Convention time!

Each year, as the annual CSI convention approaches, I can't help but think back to other conventions. I haven't been to all of them since I became a member in 1987, but I haven't missed too many, either. I suppose you could say they're all the same, and in many respects, they are, but each has its unique experiences. My first convention was in Chicago, in 1990; more on that later. The second was in San Diego, in 1991. I had never been to California before, and I discovered why everyone wants to live there. My third convention was in San Francisco, in 1994. It was the first time I brought my family along, and since then, my wife has gone each time, and one or both of our children - and their spouses - made it to a few more.

Many of today's CSI members missed the good old days. The education sessions and exhibit hall are much the same, but there were a lot more extracurricular activities many years ago. I'm going to reminisce about a couple of my early conventions, starting with Chicago.

The year was 1990. The Institute president was S. Steve Blumenthal. The president of the host chapter was Gary Betts, who later went on to be president of the Institute.

When is a queen not a queen?

When is a queen not a queen? When she's a brick.

Worcester Guildhallfigure of Queen Anne
(ell brown on Flickr)

Several years ago, I got into a discussion with an architect about the size of brick he wanted for a project. He said he wanted modular brick; I asked for a specific size, and he simply repeated modular. I knew it wasn't quite that simple, so to prove the point, I compiled a list of brick names and sizes I got from several brick companies.

Although I knew there would be differences, I was surprised how many there were (see the list below - and that's not all). Now, some might argue that the differences aren't all that important; after all, the three lengths of Norman brick - 11-7/16, 11-1/2, and 11-5/8 inches - are all considered nominal 12-inch. Similarly, 3-1/2 and 3-5/8 inches would be considered nominal 4-inch.

24/7; new use for smart phones - take control of your plane!

This is a little off the usual subjects, but it's something that puzzles me.

Some smart guy showed it's possible to bring down a plane by cell phone, without even being on the plane. I'm not sure; should we thank him for inspiring all the ne'er do wells who blindly assumed this couldn't possibly be done, or should we be thankful for this demonstration of technical prowess, and hope that maybe, someday, someone will figure out a way to prevent it from happening?

At about the same time, the brilliant people at TSA, who, for many years, would confiscate nail clippers

24/7; infoglut

The recent demise of CSI's NewsBrief was not a surprise. In fact, I had decided only days before that I was going to unsubscribe. The reason? It didn't offer anything unique.
As a CSI member, I am already aware of its Practice Groups, certification program, and other activities. More to the point, as a subscriber to other SmartBriefs, from AGC, ASCE, and NRCA, and the SmartBriefs on Sustainability and Leadership, I found too much redundancy. Many of the same links appeared in many of the briefs, as well as in other information sources. It's possible that the CSI NewsBrief was intended more for non-members, but its termination suggests it wasn't of much value to CSI.

Infoglut is nothing new...

No such person

After sending my latest newsletter article to my distribution list, I got the usual half dozen or so "undeliverable" messages. One of them stood out as an example of what such messages should be. Rather than the typical cryptic message:

xl4mhibx02.myunbelievablesite.com rejected your message to the following e-mail addresses:
Joe Blow (joeb@somewhere.com)
xl4mhibx02.myunbelievablesite.com gave this error:
... User unknown

I got this:

24/7; gone fishing

My, how things have changed! The brave new world of 24/7 interconnectivity certainly is marvelous; each day brings new ways to learn more about everything, sometimes too many. I'm not going to give you the old line about "When I was a kid, we had to walk two miles to school, through the snow, uphill both ways!" And I'm not going to rail against progress. I am fascinated by new technology and new products, and I still enjoy learning about everything possible.

But I do wonder if we're giving up much of the adventure and fun of life in favor of trying to do as much as possible.

Do what with the Owner?

Drawings and specifications often have many references requiring coordination with the owner. While that makes sense for some things, for example, location of grommets or selection of paint color (as long as it doesn't include non-standard colors), it doesn't work for quantities. The reason, of course, is that during bidding, the bidders have no direct contact with the owner, and even if they did, I'm sure owners would not appreciate a barrage of calls from various contractors and subcontractors, all trying to obtain information that should have been in the documents. If I were the owner, I'd be on the phone, asking the architect why in blue blazes those questions had not been addressed in the bidding documents.

Directions to the contractor, requiring coordination of various items, appear to make more sense, except for the fact that the AIA conditions of the contract make the contractor responsible for coordination of the entire project,