A couple of months ago a Facebook buddy posted a video on my Superwall. I never really look at those things, but I got curious. The video was an excerpt from Randy Pausch's Last Lecture Series. Wow! I was floored.
I'm not going to try to explain what he said or how inspirational his words were. That would be useless. But, if you have not had the opportunity to see Randy Pausch, just type his name in any search engine and you'll get a bunch of links. Right now, however, it might be a difficult task to connect to any one of them. You see, he passed away this morning. He knew he was dying. Well, all of us are, but he had a specific expiration date, so to speak. He was dying of pancreatic cancer.
Ever since I saw the video all I could do was hope for a miracle...hope that he would be the one to beat the odds. A man like that should be able to live for ever. But then it hit me: sometimes loss and sacrifice is exactly what we need to realize how important some thing or some one is.
His words are important to me because they made me reevaluate my career path. I suppose that many people have had the same reaction and that's awesome.
I sympathize with his wife, children and family. I hope that they can find comfort in his words and the time they shared with him. I hope that they know how important it is that a man like Randy Pausch had a chance to live in this world and touch so many lives.
Friday, July 25, 2008
Thursday, July 24, 2008
Moving Right Along....
I'm trying to shake off the mala onda (bad mojo) that I manifested yesterday. For that reason, I've decided to upload some pictures of my most recent project. This is for my friends back home. Hope ya'll enjoy them!
It's a very small house compared to American standards, but it falls into an average sized house in Chile. It's only 60 m2 (±645 sq ft) total! Yep, I had to be really careful with the distribution.
This is the view from the balcony. You really can't see it in this picture, but between the light post and the tree you can see the ocean.
Also a view from the balcony. Here you can see the ground floor and part of the parking lot.
Here are the stairs, which I luuuuved. The owners chose Chilean Oregon Pine for the staircase and door jambs. It's slightly more expensive than regular pine, but the color is much richer.
One of the first things that shocked me about Chile was how every house seemed to be caged in. This is a typical protection for a window. It's not like crime is rampant, it's just a cultural habit. In any case, thanks to the white paint and wood trim, the iron on this house gives it a Mediterranean feel.
And here's the finished product. (See what I mean about the caging).
Also a view from the balcony. Here you can see the ground floor and part of the parking lot.
Here are the stairs, which I luuuuved. The owners chose Chilean Oregon Pine for the staircase and door jambs. It's slightly more expensive than regular pine, but the color is much richer.
One of the first things that shocked me about Chile was how every house seemed to be caged in. This is a typical protection for a window. It's not like crime is rampant, it's just a cultural habit. In any case, thanks to the white paint and wood trim, the iron on this house gives it a Mediterranean feel.
And here's the finished product. (See what I mean about the caging).
It's a very small house compared to American standards, but it falls into an average sized house in Chile. It's only 60 m2 (±645 sq ft) total! Yep, I had to be really careful with the distribution.
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
Target Confusion
I have so many things that I want to "get down" on "paper" that I really don't know where to start. It's almost as if I have to catch up on years of correspondence to an old friend.
But as I was thinking about my target confusion today, one topic sticks in my mind: I'm fed up with my job. Don't get me wrong, I love my career (I'm an architect, self employed). However, I cannot express how disappointed and sick I am of all of the people I have to work with on daily basis.
As you might have read in my "about me" section, I'm living in Chile right now. The road has been long, bumpy and often hellish. I don't really get any of the social codes. I don't understand their tardiness or lax attitude about the rules. I mean, the rules are there for a reason, right? Clients treat me like their slave, municipal workers look down on any project that is not over 1000 sq ft, my peers are always gossiping about other colleagues and secretly hoping they will fail. And to top it all off, being self-employed means chasing down clients that don't pay on time or ever in some cases. It's just such a toxic setting that all I want to do is leave them to their misery.
I know, I know, most of you have to deal with this even outside of Chile. Here's the punchline, though. I'm betting that it wouldn't be nearly as bad if I could do it all in English.
