Final Notice!

Consultants are in a tough spot.  We don't get paid until our client gets paid -and if he gets stiffed, we're usually also out of luck.  To add to it, some people view the architect and engineer as no recourse, zero-interest lending institutions who will finance their project on a handshake for an indefinite period until they "get funding."  If the funding never comes through - "Sorry about that.  But good news! I have this other project I'd like you to fund, er I mean do.  When can you get started?"

The Smell of Success

We all know someone who has this "smell of success". (If you don't, that person is probably YOU.)
This makes me chuckle, but I think there's a lot of truth in this common saying about the ratio between inspiration and perspiration.

It's sentiments go well with a quote I like by Thomas Edison: "Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work."

You'll Have to Go Through Me

Sometimes the only way to get what you need is to go through Helen Back.

(...not to be confused with her equally helpful co-worker Helen Waite.)

Build - Then Design

Sort of like the "ready, fire! aim" approach to construction...

Many of the public projects these days are design-build, a good project delivery method if the construction and design teams partner well together. By having the design team and the construction team collaborate from the start, the final design can perform better, be easier to build, and cost less.

.

No matter how heated the rush to "git 'er dun", I've never seen a build-then-design approach that didn't end in disappointment.

Current Business Strategy

It seems like a lot of people these days are using this type of business strategy. Maybe this guy thinks he can make up the price difference with higher volume?

Do It Yourself Engineering

No matter the project, if the goal is an economical design and the assurance that the building will actually work as intended, you should retain the services of a reputable architect and engineer. The relatively small price for quality design is money well spent.
.
I've seen many well intentioned but seriously misguided souls willing to invest millions in their project, who believe they'll "save money" by having their nephew who took high school drafting draw the plans and then hiring the cheapest engineer they can find.
.
For more on why cheap engineering is not cheap, click here.

Go to Helen Waite

This one's my all-time favorite!
.
Inspiration came after dealing with a difficult client who was demanding that we continue to provide services even though his unpaid account was waaaaaay past due.
.
If you don't get it, try pointing your finger at someone close by and saying out loud over and over, "You want [insert noun here]? Go to Helen Waite!"

Click here for Helen Waite's associate Helen Back.

Might Not Be the Latest Drawings...

The inspiration for this came from a large project where the contractor created several headaches for himself and for us because he was building from an old set of drawings.

..

When this cartoon was originally drawn,s I called the cartoon contractor Terry (coincidence?) instead of Bob.

Duck Penetration

One of several "duck" cartoons drawn by a humble structural engineer in honor of mechanical engineers and mechanical contractors everywhere.

A Surprise Visit From OSHA

I thought it would be hilarious to show a superintendent who misunderstood a phone message tipping him off about a surprise visit from OSHA standing on the job site trying to explain to the straight-faced OSHA inspectors why he's dressed for the beach.

Good-Size Red Heads

Everyone who knows what a Red Head is can appreciate this one. Inspiration came as I was thinking of a time back in the early 90s when I was standing on a narrow steel beam about 150 feet off the ground inside the central shaft of the under-construction Stratosphere Tower in Las Vegas. I was watching a couple of iron workers install bolts to repair some misplaced anchors that held up the end of the beam I was standing on. To them, they were just putting in a couple of "good-size" Red Heads.

.

.

.

.

.

Click here if you don't know what a Red Head is