I was hired, after two interviews, at Fru-Con Engineering, Inc., in July, 1995, through PDS Technical Services, Inc. and Mr. Jim O'Daniel. I interviewed with Kristen Stabler, R.A. in New York, Mr. Robert Rice, a W.U. grad and head of the Arch. Dept., and Mike Ratliff, who I thought was a R.A. in Mo., but, I found out, much later, that he was the nephew of one of the partners of the same last name. I interviewed the second time with Cliff Parmer, R.A., who hired me at the same wage I had made at M.K.-Ferguson Group, where I had worked on contract 6/94-2/95, which was $15/hour, no benefits. I did not work overtime at M.K.-Ferguson Group.
Because of my knowledge of computers and software and Windows, I was able to go to work right away, and produce drawings for a large project in St. Charles County, at MicroElectronic Materials Corporation. I had a side table, that could be used for drafting, but, was covered with blueprints, that were redlined or previously completed. I never drew a single line while working at Fru-Con. But, this is not so bad - I noticed that many did not draw a single line on a computer, either, while working as Architects or Engineers at Fru-Con. They did not buy a book to learn how to do this, nor, did they show an interest in having any software on a computer on their desk. In fact, they had a schedule that included: coffee, then, a soda; then, read the daily paper; then, lunch, maybe with someone in the firm; talk to the Secretary; then, write a letter or call someone for some reason; or get together in a meeting after grabbing some drawings. I never had any direction from any of the people who hired me in how to produce any drawings with any software or by hand, or where to find answers to any Architectural or Engineering question in the office, such as where the codes were located or where anyone sat, in fact. Cliff Parmer came over to my desk every day and talked really loud over my head so that everyone in the area could hear what he said, telling me nothing but just letting everyone know he was there. Then, just before Christmas, he called me over with Joe Ruma and sat down at a table and stamped all of the drawings with his Architectural stamp in front of me, and signed them all. He and Joe, then, went on Christmas break for about 10 days, letting me sit with the computer and drawings, which made me so sick I was hospitalized. I was not paid extra to stay over the Christmas holiday. I was not paid anything to have an Architectural license or a Master's degree, since only Robert Rice had a Master's degree, and he had needed this in order to be licensed because he had gone through Wash. U. Of course, he needed a lot of money, too, because that took 6 years at a high priced private university, and his wife needed a new coat, car, and dinner out, after living on their ranch out there in the country. I could not have imagined that he would just call me in, in June, 1996, to the office of Mike Ratliff's uncle (whom I never met before that day), after lunch, and tell me to "get my things and go". Well, I had a question about what that meant. I had heard about the guy who was called into that office and was just going to move to "Dad's condo in Florida" for awhile. That guy didn't have a license in anything nor a Master's degree, but, he had a wife who needed a new car. I had given a ride to a guy who was hired from California or somewhere, and put up at a hotel on Manchester Road, near Clarkson Road, for a week or so, from the office back to the hotel. I heard about the woman who was told to stay out in West St. Louis County, since the office was located there. Well, those were people who were told little, but, snob stories about what THE HUMAN RESOURCES AND PARTNERS considered the places to live. West County IS West County. If you don't know that you could end up hurt bad. So, those people just went away somewhere after a short time - I guess back to where they came from, such as California - you know, because they get the SEISMIC topics on the exam. Well, I found that the partners can't even write a decent letter to a client. I found that photography is the same as Architecture, if your Dad is employed at the same firm you are, at the same time. I found that being married to some guy who's an Engineer entitles you to a seat in the firm where you don't have to do anything, or look at anything, or know anybody, but, your husband. I found that having your sister employed there puts you, and her, at risk of being hurt, by other women employed there, if you're a guy. I'm still trying to figure that one out. Well, there was one floor I never even saw while working there for nine or ten months, until June, 1996. Some obese guy came in and sat near me, in the next booth, and wanted to know where Wentzville is located, which is where I am from, but, appears on a lot of street signs because is located at the intersection of two highways - I-70 and I- 40/64. There was a young Asian woman who had just had a baby, I was told, who was from California or somewhere out west, who sat in that same seat, later. She didn't even know that some in the company went out for lunch, across Manchester Road, to a Chinese restaurant. There was one guy who came in, from New York City, who said he was near bankruptcy, and needed work. The regular paying employees didn't lift a hand to know MicroStation or the jobs that were being produced while I was there. Joe Ruma was thought to be something with a computer, but, he did not obtain a license until years later - you know what he had, do I have to repeat myself: a wife and a baby, who needed a bigger house in Clayton. I drove a car that I couldn't afford to purchase every day to work, lived in a house that I couldn't afford to purchase the entire time, and had no idea what was happening in New York with any software or anyone I had known. I sent e-mail for the first time to Prof. Michael O'Rourke, in the Computer Graphics Dept., in 1998, regarding work and money. I got an answer back - " I don't have any money for you". There was never any mention of Maya software or anything regarding Alias/wavefront, Inc. by Pratt when I looked online on a public computer in the library in Clayton in 1997, 1998. I did not know that Maya Video Products, Inc. had partnered with A/w and SGI and Pratt until 2003, when I received a Maya PLE software CD in the mail, showing Joaquin Margot, M.F.A., and Pratt classmate 1988-1990, on the cover. I talked to a receptionist on the phone at A/w in Toronto, who told me she was sending me a Maya CD, and, I was like, kinda, "isn't that funny - I worked for a firm named Maya Video Products, Inc. in New York" but, she didn't have any idea or what you know a person would have, see? Funny.
