The man's side of it!

It's been a while since I last posted. For those that follow the chronicles of my life, I apologize.

I've been back at work for a month now and it's kept me very busy. I get up at ten to five in the morning and get home at four thirty in the afternoon. Then I try to spend as much time with my family as I can until I conk out at nine at night. This doesn't leave much time for blogging.

I use Newsgator (RSS aggregator) to keep up to date on the blogs I read on a regular basis, I've neglected them for so long that the folders are just filled to overflowing with stuff I've yet to read. I have three email boxes I've yet to go through, and the list gets longer and longer.

I started drafting a new job last week, a school in Asbury Park, NJ. The school is occupied so we will be starting with the third floor. This is an older building that was designed with stand alone heating and cooling units in each room. They are old and noisy and extremely energy inefficient. The school is being retrofitted to a new modern HVAC system.

My Boss, Tom is looking to start building on the third floor right away so he needs the drawings soon. As a union sketcher I am used to working under pressure. We make a good wage and are expected to produce accordingly. I told Tom yesterday that I needed I more information to get the job done, like equipment submittals, structural drawings, reflected ceiling plans, ceiling diffuser schedules, all information I need to accurately make working drawings (blueprints) for us to work from.

The old saying is, That if it was easy monkeys could do it and we would be working for bananas.

Working for a living was a man's calling, The curse, if you will. "In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread," *God told Adam as Adam was getting his butt kicked out of Eden.

Some men grumble at having to work hard but I love it. When I was younger I used to enjoy working out in the shop "bangin' ductwork" all day long or welding, especially intricate things that required craftsmanship and skills. Now at 51 I enjoy working hard using my mind. I can apply all the skills and knowledge I learned over the years in the shop and working in the field to drafting in the office.

It's so great to be back at work!

*Genesis 3:19 (KJV)
In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.