Along the lines of professional reminiscences... From 1978 to 1982 I worked in the drafting room of the University of Illinois Physical Plant. We used to field all sorts of interesting phone inquires: "How many bricks are in the stadium?" (Answer: "Enough." Stadium was built in 1919. We had the plans, but not the materials orders.) We should have kept a notebook & published. As a result of a federal energy survey I spent several weeks (in winter, no less) doing a task I referred to as "counting bricks". The govt. wanted info on the dimensions of all the University buildings. For the newer ones this was no problem - get out the plans & fill in the form. But for the older (mostly Georgian) buildings, sometimes all we had was floor plans. So I'd print myself a floor plan, and go out and count the courses of bricks on all the sides to determine the height of the buildings. (I had to measure a few sample courses first.) Need I mention I was the most recent hire in the office? No, I never "counted" the stadium. It wasn't enclosed space so wasn't included in the energy survey. And some days were spent doing a task I called "counting radiators". Again in the older, less well documented buildings, I'd take along a floor plan, try to figure out what the original interior divisions were, and then find all the original cast iron radiators in a particular space. I'd measure height, width, and depth of each type of radiator, then count all the tubes. Back in the office, my boss would get out his old radiator manufacturer's handbooks, and we'd try to figure out which ones were which. Then the engineers could figure out how much heat was originally being provided, and size the new (replacement) baseboard radiators accordingly. Then there was the laborer's union foreman, who would inevitably arrive at 4:30 on a Friday afternoon, moaning: "Lou, I've got a hundred and fifty feet of rod down a hole and I can't find it!" Translated, he was telling my boss that he was trying to find a sewer blockage in the oldest part of the campus. He'd put his probe down a manhole that he thought was on the line that was the probable source, but when the next manhole was opened (less than 150 feet away) - no probe. He actually had assisted the University Surveyor in mapping many of those lines as a young laborer, but obviously over the years his memories had faded. So we would get out the surveyor's field books & prove to him that manholes A & B were on separate lines, and that he really needed to look under this one over here... -- *Marsha L. Ensminger __________________________________________________________________ Your favorite stores, helpful shopping tools and great gift ideas. Experience the convenience of buying online with [email protected]! http://shopnow.netscape.com/ Get your own FREE, personal Netscape Mail account today at http://webmail.netscape.com/