Celebration!!!

Gibbs' Hog · Post by **Gibbs' Hog** » Fri May 13, 2005 4:13 pm

Hi everyone, I thought I would bask in the glow of self-appreciation and share some of my personal life with you

This might be valuable to all the young'ns out there too...

It all started at Holy Cross Hospital on 8/8/1980 when I was born... :lol:

no, seriously -

I will be graduating tomorrow morning in the top 10% of my class from the University of Maryland. This is my seventh year in college

I spent one year in College Park (MD) and basically got the boot for bad grades and ...partying...
I spent three years at Montgomery College and received an Associate's Degree in Applied Sciences. The next three years I spent at University of Maryland University College (Shady Grove campus & online), from which I am finally graduating with a BS Degree in Business Management. Working full-time at an architecture firm for the past five years and going to school full-time has not been an easy task. I thought this was appropriate because I am one lazy s o b who somehow managed to get things done.

Somewhere in this insanity, I met my lovely fiance, and we will be wed on Sept. 4. (general rule of thumb - for me - I had to graduate before getting married, or anything else for that matter - because I'm sure I would have never finished otherwise)

Here is a picture of my fiance and I at Harper's Ferry, WV, where I proposed on top of the cliff that the ring almost flew off of when my fiance hugged me after I proposed... :shock:

Thank god it didn't.

OK, I can't seem to get the pic, so you can check out my photo album here...
http://rarmstrong2.photosite.com/

Anyway, thehogs.net definately provides a haven to relieve stress (yes, even if some posts are inflammatory), and I would love to be able to attribute my collegiate success to learning and talking about the Redskins

Well, my gloating has probably gone too far, so I leave you with this:

Please send two checks - one for graduation, the other for the wedding, each made out for $100 - to:
Gibbs' Hog
13249 Whitechu... :lol:

In all seriousness, I wanted to share my story (mainly for the tweentysomethings (which also includes myself

)) to show that determination can take you far in life. And no matter how bad you screw up, you can always turn it around. I used to be into cars, ...partying..., trying to be "cool", etc. Heck, I still am

But first things first...and I will treasure my intelect and maturity in the long run much more so than the things I thought were important in high school. And if anything goes wrong, you can always turn to the Skins fans - good people.

-Rich

Irn-Bru · Post by **Irn-Bru** » Fri May 13, 2005 4:31 pm

It looks to me like you pulled a Curveball on us with that picture. :lol:

Congrats on getting through school, and also on the upcoming wedding! With any luck, I'll be joining the ranks of the graduated around this time next year.

Always good to hear that there's a light at the end of the tunnel. . .

REDEEMEDSKIN · Post by **REDEEMEDSKIN** » Fri May 13, 2005 4:34 pm

Congratulations, Gibbs Hog. Your fiancée is quite a looker, with all due respect. Best wishes for a lovely marriage.

Here's a tool I think you and your future wife can benefit from. I highly recommend it. I'm almost done reading it myself.

Gibbs' Hog · Post by **Gibbs' Hog** » Fri May 13, 2005 4:37 pm

Ok, pic's up now...Dang! it's so big...I didn't want you guys to get THAT good of a look!

Fios · Post by **Fios** » Fri May 13, 2005 4:46 pm

Congratulations ... I went to college once ... I failed out ... I'm living proof that with blind luck and the right amount of ass-kissing, you can accomplish some stuff

Jake · Post by **Jake** » Fri May 13, 2005 7:28 pm

You seem to be headed on the right path!

Congratulations Gibbs' Hog. A lot of success at once can never be TOO fun. :lol:

Irn-Bru · Post by **Irn-Bru** » Fri May 13, 2005 7:46 pm

Fios wrote:Congratulations ... I went to college once ... I failed out ... I'm living proof that with blind luck and the right amount of ass-kissing, you can accomplish some stuff

Thanks for posting, Fios. It's good for young impressionable people like me to learn that all it takes to do some stuff in life is hope on blind luck and do plenty of ass-kicking.

. . .er, uh. . .wait a minute. . . .

