Tuesday, December 20, 2011

Revit Client house







For this Project we had to Design a house for our client.  First we interviewed the client to see what they wanted in their house.  We had to follow residential code requirements and make it an affordable home.  Then once our floor plan was approved by our client we had to draw it on Revit.  This took a considerable amount of time and I would be lying if I said that I had no problems at all.  But it rely helped me to understand how to use Revit better.  Next time hopefully it will be much easier to draw a home in Revit.   

Monday, November 21, 2011






For this project we had to make floor plans for our client according to what they said they wanted in their house.   

Thursday, November 3, 2011

Shed Activity

For this Project we had to learn how to use Revit to create a shed and design the surrounding area. 
durring this project I learned how to use Revit to build walls insert plants fences and how to make a spreadsheet with all of the different views.  Some things that I found difficult were how to attach the roof to the walls and then all of the different options you have.  Designing this shed is relevent because we were just learning about the different parts of a shed roof trusses, insulation, top plate, and header are just a few of the things we learned about that we put to use in this project 

Monday, October 17, 2011

Roof Project

For this project we had to design and build a style of roof on top of a Kleenex box.  We chose to design a Gable roof.
FACTS
This style of roofing is very popular here in Minnesota probably because of how well it handles rain and heavy snow.  Unfortunately this style of roof is very bad in hurricane weather.  In the high winds of the hurricane gable roofs triangular structure catches wind like a sail and can often get ripped right off of a house.     







Picture-

In this project I learned that a roof needs a strong structure so that it doesn't collapse on itself.  I liked using the bigger glue gun it made everything go faster.  I didnt like getting the glue stuck on my hand or the fact that we ran out of popsicle sticks one of the days so we couldn't really do much that day.  Next time I would use a different material for the shingles.

Wednesday, October 5, 2011

Design Charrette

For this Project we had the prompt of a woman who willed 100 Acres to be built into a town. So in a group of 6 stakeholders we designed the town.


In this project I liked that everyone had a specific area that they needed to focus on so that everyone brought something to the group. I didn't like that we only had a day and 15 minutes to work on the design so it wasn't as detailed as it could have been. I learned that a lot of planning goes into building a town from scratch.


Nathan M was the cost estimator.
Ben was the Environmental Engineer
Michael was the Health and Safety
Matt was the Health and Safety
Nathan K was the structural engineer
Sebastian Swanson was the interior designer

The environmentalist says 3 trees per house.

“I’m the structural engineer, nothing I say helps much”
-Nathan Kuhlman

For every road, there shall be a sidewalk
-Nathan K

There should be a couple acres of park total.

We will have a playground, and a soccer field.

“we need an important thing in the center”
-bower

“PINEAPPLE”
-Nathan M

Hospital i the center of town, a mall, doctors, auto shop, grocery, gas station, mc Donalds, Old country buffet, Leann Chins

150 houses needed

(50*.25)=x

x+x+x+x= 50 acres

“ERRything better fit regulation”
-Bower

“That’ll setya back about a million”
-Nathan

“I finna build some parks”

We should make sure all the buildings have an efficient set up
-me

Ben talks about his awesome idea for a three way road.

“So we’re gonna make a 2 acre school”
-Nathan

“That’s one small school”
-Bower

“What, Why”
-Nathan

Friday, September 30, 2011

My career

For this project we had to interview an architect or engineer, make a video promoting our chosen speciaialization of civil engingeering and answer the same questions that we asked the architect as if it was 10 years later. 

I interviewed Terry Helland sailingter@hotmail.com an architect at RSP architects http://www.rsparch.com/

In this project I learned that to be an architect you have to love the job not the money.  I liked that we got to interview a architect and get to know firsthand what it is to be an architect and what you need to become one.  I didn't like all of the confusing websites I had to use to find information.  The next time I will start earlier so that I don't have to do so much work in the last few days.   

Thursday, September 22, 2011

Neolithic Architecture

For this project I chose Neolithic architecture.  I spent the last few days designing and building a model of a Neolithic home.   
During this project I learned that the Neolithis style takes characteristics from many different styles.  I likes designing and building the house it was a ne experiance and it was fun.  I didnt like how the precision cutters became dull after a few days.  The next time I will use the box cutter for more of my cutting.     

