy" and "interior elevation boy." Of course this nomenclature is of my own design. No one calls me "boy" in any sense, but we all end up owning a small piece of the building and that's how my cynical little mind works. No one really knows everything about the building, so if you want to know something about the windows you had better check with "glazing girl," "floor boy," "ceiling boy," and "shading device boy" to make sure you have everything covered. It's a little ball of chaos that somehow seems to balance its way out in a very my-mind-could-shatter-at-any-moment-so-take-cover sort of way.
Note that design was was not mentioned preceding "boy" in any of the above titles. Design being my heart and soul, you could say, I often find my self remotely frustrated by the situation as it stands. Every once in a while it looks like I am getting the opportunity to do some design work, but then eventually someone comes along, takes whatever I did and dumps it over on its head, slaps it on the ass like a newborn, puts a hat on it, and says, "Now go that way." You might be saying to yourself, "That makes no sense, what you just said!" which is exactly what I say (in my head of course) every time it happens. Se la vie...
These days, though, despite the lack of heart and soul, my appreciation for working on a big government project has increased substantially. Recently the Irish economy has dipped a bit from its steady rise, with projects here and there at work going on hold or being canceled completely. This may very well be a result of the US economy's steady decline into the toilet, but Ireland has been sitting on a pretty big bubble for a while now and it might just be time for things to level out. Because of the project MIAs my work has decided to let some people go. They call it making you redundant here. Redundancies. Terminology that just seems like an extra kick in the chops, but that's now how it gets interpreted. It's more on par with the PC nature of being "laid off." Fortunately I wasn't one of those unlucky ones. I'm hoping that the big bad Criminal Courts project with its big bad government budget will protect me for a good bit longer. It looks like It will be OK, but time will tell.
In the mean time I will be drafting away like a diligent worker bee trying to show my bliss in the accurately placed vector. Its interesting how your mindset has to change when you start thinking about what you need instead of looking past that at what you want.
Every morning I get up, shower, brush my teeth, shave, floss, dress, and lock the door on my way out. The walk to work takes about 20 minutes. Some days I listen to music, some days I just think. I have a bowl of cereal while I watch my computer shutter to a start and the slow squeaky grind of AutoCAD getting off its feet. Then I more or less draft...the process of drawing beautifully accurate vectors on a glossy glass screen via commands and letters tapped out on the keyboard...all day long. Some times I'm drawing something interesting, but most of the time I'm just drawing something. Something that needs to be drawn, for whatever reason, whether it seems useful or not.
This all starts at 9:00am. At 11:00 am I take a tea break, where I drink half a cup of coffee. Then lunch at 1:00 pm, usually consisting of a salad or sandwich, made by yours truly. We have ample refrigerator space at work, so I typically just pick up a weeks supply of food on the way to work Monday and I'm set. At 4:00 pm another tea break where I try not to drink another coffee because somehow that second half a cup seems to push my stomach over the edge. At breaks I am often joined by my friends at work where we talk about everything from world politics, to cracking jokes, to flat out bitching about work.
At 5:30 pm I leave...hopefully. I had never worked overtime before coming to Ireland. Kind of ironic, I know, but on this project it is just necessary sometimes...often.
The project is the new Dublin Criminal Courthouse. All in all a very interest project, a courthouse. Unfortunately by the time I got involved (otherwise arrived in Ireland) the project was well past the initial design phases (from here on known as the "fun part") and largely steeped in development and production documentation. This is the part of the project where it goes from being just another pretty picture to being a real thing.Invariably complicated, with at least six different groups of people using the building - Judges, Jurors, Criminals (or at least accused criminals), Facility Management Staff, Solicitors and Barristers (otherwise know as lawyers), and Joe Public - all of which requiring separate paths of circulation (for their own safety of course), culminating in a meeting within the courtroom itself. Added to that all of the other security concerns and safety precautions, topped off by the building being shaped like a donut...
Yes...a donut. My take on dramatic geometry in buildings is to only do it when absolutely necessary (IE when the design foundation for the building makes it the best and most appropriate solution), because it inevitably makes everything more complicated, more expensive, and often leaves some pretty nasty leftovers. Unfortunately, in this case, the decision was rooted in a good design foundation (I'm not going to bore our non-architecty readers with this, but they had thought about it a good bit beyond "it looks cool"). Not only did the shape have to be complicated, but the exterior of the building had to be complicated (this part was more about the look, but makes for a pretty impressive visage, so completely forgivable). So now we have a complicated program with a complicated shape covered by a complicated skin. This equals complicated building.
My part of this tends to be broken into fragments. The project is so big that there are a good ten people working on it full time (one of which is our director and two are the project managers for design and construction), each of us with our own little parts. For a good while I was "section boy." Before that I was "bathroom boy," "jury dining boy," "concrete construction drawing boy," and "balustrade boy." Currently I am "interior glazing boy" and "interior elevation boy." Of course this nomenclature is of my own design. No one calls me "boy" in any sense, but we all end up owning a small piece of the building and that's how my cynical little mind works. No one really knows everything about the building, so if you want to know something about the windows you had better check with "glazing girl," "floor boy," "ceiling boy," and "shading device boy" to make sure you have everything covered. It's a little ball of chaos that somehow seems to balance its way out in a very my-mind-could-shatter-at-any-moment-so-take-cover sort of way.Note that design was was not mentioned preceding "boy" in any of the above titles. Design being my heart and soul, you could say, I often find my self remotely frustrated by the situation as it stands. Every once in a while it looks like I am getting the opportunity to do some design work, but then eventually someone comes along, takes whatever I did and dumps it over on its head, slaps it on the ass like a newborn, puts a hat on it, and says, "Now go that way." You might be saying to yourself, "That makes no sense, what you just said!" which is exactly what I say (in my head of course) every time it happens. Se la vie...
