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Author Message Anonymous   Posted on Wednesday, September 19, 2007 - 01:36 pm:    There seems to be a growing trend to eliminate humor in my office. The sense is that if lawyers ever did discovery on our e-mails that jokes would be viewed as us not taking our work seriously. Is it this way in your office? Ronald L. Geren, RA, CSI, CCS, CCCA, SCIP Senior Member Username: specman Post Number: 524 Registered: 03-2003 Posted on Wednesday, September 19, 2007 - 01:50 pm:    Not in my office. Being the only one here, I joke with myself all the time...the only problem is that I don't understand most of them... ;-) Anne Whitacre, FCSI CCS Senior Member Username: awhitacre Post Number: 642 Registered: 07-2002 Posted on Wednesday, September 19, 2007 - 02:12 pm:    first flirting goes away, now jokes. what's the point of going to work? I think that means you tell jokes around the coffee machine instead of sending them as emails. -- sort of the "old way" of transmitting them. William C. Pegues, FCSI, CCS Senior Member Username: wpegues Post Number: 672 Registered: 10-2002 Posted on Wednesday, September 19, 2007 - 02:21 pm:    Anne, I agree, and jokes work better in person anyway. Immediately you can tell if you have embarassed yourself, your immediate listener, or everyone in the whole room -grin! Email has no such automatic feedback. William Joe Back, CSI, CCS, AIA Advanced Member Username: j_back Post Number: 5 Registered: 05-2005 Posted on Wednesday, September 19, 2007 - 02:25 pm:    Although I would agree that the situation described by anonymous is going a bit far, having personally been subjected to a legal process in which ALL documents, including email, were open and available to opposing legal counsel, and then seeing how opposing counsel grossly distorted the meaning of even the most innocent of exchanges, I am fearful of putting anything in writing. Interestingly, though, my legal counsel still advises me to put EVERYTHING in writing, but try to avoid saying anything. Lynn Javoroski CSI CCS LEED™ AP SCIP Affiliate Senior Member Username: lynn_javoroski Post Number: 644 Registered: 07-2002 Posted on Wednesday, September 19, 2007 - 02:42 pm:    "...put everything in writing, but try to avoid saying anything." - sounds like a Dilbert cartoon! David Axt, AIA, CCS, CSI Senior Member Username: david_axt Post Number: 898 Registered: 03-2002 Posted on Wednesday, September 19, 2007 - 03:33 pm:    I think that so long as the jokes are not racist, sexist, or directly insulting to someone in the office, why not send the occasional joke around? What next? Ban laughing? What does a sense of humor have to do with anything anyway? I have known some very serious people who were incompetent. I have known some very jovial people who were highly competent. I don't see a correlation. For the longest time one of our CA people had a rubber chicken dangling from a noose over his desk. It's a long story. ;-) David Axt, AIA, CCS, CSI Senior Member Username: david_axt Post Number: 899 Registered: 03-2002 Posted on Wednesday, September 19, 2007 - 03:37 pm:    Unfortunately we had to let him go because The American Pastured Poultry Producers Association (APPPA) complained that they were being unfairly targeted and ridiculed. :-( Ralph Liebing, RA, CSI Senior Member Username: rliebing Post Number: 696 Registered: 02-2003 Posted on Wednesday, September 19, 2007 - 03:43 pm:    WHO? The chicken or the guy? Oops, sorry-- office humor!!!!!!! Lynn Javoroski CSI CCS LEED™ AP SCIP Affiliate Senior Member Username: lynn_javoroski Post Number: 645 Registered: 07-2002 Posted on Wednesday, September 19, 2007 - 03:47 pm:    In our office, in various cublicles, we have a rubber chicken, a stuffed fish, odd slogans, a Mr. Peabody (mine), a couple of super heroes, lots of Big Ass Fans "donkeys" and many other personal, funny items and pictures. We regularly email jokes and cartoons, and post them on the bulletin boards in the break rooms. We try to be circumspect and respect everyone's sensitivities, but we also try to have