Random Stream from the weekend 20051128

So... Thanksgiving 2005 has come and gone...  I met up with M-Girl (as one of my contributors likes to say) at my house after doing Turkey Dinner w/ friends.

 

My parents had pulled the "I don't know what we are doing for Turkey Day" routine on me this year... So without waiting for them to decide what was up, My friends F and B decided that they were doing one and I took them up on the invite... Having never done a friend's Thanksgiving.. It was wonderful...  Good food, good conversation and good spirits...  S showed up... as did T and T... so... 6 of us enjoying dinner among friends... no snotty little extended family memebers... no kids.. just a bunch of 20 somethings enjoying ourselves.

 

I left there and went home to wait for M-Girl to show up....  I heard a car door close... I went to the front door, opened it and wrapped her in my arms...  Fricken wonderful feeling let me tell you...  Nothing like that feeling of realization that someone you haven't physically seen in 8 years is just as beautiful as she was then... and IMHO, more so...  :-)

 

The Country Club Plaza lighting ceremony in Kansas City went off without a hitch... Though I am not sure that I will ever go there again, at least not voluntarily...  I ran into S there.... we got drinks in the Oak Room @ the Fairmont (got through security thanx to S) and wandered the streets again.. enjoying the lights and not so much the crowds... Ran into R and B from college .. R took us up to see his office and then we bolted.. nothing against him.. just needed to have to quality "us" time as opposed to everyone time.

 

Then we headed out from the Plaza...  got up towards L-town and decided to go see  a flick... Harry Potter was pretty good... Must say that :-) .. but what was better was just holding her in my arms during the movie... Whomever decided that theatre seats should have fold up arm rests was fricken brilliant!

 

Came back to my house and said our good nights....  

 

Friday was spent shopping... I don't go for the barn burner deals..  b/c of the frustration level.. but I did score pretty well this year.. mostly stuff for me as opposed to shopping for others.. go figure..a

 

Friday night M-Girl and I met up with my friend Z for dinner @ Arthur Bryants... Z and my's pilgrimage to BBQ heaven.... from there we went to a nice quiet bar for a bit w/ M-Girl and had a few beers before a band started and it got really loud.. :-/   M-Girl ran into her old friend from town.. and they hung out a while... completely random... I ended up seeing some people from high school I hadn't seen in a while... It was nice...  (damn, this blog is seeming pretty bland when I don't feel the need to divulge the details ;-)

 

I ended up taking M-Girl back to her mom's house which is on the northern border of BFE... Again, saying good night..I got home at 4 am... UGH..

pain...

 

Saturday night the plans were pretty open... I had a voicemail on my phone from a friend that said he was back in town and that we needed to hang out...  M-Girl said she didn't want to go... So, I didn't push the issue.. apparently this was the wrong move...  b/c Sunday when we saw each other and were saying our final "until we see each other agains"... she apparently thinks that I am not that into her or this or whatever... WTF...  I think when it comes down to it... that I just don't know how to act.. I don't know how to open up and show someone I care and that I want to be with them...  I've been single too long and enjoy too much of my independence... And ultimately, I need to break free of that entirely and enjoy myself and my time with her and somehow prove to her that I am who I say I am and am not putting up a front for her.... or building a wall.. etc...

 

Anyways... my lunch break needs to be taken.. I need food...

 

Peace-

 

