Santa and His Elves

This Santa act said they were high class, but that was just a lie.  I imagine the kids were all shook up.

Merry Christmas.

In The 70s

Some people wear weather-inappropriate clothes, but this guy has taken it to a whole new level.

Reminds me of me in junior high--always out of sync with the current fashion.  When bell bottoms were cool, all I had were straight leg Toughskins jeans from Sears.  The next year I showed up to school with bell bottoms only to discover everyone was now wearing baggies.  One summer, my mom made me a super awesome disco shirt that I couldn't wait to wear the first day of school, only to show up and find all the cool guys wearing "Disco Sucks" t-shirts.  I never wore that shirt again.  Tragedy.
 

Thermostat Wars

What are the chances everyone in the office can agree on the temperature?  For some, it's never warm enough; others prefer near-arctic conditions.  This inevitably leads to a cycle of thermostat battles with the cold-blooded cranking it up followed by the warm-bodied turning it down followed by...   It's easy to see why some have resorted to installing fake thermostats that aren't connected to anything so the self-appointed "rulers of the ambient temperature" can fiddle with the useless buttons to their heart's content.

 

Eye Trouble

I've been known to occasionally develop a case of severe eye trouble at the office.  Symptoms are usually brought on by a beautiful fall day or a Friday before a long weekend.  I'm not a doctor, but my advice is to leave the office immediately at the first sign of symptoms as this type of eye trouble is particularly contagious and can be easily spread to your co-workers.

Soon after Wright Engineers was founded nearly 25 years ago, chronic Friday afternoon eye trouble among my staff and me "forced" us to close the office at noon on Fridays--a healthy practice we've happily kept up ever since.

Internet's Down at Home

I know lots of people work from home and many of them feel they're more productive.  I wonder just how productive some people really are, though.  Whenever I've tried working from home I seemed to be constantly interrupted with things like, "Honey, since you're right here, can you just [insert any number of domestic tasks here]..." or, "Daddy, daddy, daddy, there's a bean stuck in my nose!"

It's clear this guy's been working from home for a long time.

Still on Mute

 

"You're on mute!" --the most common phrase spoken in every online meeting.  Followed by the next most common phrase: "Can you hear me now?"

Wouldn't be a problem if everyone was a mime.

(Note: No mimes were harmed in the making of this cartoon.)

Last Words

This cartoon may be a little morbidly funny, but jobsite safety is no laughing matter.  

And guessing about what "should hold it" is risky.  In my younger construction worker days, I knew an older worker who swore that 3" grabber screws could support anything.  "They'll hold the world!" he'd say. That seemed reasonable to me then.

As structural engineers, lives depend on our making certain everything we design will definitely "hold it," and we take that responsibility very seriously.

SUPPLY CHAIN

Feels like the supply chain is taking a lot of blame these days, and why not?  It's kinda nice to have something to blame for just about everything.

Can't get computer chips?  Supply chain.  

Costs going through the roof?  Supply chain.

Too hot outside?  Supply chain.

Reminds me of the story of the new superintendent.  On his first day at the jobsite, the outgoing superintendent handed him two letters as he was leaving the trailer and said, "If this project begins to go south, open the first letter.  If that doesn't fix the problem, open the second letter."  After a while, things were going badly for the new super so he opened the first letter.  Inside it read, "Blame your predecessor."  He did that, and things seemed to improve for a while.  But eventually the problems became even worse than before so he opened the second letter.  It read, "Prepare two letters..."

Dumb Question

Maybe there really is no such thing as a dumb question, but sometimes I wonder.

I know, I know--the only dumb question is the one you don't ask.  And if you don't ask, how will you ever know?  But some questions may be better left un-asked.  After all, as the proverb says, "Even a fool, when he holds his peace, is counted wise." 

And as my dad used to tell me, "Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak and remove all doubt."  

Wisdom.

 

Corrections Officer

 

Some people swear that the hardest part of a construction project is getting the building permit.  Maybe it's because of guys like Bob?

All joking aside, it's been my experience over a long engineering career that most plans examiners are sharp, honest, hard-working folks who are just doing their best in a very important, often thankless job.  Here's to them.

Restored to Factory Settings

Talk about recharging your batteries!   Wouldn't this be nice: put on a few pounds...notice some wrinkles...lose a little hair...catch a virus.  No problem.  Just restore to factory settings.  No longer will youth have to be wasted just on the young.

I drew the cartoon below exactly 22 years ago for our February, 2000 news.  Back then, my wife used to joke that when I turned 40 she'd trade me in for two 20s.  Fortunately, she's since changed her mind, but this factory settings reset would probably interest her.

The Shredder!

I have a soft spot in my heart for absent-minded people since I'm one of them.  I'd like to blame it on my age, but I've been like this my whole life.

Many is the time I've popped up from my desk and strode across the office only to stand there trying to remember why it was I came. I know if I don't write it down it won't happen.  Sometimes I'll say, "Hey Siri, email me," and when she says, "What's the subject of the email?" I've already forgotten.

Reminds me of a conversation between two absent-minded engineers:

"My memory is so bad!" says the first one. 

"How bad is it?" says the other.  

"How bad is what?"