fun! We put in long hours quite often, and laughter is a good release of tension and frustration. Wiser people than I have realized the value of laughter and humor: Jokes of the proper kind, properly told, can do more to enlighten questions of politics, philosophy, and literature than any number of dull arguments. - Isaac Asimov, scientist and writer (1920-92) (Unregistered Guest) Unregistered guest Posted on Wednesday, September 19, 2007 - 04:26 pm:    Sending and/or forwarding of jokes is against company policy, for obvious reasons. Any attorney would have a field day in court reading your joke e-mails out loud to the jury. Anonymous   Posted on Wednesday, September 19, 2007 - 05:06 pm:    Well then they will have to bust my office for illegal gambling operation as well. We have a voluntary bid pool where people place $1 bets on the lowest bid for a project. The winner usually ends up buying the office donuts. Ron Beard CCS Senior Member Username: rm_beard_ccs Post Number: 227 Registered: 10-2002 Posted on Wednesday, September 19, 2007 - 05:16 pm:    <<Any attorney would have a field day in court reading your joke e-mails out loud to the jury.>> They, of course, would eliminate all the lawyer jokes. Especially the ones that list questions that have been asked in depositions or courtrooms. Robin E. Snyder Senior Member Username: robin Post Number: 136 Registered: 08-2004 Posted on Wednesday, September 19, 2007 - 05:31 pm:    Wow. ironically, this is possibly one of the saddest threads I have read. If the jury got ahold of the emails I send to some of my girlfriends - yikes! Well, I will worry about that happening when I get done stressing over the terrorist's digging through my trash and finding my drawings. That was a tongue-in-cheek joke, btw. Jerome J. Lazar, RA, CCS, CSI, SCIP Senior Member Username: lazarcitec Post Number: 435 Registered: 05-2003 Posted on Wednesday, September 19, 2007 - 08:37 pm:    WHERE IS THE HUMOR? HOW ABOUT A SONG? THE ARCHITECT SONG At first I was afraid, I was petrified thinking I could not design what you had specified But then I spent too many years redrawing what you just built wrong and I grew strong and I learned how to get along And now you're back with more floor space I just walked in to find you here with that QS look upon your face I should have changed that stupid plan I should have made you pay that fee If I had known for just one second you'd be back to bother me Oh go now go, delete that door move the wall around now you don't wanna pay for it anymore Were you the one who tried to break me with your RFIs you think I'd crumble you think I'd lay down and die? Oh no not I I will survive.... David Axt, AIA, CCS, CSI Senior Member Username: david_axt Post Number: 900 Registered: 03-2002 Posted on Wednesday, September 19, 2007 - 08:46 pm:    That was great.....but.......Gloria Gaynor's attorneys are drawing up papers as I type! Jerome J. Lazar, RA, CCS, CSI, SCIP Senior Member Username: lazarcitec Post Number: 436 Registered: 05-2003 Posted on Wednesday, September 19, 2007 - 09:14 pm:    Ralph - this is for you: This was developed as an age test by an R&D department at Harvard University. Take your time and see if you can read each line aloud without a mistake. The average person over 40 years of age can't do it! 1. This is this cat 2. This is is cat 3. This is how cat 4. This is to cat 5. This is keep cat 6. This is an cat 7. This is old cat 8. This is fart cat 9. This is busy cat 10. This is for cat 11. This is forty cat 12. This is seconds cat Now go back and read aloud the third word in each line from the top down and I betcha you can't resist passing it on. Ralph Liebing, RA, CSI Senior Member Username: rliebing Post Number: 697 Registered: 02-2003 Posted on Thursday, September 20, 2007 - 06:44 am:    Well, I now wallow in the fact that I am NOT average [as is well known to many!!!!!!] Did it in 8 seconds!!!! Thanks for your fond thoughts, Jerome!!! Your day is coming! Anonymous   Posted on Thursday, September 20, 2007 - 09:30 am:    Always laugh when you can. It is cheap medicine. - Lord