Tales from the Steppes

2005-01-12

2:34 p.m.
You used to captivate me by your resonating light

My blog has had a facelift! So what do you think? Is this an improvement or did you like the old format better? More graphics, higher contrast. I'll probably update some of the other stuff as well. Of course, the content is the same old crap; it's just more "aesthetically appealing" now. No, I did not do this - a friend did.

For the last week I have been trying to help one of the architecture professors out who is trying to get a house built here in Montgomery County. He has a client and thought he was ready to get a building permit. Hah! He is not familiar with our system, living in Baltimore, and did not do any environmental analysis, forest stand delineation, or any sort of inventory. He is totally hosed.

While I work in a completely different division, I have been trying to help him out of this mess as a personal favor. Except I don't think he fully understands that this is a personal favor, not a chargeable hour thing. Really what I have been trying to do is hand him off to the right people for him to be dealing with. But he keeps calling ME back, not them, no matter how many times I tell him that he needs to speak to the appropriate people.

At lunch time his wife brought down the actual plans for the house. I have looked at them and even I, who does not do this sort of thing, can tell that he is screwed worse than I thought. Who clears trees in a stream buffer?? Did he even know that he is trying to build on a serpentine rock formation, complete with rare and endangered species?? Hell yes, we want an inventory before we let them chainsaw and bulldoze the site. So now I have to write him an email explaining the mess to him and letting him know exactly who he has to call.

I had really wanted to ask him to be the third member of my committee, but there is no chance of that now. No matter how politely I word this, it is still going to be a little messy, as there are thousands of dollars involved. Why could he have not just gone to the information counter? And more importantly, who gave him my cell phone number?