design

So it turns out that I'm gonna have to do some design work now, since somebody at the office is leaving. I haven't done design in years, and I totally know nuts about BS 8110 or CP 65 so I'm so screwed!

I used to be quite good at design but thats a very long long time ago and it was the ACI/AISC code which is not only not applicable here but in the wrong units. If I had taken a different path I'd have been a PE now and earning lots of money. Unfortunately I have no PE and probably will never get one and I so am not earning lots of money.....

I find it funny sometimes how every country seems to have their own building code. At least commonwealth countries in general try to follow something universal like the British Standard. Unfortunately, most countries (we know who) still try to tweak it and come up with their own version (code of practice) to confuse the world and to ensure that they will have superiority doing design in their own code in their own country. If you have a PE based on design experience in a code of practice particular to one tiny little country I don't think your skills are very marketable globally. So much for the state of engineering.....

The next big thing (if it hasn't already come) in engineering is not operations research, as a lot of people think, but computational mechanics. Already in Western Europe and the United States engineers are doing the impossible with computational mechanics, replacing physical testing and all. Operations research is perhaps best left to business types rather than engineers, like what was done at Dell. Unfortunately some people are still using paper charts for design that are more than 20 years old. By the time the technological revolution hits these people they are more likely to be replaced than to step up to the challenge!

Peter's Principles

Never invest in any idea you can't draw with a crayon.

You can't see the future through a rearview mirror.

There's no point paying Yo-Yo Ma to play a radio.

As long as you are picking a fund, you might as well pick a good one.

The extravagance of any corporate office is directly proportional to management's reluctance to reward the shareholders.

When yields on long-term government bonds exceed the dividend yield of the S&P500 by 6 percent or more, sell your stocks and buy bonds.

The best stock to buy may be the one you already own.

A sure cure for taking a stock for granted is a big drop in the price.

Never bet on a comeback while they're playing "Taps."

If you like the store, chances are you'll love the stock.

In business, competition is never as healthy as total domination.

All else being equal, invest in the company with the fewest color photographs in the annual report.

When even the analysts are bored, it's time to start buying.

Corporations, like people, change their names for one of two reasons: either they've gotten married, or they've been involved in some fiasco that they hope the public will forget.

Whatever the queen is selling, buy it.

The move

The last 3 days were spent shifting office, which was an absolute nightmare! Finally Sunday is the only day of the week I can rest at home. I think I might even have caught a cold after all that moving in the incessant rain..... The next few days will probably be spent unpacking and setting up the new place, though the boss says we will start working on monday (yeah right!).

What's good about the new place is that there's great food all around, hawker centers, fast food, coffee shops, bakeries, etc. So much better than the crap we eat everyday in Tower A! Also a big supermarket, photocopy shops, hair salons etc. Did you know that the coffee shop downstairs has one of the cheapest beers in town? 5 bucks for a bottle of tiger. Normally getting a bottle would be between $5.60 and $6. There's also a direct bus to my house which means saving lots of $$ on transportation :P !

What's not hot about the new set up? Well we'll be far away from all the admin staff so it will be a serious pain trying to get any admin support. Plus my desk has a direct line-of-sight to my boss given the new low partitions (ouch!) but perhaps we can take care of that by placing some furniture in the way ;)