Byron English poet & satirist (1788 - 1824) Joel McKellar, Assoc. AIA, LEED AP Senior Member Username: joelmckellar Post Number: 10 Registered: 02-2006 Posted on Friday, September 21, 2007 - 10:43 am:    what happens when the laywers learn about 4specs discussion threads??? David Axt, AIA, CCS, CSI Senior Member Username: david_axt Post Number: 903 Registered: 03-2002 Posted on Friday, September 21, 2007 - 01:11 pm:    We all go to prison. :-( Back to the original subject. I can't imagine someone getting into serious trouble for having a sense of humor. It's still legal, right? Unless the lawyer can prove that a person goofed off all the time and did not do their job, we are safe. Sheldon Wolfe Senior Member Username: sheldon_wolfe Post Number: 282 Registered: 01-2003 Posted on Friday, September 21, 2007 - 10:48 pm:    Too many attorneys, not enough important things for them to do... Richard L Matteo, AIA, CSI, CCS Senior Member Username: rlmat Post Number: 239 Registered: 10-2003 Posted on Monday, September 24, 2007 - 04:41 pm:    You got that right Sheldon!! John Regener, AIA, CCS, CCCA, CSI, SCIP Senior Member Username: john_regener Post Number: 334 Registered: 04-2002 Posted on Monday, September 24, 2007 - 07:56 pm:    >>Back to the original subject. I can't imagine someone getting into serious trouble for having a sense of humor.<< Jokes in an office can be used to support a claim of a hostile work environment. So, this is something to take seriously. What is funny to one person could not be funny to another. Example, by my wife. We attended a church service in which the pastor attempted to be humorous. He told a joke about a dumb blonde woman, with a religious theme. My wife, the Reverend Connie, took strong exception to the joke but being that we were only visitors to the service, there was no basis within the congregation for her to legitimately comment or complain. So, she wrote a letter to an advice columnist about how she should deal with the matter and her question was published right away in the local newspaper. Being a well-read column, those in leadership of the congregation got the message very clearly and were embarassed that this lapse in judgment was made public. Hopefully, a lesson was learned. We live in a pluralistic society, especially those of us who live in cosmopolitan areas. It can feel stifling to have one's bigotry that passes as innocent humor challenged. I have a reputation for liking jokes ... REALLY liking jokes. But I have chosen to discipline myself about the content of the joke. I try not tell jokes that could offend. But sometimes I slip and have to apologize. One suggestion I heard for telling ethnic jokes is to change the ethnicity to some civilization that died out thousands of years ago, such as Mesopotameans or Hittites. An appropropriate joke might start, "There were these two Hittites, Sven and Ole ..." <g> Anne Whitacre, FCSI CCS Senior Member Username: awhitacre Post Number: 646 Registered: 07-2002 Posted on Tuesday, September 25, 2007 - 01:19 pm:    Now John, you can only tell Sven and Ole jokes in Seattle or Minneapolis. that subtle Scandinavian humor simply doesn't translate to other parts of the country. (and thankfully, neither does lutefisk) Anonymous   Posted on Tuesday, September 25, 2007 - 01:56 pm:    Us last surviving Mesopotameans ain't too amused, either!!! Richard Baxter, AIA, CSI Senior Member Username: rbaxter Post Number: 54 Registered: 12-2004 Posted on Tuesday, September 25, 2007 - 02:03 pm:    How dare you insult my beloved Mesopotamian ancestors! (kidding) It seems to me that just about any joke can be interpreted as insulting to someone or something. There are overly insensitive jokesters, but there are also hypersensitive listeners. There seems to be a huge bias against light bulb changers and people who go to bars. I have no desire to offend anyone, yet there are people who are constantly on the lookout for something to complain about. I once casually and jokingly remarked that if something didn’t stop I was going to kill myself. A person at the table suddenly