jp 

E-Mail FWD: HISTORY LESSON FOR YOU-A'LL

> Humans existed as members of small bands of nomadic hunter/gatherers.
> They lived on deer in the mountains during the summer & would go to the
> coast and live on fish and lobster in winter.
>
> The 2 most important events in all of history were the invention of beer
> and the invention of the wheel. The wheel was invented to get man to the
> beer. These were the foundation of modern civilization and together were
> the catalyst for the splitting of humanity into 2 distinct subgroups:
> Liberals and Conservatives.
>
> Once beer was discovered it required grain and that was the beginning of
> agriculture. Neither the glass bottle nor aluminum can were invented
> yet, so while our early human ancestors were sitting around waiting for
> them to be invented, they just stayed close to the brewery. That's how
> villages were formed.
>
> Some men spent their days tracking and killing animals to B-B-Q at night
> while they were drinking beer. This was the beginning of what is known
> as "the Conservative movement."
>
> Other men who were weaker and less skilled at hunting learned to live
> off the conservatives by showing up for the nightly B-B-Q's and doing
> the sewing, fetching and hair dressing. This was the beginning of the
> Liberal movement. Some of these liberal men eventually evolved into
> women. The rest became known as 'girliemen.'
>
> Some noteworthy liberal achievements include the domestication of cats,
> the invention of group therapy and group hugs and the concept of
> Democratic voting to decide how to divide the meat and beer that
> conservatives provided.
>
> Over the years conservatives came to be symbolized by the largest, most
> powerful land animal on earth, the elephant. Liberals are symbolized by
> the jackass.
>
> Modern liberals like imported beer (with lime added), but most prefer
> white wine or imported bottled water. They eat raw fish but like their
> beef well done. Sushi, tofu, and French food are standard liberal fare.
>
> Another interesting revolutionary side note: most of their women have
> higher testosterone levels than their men. Most social workers, personal
> injury attorneys, journalists, dreamers in Hollywood and group
> therapists are liberals. Liberals invented the designated hitter rule
> because it wasn't "fair" to make the pitcher also bat.
>
> Conservatives drink domestic beer. They eat red meat and still provide
> for their women. Conservatives are big-game hunters, rodeo cowboys,
> lumberjacks, construction workers, firemen, medical doctors, police
> officers, corporate executives, Marines, athletes and generally anyone
> who works productively outside government. Conservatives who own
> companies hire other conservatives who want to work for a living.
>
> Liberals produce little or nothing. They like to "govern" the producers
> and decide what to do with the production. Liberals believe Europeans
> are more enlightened than Americans. That is why most of the liberals
> remained in Europe when conservatives were coming to America. They crept
> in after the Wild West was tame and created a business of trying to get
> MORE for nothing.
>
> Here ends today's lesson in world history:
>
> It should be noted that a Liberal may have a momentary urge to respond
> to the above before simply laughing and forwarding it. A Conservative
> will be so convinced of the absolute truth of this history that it will
> be forwarded immediately to other "true believers."

Holiday Flavors

Have you heard of the company that makes soda pop taste like your favorite holiday food?   We just had a tasting of them in our office.. I can honestly say, without a doubt... my stomach is now in knots thinking about what flavors they were attempting.... Maybe it was my inability to cleanse my palatte.. maybe it was the fact that they tasted like "ass, shit and piss"... but OMG... horrid stuff.... Iff I ever have to attempt those again.. I think I will pass.

 

 

Thankful For... 20051122

I got a list similar to this ... so I thought I would share what I am thankful for this holiday season.. as we begin to embark on a month of gluttony and consumerist based consumption in the name of celebrating friends family and (for people of Christian-rooted faith) the birth of Christ.

1.)  Freedom

2.)  Friends -- those people that make my life bearable and actually get me for who I am as opposed to what people may want me to be.

3.)  Family .. both the living and those passed on for making me who I am.

4.)  Good food... somethings are worth waiting for... And some are worth paying for

5.)  Life

6.)  Shelter and the knowledge that I work daily to give this world a better built environment

7.)  Opportunities...  Both professionally and personally..  The opportunities granted to me have been tremendous and I thank everyone and everything for making that possible.

8.)  Those protecting our Freedom and and Lives... The EMTs, the Polic, the Firemen, the Troops... Though I may not stand fighting beside them or in support of why they are there.. I will always support them.

9.)  Knowledge.  The opportunity to learn

10.)  Media and electronic communication.  Something we take for granted anymore... But in the not too distant past, everything was based on the telegraph, telephone and snail mail... Thank you, Al Gore, for the Internet.. :-P

11.)  Love.  As much as I act like a curmudgeon regarding this subject.. it is something that I seek.

12.)  Good laughs... Nothing can break an awkward moment like a good joke.

13.) Holidays that are about more than a day off of work... allowing the melting of extended families to come together once or twice a year.

14.)  Tradition.   The ability to ground one's self to one's roots through yearly activities and celebrations and foods.