These days, though, despite the lack of heart and soul, my appreciation for working on a big government project has increased substantially. Recently the Irish economy has dipped a bit from its steady rise, with projects here and there at work going on hold or being canceled completely. This may very well be a result of the US economy's steady decline into the toilet, but Ireland has been sitting on a pretty big bubble for a while now and it might just be time for things to level out. Because of the project MIAs my work has decided to let some people go. They call it making you redundant here. Redundancies. Terminology that just seems like an extra kick in the chops, but that's now how it gets interpreted. It's more on par with the PC nature of being "laid off." Fortunately I wasn't one of those unlucky ones. I'm hoping that the big bad Criminal Courts project with its big bad government budget will protect me for a good bit longer. It looks like It will be OK, but time will tell.
In the mean time I will be drafting away like a diligent worker bee trying to show my bliss in the accurately placed vector. Its interesting how your mindset has to change when you start thinking about what you need instead of looking past that at what you want.
Friday, April 25, 2008
I am a local celebrity
In Ireland's The Dubliner 100 Best Restaurants 2008 Edition yours truly can be found in the photo for one of our favourite restuaruants which just happens to be near our house. Diep. It is a Thai restaurant that is good, but no where near as good as Aroy in Portland that Narumon's family own. Karen was flipping through the book looking for a place to eat when she turned to me and said, did you know you are in here. Of course I said no and she showed me the picture. I am in the green top,she is in the orange top and the rest at the table are the normal Friday lunch crew. She remembered them taking pictures back in November, but I have no recollection of it. I have left my permanent mark on Dublin!
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
Where I work rocks, it is official!
I am really enjoying my time at OMP. It is a great place to work and I like the family environment. My co-workers have become my family since Ben and I are alone here. I have loved movie night since we educated one of our younger co-workers since she had never seen Star Wars. I mean, what planet are you from to have NEVER seen them!? Indiana Jones is the next trilogy to watch!
Monday, April 14, 2008
Cute Little Sayings
Phrases that have made their way into my vocabulary voluntarily and sometimes not voluntarily....
Take a Handy - take it easy
Don’t tar em all with the same brush
I’m not gonna lie ta ya
In fairness….
Man alive!
Deadly!
Fair play ta ya
Thanks a mil
What can I do you for?
How’s tricks? - Whats up
Slag or slagging - to make fun of
Giving out - to make fun of
Take the piss out (to make fun of, tease)
Culchie - a city dweller's name for a country person
Knackered - fatiguedly tired
Langered – drunk
Locked – drunk
Pissed – drunk
Touch Wood – we would say knock on wood
Yoke - a thing
Wreckin me head - Confusing or frustrating
Kicking Up - complaining
Cheese and Fries – Oh Shoot, Oh Darn
Strugglin on, strugglin on - Working on something frustrating
You know yerself
There is a grand stretch of the evenings these days - Longer days
Tuck in - Grab a fork and dig in
Tell me this and tell me no more - answer me this
Come here - listen (you don't actually go over to someone)
Strange Anomaly #15
The strange thing is the birds do not migrate. It is so odd to walk to work to work on a crap January morning and have birds singing. With global warming, even the swans that live in the canals are no longer migrating, over to France I would guess. Just not used to so many birds about during winter. There are a lot of magpies flying around, like we have crows. An old childhood song or superstition involves magpies, that some people will wait to see a second
magpie since it is bad luck to only see one."One for sorrow,
two for joy,
three for a girl,
four for a boy,
five for silver,
six for gold,
seven for a secret never to be told,
eight for a wish and nine a kiss,
ten is a bird you must not miss,
magpie"
Unholy Thursday
Easter weekend is a big bank holiday weekend. With Good Friday off and Easter Monday off, most people have fled the country to ski or see some sun for this 4 day weekend. With Ben away in the States, there is not a whole lot to do here. We went out for pints after work on Thursday and of course they kicked us all promptly out at midnight since that technically became Good Friday. Some of the ways around not selling alcohol is raffle tickets that if your number is pulled you win a pint, not paying for it. You payed for the raffle ticket, and everyone is a winner. Or some places out in the country will leave the back door open, let you pour your own and mark it down in the ledger so you can come back on Saturday and pay then. There is always a way around the rules! I stopped into the grocery store to pick up some milk and large black curtains where put over all of the alcohol sections and the off license places were of course closed. We were supposed to go up to Belfast for the long weekend, we will just have to wait until next year!
Shakespeare Saturday
Ben had treated me to tickets for Romeo and Juliet at the Abbey theater, but with his sudden departure to the States, I had to find a new date. Katrin agreed to be my date for the night. It was a very modern take on the play when it came to costumes and music. Crumbling public buildings covered in scaffolding set the mood. There was even raining on the stage during the main killing scene. It is so different hearing this play with Irish accents, since I have heard it with American and English. The machismo of the Montague and Capulet lads is played out in Dublin accents in a city distracted by newly acquired affluence, while the Apothecary is a drug-dealer in a hoodie. The lovers' midnight tryst on the balcony is composed and lit like a Renaissance painting, and the feast at the Capulets' house bursts into life in a mad blend of jive (Amy Winehouse) and 1980s disco, switching into slow motion at the moment when Romeo first sets eyes on Juliet. I am just glad that they stuck to swords instead of guns like they tried to do in more recent movies. The newly remodeled theater looked great and we enjoyed a nice drink in the bar overlooking the street that looked up to the quay. I look forward to seeing other plays with Ben, but for those that he does not want to see, I think Katrin will happily be my date.
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