jumped down my throat because they knew someone who had contemplated suicide. I am not biased against suicidal people. At one extreme, we have people living in fear lest they should make some off-hand remark that somebody might find offensive. At the other extreme we have people stomping on feelings and sensitivities everywhere they go, thus disrupting the work environment and spreading discontent. It seems to me that there has to be a middle ground between slavery to the easily offended and suffering at the words of the insensitive. Most insensitive remarks are not malicious bigotry so much as ignorance of how others think. There are thousands of social groups that I do not belong to and whose perspective I generally cannot, therefore fully comprehend. A person should try hard to overcome that ignorance, but at the same time a person should try hard to understand that ignorance in others. After all, we all suffer from it. John Bunzick, CCS, CCCA Senior Member Username: bunzick Post Number: 790 Registered: 03-2002 Posted on Tuesday, September 25, 2007 - 03:11 pm:    A CCS, a CCPR and a CCCA walk into a bar.... Lynn Javoroski CSI CCS LEED™ AP SCIP Affiliate Senior Member Username: lynn_javoroski Post Number: 651 Registered: 07-2002 Posted on Tuesday, September 25, 2007 - 03:33 pm:    A young friend, a computer science major, and his colleagues in the computer lab at college would, when someone new walked into the room, start to speak "0111, 100011000, 000111100, 010, 101..." and then laugh hysterically. I wonder who was offended at that? Jim Brittell Senior Member Username: jwbrittell Post Number: 43 Registered: 08-2004 Posted on Tuesday, September 25, 2007 - 04:03 pm:    There are 10 kinds of people in the world. Those that understand binary, and those that don't. John Hunter Senior Member Username: johnhunter Post Number: 41 Registered: 12-2005 Posted on Tuesday, September 25, 2007 - 04:21 pm:    From a policy perspective, my sense is that the issue, at least as far as emailed jokes is concerned, is fairly pragmatic. As everyone is aware, email takes on a life of its own, and, should litigation arise email is subject to discovery. Imagine the plaintiff's attorney finding ethnic jokes disparaging towards the plaintiff's ethnic background or the ethnic background of the plaintiff's principle consultant or employee. Or finding jokes at the expense of one's own consultants or employees. While each may be innocent enough individually, when the plaintiff's attorney is fitting the facts and compiles them into a group they may well create a negative impression that could easily overshadow however competent or professional your organization's behavior has been. A picture could easily be painted showing how you were prejudiced against the plaintiff and your actions were guided, at least in part, by that prejudice. And if this seems unfair from our side of the table, I certainly expect my counsel to be subjecting my opponents emails to the same level of scrutiny. David Axt, AIA, CCS, CSI Senior Member Username: david_axt Post Number: 904 Registered: 03-2002 Posted on Tuesday, September 25, 2007 - 04:48 pm:    How come there are never any Presbyterian jokes? (I get all my good Jewish jokes from my Jewish friends and all my good Catholic jokes from my Catholic friends.) David Axt, AIA, CCS, CSI Senior Member Username: david_axt Post Number: 905 Registered: 03-2002 Posted on Tuesday, September 25, 2007 - 04:52 pm:    Is smiling allowed in the workplace? Or will it be interpreted as an unwanted sexual advance or smart alek smirk or some other nefarious purpose? ;-) (Disclaimer: It's just a smile. That's all it is. It means nothing more than a physical facial expression of amusement and happiness.) Richard Howard, AIA CSI CCS LEED-AP Senior Member Username: rick_howard Post Number: 151 Registered: 07-2003 Posted on Tuesday, September 25, 2007 - 04:57 pm:    Let me answer as an ordained elder in the PCUSA; It's because predestination spoils all the punchlines. David Axt, AIA, CCS, CSI Senior Member Username: david_axt Post Number: 906 Registered: 