15.) Culture.  Knowing where you came from and where others come from and learning from it all to enrich your own personal life.

16.)  Nature.  For allowing me a place to escape from technology and actually enjoy solitude.

17.)  Good live music.

18.)  My job and my employer... Who would have thought 3.5 years ago that I would still be working at the same place??

19.) Family 2- My Mother... The one that brought me into this world and the one that taught me so many valuable life lessons both as a child and as an adult.

20.)  Family 3- My father for having the ability to take me out of this world (LOL.. kidding!) as well as teaching me the same as my mother... and showing me the value in knowing how to cook and teaching me those recipes for which there are no written lists or instructions... 

Disregard

Please disregard last post.... things may have possibly been straightened out... time will tell.

 

 

Lock and Load -20051116

Kill'em all.

 

Get Some.. Get Some...

 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4442988.stm

 

Seriously...  Quit f'ing with the US...  We have a war to win.. I may not appreciate or be in favor of the reason we went into Iraq... But we can't pull out now and iff they are using women, children and cowards to kill us... I say use whatever means necessary to take thier sorry asses to Allah.

 

-jp

Connections - 2005.11.16

I embarked on this journey through cyberspace before many people had ever even thought of having a personal computer in thier home... since then I have been connected to this great cosmic global force of information and along the way I have met some rather interesting people.. Some I still call friends, some I can truthfully say have been lovers and others I wouldn't be near ever again even if my life depends on it..

This entire time in this vitual world, I have had the desire to connect with people... Sometimes that connection happens purely at a virtual level, othertimes it has had the opportunity to manifest itself into a physical friendship outside of the bits and bytes..  And sometimes the inverse is true as well, this digital cosmos allowing friends to stay in contact with each other, sharing photos, blogs, text messages, emails etc.

I came to myspace by pure accident.. I don't even remember how I ended up here.. It wasn't invitation based, it just happened... Since that time, I have had an opportunity to reaquaint myself with former classmates and friends that have dropped off the face of my reality as well as meet some really cool people that I believe to have the authenticity for life that I thrive on...

Along those same lines, I look around myspace from time to time, seeing who is out there that I might know and I see a lot of people that are on here as comment whores and picture whores and friend collectors.. 

As some of you may have read, I did chop my friend list down today... If you got cut and want re-added... just ask... But I am on here not to collect pictures or virtual friends but to meet people that have similar values to my own and enrich my life and thiers through dialog and discussion.

Now I embark on a different journey... That of reacquainting myself with a long thought lost acquaintance from my high school career...  Things have happened fast and they have hit us both hard... mostly because she lives in another state and the meshing of our personalities so far is going extremely well...  I don't know where this trip will take me.. I don't know the destination... But I know that the support network I have made on here and in my physical life will hopefully support my decision to see where this journey takes me.

Seven days and counting until Thanksgiving and I get an opportunity to become reacquainted with someone I thought long out of my life... May God have his hand on my shoulder as I embark on this path.

Friends

Okay... I was made aware last night of AT LEAST two (2) individuals that read this blog...  you two turkeys know who you are..  You need to register and show yourselves..

 

k.. 'nuff said....

 

-jp

 

And as for my faithful readers... THANK YOU! :-)

Connections: 2005.11.14:07:46

Connections: 2005.11.14:07:46

 

As I sit here in Terminal B of Kansas City International Airport (MCI), I sit yearning to not have the physical transportation connection to St. Louis that I am waiting on, but rather to have that mental connection with someone.   Someone to have and to hold.. To connect with on an almost spiritual level.

 

Last Monday I logged into my email and discovered a message from someone… I opened the email and low and behold… There she is.. Someone that had left my mind eight years earlier as I walked across the stage of high school graduation, moving on with my life and she her's.   I expected at best to run into her maybe randomly in my home town and maybe by chance at high school reunions.  I did not, however, expect to run into her on a computer terminal while logged into a rather large social networking site (No, I said networking, not dating..   I'm not plugging a dating service here!)

