Frequently asked questions

I am finally getting around to making this
Frequently Asked Questions page (in my case, it
should really stand for “Finally Answered
Questions”). I have been thinking about assembling
a page like this for the last few months hoping that it
would reduce the amount of email I receive since
people tend to ask the same sorts of questions. I
will periodically add more questions and answers to
this list because I don’t think it will ever be
completed.

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EMMA SMYLZ on a job site

There are loads of typical questions I get asked
but I still haven’t had time to post them here (and
my TV ain’t gonna watch itself). Because I am a
mean person, if you write me an email asking me
one of the questions I’ve already answered below,
I might respond and refer you here but probably I’ll
just shake my head, sigh, and delete your email.
Sorry.

Now let’s get this party started!

I have a question regarding [fill in the blank] …

Feel free to send my your questions and I
promise I will do my best to answer them. Due
to the volume I receive, I might not get
around to your email for a while so be patient.
If it’s been more than a month, email me
again. If it’s been more than 2 months I
probably won’t respond. Sometimes the que of
emails to answer gets longer and longer and
even though I should start at the bottom, I
don’t. If your question is easy, I’ll probably
respond anywhere between a few hours and a
day or two. If you are asking something that
requires a fairly involved and lengthy
response, I mark the email as unread with the
idea I’ll get to it later when I have more time
(right? … it almost never happens). After a
while, I just delete any emails I haven’t
answered yet because I get tired of looking at
them, sitting there all unanswered making me
feel like crap.

Can I just ask a question in  comment section
below?

I would rather you didn’t unless it’s specific
to the content covered in that post – i.e. – If
the post is on radiant barrier flooring and you
ask a question regarding your school portfolio I
am going to delete it. Time and place folks-

I have questions about what school I should
attend, or anything related to college, can you
help me with that sort of thing?

No. Am only a student schooling at Anambra State University
I don’t keep up with requirements, what
school is better than that school, what sort of
classes you should take in high school, etc, etc.
Sorry but there are other websites out there
– or better yet – contact the school you are
interested in attending and ask them what
sort of thing they like to see in their incoming
freshman. You be about to pay them ten’s of
thousands of dollars so I don’t think it’s
unreasonable that you should expect them to
answer your questions.

I have a student project where I need to
interview an architect. Can I email you some
questions?

I hate leading off with this question because
my answer makes me look like a total jerk. No,
I won’t answer school project interview
questions anymore. I receive about 10 requests
a week and there just isn’t time to respond to
them all – so I don’t respond to any. The
questions are generally really complicated and
require several sentences to answer. Next
thing you know, after 10 questions, I’ve
basically written a 1,500 work article. Now
multiply that times 10 … and it’s not so hard
to realize why I spend so much time on the
computer these days. Because I don’t want to
sit on the couch 3 hours a day after I get home
from work, I am going to have to take a flyer
on the school project questions project.

Sorry.

Is your work copyrighted? Can I repost it?

Yes, my stories and graphics are copyrighted,
but as long as you attribute (give me credit)
and provide a link back to the source material,
I won’t get up in your face about it. I would
ask that you don’t repost entire posts because
it just sort of sucks. Why? Well, frequently it
comes across as someone else taking credit
for what I’ve written and prepared and since
I’ve given up any sort of personal time I have
to create these posts, I take it personally
when someone else just takes them to create
content on their own site. All you have to do is
ask – I’ll probably say yes but there are a few
posts on here that I don’t want in other
places.

I am thinking about becoming an architect. Is
there something special I should know?

Probably. Here is something to get you started.......Search for this↓
– Top 10 Reasons to be an Architect

Feeling a little jaded? – Top 10 Reasons NOT to
be an Architect

How about – Top 10 Reasons to be a
Residential Architect

Whew! Okay, I am Top 10′d out for now. Maybe
eventually some of the other Top 10 lists I’ve
prepared will show up here.

What sort of computer should I get?

I don’t know … a powerful one with lots of
RAM and memory if you plan on doing any 3D
visualizations – probably with a really
powerful graphics card as well. I work on a PC
at the office and a Macbook Pro at home.

Why did you choose this job?

I think it chose me. I knew I wanted to be an
architect before I knew that architects
existed.

For more: “What did you want to be when you
grew up?“

I’m in 8th grade and in class we are choosing our
electives for high school. I always wanted to be
an architect but I’m afraid architecture is hard
and that I won’t make a lot of money. Is it true?

Just as with all professions, some people
financially do better than others. To make the
sort of decision you are talking about at your
age wouldn’t be very prudent. The
architectural profession is undergoing some
fairly radical changes and by the time you
graduated with a professional degree (9 or 10
years from now) things will be different.

I don’t recommend that your base your
decision based on how much money you might
make, at least not when your in 8th grade.
Give it some time and revisit this question in
a few years.

I have a cool blog, want to trade links?

No. Sorry, not trying to be a jerk (again) but it
is too much work to keep up with everyone
else’s links and rather than hurt someone’s
feelings by not including them, I just don’t
include anyone. I will try to find another way
to be supportive though – just ask.

Can I put an ad on your site or embed a link into
an article you have written? Do you accept guest
posts?

As far as ads go, I don’t do very many and I
turn down 90% of the people who ask. If I
think it’s something that the people who visit
my site might be interested in than maybe –email me the particulars and we’ll see what
happens. As far as embedding a link within a
post … it will never happen. I don’t sell
content within the body of anything I write.
There is a clear delineation between side bar
ads (that help cover server costs and what
not) and the posts I write. I want people to
know that if I talk about something, it’s
because I believe in it and I am speaking the
truth as I see it. If there is a guest post on
my site, it’s because I know that person and I
have asked them to write an article for me. I
do not need any “high quality articles that you
think my readers will enjoy in exchange for a
link embedded in the post”

My readers are clearly not interested in “high
quality posts” or they wouldn’t be on this site
in the first place.

What is your favorite part of your job?

I’m not sure I have a favorite part, I like it all
(although there are some days when I hate it
all but that’s not intrinsic to being an
architect). I probably enjoy construction
administration more than construction
documentation although if I didn’t pay
attention to the documentation, I probably
wouldn’t like the administration part. I
generally get along really well with
contractors and sub-contractors because I
respect what they do and the challenges they
have to deal with … but I also have been
fortunate to have worked with good
contractors so I don’t have to mess about
with guys who shouldn’t be contractors.