fullygoldy: Ray K WTF face (CKR_WTF)
fullygoldy ([personal profile] fullygoldy) wrote2006-05-18 04:29 pm
Entry tags:

Whiskey Tango Foxtrot


1.  Last week, the librarian called and said, "we're trying to pick out signage, and we see the ceiling over the stacks is only 9'-0."  Is there any way we can get that raised to 10 feet?"  
Seriously?  Dude.  All of the mechanicals are installed and the ceiling grid is going in starting Monday.  NO.  You cannot get the ceiling raised to 10'.  Also?  Even if we had time to raise it, the lowest steel beam is at 10'8" and we've got ductwork going under there.  BIG ductwork.

2.  Monday.  Ceiling grid guy comes up to me at 0745 and says, I can't give you 9'-0" in here.  Can you live with 8'-9"?"  
Dude. I need every inch I can get.  Do your absolute best to give me everything you can, and then tell me where it ends up.
"Okay, I think I can get 8'-11."
Wonderful.  Carry on.

3.  Monday, a bit later.  "Well, Ms. Librarian, I've done what I could, but we're going to have to lose an inch over the stacks."  
"What?!" she shrieks, "I can't have less than 9 feet!  My shelving units are 84" tall!"(that's 7'0" for the inches-challenged).
"Okay, let's look at the plans and see what's going on.  Hmmm.  Lookit that... the light fixtures are slated to hang at 7'-6" above finish floor (AFF).  That only gives 6" clearance above the tops of the shelves."
"Oh my god!"  and other sundry wailings.  We measure the shelves in their current location.  Yep.  84" tall.  Under a 9'0" ceiling with inlaid fixtures (not hanging down at all).  They already look really cramped.  The upshot of this is that the librarian is ready to take out her frustration in blood AND money on every member of the design team.  I call my project manager.  I call the architect.  Which leads to:

4.  Upon hearing the librarian is hysterically upset, he says, "She's always known those ceilings were going to be 9 feet.  She should have ordered shorter shelves."
There aren't enough ways in the world to say 'Dude' to express my aghastness at this attitude.  Also?  She's RE-USING the existing shelves.  And the furnishings plan his company drew shows those shelves at 84" tall.

5.  Two hours later, the architect has managed to convince the librarian that her 84" shelving units and her 7'-6" lights are not incompatible.  But, he's willing to raise the lights to 7'-8" if that will make her happy.  He'll give her 7-9, if he has to, but he'd rather not. Okay, she'll accept that, but you know those lights are not going to look the way she's been picturing them all this time, because her mental picture included 10 foot ceilings.  However, this also means I have to figure out how to get 1 more inch of clearance above my ceiling.  We finally decide that there is one set of pipes that can lose 1 inch of insulation (going down to 1/2" ins.), giving us just enough room across the space, and tell the grid guy the bad news.  He has to redo the entire perimeter of the west end stacks.

6.  This morning, the electrician tells me, "we don't have enough clearance for our lights in the back corridor."  
We've already lowered that ceiling to 8'-6" two months ago to accomodate all the HVAC ducts, fire piping, plumbing and (we thought) lighting.  It's a regular clusterfuck in there.  However, the person doing the figuring was basing his solution on using fixtures that are 4.75" tall.  We have lots of fixtures that size in the building.  However, the fixtures in the corridor are all 6" tall.  I need to find 2 more inches, and that is so not happening.  We finally figure out a new solution by lunch.  Whew.  It will look a little weird, but everything is in there.

7.  This afternoon, the librarian calls again.  She just met with her designer, and yes, they are reusing her shelves, but they've ordered new, custom end-panels.  These end-panels are arched at the top and have a leaf-shaped cut-out in the arch.  The top of the arch is...............drumroll...............  88"...ding ding ding.  The backs of the units will still be 84" tall, but the ends are 88" (7'-4").  "The designer says the lights are going to look like crap.  Can you raise them 2 more inches?"
Can you say "Brain Lock?"  Aghast, agog and aggrieved, I say, "NO, I can't raise them 2 more inches, you know what the architect said about hot spots on the ceiling!"
"Oh yeah.  Hmmm.  This is terrible!  And someone is going to have to pay for this somehow!"
"Well, I could give you 1 inch, but that is the absolute limit!"
"Okay, we'll take what we can get, but someone is still going to pay."

Word.  You go, Ms. Librarian.  This is just another fuck up in a long line of fuck ups that have plagued me and this project for the past 6 months.  And it is such a beautiful building.  I love this building.  I've really enjoyed the crews that are working on it.  But.  These plans have to be the worst plans I've ever seen.  I won't even go into the ceiling in the high space.  That was only a 20 minute discussion to reach a solution, but it was such a stupid, stupid thing that sparked the need for a solution.

I love my job.  Truly.  It's architects I could live without.

::sigh::


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