SkinsChic · Post by **SkinsChic** » Mon May 16, 2005 8:37 am

Congrats to you Gibbs Hog !!! We're all very proud of you !!!! You really needed to plan the wedding date a little better due to having to miss that first game !!

:-)

tazlah · Post by **tazlah** » Mon May 16, 2005 2:54 pm

What an incredibly proud achievement for you (top 10%)! Congratulations! You did it! :shock:

Enjoy some time for yourself this summer, now that the book-learning is over (for now, it never truly ends... :wink:

) and pre-wedding.

:rock:

JansenFan · Post by **JansenFan** » Mon May 16, 2005 3:21 pm

Congrats GH!

joebagadonuts · Post by **joebagadonuts** » Mon May 16, 2005 3:55 pm

congrats gibb's hog. i'm a 6-year college man myself (switched majors from nail technician to porta-potty designing).

what firm do you work for, btw?

Gibbs' Hog · Post by **Gibbs' Hog** » Mon May 16, 2005 6:10 pm

Steven J. Karr, AIA Inc. in Rockville. Small firm - (only 2 employees, myself included - and the other one just started today

)

I've been here for five years now...starting with the good ol' hand drafting (thanks to an ex-deadhead, old-fashioned style boss). I finally convinced him to move to CAD - only after I received my schooling in it, of course. I have done everything around here, and now I am doing some construction management work thanks to my boss's ability to get the contracts for it! It's a great job; laid back (and sometimes stressful), and I plan on being here as long as he keeps giving me raises

I could probably make more money elsewhere, but when you find a job you actually enjoy going to every day, almost nothing can pry you away.

I did see in another post that you said you were in architecture (and I believe you emphasized that it wasn't the "software engineering" type :lol:

) Where do you work?

joebagadonuts · Post by **joebagadonuts** » Wed May 18, 2005 11:33 am

i work for john morris architects up here in maine. we mostly do high end residential work, though right now i'm currently enjoying (i'm being sarcastic) a conversion of a burger king into a chinese restaurant we're doing as a favor to a friend of the boss. woo. hoo. overall, though, i share your enthusiasm for the profession and my job. architecture is a fun thing to do.

do you plan on getting registered at any point? if you're leaning towards construction management instead, i'm sure you know that you can make buku duckets by working for a contractor or actual construction manager (as opposed to an architect).

and yes, it does piss me off that those software engineers have stolen our title!

Gibbs' Hog · Post by **Gibbs' Hog** » Wed May 18, 2005 1:10 pm

Wow, you weren't kidding about the "high-end" part! You're website shows some killer designs. Unfortunately, we merely scrap by with our cheap clients, but sometimes we get to play a little. You can check us out at http://www.sjkaia.com

I realize that the real money comes from working for a GC - which will most likely be my next career move. I just got a degree in business from U MD, so I will not be seeking an architecture license; but managing the construction process can be more intriguing - mostly because my design experiences have been stiffled by thrifty clients. In fact, my father just finished a job for Grunley Construction - he was the Senior Project Manager for a $96 million rehab job on the National Archives Building in D.C. $30 grand x-mas bonus :shock:

He's hooked up, but I think I would rather branch out somewhere on my own. Either way, getting the start from the design standpoint has proved to be an extremely valuable asset prior to moving into construction management. Anyway, keep up the good work - from the looks of things, I might have to move up to Maine; but on second thought, it's too cold!

crazyhorse1 · Post by **crazyhorse1** » Wed May 18, 2005 3:04 pm

1) I didn't get the picture...only a little box with an x in it.

2) Does your wife know about the terrible things you've said about me?

Gibbs' Hog · Post by **Gibbs' Hog** » Wed May 18, 2005 3:21 pm

crazyhorse1 wrote:1) I didn't get the picture...only a little box with an x in it.

2) Does your wife know about the terrible things you've said about me?

All in good fun, right?

