More KAUST Pictures

Well, it's time again that I get really excited about showing you a project I worked on ... and yes, once again, it is KAUST! See previous blogs about this!

Click here for the link ...awesome stuff!!

Thanks for looking, and please know, I just make the buildings stand up, the architects are really the people to thank for this. I give them their due appreciation (take it while you can get it)!

Pictures of Pie and Buildings

I'm back!!

I wanted to quickly share a couple of things with you. The first is a project I worked on called King Abdullah University of Science and Technology located off the Red Sea north of Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Those of you that personally know me might recall the suffering and slight enjoyments I went through on this job; but in the end it feels great to see it. So, here are some photos! I worked on the big guys! Feel free to look at the KAUST website and look at additional stuff! [For those of you that I e-mailed these photos to, sorry to repeat, but I think this is really amazing, so I felt the need to tell more people!]

All images are copyright of KAUST


Next on my list of things to share with you, is Pi(e) Day. I've only mentioned it a few hundred times within the past week perhaps. I am therefore absolutely sure that you know what I am talking about. I did want to share a picture though, of my small group of people that I work with everyday. We're a fun group, albeit nerdy, but we like us! If you are wondering why our smiles look fake, well, that's because they are!!

[From left to right: Ruben, Andrew, Steph, Crystal, Jim, Yong, Steven, and Abdel]

HOK Blogger Rachel will be posting a blog about Pi Day tomorrow, on the actual Pi(e) Day! Look for it at hoklife.com!

I would also like to mention that young Miles John B. was born today! Rachel, Randy, and baby Miles are doing well! Happy Friday the 13th Birthday Miles!

Okay, so about the King. He is about to kick off and wants this university. Okay well that is cool, it's a school of technology and is an 'international' school; so at first I am all for it. Well the more I look into it, 'international' students are all second to anyone living in the kingdom, so those of us doing the design are looked at as second rate anyway!

Now in addition to that just being annoying I have had to deal with people who say that I support terrorism by working on this project. NOT all those who live in the middle east are terrorist, has anyone ever paid attention to anything EVER! I know the answer is no, so why bother asking!?

SO anyway, this project, is annoying. It is a large scale university that has to be completed in one year. That includes all design and construction. SO while we are designing, they are constructing. That leaves no room for errors, and to keep the schedule going, that means we have to work basically every day, and during the week, for many more hours than anyone wants to do! By the way, the 'they' I speak of who are constructing are Bangladesh, Phillipino, and some other countries' people, not Sauds as one might suspect. Some Sauds are working on this, but they aren't the runt guys busting their arses in the 140+ heat!


Now maybe I shouldn't be complaining because I have a job and as of now, the King has awarded my company enough money to give me a bonus; not typically given to non-Associates here at the company. I deserve it, I've been busting my rear. I also got to go to Toronto for this job; yet again something I shouldn't complain about. But at some point I just have to vent. I spend so much time here at work, I am tired of being here, and tired of NOT being at home. I am tired of trying to catch up on my rugby matches that are a week or two old; I am tired of having to eat breakfast, lunch, and dinner here. More importantly I am tired of the stress; can't make mistakes, and sorry, but I do, so that is a problem for me, and then they (the General Contractor) gets their drawers in a bind when they hear ANYTHING they don't like. If you have to wait one hour past when they want something, they have a fit worse than any 2 year-old's fit I have ever seen!

I need to think of a new career choice. I like being an engineer when I get to see my end product, but during the project not so much, and the liability is killing me. It sounds silly I know, it's not like I am a doctor, but think of it this way. A doctor slips up he kills one person, I slip up, and kill hundreds. It's a lot of stress to bear and my body can't take any more. I also don't want to take these dumb ass tests. Sick of it all. The pros to this field are not exceeding the cons, and in the mathematical world, that means dump it!

SO, any ideas for a new career?