St. Louis Metro Area CAD/BIM Meeting on Friday!

The Gateway Autodesk User Group (serving the St. Louis and Metro areas) is going to have it's Spring quarterly meeting on April the 4th from 6:00-8:00pm.

We'll be meeting at the Masonry Institute. Google map here.

I'll do a quick rundown of the interface changes with the AutoCAD 2009 family of products, and we'll have another speaker tackle a task in Revit Architecture. I might also prepare a couple of slides talking about the industries with the highest salaries (based on the recent AUGI Design Salary Survey).

As always, food and drinks will be provided (by our sponsor, Seiler Instrument, 'thanks' to them!).

I hope to see you there; bring a friend, no RSVP necessary.

If you have any questions/comments/suggestions for future meeting topics or locations, pop over to our Google Discussion Group to share your thoughts.

I'm twenty-seven & online photo editing

Yep. 27.

Mid-twenties.


Just wanted to establish that.

Got it?
Okay.

~moving along~

For fans of services like Picnik who allow you to edit photos online, you may be interested in hearing that Adobe has put up a Photoshop Express online. Make sure you've got Flash 9 and head on over to try it out.

What's your Favorite Express Tool?

Bonus tools, express tools... whatever you call them, you've got certain tasks that just wouldn't be as easy without them!

The past few years, Autodesk has rolled more of them into the AutoCAD-based products (like the layer tools now on the Layers II toolbar like LAYISO, Change Space, Layer Merge). A couple of those tools have really been improved/expanded, too.

BUT, there are still a few more tools left over on the old EXPRESSMENU.
Autodesk wants to know which ones are your favorite!

So, take this survey and share your thoughts with them. Who knows that could happen next?

ADDA Education Conference is in St. Louis in April

Some of you may or may not be familiar with the American Design Drafting Association, so feel free to check them out here.

It looks like they will be hosting their 49th Annual educational conference here in St. Louis. The Gateway to the Wet (that was intentional, because we're flooding a bit right now).

The conference runs from April 14th through the 18th,

It looks like there are a few opportunities for attendees to qualify to receive some free software. They also encourage you to bring a laptop because many vendors will be offering free downloads? Interesting.

Here are some highlights mentioned: CAD Academy, LEED (green certification and implementation), NCS (National CAD Standard), BIM (building information modeling), AutoCAD, Dynamic Blocks, Annotative text and scaling, CUI, Solidworks, PTC Pro-Engineer, Google Sketchup, the General Aviation Space Group, Digital Photography and Documents and Inventor.

Wow. Sounds like there will be a lot going on.

I don't clearly see the conference location listed... I'd have to guess it's at a hotel on 9th street downtown?

Anyway, yet another education opportunity to enjoy for those that are interested.

Here's one to put on your calendars for next year: the National Organization for Minority Architects will be hosting their 2009 NOMA conference here! You can check out NOMA's 2008 conference details here. It will be held in Washington D.C. this October.

In Honor of St. Patrick's Day...

In recognition of St. Pat's day, for myself, my half-paddy hubby and the 34.5 million Americans who claim some Irish ancestry, how about a look at Irish Architecture (from About.com's Architecture page).

Mike showing off our little dork in training sporting his Irish gear last St. Patty's day.

Pi day is March 14th!

Well, well, well. It's every nerd's favorite time of year again... Pi day!

Find out more on the Official Pi Day site.

Show your support for your geeky brethren and... erm... sistern, and sport some pi wear (my favorite is the digits mug), geeky humour shirts or just ThinkGeek.

Back to School Time!

I mean me.

Yes, at the same time that I'm going through the fun of getting my offspring registered to begin school, I am getting ready to become a student again myself.

Not to his school, of course.
Although, elementary might be a bit easier than university.

I'll start my first class on Thursday though St. Louis University's School for Professional Studies. I've been wanting to complete my Bachelor's degree, and am thrilled to be able to start back up on it again.

The thing that is different about the Professional Studies curriculum is that it is comprised of evening, weekend and online courses as opposed to the traditional full-time daily classes.
I'll be doing night classes for now, but, might end up seeing if I can take some online courses later in my degree.

Looking over the history of SLU; it is the oldest university west of the Mississippi, founded in 1818. (Given the fact that they've been around twice as long as my hospital, I'm sort of relieved not to be on their Facilities staff ;-p... okay, their midtown campus wasn't opened until 1888, but, still, old is old.)

