Summer camp

Yesterday was my last day at the office for my summer work. I won't call it an "internship" since it was really like I stepped back into my old position and just kept working, albeit with tasks with a shorter time frame. It was a lot of fun, actually.

What I did at my Summer Job

• design the facade of building for the preparation of medical cadavers
• translate a CAD drawing of a small building into a full 3D Revit model and near-DD set
• attended a Big Client meeting and described a few of my design options
• got a certificate for attending a mind-boggling boring lunch n'learn about automatic electric entrances
• revised and updated site drawings for a small educational campus
• survived a near miss at a Thai restaurant when a chunk of a ceiling fan fell on us
• issued an ASI for a parking garage
• reconfigured a sterilization suite for a medical education building
• designed a "fun wall" for pediatric dental ward
• presented my two studio projects to the office during a "design forum" lunch
• "Vanna" for the Monday morning meeting

I can't believe its actually over- it just went by so quickly. Four days a week of work was really good- it made the summer feel more summery, and the money will be great for the fall semester. 

The day before yesterday, my second to last day of work, we went to lunch at Wild Thaiger, a Thai restaurant in central Phoenix. Because we had a sizable group, we sat outside on the patio. It was about 110 degrees outside, but there were ceiling fans with large glass globes for the lights. They weren't turned on, so I pulled the cord on the fan above our table. Nothing happened, so I shrugged and sat down. The patio filled with people and the staff flipped the switch somewhere that turned all the fans on. Everyone else's ceiling fan ran fine. The fan above us, pretty much situated right between where Saori and I were sitting, started going nuts. Wildly unbalanced, it whirled around, and I could hear it making odd creaking and straining noises. I was watching it when the waitress came by. "Don't worry," she said "it won't fall on you."

About halfway through the meal, the heavy glass globe covering the light worked itself free and fell almost nearly between us, grazing Saori's arm and shattering on my metal armrest. A foot to the left or right would have meant a serious head injury to either one of us. 

The staff were completely blase. They swept up the glass, and we had to demand new plates of food to ensure that there wasn't any glass in it. They had a sulky attitude like it was our fault, and not only were Saori and my meals not comped, we never got a single apology. I can only conclude that the waitstaff at Wild Thaiger are unconcerned with the lives and safety of their patrons, and I would encourage people to avoid such death traps.

So we survived to fight another day. Speaking of which, these next two weeks are going to be a whirlwind of activity. Today is friday. We are planning on a trip to Pizzaria bianco amongst other things, and Tay is going to organize the garage sale. Saturday is going to be a garage sale day, Sunday is another garage sale day while the rest of us clean and pack, and the movers come monday. Tuesday will find me, Taylor, and Saori in the cab of a U-haul truck with Suki in a carrier in tow on one of our laps. 

And so will begin our great midwestern trek, my brother venturing even farther north and east. We'll pass through Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma, Missouri, to reach our destination in Bloomington, Indiana.