03-2002 Posted on Tuesday, September 25, 2007 - 04:59 pm:    I'm so afraid of being politically incorrect that I no longer call my dog a "dog"...due to the bad connotation. I call him a "Canine American"! (I think George Carlin told this joke.) Marc C Chavez Senior Member Username: mchavez Post Number: 237 Registered: 07-2002 Posted on Tuesday, September 25, 2007 - 05:00 pm:    Because presbyterians just arn't very funny. I was raised presbyterian but "left" in 9th grade never to return. It was shortly after that event that I discovered I had a sense of humor. Anne Whitacre, FCSI CCS Senior Member Username: awhitacre Post Number: 647 Registered: 07-2002 Posted on Tuesday, September 25, 2007 - 07:53 pm:    why is no one ordained as a "younger"? David J. Wyatt Senior Member Username: david_j_wyatt_csi_ccs_ccca Post Number: 77 Registered: 07-2005 Posted on Wednesday, September 26, 2007 - 08:41 am:    A joke can grow legs and haunt you. I think the statute of limitations on one of my crimes has expired, so I can tell you about it. Several years ago, I took the following definition: 2.1 TOPSOIL A. Use topsoil that is fertile, friable, natural loam, surface soil, reasonably free of subsoil, clay lumps, brush, weeds and other litter, and free of roots, stumps, stones larger than 2 inches in any dimension, and other extraneous or toxic matter harmful to plant growth. (This should be attributed to MASTERSPEC) I wanted to see if the PA really read the specs, so, to the brief list of objectionable materials, I added "Skoal cans, bottles, excrement, and severed limbs...". She caught the joke, but asked me to take it out before we issued it to the owner. Well, I forgot to take it out, of course, and it caused a big scene in our office. Not surprisingly, neither the Owner nor the Contractor ever discovered it, so it is in the records of a public entity. Lesson learned: Humor is great, but one is better off sticking to the spoken word in conveying it. It has something to do with plausible deniability. Ralph Liebing, RA, CSI Senior Member Username: rliebing Post Number: 701 Registered: 02-2003 Posted on Wednesday, September 26, 2007 - 09:20 am:    OH, GOOD LORD-- AND I APPEARED ON THE SAME SEMINAR PROGRAM AS WYATT!!!!! Robert W. Johnson Senior Member Username: bob_johnson Post Number: 163 Registered: 08-2004 Posted on Wednesday, September 26, 2007 - 11:54 am:    We did the same sort of thing early in my career - but it was to see if the bidding contractors were really reading the specs - we called for the rebar for the concrete to be gold. Yep - no one caught it - the successful contractor was a little perplexed when we asked him where he was getting his rebar and we responded to his answer by saying we didn't know they supplied gold rebar! Ronald L. Geren, RA, CSI, CCS, CCCA, SCIP Senior Member Username: specman Post Number: 530 Registered: 03-2003 Posted on Wednesday, September 26, 2007 - 12:10 pm:    When I was working for the Arizona National Guard's Facilities Management Office, we toured a vehicle maintenance facility under construction in Nevada, which was similar to one we were planning to build in Arizona. The officer that was giving us the tour took me aside and showed me the set of drawings for the project. He opened the set to the floor plan, and in the lobby there was a plant drawn in the corner with a detail reference mark. He then turned to the sheet with the detail. The detail showed an elevation of the plant which was titled "Rubber Plant." You can guess what was hanging from the plant like fruits.... John Regener, AIA, CCS, CCCA, CSI, SCIP Senior Member Username: john_regener Post Number: 335 Registered: 04-2002 Posted on Wednesday, September 26, 2007 - 12:25 pm:    I have included in the sodding Section, "Install sod green side up." No one has commented yet on it. I saw a very well-drawn set of drawings for a house. In a sectional view through the floor, there was the lower leg of a man with a note and leader arrow pointing to the wingtip shoe, "ONE FOOT, NOT TO SCALE." Of course, in the crawl space was a rat with the