So, anyway, wish me luck with this challenging opportunity!

Gateway AUG Spring Meeting April 4th

The Gateway Autodesk User Group (serving the St. Louis and Metro areas) is going to have it's Spring quarterly meeting on April the 4th from 6:00-8:00pm. We'll be meeting at the Masonry Institute. Google map here.

We'll have some tips and tricks for various disciplines, as well as a quick showing of AutoCAD 2009 so you can take a peek at some of the interface changes and other tweaks.

As always, food and drinks will be provided (by our sponsor, Seiler Instrument, thanks to them!).

I hope to see you there, bring a friend...

If you have any questions/comments, pop over to our Google Discussion Group to share your thoughts.

Springfield Autodesk User Group Meeting!

Hey, faithful readers... I figured some of you Midwesterners would like to know about some upcoming user group meetings in Springfield, Illinois. The Central Illinois Autodesk User Group has announced the dates for their next three meetings:

March 12th
April 23rd
May 21st

They'll all start at 7pm, and be held at Hanson Engineering. So, if you're in the neighborhood, why not pop on by?

For questions contact: Nick Del Faro


And for you Gateway AUG members, yes, we've been in planning for our spring meeting for awhile. We had a date schedule, but, my school timing mucked that up, sorry. Check back for a final announcement on the details, soon. Thanks!

Making another move

Pardon me as I meander down memory lane today...

I go by the username 'Wanderer' on a few forums, for the simple reason... I am one. I have moved quite a bit in my short(ish) life. I was chatting with my boss last year during my most recent house move, and we realized that was the 8th address I'd had in my seven years of working for him.

Well, last Friday we had a meeting to review our project, and we've set a move date.
As of May, I will be moving out of my current office building and into another one.

The amusing part of this is that, the Engineering department has been in this office suite for about 9 years. Prior to that, they'd been placed in a building for a few years... which was torn down. Now this one is being torn down... and the one they're putting us in... pretty good chances of being the next one to be torn down.
I'd laugh if I didn't know how much stuff I have to move.

So, I have to realize that, while I have lived in two states, four counties and eight bedrooms... I have always come to work in this office. I have taken the same stairs and walked through the same door for more years than I have ever kept a home address (by about a factor of four).

I was hired on my 20th birthday.
I have had three cell phone and two home phone providers.
I obtained three certificates.
I completed my Associate's degree.
I began my Bachelor's degree.
I experienced my pregnancy (woohoo! morning sickness!).
I scheduled the date for my son's kindergarten screening.
I learned about Facilities Management.
I fleshed out my educational AutoCAD experience with real-life applications.
I have met with hundreds of people, anywhere from Maintenance to Architecture to the Historical Society.
I have had four pc's, two pda's, two laptops, three projectors and two fax machines.
I have drunk a lake's worth of coffee and burned hundreds of CD's.
I have laughed.
I have cried.
I have hired a lawyer.
I have exchanged PM's on AUGI with a special someone who later became my husband.
I have received the phone calls informing me of a two dearly loved ones deaths, and those of a half a dozen friends.
I have scheduled and attended 7 Autodesk Universities.
I have met another St. Louis user and started the Gateway AUG.
I have started this blog.
I have held four part-time jobs.
I have written a CAD Standards package.
I have beta-tested and piloted at a dozen programs.
I've driven four owned cars and seven rentals to the office.
I have filled out 97 monthly reports.
I have had 100 network passwords.
I have used and maintained 4 HP DesignJet plotters and two Xerox copiers.

All... from this office. Right here.

The past eight years have seen a lot of changes in my life, of course, any person my age experiences quite a few anyway. But, I've suddenly become reflective and playing through old memories with the knowledge that the 'address' I have held the longest of any other in my life, even if just on my business card, will no longer be 'mine'.
Of course, I'll still be on the same campus, with the same coworkers and most of the same office furniture... but, still... this place has been my working home for so long, I can't help reminiscing for a little bit. Smiling on the good times, and taking five to remember the not-so-good.

One good thing is that the my new office will be slightly bigger (and we'll finally get a new microwave in the kitchen to replace the poxy one with a broken clock). ;)
One bad thing, there won't be a ladies-only restroom anymore. :-(

Once I'm in my new digs, I'll post a shot. It is pretty nice, if I do say so myself.


So? How long have you had the same desk location? Longest stretch of years?