CraigCAD

After a week of the developers conference in Gent, Randy and I moved to a hotel closer to the airport to ease departure Sunday. Saturday morning I did laundry and we covered some work I’d need for the following weeks teaching. Saturday evening we took a train into Brussels for some light sightseeing and dinner.

Brussels is a gorgeous city, and we didn’t have nearly enough time there. As well, being concerned about the lack of light I took only my 17-55mm lens since it’s very fast. This was a mistake however, the tight quarters really screamed out for the 10-22mm wide angle, speed or no speed. Still, some good shots.

One of the highlights of the evening was a performance artist in front of a pedestrian gallery. He was wearing a mask, dressed and made-up to match the masonry of the building behind him. He’d stand perfectly still and looked for all the world like a modern gargoyle or other decoration. I saw him scare the crap out of at least two people, and charm the pants off some kids by starting to move, or waving back. What a great schtick ;-]

We also had a terrific dinner, mine was duck with haricots verte and pomme de terre. Fabulous and reasonably priced. One of the most difficult things for an American to get used to in Belgium is that there’s no tipping, you pay exactly your bill and nothing more. I’m glad Randy was there to tip me off and handle the French translations!

Album here : http://craigcad.us/albums/Brussels2010

Saturday morning I was up at 4 and on a plane to JFK by 7:30 AM. Flights went smoothly and I landed in Brussels on schedule, pity the same couldn’t be said for my co-worker Randy. Randy’s flight wasn’t terribly delayed, so we were only 1 train behind schedule going from the airport to Ghent. In Ghent we were met by Alex Vinkier, one of the founders of HSB and treated to a fine lunch at his house.

After lunch Alex dropped us at the hotel, by this time it was after 2 local and I had been up for over 24 hrs, only slightly ameliorated by a few catnaps on the flight (I am sooo jealous of those who can sleep while flying!). Randy and I walked around the historic district of Ghent for a bit, but by this time fatigue was taking it’s toll and the  resulting pictures weren’t terribly impressive.

Dinner however was a true work of art. We pretty much stumbled into an Irish pub on the canal here and had one of the finest meals I’ve had in months!

Daizen Joinery is looking for a K2 Hundegger operator and a full-time CAD jockey with HSB experience. Daizen Joinery is a well established heavy timber supplier specializing in pre-cut timber and round work. They’re located near Salmon Arm, BC.

Interested persons should contact Dai– Phone 250.679.2750

In case you haven’t followed the news, Blackwater (aka Paravant, aka Xe) is one of the bad-boy private contractors for the modern military. In addition to a large set of other snafus, they had an employee sign for 500 AK47s using the alias “Eric Cartman” — guns which subsequently went missing for a period of months. Looks like the boys at Southpark heard of it, and of course they can’t pass that up.

The following shot was taken in Bellingham, WA in early Febrary. That same day, I got buzzed by bees while running and hear frogs singing. Let me say again FEBRUARY!! Go figure.

And over my house too!

It was cloudy and I didn’t really expect to get this lucky so the shot is hand-held (iso 400, 300mm zoom). Still, a pretty cool thing to witness, here you can also see the T-33 trainer being used as a chase plane.

I recently got an email that Conner Homes in Vermont is looking for an employee with AutoCAD & HSB experience. From the job listing :

We are looking for an individual who shares our passion for creating traditional reproduction homes using the latest design and manufacturing methodologies.  Our unique process requires a team of technically proficient drafting professionals who can seamlessly collaborate with our 100,000 square foot mill facility.   Connor Homes is a fast-paced, national recognized company comprised of great people and located in an outstanding Vermont community.

Download the full posting here:  http://craigcad.us/HsbJobConner.zip

Times are tough in the building industry, but if you can weather this storm there should be sweet sailing on the other side. Good luck to all those out there hit by this recession.

cc

G’day one & all,

I got out Tuesday to enjoy one of my favorite pastimes, putting up new wood on the trail. Last weekend I worked with the guys from Quimper Trails & PT Cyclery where we replaced a rotting bridge on the Cascade trail @ Anderson Lake. We had some large slabs of Western Red Cedar handy, 2 of them make a fine bridge. We were able to support both ends where they connect in the middle, but I wanted to make sure the 2 spans were locked together and didn’t slide apart. It was the perfect opportunity to do a Nakashima style butterfly, the foundation supports the bridge from below, while the butterfly keeps the spans from spreading apart or sliding sideways. Of course, being the geek that I am I imported a picture from my iPhone into AutoCAD and designed the butterfly on the computer, and cut it in the shop instead of in the field.

Check out the slideshow for the full story.