October 2021

Writer's Block and Other Musings

Dither, procrastinate, meander, dodge – any way possible to avoid the obvious.  I’ve been doing them all.

What’s the topic? Does anyone really care?  How can I make a positive contribution?  Just writing for the sake of writing hardly seems valuable.

In the past, I have spoken about the teachings of an old (or is it former? Although, he was both.) college professor. On the subject of a “design” block, his advice was simple: Just get started!  Pencil to paper. Scribble, if that’s all that seems possible. Eventually, he swore, the lines would begin to make some sense.

Eventually, I had to admit that he was right. Not easy for me. I was (maybe still am) particularly obstinate, and he was the textbook definition of curmudgeon, with some other added bonuses – chain smoking, heavy drinking, and sometimes downright mean. In the end, although it was not easy my year under the tutelage (?) of Professor so-and-so was one of the most formative in my college education.  Heck, here I am retelling his advice many years later.

COVID Continues

Many clients fall into the higher education category. Back in July, for what now seems like a brief moment, it looked like the extreme difficulties of the 2020-2021 academic year were behind us. Most laid out plans to return to “normal” on-site, in-classroom teaching and residency. Of course, that was all before the Delta variant outbreak.

It seems that nobody wanted to go back on the commitment. So now we have vaccine mandates, mask mandates, social distancing guidelines, medical exemptions, religious exemptions, and testing. Very nice.

Actually, if you’re going to congregate, this seems like the best way to do it. But, there’s no doubt in my mind colleges and universities might have been more cautious had they known back in July what they know now.

For me, the dilemma has been how can I continue to be of service. Not everything I do can be done via Zoom, telephone, or email. Once on campus, I feel fine. After all, it’s about as safe an environment as you can find. Just getting there is one of the problems. I’m not comfortable with planes and trains. So driving is the default. The furthest campus from the office right now is a 10-hour drive away! Too bad for me that I’ll be behind the wheel for 2 days for the 1-1/2 day site visit. My business associate will fly – his choice, just not mine.

But then we have to eat and sleep. Once again, I remain cautious. Indoor dining with many unknown clientele – too risky for my taste. That leaves outdoor or take-out options. In July, I had my first venture to a high-rise hotel. The elevator experiences were threatening. Too bad that I was on the tenth floor.

Over the next few weeks, there are more to come. Hotels will be low-rises – no more than a few floors for walk-up if needed.  Eating too will remain circumspect. This is all pretty tiresome. I have the greatest sympathy for teachers and professors. They have to deal with this every day! For me – it’s occasional at best.
 
Unrelated to business, last month I took my first trip to Canada since before COVID. Since my alma mater is in Montreal, I have many Canadian friends; and the border was closed to Americans until recently. My wife and I had to get a COVID test within 72 hours of crossing, show evidence of two vaccinations, fill out a bunch of paperwork, and commit to quarantining if necessary. Then, we got randomly selected for yet another COVID test, as we entered the country. All this for a 2-1/2 day visit to Ottawa.

What was interesting in the Ottawa area, however, was the abundance of caution shown by the population. It was very reassuring if you are the cautious sort, such as me.

Long Distance Travel Does Not

In May of 2019, I was supposed to be in Germany. Didn’t happen. Then, it took nearly 1 year to get reimbursed from the holdout venue ticket holders. (Thank you American Express.) And we don’t know when travel beyond what we can do by car will ever resume.

After a year of pretty strict lockdowns and 7 months of caution, we’re more than ready to hit the road again. Not happening.

Now – not so much COVID musings

During the depths of the recession, for some reason I was seeing regular news feeds that would offer survey results of valuable and worthless college degrees. Back then, majors in Architecture were pretty much told to find some other pursuit if they wanted a job upon graduation.  It was particularly disheartening to see the perceived poor value of my chosen profession.
For a number of years, the frequency of these news items seems to have diminished – until a few days ago.
Using the heading “Student Loans”, Bankrate.com has an article entitled “The most valuable college majors in 2021, ranked”.    They had all kinds of factors which lead to their conclusions, which are worth looking at to see if you agree.
Bottom line
Number one: Architectural Engineering
Dead last: Visual and Performing Arts
Architecture, by the way, has risen well up into the standings, and is now #43 on Bankrate’s list.

But what is Architectural Engineering?  First, I have to laugh.  Long before there was such a degree, when my mother chose to describe my chosen profession, she would refer to me as an “Architectural Engineer”.  When I heard it, I always cringed. But she thought it was praiseworthy, I guess.

In any event, current Architectural Engineering curricula is a mélange of Architectural and Engineering courses. The University of Hartford says this: “Architectural engineering technology is a rigorous academic discipline that prepares students for a variety of professional careers in the design and building industries. The major is structured to provide a foundation in mathematics and the basic sciences, with laboratories and studios that are part of the architectural and engineering technologies.” It’s preparation for something, I suppose. Problem is: if you want to become a Registered Architect or Professional Engineer, you have to go for an advanced degree.

The bigger point in this discussion is that construction-related disciplines have now joined the perennial favorite engineering disciplines. I think this may reflect the current boom in construction, with its demand for people.  Good for those who qualify.  Less good for those at the bottom of the heap. Clustered at the bottom of the Bankrate list are various artistic and psychology degrees.

The predicted median incomes from Bankrate are disheartening.  Architectural Engineering: $90,000.  Visual and Performing Arts: $35,500.  Sad – but probably true.

One Can Hope

Soon I hope to write about a more just and humane world. Less disease and more professional equity.

Missed earlier newsletters? Find them here:

May 2021  “Lower Ed?”
September 2020  “Just Stylin'”
July 2020  “Reflections on Our Covid Times”
February 2020  “Quirky Clients – The Smart Version”
September 2019  “OPM Cheerleader”
June 2019  “Can You Perform?”
February 2019  “Today's Word”
October 2018  “The Case for DIversity-Architect's Version”
June 2018  “A Capital Idea”
March 2018  “Me Too?”
January 2018  “R U Trending?”
October 2017  “Do You Measure Up?”
August 2017  “I'm an Architect and I'm Here to Help”
January 2017  “The Future of Higher Education”
November 2016  “The Owner as CM?”
August 2016  “Don't you just hate...”
June 2016  “Duck Testing”
April 2016  “Once Upon a Time...”
January 2016  “I want to take you higher”
November 2015  “Moderating in all Things?”
July 2015  “Alphabet City”
May 2015  “Acey Trey Trey Trey?”
January 2015  “Nature or Nurture?”
August 2014  “Acey Trey Trey?”
June 2014  “The Seven Deadly Sins”
March 2014  “Thar She Blows!”
November 2013  “Giving Thanks”
September 2013  “Back to School?”
June 2013  “What Time is It?”
March 2013  “Acey Deucey?”
January 2013  “A Swamp Full of Alligators”
October 2012  “Plan to Live Forever, Part Deux”
July 2012  “A Midsummer Dream”
May 2012  “Are you Virtually Working?”
March 2012  “Your Huddled Masses”
January 2012  “Observing Observations”
October 2011  “I Want What I Want”
August 2011  “A Beach Read”
May 2011  “NeoLuddite or Technophile?”
March 2011  “Do Your Silos Leak?”
January 2011  “Plan to Live Forever!”
November 2010  “May I Have A Plan, Master?”
September 2010  “How do we choose?”
July 2010  “Good People Behaving Badly”
May 2010  “LEED: LEADing or Dead Weight?”
March 2010  “Why does it cost so much?”
January 2010 “Design/Builders show us your softer side.”
November 2009 “What the Facilities?”
September 2009 “Why Do Architects Make Good Owner’s Reps?”