Anyways, all of this has lead to one conclusion. I need a break from my job. I say I need a break from architecture, which is equally true. So, I'm now looking for a job. Hopefully it will be something that has to do with English. I just want a nice, simple job where I can get my paycheck at the end of the month (yep month, that's the way we get payed here) and start saving up enough money to high-tail it out of here as soon as possible.
But as I was thinking about my target confusion today, one topic sticks in my mind: I'm fed up with my job. Don't get me wrong, I love my career (I'm an architect, self employed). However, I cannot express how disappointed and sick I am of all of the people I have to work with on daily basis.
As you might have read in my "about me" section, I'm living in Chile right now. The road has been long, bumpy and often hellish. I don't really get any of the social codes. I don't understand their tardiness or lax attitude about the rules. I mean, the rules are there for a reason, right? Clients treat me like their slave, municipal workers look down on any project that is not over 1000 sq ft, my peers are always gossiping about other colleagues and secretly hoping they will fail. And to top it all off, being self-employed means chasing down clients that don't pay on time or ever in some cases. It's just such a toxic setting that all I want to do is leave them to their misery.
I know, I know, most of you have to deal with this even outside of Chile. Here's the punchline, though. I'm betting that it wouldn't be nearly as bad if I could do it all in English.
Anyways, all of this has lead to one conclusion. I need a break from my job. I say I need a break from architecture, which is equally true. So, I'm now looking for a job. Hopefully it will be something that has to do with English. I just want a nice, simple job where I can get my paycheck at the end of the month (yep month, that's the way we get payed here) and start saving up enough money to high-tail it out of here as soon as possible.
Monday, July 21, 2008
Captain's Log 1.1.1
After many years of trying to convince myself that I'm not the "kind of person" who would have a blog, I've come to the conclusion that I am. Actually, I've come to understand that it really isn't about being or not being the kind of person who would blog. It's about being the kind of person who has something to say and finding the way to say it. Sounds rather obvious, but sometimes obvious is the last thing we think about.
There are a lot of things that I could tell you about myself, but I'll start with the title of my blog. This isn't really a blog about knitting (sorry, guys). But being a fellow knitter myself, I can promise that every once and a while, I'll post some (a whole bunch, in fact) of the projects I'm working on. I have a whole range of WIPs vying for my attention.
I did, however, take the name from a popular saying: "The Black Hole of Knitting". It refers to that stage in the knitting process where you knit and knit and, somehow, you never advance. To put it lightly, the part that sucks. But, since nothing lasts forever, at some point you're out of the black hole and you're crossing the finish line. When I first read about it, I thought that it was a nifty metaphor for life. At least that's how I feel some of the time (or most of the time, depending on what day of the week you find me in).
On that note, I can't promise you that it will all be sunshine and rainbows. Sometimes I'll whine and moan about how unfair life is. Sometimes I'll profess to be the only sane person on the planet. Sometimes I will jump for joy. And other times I'll confess that I have no idea what I'm talking about.
In a nutshell that's what this blog is about. Hope you'll come by and visit.
There are a lot of things that I could tell you about myself, but I'll start with the title of my blog. This isn't really a blog about knitting (sorry, guys). But being a fellow knitter myself, I can promise that every once and a while, I'll post some (a whole bunch, in fact) of the projects I'm working on. I have a whole range of WIPs vying for my attention.
I did, however, take the name from a popular saying: "The Black Hole of Knitting". It refers to that stage in the knitting process where you knit and knit and, somehow, you never advance. To put it lightly, the part that sucks. But, since nothing lasts forever, at some point you're out of the black hole and you're crossing the finish line. When I first read about it, I thought that it was a nifty metaphor for life. At least that's how I feel some of the time (or most of the time, depending on what day of the week you find me in).
On that note, I can't promise you that it will all be sunshine and rainbows. Sometimes I'll whine and moan about how unfair life is. Sometimes I'll profess to be the only sane person on the planet. Sometimes I will jump for joy. And other times I'll confess that I have no idea what I'm talking about.
In a nutshell that's what this blog is about. Hope you'll come by and visit.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)