 

She since had moved away from Kansas City… as I had many times thought of doing…  She'd run for the right wrong reasons.. I'd come back for what I thought were the right reasons.   Regardless, the cards had been dealt to both of us.. Neither of us expected what happened…  She expected to catch up with the happenings of classmates, I just expected.. I don't know what I expected.. But I didn't expect the spark that occurred…

 

Now I am going to be the first to say that when it comes to love and lust that I run pretty warm, but even this had me skeptical… I mean, come on, how many times do you randomly run into a girl you had a super crush on in HS, realize that even though you never really ran around in the same circles in high school, somehow you are very very similar and compatible at so many levels and both feel that there may be and hopefully is something there beyond this digital wet dream that is occurring right now.

 

** EDITOR'S NOTE**

Damn flight got in the way of writing this blog.. that and about 4 hours of "work" and a lunch w/ a client on the Hill in St. Louis… Now I am sitting in the Saint Louis Airport… typing again.

 

 

2005.11.14:14:27:23

 

So…  When I turned my phone back on in St. Louis.. OF COURSE I have messages… but they were the good kind of messages…   It was a text message from N…. or as my Montréal acquaintance says "M-Girl".. or mystery girl.. since I have done a pretty good job of keeping names out of this whole mix…

 

So… Has anyone noticed how things seem to come in waves, just not for yourself but for the people around you as well?  It seems that there were a lot of people that had nasty weeks last week… Mine was a wonderful dreamy bliss except for work.. and of course my mental state at work had that kinda creepy shit eating grin like I just banged the home coming queen all week… Oh well.. In a way that is how I feel… It's that blissful state that I can't describe.   I haven't felt this way in a while… and the last time I did feel this way, I got burned.. It seems that is the story of my life… over dramatization for someone that detests drama and definitely does not thrive on it… The only benefit to drama is the fact that I get to have something to talk about around the coffee pot in the morning… But yeah, my love life doesn't belong on public work display… so… c'est la vie… No more talkie about love and relationships at work… Ever since I dated someone in the office, I figured out that I have to be pretty guarded about what I say around the place… b/c everyone seems to think they need to give advise and be snoopy into my personal business… But I do miss that girl.. too bad she had to move back to Germany to be with her family…   She was one of the first women that I wanted to date for more than physical attraction and the fact that she was beautiful and had a very charismatic smile…   There have been others.. but she was the first… J  I do miss Susanne.

 

Damn.. I'm a rambling fool today… Time for me to sign off of this blog… and put in the new Office Space DVD and zone out for an hour before my flight departs and then try and completely zone out before the touch down back on Kansas City soil.

 

-jp

I Hate Rich Assholes

This project I am working on is seriously pissing me off...  Or should I say my state of mind is pissing me off..  Having gone from doing high end theatres to getting stuck on some crappy mobile carrier's storefront designs to getting moved onto a large 400 bucks a square foot condominium project is taxing on the brain.. I am having to think again as opposed to it being instinctual.

 

On top of all of this is the new person that has entered my life.. My mind is constantly racing with thoughts of her face and the yearning for the two weeks to pass before I get to see her... again after 8+ year of absence from my life when she comes back to Kansas City for the American Turkey weekend (Thanksgiving).

 

I yearn to hold her in my arms.. to see if the spark that exists non-physically exists physically between us. 

 

Current plan involve me staying in Kansas City for the day as opposed to travelling to extended family get togethers.. this will be the first time I have ever done this... Do Turkey day with friends as opposed to Family.  After that, the plan is for her to meet up and go to the Country Club Plaza lighting ceremony and get some drinks  afterwards.

 

After that, I have no clue what is going to happen...  I am fighting my gut and my emotions.. not wanting to get wrapped up in some long distance relationship and have my heart broken again... But I am tired of lustful encounters and we have soo many things in common that I think it slightly scares both of us.

 

Okay... I've vented a bit.. and it's time for me to resume working on this bastardization that is being called architecture.

 

 

Harassment

Ed. Note:  Hope you find this funny as well..  I got this as a FWD from a friend.. no authentication has been done on it.. so if it is a spoof.. oh well. - jp

**********************************************************************

Oh, this is a good one!

This is an actual letter sent to a man named Ryan De Vries by the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality, State of Michigan.