I just get bothered by your seemingly only-negative posts. I do have to admit though, that, while this is not the place where I want to share my political views, I agreed with almost every word you said in the 'politics' thread.
I do, however, look forward to many more incidents of hostility between us in the future. :lol:

ps. I guess the picture only works on my cpu...I know I have to post it online or something, but I haven't been able to - any suggestions?

crazyhorse1 · Post by **crazyhorse1** » Wed May 18, 2005 4:03 pm

I would like to see the picture, but I'm not wise enough in the ways of the computer to know how to do it. You might enjoy having a website. I have one that only cost me $50 to have set up professionally and then $50 a year to maintain. I get a real kick out of it. It has a guest book, photos, audios, advertises my services, etc. and pays for itself.

Gibbs' Hog · Post by **Gibbs' Hog** » Wed May 18, 2005 4:39 pm

I don't have the patience or the time for my own website - let alone anything of interest to put on it.

The good news is that I think I finally got the picture up...

EDIT[nevermind

]

EDIT[ok, I couldn't get the one pic up, but now I have provided a link to see a couple pics]

SkinsChic · Post by **SkinsChic** » Thu May 19, 2005 10:39 am

Awww...I finally got to see the pics. You guys are sooo cute. Congrats !! And the ring is beautiful....did you pick that out all by yourself GibbsHog ??? Good Job !

Gibbs' Hog · Post by **Gibbs' Hog** » Thu May 19, 2005 10:49 am

100% custom made

Actually, my fiance told me that she would like some rubies (which are actually not very expensive to my suprise) flanking a diamond. But I went to the jewler and picked out every aspect (diamond, setting, sizes, etc.) one by one. Five grand later :shock:

, she had "exactly what [she] wanted!"

joebagadonuts · Post by **joebagadonuts** » Fri May 20, 2005 8:08 am

Gibbs' Hog wrote:Wow, you weren't kidding about the "high-end" part! You're website shows some killer designs. Unfortunately, we merely scrap by with our cheap clients, but sometimes we get to play a little. You can check us out at http://www.sjkaia.com

I realize that the real money comes from working for a GC - which will most likely be my next career move. I just got a degree in business from U MD, so I will not be seeking an architecture license; but managing the construction process can be more intriguing - mostly because my design experiences have been stiffled by thrifty clients. In fact, my father just finished a job for Grunley Construction - he was the Senior Project Manager for a $96 million rehab job on the National Archives Building in D.C. $30 grand x-mas bonus
He's hooked up, but I think I would rather branch out somewhere on my own. Either way, getting the start from the design standpoint has proved to be an extremely valuable asset prior to moving into construction management. Anyway, keep up the good work - from the looks of things, I might have to move up to Maine; but on second thought, it's too cold!

you guys do some killer stuff yourself. it would be very refershing to do some more contemporary design as you guys do, and you do it well. subtle, careful, not just different for the sake of being different. and you have a killer website.

i agree with you about the benefit of having some design experience in construction. some of the best cms or project managers i've worked with started out in architecture in some way. they seem to understand the process a bit more than guys who have come straight from the construction end. so your firm does both architecture and cm? with just two guys?

in any case, congrats on graduating, getting engaged, and being fortunate enough to really enjoy your job. exciting times! and hey, if you do decide to move up to maine, we do have a cm company attached to the firm, and we could always use more skins fans up here!

Gibbs' Hog · Post by **Gibbs' Hog** » Fri May 20, 2005 9:24 am

joebagadonuts wrote:you guys do some killer stuff yourself. it would be very refershing to do some more contemporary design as you guys do, and you do it well. subtle, careful, not just different for the sake of being different.

The best compliment we receive - and fairly often - is that the actual space planning and arrangement of the required program is very effective. When I explain my work to other people (that are not schooled in design), I often highlight the old architectural cliche - form follows function. We may not be granted the huge contracts, but we try to make up for it by creating functional areas that work in conjunction with each other. Anyway, thanks for the compliments...I am a pretty modest guy, so I naturally assume people are just being nice

, but I do appreciate your appreciation!

joebagadonuts wrote:so your firm does both architecture and cm? with just two guys?

Quite literally, jacks of all trades

. The cm thing kind of comes and goes - depends on the size of the job, relationship with the client, etc. But yeah, we do everything around here...and it is providing great exposure for me!