Rock and Roll... that old familiar feeling

Well, some residents of the Midwest are talking today.

Evidently overnight, there was a 5.4 Earthquake (or 5.2) on the border between the states of Illinois and Indiana.

Now, the Perry household resides in Missouri (over 130 miles away) but, we felt it. Near 20 to 5:00 this morning, both myself and my husband woke up. He didn't realize what woke him and fell back asleep.
But, past Californian that I am, I recognized the feel and sat up to see how long it would last and see how strong it was. It probably lasted half a minute. It was strong enough to shake the bed, but, not hard enough to knock anything over. After getting up to check on Mini-Mike, I went back to bed.

I do have to call my Mom over in Illinois later... she's got quite a collection of glass, metal and porcelain bells, so I'm sure the ringing noise was enough to wake my parents up.

There was a big to-do here when I was about ten years old, maybe a mild tremor with some guy predicting 'the big one' for the New Madrid fault. But, nothing came of it (except the wasted effort of packing away all of my Mother's bells).

The really memorable one for most people was the year prior, in 1989 I remember only that we were at DisneyLand and had to leave early because it was shut for inspections after a sizable quake. My Grandparents were fully woken, but, said that my Dad, my Sister and I slept right through it (so, sue me... a kid is pretty tired after a day at Disney!). Although what most folks talk about was a canceled baseball game, and the horrifying freeway collapses.

As for today's results... I haven't seen or heard of much damage around here (but, there is some elsewhere) but for a rickety old bridge on Kingshighway Blvd. It's been partially shut down until it can be further assessed (personally, I think the whole bridge should have been shut down long ago... I like to compare the appearance of it to a half eaten Windmill Cookie but, I'm not a bridge inspector, so, what do I know?).
This wasn't directly in our route on the way in, but, we did pass by it. I heard that it was shut down totally, but, now the center two lanes are open to traffic. That is a major artery for the South part of St. Louis city, so I can't imagine what a total shutdown would do to our roads (and tempers).

So, here's hoping everyone came through the excitement unscathed. And, here's to me being cautious and adding earthquake coverage to my home insurance policy last summer.

Using MrSid files with AutoCAD 2009 Products

Check it out, Autodesk just posted the Raster Design Object Enabler yesterday.

ID: DL11091617
Applies to:
AutoCAD® 2009
AutoCAD® Architecture 2009
AutoCAD® Civil 3D® 2009
AutoCAD® Electrical 2009
AutoCAD® Land Desktop 2009
AutoCAD® Map 3D 2009
AutoCAD® Mechanical 2009
AutoCAD® MEP 2009

The AutoCAD® Raster Design 2009 Object Enabler is a freeware application that you can use to display AutoCAD® Raster Design 2009 image files. This release allows object data created in AutoCAD Raster Design 2009 to be accessed outside the AutoCAD Raster Design environment.

At each new release, there is an onslaught of questions on the discussion groups from people wondering why they can't use their MrSid files in the new version, so, we just have to wait patiently (yeah right) for the object enabler to show up, and here it is. Enjoy.

AU Course Proposals Due by April 27th

Autodesk University is accepting course proposals from those who wish to teach classes at AU2007 in Las Vegas.

Get them on in, don't wait until April 27th!
The great teachers and targeted topics are what make this trip worth it for eager students! Submit multiple proposals if you'd like!



Specifically for those Facility Management/CAFM folks out there, Mark Evans from Autodesk is willing to talk over ideas with you, if you'd like some feedback or refinement on a topic you're thinking about teaching.

Sadly, as mentioned, for the first time, I will not be able to attend AU this year, but, we have been increasing the quality of the Facility Management/Document Management/Coordination/CAD Management/CAFM track every year since they started being offered and I'd like to see that continue, even if I'm not there to benefit from it.

Our son shows off some new threads

My little dork in training (also known affectionately as 'Mini-Mike') is very happy with his new shirt.

What do you think of it?Early November, if you're curious.

So, it looks like that class I was planning to co-teach at this year's Autodesk University will just have to be put on hold for awhile.