note, "CRITTER, N.I.C." In my spec writing book, I tried to include some humor in the example Outline Specifications with the names of the project and project team members: FRED ROGERS ELEMENTARY SCHOOL MODERNIZATION Owner: Smallville Unified School District Architect: PDQ Associates, LLC, Architecture - Planning - Interior Design - Kitchenware Civil Engineer: Doze, Digg and Phil, Inc., Civil Engineers Landscape Architect: Green Side Up, Landscape Architecture Structural Engineer: William F. Shaky & Associates, Inc., Structural Engineers Mechanical Engineer: Pypes and Dux, Consulting Engineers Electrical Engineer: Sparks & Terror, Consulting Engineers Anne Whitacre, FCSI CCS Senior Member Username: awhitacre Post Number: 648 Registered: 07-2002 Posted on Wednesday, September 26, 2007 - 01:12 pm:    we used to see a detail on our drawings (this was 30 years ago now when everything was hand drawn.) "Duck penetration" with a ... duck going through the wall. depending on which side of the wall detail you were looking at, you saw one end or the other of the duck. of course, that detail was always "removed" by the last addendum. David Axt, AIA, CCS, CSI Senior Member Username: david_axt Post Number: 908 Registered: 03-2002 Posted on Wednesday, September 26, 2007 - 01:17 pm:    Speaking of humor......or unintended humor..... There is a neighborhood of downtown Seattle that is south of a lake named "Union" (because it joins Lake Washington with the Puget Sound). Anyhow, this area has been experiencing a huge building boom due to the influx of money from ex-Microsoft founder Paul Allen. Well recently a surface transportation system was built. Guess what they initially called it before they realized what the acronym stood for? South Lake Union Trolley (Slut) A couple of guys around town have been selling t-shirts that say, "I rode the S.L.U.T.". They can't print them fast enough! The transit authority is scrambling to change the name. Oops. Robert W. Johnson Senior Member Username: bob_johnson Post Number: 164 Registered: 08-2004 Posted on Wednesday, September 26, 2007 - 02:54 pm:    Another one like that is the activity center or basketball arena at BYU. Marriott was the big donor and it was named the Marriott Activity Center which was placed in big metal letters on all four sides of the facility. Because of its size (seats over 22,000) and to shorten the name the students began calling it the "Big MAC." The Marriott folks weren't too happy with being the major contributor to a major facility being called by the name of their competitor's famous hamburger. The letters were taken down and the facility was renamed the Marriott Center. When I visited the facilty shortly after that you could still see the "shadow" of the old letters on the building. Russ Hinkle, AIA, CCS Senior Member Username: rhinkle Post Number: 31 Registered: 02-2006 Posted on Wednesday, September 26, 2007 - 03:35 pm:    The last few days I have been kind of down. Reading this discussion has really made me laugh and smile. The people around me wonder why I am laughing to myself! Thanks David Axt, AIA, CCS, CSI Senior Member Username: david_axt Post Number: 910 Registered: 03-2002 Posted on Wednesday, September 26, 2007 - 03:50 pm:    I should probably not tell people that I am a graduate of South Hampton Institute of Technology. Marc C Chavez Senior Member Username: mchavez Post Number: 239 Registered: 07-2002 Posted on Wednesday, September 26, 2007 - 04:24 pm:    No, you should'nt have. ;) Lynn Javoroski CSI CCS LEED™ AP SCIP Affiliate Senior Member Username: lynn_javoroski Post Number: 652 Registered: 07-2002 Posted on Wednesday, September 26, 2007 - 04:55 pm:    There's a series of mystery books in which the main character is part of the Special Homicide Investigative Team...and the team leader is Harry I. Ball. Lynn Javoroski CSI CCS LEED™ AP SCIP Affiliate Senior Member Username: lynn_javoroski Post Number: 653 Registered: 07-2002 Posted on Wednesday, September 26, 2007 - 04:56 pm:    David, can I get a T-shirt? Anonymous   Posted on Wednesday, September 26, 2007 - 05:04 