The First Loooooong Wait

BT aka Six Hours of Agony (sorry to those who have heard this saga ad nauseum). Why do we have to wait 8 weeks for graphics results, when MC sections only take 2 weeks? Don't get me started...

Actually, it wasn't as horrific as I thought (as usual). At one point, I even dared to think I was enjoying it. Of course, that feeling didn't last long...

I think I did okay on the section and stairs. I will probably get dinged for the ramp (one too many landings), mechanical/lights because I overlit a couple of rooms (but the two were an art exhibit room and a studio), structure (too many columns), and the roof (screwed up the high roof). I met all the criteria, and made sure my clearances were correct, so who knows?

I saved the structural for last on the first half, and by the time I got there I just blanked. Then I went back and notice my ramp didn't work because of the clearances... So I redrew that. On the second half, mechanical was okay and stair was okay (had a big, long landing on the upper floor) but feel that these could pass. I had an hour and some to do the roof - and just wigged out. In retrospect, it was a very simple solution. For whatever reason, I thought that one edge of the upper roof had to be at 9'-6" like the lower roof! Wow, talk about a complicated upper roof! I made it work, but will get slammed for that I'm sure because it didn't exactly follow the program. It met all the criteria, but just stupid stupid stupid...

I don't know what all the fatal errors are, but hopefully none of my mistakes were that bad and I will pass. I doubt it, though (what else is new).

On to SP and the joys of grading!

1/3rd an Architect Sounds Much More Impressive than 2/9th!

I slayed the beast! I passed ME! I PASSED! I PASSED! I PASSED!

Go figure... and another nod to my husband, who was right for the third time. Now it's costing me money - even if I pass - due to a bet we made. You see, we kinda have a ritual going and my husband has to open the dreaded envelope when it arrives. This last time, it sat and burned a hole in the coffee table for hours before he got home. So we added a bet to this last test because he was sick of hearing me say, "I know I failed this one." As I explained to another comrade in hell (womanonamission), it goes something like this: if I pass like he always says I will, I have to give him $50. If I'm right and I fail like I know I will, I have to give him $25. Somehow, I got screwed in this deal! He says it's to punish me for not having any faith in myself. Only an attorney can find the logic in this wager. Only an architect (or blonde...) would agree to it!

Now on to BT... groan...

Studying for Mechanical and Electrical

In the process of studying for ME, I've found that the information contained in the links provided below are very useful.

• This is an incredible document. Someone had the time (and patience) to create a spreadsheet of terms, definitions, formulae, etc. Worth downloading.
• http://www.areforum.org/guest/Mechanical%20and%20Electrical/MEP%20terms.doc

• MEEB (Mechanical and Electrical Equipment for Buildings) is a brick of a bible for this exam. The link below is to the companion site. The site provides on-line quizzes, chapter outlines, chapter summaries, and other goodies. A lot of folks recommend reading this monster cover-to-cover...
  
• http://bcs.wiley.com/he-bcs/Books?action=index&itemId=0471465917&bcsId=2879

2/9th an Architect

Woo hoo! Thought I tanked, but I PASSED!!! Got that lovely letter today. Two down, 7 to go. Oh, and once again my husband was right.

BD/MM Done for Now... Next: ME

I survived MM. What a loooooong 2 hours it was! I can only hope that since I took it on St. Patrick's Day, the luck o' the Irish was with me and I passed.

I really thought they had loaded the wrong exam. The first half hour had nothing that resembled any of the materials I studied (Kaplan/ALS, ArchiFlash, Allen book, Ballast). There was so much cross-pollination from all the other MC sections. I can see the logic in taking them all at once. Study everything, then do a marathon. At least all the material would be covered, and nothing would be that far out of left field.

So now I wait for that envelope. It took 13 days for the last one. Hopefully, I will be put out of my misery just as swiftly this time... In the meantime I've started studying for ME. Trying to wade through that monster MEEB will certainly keep me occupied for a while.

WTF Wednesday

Someone forgot to add a note to use the existing rough openings...

Waaaah! Buncha cry babies - quit yer whining already!

Okay, so I am really getting tired of hearing (mostly on the ARE Forum) about how much the ARE sucks, NCARB sucks, Archiflash sucks, Kaplan sucks, Prometrics sucks, EVERYTHING sucks! Hey, kids - guess what? For now, it is what it is and it is what we have to go through to get where we want to be. Right? Is this process perfect? No. Is NCARB the model for efficiency and fairness? No. I could keep going, but we all know what the issues are. What is really interesting to me is that the majority of these complaints come from the under-30 crowd, but I'll save that discussion for another time.

Quite frankly, the best we can do ("we" being those of us going through this masochistic process called taking/passing the ARE) is this: PASS THE DAMN TESTS, BECOME RESPONSIBLE PROFESSIONALS, AND CHANGE THE PARTS OF THE SYSTEM THAT NEED TO BE. Sometimes the best way to implement change is from within.

So, as my sister says, put on your big girl (or boy) panties and get on with it already!