YOU KNOW. WHAT'S FUNNY TODAY? Get your head examined. You don't know where the ax will land next.
I need a condo in Florida. Does anyone have one REAL CHEAP?
I am a Registered Architect, and have a Master of Fine Arts (Computer Graphics)[and Interactive Media], am an Individual Real Estate Broker in Missouri, and have a National Council of Architectural Registration Boards certificate, since 1996, and record since 1983.
To clarify why I don't mention the names of the people who I worked with at Fru-Con Engineering, Inc., who were there on contract through Peak Technical Services, Pittsburgh, PA. - I didn't need to know them. I was never introduced to them. I knew their first names, at the time, and I may have heard their last names spoken. I did not have any access to their time sheets, and, only their initials appeared on the drawings. In fact, I was let go so suddenly that I left my time sheets there, at the office, in my file cabinet drawer, at my desk. I did not get them back, and have never seen them. One would think a company would want to forward property to an employee that has left, anything that has belonged to them. Not Fru-Con. They did not contact me nor talk to me about anything, and I have never heard mention of my time sheets or copies of my time sheets. I was given two weeks severance pay, and, I called PDS (Piping Design Services, in Maryland Heights, Mo.) Technical Services and Mr. Jim O'Daniel, afterwards, who had placed me at Fru-Con. I had thought that Jim O'Daniel was a P.E., for some reason, and, if he never was, this would be a significant lie to me. I went to Peak Technical Services in Pittsburgh, after being let go from Fru-Con, and was placed at a company in Philadelphia, and told to stay in a hotel outside of the city. While in Philadelphia, at the Kling Lindquist Partnership, I earned the highest wages of my career, but, lost all of my savings, which was a couple of thousand dollars, staying in a hotel. My wage went up without any reason, and, then, after being placed there with a man who had no education nor license, I was let go, and, told to wait for an interview with a firm in Boston. I was at a hotel from mid-June to mid-July, costing thousands of dollars, since no discount given me by the hotel or Peak Technical Services. This is before the resident hotel, even, was built around the country - which did happen, shortly afterwards. This was before women worked on the road, and traveled in order to have work. You know, this was when men were being sent to the Middle East, at high wages, on projects being built there, before 9/11. I have never known any women Architects who were sent to the Middle East to work. I have never known any women who were licensed and worked with software, in New York or in Philadelphia or anywhere. I saw a project being worked on in Philadelphia, and, happened to be around when the room was filled with employees coming in for work - all men. Not a single woman. You think they were all licensed and had N.C.A.R.B. certificates? What do you need - a good reference, stating that you - although a woman who knows what she's doing, wearing a skirt and nice clothes, with an education and licenses and certificates, can do the work - to get hired and stay employed? In fact, I got to know the woman receptionist, who thought I was, even, an oddity. I'm not mentally ill. I'm just doing my work, under the highly thought-of N.C.A.R.B. Now, what is the N.C.A.R.B. going to have to do me over for next? I NEED MONEY. There's no Christmas here, and hasn't been for years, and, I know, the year is 2012. I didn't think I would need my own Attorney's license. Why put that on me, too? I just can't keep up, and, my skirts are getting to look more and more the same, over the years. What's the name they have now? Can someone post the guy's name and bio? Let me know he's coming? Let me know where I was just was and what's going? You have a way.
http://www.klingstubbins.com/
Stubbins Associates Inc.
Address:
1030 Massachusetts Ave., Ste. 4
Cambridge, MA 02138-5335
United States
Phone:
(617) 491-6450
Fax:
(617) 491-7104