pm:    The punch line to John Bunzick's post several pages up: ...the CDT ducks. J. Peter Jordan Senior Member Username: jpjordan Post Number: 250 Registered: 05-2004 Posted on Wednesday, September 26, 2007 - 05:32 pm:    I seem to remember that when I first started using Masterspec in the late 1970s, the section that is now Temporary Facilities and Controls had some provision in the text about donkeys and such. There were specifier's notes strongly suggesting that this provision be deleted. I have a suspicion that it was taken out, not because ARCOM has no sense of humor (no further comment required), but because too many people left it in either inadvertently or on purpose. David Axt, AIA, CCS, CSI Senior Member Username: david_axt Post Number: 911 Registered: 03-2002 Posted on Wednesday, September 26, 2007 - 05:43 pm:    Lynn, Here you go: www.ridetheslut.com It looks like everyone wants to ride the SLUT. My niece is getting one for her birthday today. Anne Whitacre, FCSI CCS Senior Member Username: awhitacre Post Number: 649 Registered: 07-2002 Posted on Wednesday, September 26, 2007 - 05:55 pm:    when I first moved to Queen Anne hill in Seattle, one of the long-time green groceries up there was owned by two guys named Sam and Murray. in the mid-1980's, they had a land office business in "S&M Market" tee-shirts. and David -- how does your niece's mother feel about this upcoming tee-shirt? David Axt, AIA, CCS, CSI Senior Member Username: david_axt Post Number: 913 Registered: 03-2002 Posted on Wednesday, September 26, 2007 - 06:19 pm:    Alice is turning 21 and an adult so my twin sister, Carla, probably does not have much she can say or do about it. Carla would like it anyway, though. We share the same twisted sense of humor....but that's all. Don't forget "T&A Supply" (Tile and Accessories). I proudly wear their t-shirt and hoodie. I guess the lesson to be learned is to be very careful in naming your company, product, etc. Maybe what is missing at CSI national is a sense of humor? David J. Wyatt Senior Member Username: david_j_wyatt_csi_ccs_ccca Post Number: 78 Registered: 07-2005 Posted on Thursday, September 27, 2007 - 11:54 am:    It's not hard to see why some employers perceive risk in humorous dialogue. It has a tendency to go downhill quickly under its own weight. Melissa J. Aguiar, CSI, CCS, SCIP Senior Member Username: melissaaguiar Post Number: 55 Registered: 12-2003 Posted on Thursday, September 27, 2007 - 12:00 pm:    Apparently mine was so bad that Colin banned it from being on the MB. I had in *!#! in place of bad words, but I guess the ones that posted the SL_T is better than what I said even with #@@#! in place. Go figure. Colin Gilboy Senior Member Username: colin Post Number: 111 Registered: 09-2005 Posted on Thursday, September 27, 2007 - 12:10 pm:    I never saw that one - there is a profanity blocker running the discussion forum and it must have caught the posting and did not notify me. Richard Baxter, AIA, CSI Senior Member Username: rbaxter Post Number: 55 Registered: 12-2004 Posted on Thursday, September 27, 2007 - 01:40 pm:    If it’s any consolation, the profanity blocker at my office wouldn’t even let me receive an e-mail from a product rep for “Hussey” Seating Company. John Regener, AIA, CCS, CCCA, CSI, SCIP Senior Member Username: john_regener Post Number: 336 Registered: 04-2002 Posted on Thursday, September 27, 2007 - 03:08 pm:    Heck: The place people go to who are darned because they don't believe in Gosh. Richard A. Rosen, CSI, CCS, AIA Senior Member Username: rarosen Post Number: 18 Registered: 08-2006 Posted on Thursday, September 27, 2007 - 03:39 pm:    You people have entirely too much time on your hands. It seems like only yesterday that you were all gripping & moaning about being short handed, overworked, and underpaid. Richard Baxter, AIA, CSI Senior Member Username: rbaxter Post Number: 56 Registered: 12-2004 Posted on Thursday, September 27, 2007 - 03:45 pm:    If we were adequately staffed, underworked and highly paid, we would not NEED humor to keep us sane. Melissa