If this is true, this man has a great sense of humor.....

This guy's response is hilarious, but read the State's letter before you get to the response letter.

 **********************************************************************

Dear Mr. DeVries:

 

It has come to the attention of the Department of Environmental Quality that there has been recent unauthorized activity on the above referenced parcel of property. You have been certified as the legal landowner and/or contractor who did the following unauthorized activity:

Construction and maintenance of two wood debris dams across the outlet stream of Spring Pond. A permit must be issued prior to the start of this type of activity. A review of the Department's files shows that no permits have been issued.

Therefore, the Department has determined that this activity is in violation of Part 301, Inland Lakes and Streams, of the Natural Resource and Environmental Protection Act, Act 451 of the Public Acts of 1994, being sections 324.30101 to 324.30113 of the Michigan Compiled Laws, annotated.

The Department has been informed that one or both of the dams partially failed during a recent rain event, causing debris and flooding at downstream locations.

We find that dams of this nature are inherently hazardous and cannot be permitted. The Department therefore orders you to cease and desist all activities at this location, and to restore the stream to a free-flow condition by removing all wood and brush forming the dams from the stream channel.

All restoration work shall be completed no later than January 31,2003 .

Please notify this office when the restoration has been completed so that a follow-up site inspection may be scheduled by our staff.

Failure to comply with this request or any further unauthorized activity on the site may result this case to be referred for elevated enforcement action.

We anticipate and would appreciate your full cooperation in this matter.  Please feel free to contact me at this office if you have any questions.

 

 

Sincerely,

David L. Price

District Representative Land and Water Management Division

 

------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

** This is the actual response sent back: **

 

 

 

Dear Mr. Price,

Your certified letter dated 12/17/02 has been handed to me to respond to.

I am the legal landowner but not the Contractor at 2088 Dagget, Pierson , Michigan. A couple of beavers are in the (State unauthorized) process of constructing and maintaining two wood "debris" dams across the outlet stream of my Spring Pond.

While I did not pay for, authorize, nor supervise their dam project, I think they would be highly offended that you call their skillful use of natures building materials "debris."

I would like to challenge your department to attempt to match their dam project any time and/or any place you choose. I believe I can safely state there is no way you could ever match their dam skills, their dam resourcefulness, their dam ingenuity, their dam persistence, their dam determination and/or their dam work ethic.

As to your request, I do not think the beavers are aware that they must first fill out a dam permit prior to the start of this type of dam activity.

My first dam question to you is:

1) Are you trying to discriminate against my Spring Pond Beavers or,

2) do you require all beavers throughout this State to conform to said dam request?

If you are not discriminating against these particular beavers, through the Freedom of Information Act, I request completed copies of all those other applicable beaver dam permits that have been issued.

Perhaps we will see if there really is a dam violation of Part 301, Inland Lakes and Streams, of the Natural Resource and Environmental Protection Act, Act 451 of the Public Acts of 1994, being sections 324.30101 to 324.30113 of the Michigan Compiled Laws, annotated.

I have several concerns. My first concern is... aren't the beavers entitled to legal representation? The Spring Pond Beavers are financially destitute and are unable to pay for said representation, so the State will have to provide them with a dam lawyer.

The Department's dam concern that either one or both of the dams failed during a recent rain event causing flooding is proof that this is a natural occurrence, which the Department is required to protect. In other words, we should leave the Spring Pond Beavers alone rather than harassing them and calling their dam names.

If you want the stream "restored" to a dam free-flow condition please contact the beavers, but if you are going to arrest them, they obviously did not pay any attention to your dam letter........ they being unable to read English.

In my humble opinion, the Spring Pond Beavers have a right to build their unauthorized dams as long as the sky is blue, the grass is green and water flows downstream. They have more dam rights than I do to live and enjoy Spring Pond.

If the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Protection lives up to its name, it should protect the natural resources

(Beavers) and the environment (Beavers' Dams).

So, as far as the beavers and I are concerned, this dam case can be referred for more elevated enforcement action right now.

Why wait until 1/31/2003? The Spring Pond Beavers may be under the dam ice then and there will be no way for you or your dam staff to contact/harass them then.