Tuesday, May 3, 2011

Thoughts on The death of Osama Bin Ladin

I first heard about Bin Ladins death on the ride to school on the radio and I didn't know whether to believe it or not.  It wasn't from a very good source so I decided to put it off and see what others said during school.  At school many people were talking about his death and were happy that he was dead and i found myself being happy about it too. It was weird to think that I was happy about a killing but at the same time that man had been the mastermind behind the destruction of the two towers.  He was a mass murderer and he deserved what he got.  On 9/11 I can still remember being in class one moment continuing normally through the day when all of a sudden our principal ran into the room talked to our Teacher Mrs. Roth and then they turned on TV and it was showing the twin towers brimming with smoke.  They both started to cry and at the time I couldn't possibly hope to understand what was going on I was in first grade and we were not told much.  At the time I had an uncle aunt and their daughters, my cousins that lived in New York.  My Uncle had worked at a building that was close to the twin towers and he watched them fall.  I could not even imagine the feeling that those people in New York and others who lost family and friends in this tragedy.  It was the first foreign large scale terrorist attack on American soil and many lost some sense of security.  The war on terror is not over by a long shot.  Bin Ladin was their poster child but it is believed that there are still other leaders of the Taliban.  Another thing that came to my mind when i heard the news was what if the Taliban decide to retaliate for the US killing Bin Ladin.  I know that Security in airports has greatly increased since this disaster but there is only so much that we can do to prevent an attack on US soil.  Tonight on the News I learned that Bin Ladin was not hiding in a cave somewhere out in a dessert but in fact he was living a life of luxury with his family near a middle class town.  He was hiding in plain sight and felt secure enough to keep his family with him.  The government there must have known something about who lived there after ten years.  Even though they probably knew he was there they didn't do anything about it and did not inform the US I don't know how the US found out that he was there but i assume that it was another source.  On the News they said that Osama Bin Ladin was not armed when they killed him.  Some might say that we shouldn't have killed him because he wasn't dangerous without a gun, but to me he was very dangerous and what they did was very justified.  Bin Ladins wife was injured and one of his sons was killed and this is sad because they had to pay for the actions of their father.   
                       

Monday, March 21, 2011

Maus-Night Blogging assignment

   
Maus and Night are two accounts of different survivors of the Holocaust where there are many similarities and differences to their stories.  I feel that Night was a much more serious representation of how Jews were treated in the Holocaust.    The times in Maus where they are in the present and Artie and Vladic are talking/arguing seem to take away from the seriousness of the matter.  Night was also much more descriptive but as a Cartoon Maus normally did a good job with the pictures to represent what is going on.  Also what Vladic is talking about sometimes does not make grammatical sense.  Elie seemed to have it much worse that Vladic for most of the story.  Vladic at the beginning was very rich and even when he was brought to the camps he had better jobs.  Such as the when he had the tin maker and shoe repair jobs there was better conditions.  He also got to teach a Kapo English where he was lucky enough to get good food and clothes.  Elie never got any of these chances.  But it seems they had still had a few things in common.  Both of them still had a living family member to live for, if not for this they might of not made it out alive.    Many times anja was encouraged by her husband to keep fighting to stay alive, and Elie helped to keep his father from giving up and letting go of life.  In The concentration camps those who had nothing to live for did not last long.  Elies fathers friend Mier died because he lost his faith and his son to the concentration camps.  He didnt have anything to live for.  I think that these books were helpful to understand what realy happened durring the Holocaust.  Each book gives a first hand acccount of a surviver and how he survived the ordeal.  Night especialy sparked my intrest, it just seemed to show such detail and the emotions felt very real to me.      

Sunday, March 6, 2011

Fallen Angels and Restrepo

Pre writing 
Restrepo and Fallen angels are both very similar.  The men when they reach their post say I will die here.  That feeling of being doomed and not having a chance is always present.  Another similarity is that even the hardest men when a friend dies or gets hit lose it and freak out.  When writing home it was much easier to tell their families that they were doing fine and that everyone was okay when in reality some friends had died and they were not okay.  Perry tells his little brother this and Pemble from Restrepo also says this.  The people in the towns were very involved with the Taliban/congs and were afraid that if they would help the Americans to find the Taliban/congs then they would be killed.  They use fear to control the town’s people and unfortunately it usually works.  Hoarse play between the troops is a way to relieve the tension and to not think of what was happening to them.  It rely shocked me to see the soldiers in Restrepo try to convince themselves that their friend would be okay “it’s not that bad, he’ll be fine”.  Seeing that made everything real, up until that point we had not actually seen anything but our US solders shooting at an enemy that we could not even see.  But I guess that’s a part of war.  Unfortunately that makes things even scarier, at any moment a lucky shot could end everything.  At the begging everyone was joking around and having a good time.  The Korengal Valley was named the one of the deadliest places to fight and Vietnam was a very dangerous place.  Lobel would always compare a situation to a movie and he would have fun with that and in Restrepo a solder tells the camera man that a firefight gives him a big high.  I think it’s all just a front for what is rely going on they may act cool on the outside but that doesn’t rely mean anything.          


Writing
I learned a lot from Restrepo and Fallen Angels about the true nature of war.  It is nothing like Hollywood likes to portray it.  The Movies try to glorify the killings and show how fearless our soldiers are in battle.  But in reality there is so much more going on.  The soldiers may not show it but they are very scared as Restrepo and Fallen angels show us.  They are scared for their friends’ lives, for innocent civilians’ lives that often get killed in the crossfire, for their own life and for their families back home if they do not return.  I think that some people use denial to make things better.  Lobel had always tried to compare their situation to the movies, and one thing that I noticed is that after going through firefights and seeing friends die Lobel didn’t make that reference anymore.  I can’t even begin to imagine what goes on in a vets mind, but just seeing/reading a little bit of what they had to go through gives me a greater appreciation of what they did for us as a country.                        