J. Aguiar, CSI, CCS, SCIP Senior Member Username: melissaaguiar Post Number: 56 Registered: 12-2003 Posted on Thursday, September 27, 2007 - 03:50 pm:    All work, no play makes the specifiers have a dull day...oh WAIT...being at a computer for 20 hours a day for 5 months straight with only 1 day off a week...I guess I am bored enough to take a few seconds out of my research to play with my fellow specifiers..oh well. We all know we can not please everyone. I guess they should just hit DELETE when they do not want to play with us. Thanks MOM! Melissa J. Aguiar, CSI, CCS, SCIP Senior Member Username: melissaaguiar Post Number: 57 Registered: 12-2003 Posted on Thursday, September 27, 2007 - 03:57 pm:    Colin, BTW...I forgot about the profanity blocker..I just did not realize that even with the #@! added in my sentence it would throw it out. I will do better next time. Your are still a great specifer pal of mine! Have a beautiful day looking out your office window at those mountains! Richard L Matteo, AIA, CSI, CCS Senior Member Username: rlmat Post Number: 241 Registered: 10-2003 Posted on Thursday, September 27, 2007 - 06:48 pm:    When I first started working with AIA MasterSpec about 7 years ago, I came across a sentence in a Div. 1 section about providing manufacturer's maintenance information typed on "20 lb. per square foot white bond" - NO KIDDING!! I think I ask someone at Arcom if they were wanting us to go back to using stone tablets. Tim Werbstein (Unregistered Guest) Unregistered guest Posted on Friday, September 28, 2007 - 08:47 am:    I wrote this sentence in a landscaping spec regarding temporary support for newly planted trees: "For trees more than 6 inches in caliper, anchor guys to deadmen buried at least 36 inches below grade." A reviewer exclaimed, "That can't be true!" Bob Woodburn Senior Member Username: bwoodburn Post Number: 213 Registered: 01-2005 Posted on Thursday, October 18, 2007 - 06:55 pm:    Evocative Acronym Department: I just found this in a list of Owner review comments: "...eliminate bird aircraft strike hazard (BASH)..." Marc C Chavez Senior Member Username: mchavez Post Number: 329 Registered: 07-2002 Posted on Monday, October 27, 2008 - 05:41 pm:    Just did this to myself but caught it prior to publishing: "Locate Architect before concrete placement." They are never there when you need'em Robert W. Johnson Senior Member Username: bob_johnson Post Number: 186 Registered: 08-2004 Posted on Monday, October 27, 2008 - 05:47 pm:    Did you also specify a minimum cover? Richard L. Hird (Unregistered Guest) Unregistered guest Posted on Monday, October 27, 2008 - 07:35 pm:    Reminds me of the cell phone commercial. As a former hod carrier I loved the thought of a blue suit in the mix. Steven Bruneel, AIA, CSI-CDT, LEED-AP Senior Member Username: redseca2 Post Number: 151 Registered: 12-2006 Posted on Monday, October 27, 2008 - 07:57 pm:    Nothing off, no puns, just a wonderful, clear, concise and correct answer to an RFI on a restoration project some years back: Center Caryatid on centerline of Aedicula. Anne Whitacre, FCSI CCS Senior Member Username: awhitacre Post Number: 847 Registered: 07-2002 Posted on Tuesday, October 28, 2008 - 12:24 pm:    the BEST change order I ever saw was... (now I have to give the back story) our office was doing a historic renovation of a building that was parallel to, and about 10 feet away from an elevated roadway in Seattle. (the Alaskan Way Viaduct, for those who know the town). One afternoon, a school bus driver was dead-heading his bus back to base and chatting with his sweetie, sitting in the seat across the aisle. (no passengers were allowed, so that was one broken rule right there). The conversation must have gotten interesting because the bus swerved, jumped the space to the building, and ended up wedged inbetween two supporting columns. the Change order: "Remove bus. Repair wall to match existing." (as you may imagine, since the bus was about 15 feet up in the air, and it more or less took out the entire west wall of the building, the removal was ... rather dramatic.)