In conclusion, I would like to bring to your attention to a real environmental quality (health) problem in the area.

It is the bears! Bears are actually defecating in our woods. I definitely believe you should be persecuting the defecating bears and leave the beavers alone.

If you are going to investigate the beaver dam, watch your step! (The bears are not careful where they dump!)

Being unable to comply with your dam request, and being unable to contact you on your dam answering machine, I am sending this response to your dam office.

Thank You,

Ryan DeVries & The Dam Beavers

Funk

Somehow the men's urinal on this floor became clogged and overflowed a couple of days ago.... the funk hit the carpet and we came in yesterday to a smell very similar to that of someone having been sprayed by a skunk...  Today, we finally bitched enough and got them to come in an clean it (better or for the first time.. who knows)....

 

But the decided to clean w/ ammonia... the fowl substance is cinging my nostrils... I'm light headed and can't think of working but must plod on... 

 

On a bright note... it is 2 weeks until she comes to KC... 2 long weeks of anticipation...  I know I can take it.. I just hope neither of us builds this into more than it is.... I want things to remain fresh and clean and see where it leads to on a reality based field as opposed to online and over the phone.

 

 

Surreal.. part deux.

Sometimes we learn things about people that we never would have expected... the more I learn.. the more I become afraid and the more I want to learn.. Afraid not because I view them as being a bad person, but rather afraid of falling for someone that is hundreds of miles away from my current location.. Afraid of the future and what it holds for me.. I need to learn to let go.. I need to learn to trust my heart but feel my gut wrenching.. But is it really wrenching or is more a case of butterflies every time I see an email from this person pop up or I get to hear this person's voice on the other end of the telephone.

I'm praying it is butterflies... because this person's intellect and common life story are still intriguing me... that and they can make me laugh... and without laughter ... I would have died a long time ago.

Wild Ride Ahead:

Have you ever completely had someone completely gone from your life to the point that you never had waking thoughts about them and then have them randomly show back?

I had that happen to me yesterday... I never would have expected to hear from this person again... save for maybe a 10 or 20 year class reunion... But they showed back up yesterday, sending me a random message online to see if I was who they thought I was... Truth be told, had they not placed thier last name on the message, it probably would have taken me a bit to figure out who it was... But there they were...

High School in America is wierd... Mine was a cross between Mean Girls and Varsity Blues.... I definately wasn't in that "in crowd".. and they was definately more on the in than I... So it was interesting to see how similar we both have ended up in views on life.

I have long held that the journey is sometimes more interesting than the destination.. and I have a strong feeling that the journey that I have sitting in front of me could be one wild ride.

The Top 50 Things that “Clients” Like to say to their Architects


(Note: The most popular & often used client comments are highlighted for your convenience)