Friday, February 4, 2011

Slaughterhouse five prewriting

Please list 10 ways you can improve your essay scores

1.make a plan about what to write                   6.  use the PIE structure more
2 Do more prewriting                                      7. Double check my work
3. Take my time                                              8. Run spell check
4. Link my ideas together better                       9. Focus on what I am trying to say 
5. make sure to prove my points                      10. use better puncuation



Please write any 15 thoughts about the book Slaughterhouse-5.  For each thought, please refer to a specific part of the book that generated this thought (for instance, “It was funny” receives no credit; “It was funny when he described the Tralfamadorians” receives full credit).

1.  I thought that it was funny that the Tralfamadorians thought that Billy had a beautiful body 


2.  I thought it was intresting when the Tralfamadorians asked Billy questions


3.  I noticed that in the book there is bassicaly 3 main storylines through time Billyin Dresden, at Tralfamadore, and Billy when he is older 


4.  I felt bad for billy when Roland Weary was attacking Billy for getting the scouts to leave them behind 


5. it was intresting how the book was soposed to be anti war but most of the book focused on billys time travels to Tralfamadore and the future 


6. I thought it was intresting when billy asked about why the Tralfamadorians cant stop the destruction of the universe 


7.  I liked learning about the tourture devices that wearys dad owned


8.  I was amaized when I learned how many people died in the Dresden bombing


9.  I thought it was sad when Billys wife Valencia died


10. i thought that it was sad that Lazzaro felt he needed to kill anyone that messed with him


11.  I was mad when Lazzaro killed the dog by puting shreded metel in a piece of meat


12. I dont understand why the Tralfamadorians knew that they were going to destroy the universe and didn't stop themselves  


13.  I was suprised when Billy walked in on the girls taking a shower


14. I thought it was funny that Billy had to wear silver boots from the play


15. I thought that Billy was lucky when he found a dimond ring in his jacket in the prison camp



State 5 possible themes for the book Slaughterhouse-5.
1. Death is not the end


2.Our lives have been pre determined


3. It is best to focus on the good times


4. Time is like a River there is a beginning and an end all existing at once


5. War is like a Glacier




Write a conversation between yourself and Billy Pilgrim in which he tries to teach you a lesson based on his own experiences.  You must explain IN DEPTH at least 3 specific events and details from the book in order to receive full credit.  This conversation should go on as long as it takes to demonstrate YOUR UNDERSTANDING of Billy’s experiences.
EXAMPLE:
Billy: Hello, Mr. Cheng
Mr. Cheng: Hi Billy
Billy: Have you heard about Tralfamadore?
Mr. Cheng: No, what’s that?
Billy: It’s a planet where they... etc.


1. hello
2. Oh hey Billy 
1. Have I ever told you about Tralfamadore
2. No whats Tralfamadore
1. Its a place far far away from here, we had to go through a time warp to get there
2. Weight weight you were abducted by aliens?????
1. Yes and I was kept in some sort of Tralfamadorina Zoo
2.  That must have been awful
1. Actualy they tought me many things about time.  Like that we dont have free will I have always died and will die after making a speach to a crowd about time. 
2. thats horrible you know when you are going to die. How do you know this?
1. I myself have been unstuck in time the first time i time traveled was in the war
2.  YOU CAN TIME TRAVEL thats awesome.  Why dont you use your powers to stop evil since you can see it coming.
1. It doesn't work that way.  I can't control where I go and I cant change anything that has happened because it has already hapened. 
2. Whoo mind blowing this could be a book.
1. I do tell people about what I know about time but I dont write a book
2. Lame
1. Unfortunitly since I cracked my skull open in a plane crash my daughter thinks Im crazy talking about Tralfamadore and Time travel
2. Oh well thats too bad.  I belive you well at least most of it mabe not the Tralfamadorian part but it seams like a good idea.
1. Okay thanks thats a start at least.    

Thursday, January 13, 2011

Siddhartha

I believe that to go on your own path you sometimes need to leave your friends behind.    Siddhartha and Govinda had grown up with each other and journeyed together to the Samanas but when they reached the Buddha Gotama, Govinda decided to stay behind with the Buddha without Siddhartha.  Govinda tried to make Siddhartha stay and declare allegiance to the Buddha.  He would not, so Siddhartha gave him a blessing and went on his way.  “Govinda, my friend, you have taken the step, you have chosen your path.  You have always been my friend, Govinda; you have always been a step behind me.  Often have I thought will Govinda ever take a step without me, from his own conviction?  Now, you are a man and have chosen your own path.”  They both had to go their own way to continue with their life.  In my life I had to leave my friends when I left my old school to come to Edina in ninth grade.  My good friend Tony who I had gone to school with from preschool was going to go to Lakeville.  We both had to go our different ways.  But Just as Govinda and Siddhartha met from time to time over the years me and Tony still keep in touch.