Week 6

So it's been just over a month at Linden Projects, and things are still going well.


This week i had joined up at the tennis club, and practices were from 5 on certain days, and because work only finished at 5, and still travelling an hour in traffic on my way home, i thought it best to ask Enrica(my boss), if it was possible to change my hours from 8 -5, to 7 -4. I would benefit traffice wise, and also be able to make tennis. So i spoke to her and she was realy cool about it, i didnt even have to give reason..


starting at work at 7am, meant it was still cool-ish in the morning, allowing me to enjoy a hot cup of coffee with biscuits before i am to start work.. its the routine now of how my days start :)


the week started with me having to work on House Thompson, where an existing patio was to be enclosed.. i had to redraft the house as soft-copy plans were not available.. ive also been put on phone-duty alot more often lately, because of the receptionist and her castings and errands she has to run for the boss. this has made me a lot more comfortable with the phone, i now enjoy calling clients, engineers, municipality, etc.. just helps improve my communication skills benefitting me in the long run.


one example of a phone call during the week went like this:


Brad: Linden Projects, Brad speaking, good morning..
Lady: Hi, can I speak to Enrica?
Brad: Sorry, Enrica is in a meeting, can i take a message and she will call you back?
Lady: Ask her to phone Anita back
Brad: Sure will do
Lady: No you wont phone me back, you dont have my number?!
Brad: We do have your number on the system, right infront of me now, but i will take your number anyway.....


(this was quite a funny start to the week as i had spoken to this lady (Anita, part of the body corp of one of the projects we are working on) quite often, so how she could think we wouldnt have her number was quite strange)


i had eventually earned enough trust from my boss, when i was asked to go to council, and the post office to mail off stuff, and was told to take my boss's Audi A3... i was shocked at first, that she was allowing me to use it, but i agreed, and went with it, with these words at the back of my head "if you get a speeding fine, it's on your head..."... I drove realy cautiously and at the mall i parked miles away from the nearest car, lol, just to ensure nothing happens to the car. eventually got the feel of the car, and was up for another trip,,,, :)


The previous week, i had taken plans to the City of CT to be submitted, but because the house was quite complex, and lots of details on the plan needed to be clarrified, i couldnt submit the plan, and was asked to email the head planner and book a pre-consultation meeting between my boss and some of the head planners, just to go through the plans together, and clear any discrepencies.. I emailed the council the previous wednesday, and it was tuesday already and we had heard nothing. our client was getting realy frustrated as his plans were just standing for a week, and he wanted to ge the plans approved asap! so i decided to call the council back and find out why they arent replying to my mail, and when we'de be able to see them. i called the lady i had previously emailed, and when i told her who i was, she acted all apologetic saying she so sorry she hasnt gotten back to me, but just waiting on a planner to get back to her and will call me in 5 minutes... 24 hours had passed, and i had had it up to here with the council, i then called AGAIN!! this time i couldnt get hold of her, and just as i starting stressing on my clients behalf, the planner had phoned my boss, and eventually managed to organize a meeting for the upcoming friday.. which i was excited about as id never been to one of these meetings before... so we will see what happens


This week i was still working on The "Spearheads" project, which involved an empty office block in an office park being renovated and made suitable for an Internet Service Provider. Alot of drafting was involved, as well as the layout of drainage, and aircon onto the plan. another project House Schrauwen, was on the top of my priorities list, was quite an exciting one which i am invloved int the drafting and designing of, where a pool house was to be built in the backyard of an exsiting house. something that would change the lifestyle of the family completley! i was so excited about this project, and cant wait to see the final result built :)


Visiting council on friday ended up being one LONG story.. we ended up leaving there with no further progress than where we were last week this time! there were a few pieces of info missing, on the architect's side, and title deeds werent clear as to what the restrictions were, thus confusing the planners abit... this all had to be sorted out before we can head back to council yet again... so back to the office, and back to the phone


what a week it was indeed, and am sure next week will only get alot bussier....


till then :)

Week 5

Week 4 - Orientation

So this was to be a short work week, because of the orientation that was going to take place from the wednesday to the Saturday on Campus...


the week started off pretty smoothley, having to draught up proposed offices to be used by an internet service provider, completing the door and window schedule, as well as pdf'ing the drawings and sending them off to the body corporate as these offices are located inside a business park..


On tuesday i was asked to double check the window and door schedule of a previous project, as the client had come back to us saying that the windows and doors on plan and elevation did not match those written in the schedule, so that took me a few minutes, and minor changes, before i could cross it off the list. For the same project, the client had asked if we can now add a basement level below the front porch which could be used for the storage of canoes, wetsuits, etc. So working together with the plan and creating a section, i tried as much as i could to get this store room onto paper. thing is, the site had quite a slope, an existing driveway was in the way, and the amount of space needed for the amount of steps needed was not enough.. So i ended up asking the main draughtsman to give me a hand, and before i knew it, it was 5'o clock, and knowing i wasnt gonna be in the office for the next few days meant this project would have to stand, and i would be falling behind, knowing that come Monday, i would have a large amount of work waiting for me on my desk.......


It was pretty cool going back to campus the next day, as we could hook-up with all the guys we'd made friends with last year :) i wasnt that excited at first about the orientation, as i was hoping it wasnt going to be a waste of four days and that i would regret leaving the office for it...
but it turned out okay :)


On Wednesday we were introduced to some of the 2nd year lecturers and co-ordinators, we had to stand up infront of the class and introduce ourselves, aswell as shown how the online media work and told how important it is to keep up-to-date with our online blogs. We then later watched a powerpoint on South african history and also a dvd on the Baths by Peter Zunther.