1. “How come your fee is so damn high?”
2. “What did you NOT understand about what I said?”
3. “That 2.25% fee includes Architecture, Structural, MEP and Full Time C.A., doesn’t it?”
4. “What do you mean S.D., D.D., C.D.’s……Just start the damn Construction Drawings.”
5. “Design Development is just a method for Architects to drive up their fees.”
6. “What do you mean “PROGRAM”? Can’t you just design it or something?”
7. “Can you make these changes to building “G” and will that cost anymore to do so?”
8. “What do you mean that’s ADDED scope?”
9. “Why do Architects believe that it won’t work unless it has something other than 90-degree angles?”
10. “The General Contractor told me that it cost more now because they didn’t include your original detail 2/A100 in their price. What do you intend to do about that?”
11. “Why is it that every time you pull out a roll of tracing paper it costs me a boat-load of money?”
12. “What do you mean that you want a budget to design to?
13. “We’re over budget…!!!”
14. “O.K., I’ll tell you what you can do with your “Meaningful Architecture”………”
15. “If I hear you say “That’s going to be cool” one more time, I’m going to blow an aneurysm all over your damn drawings!!!!”
16. “I know that I told you to add that, however, can we save any money by value engineering that?”
17. “I hear you; I know that it’s code, however do we really need those fire exits?”
18. “……………And I need that by 10 am tomorrow……”
19. “Is EFIS a cheaper exterior wall solution than polished granite veneer?”
20. “I don’t really think that EFIS will visually change the Architectural character of the building…………….do you?”
21. “Our “Performa” states that our hard costs must not exceed $125 per S.F. Given what we want, “can you guarantee that cost?”……..................................................No, seriously!!!!!”
22. “According to the C.M., they have unequivocally stated that it’s your fault that the drywall is $1.2 million over budget. They said that you didn’t make it clear in your pricing documents that the scope would be as extensive as shown in the 56 gypsum board details” provided.
23. “I can’t believe that this project is 30% over budget……!!!
24. “Why SHOULD we carry a contingency?
25. “The way you performed on this project…, well, thank God that you’re not a brain surgeon!!”
26. “Now I’d like to think that you and I have developed more than just a professional relationship, you know……, kind of a friendship as a client / Architect. We’ve been through a lot together and we have had many mutual successes along the way…………......... However, my attorney advises me that you would be money ahead to just settle for the $150,000 deductible and just move ahead with building our relationship.”
27. “I thought that your fee included those 250 sets of drawings and specs.”
28. “I’d like to talk with you about your project manager. I’m not sure that he’s the appropriate person for this project. He is relentless when it comes to insisting on delivering a product that will perform, he continually discusses methods to manage the schedule, and continually discusses ways to manage the costs within the budget. I don’t think he really understands what we’re looking for!”
29. “The team brought us here, the team will get us out of this”
30. “I know you believe that you have reduced your fee as far as you can go. However, just remember………………………………, we have a lot more of where this came from……!!!”
31. “You will be paid for the previous 6 months once I have the opportunity to run the request for those fees past Corporate and receive their approval.”
32. “By the way……, I need 15 copies of the Design Development drawings sent to my office. I’d like to present those to “Corporate”.”
33. ”Let me explain MY vision of “Means & Methods”. I “Means” to beat the crap out of your fee, and I really don’t care what “Method” I use to do it.”
34. “You obviously didn’t listen to your Dad when he suggested Vet Medicine as a career.”
35. “I don’t like it, it’s not the right solution, and for me to call it a piece of crap would only compliment this masterpiece. By the way, are you having lunch catered to this meeting?”
36. “We should discuss this over a few beers on the golf course……………”
37. “Please understand, “Quality” is our number one priority with “Aesthetics and Cost” running a close 2nd & 3rd.”
38. “How much cost can we avoid by eliminating the vapor barrier?”
39. “Well, let me clarify. If my capital hard costs are a net 65% of the anticipated market sales price with a factor of 7.5% carry annualized over the next 1 ½ years, an annual inflationary rate of 8% along with soft costs at 18% of the projected gross fiscal exposure on this venture…………………Well what I’m actually trying to articulate is your stinking A/E fee will limit my profits to slightly more than a multiple 7 digit net gain……………..…!”
40. “~**-_^#,::”\+…..!!!!*=!!!”
41. “Who gave you the right to assume you know what we’re looking for?”
42. “My Construction Manager has informed me that they have just discovered an additional 68 cost issues, with the majority of those added costs dating as far back as 23 months ago! I would like for you to review those for entitlement and merit. By the way, where have you been for 23 months and why didn’t you step up at the time, identify these costs, and mitigate the same!!!???”
43. “Have I told you that I hold the Architectural profession in the highest esteem?”
44. ”Sue me? I’ll just politely ask you to stand in line.”
45. “I’ll get back with you on that……………”
46. “I will check with my assistant, however, I know the check was mailed early last week.”
47. “Have I asked you why your fee is so damn high?”
48. “We’re having a fund-raiser to mitigate costs of the project grand opening. Would you like to contribute?”
49. “I know that it’s important to have your fee collateralized and secured over the next 150 days while I’m finalizing our financing for this project, and I would really like to address that for you this afternoon. However, I’m scheduled to take delivery of my new 500 SL Mercedes at 3 PM today and my wife and I are later hosting our investment club for drinks and a light dinner on the Veranda at our Country Club this evening. I hope you understand.”
50. “My Dad was an Architect.”