NEW STUDIO BLOG

While I am still working on Urban Studio when I can, I have a new studio this fall and have created a new blog for it so that this doesn't get so confusing.


You can access it here:


http://meganweatherly3.blogspot.com/ 

Check it out!

...August 21

Today was our last day on site before school starts back.

Since I last posted, we've been (still) finishing the brick sidewalks and priming all the drywall inside. Let me just tell you... it's so much fun trying to prime a ceiling. It's starting to look so real inside. I mean, obviously it is real... but for so long it just seemed like a pretend little house because it was all made of styrofoam. Anyway, we're getting down to the details... picking out paint colors, buying light fixtures, etc. It's fun :)

Caroline and I are taking over the LEED responsibilities for the remainder of the project. This is huge... Debbie and Janel have already done so much LEED work, and I'm a little nervous about it all, but I think it will be great experience.

I'll update as much as I can until we are completely finished, but it's going to be even more difficult to keep up once we're back in school. I'm kind of nervous about this semester... studio, LEED, GRE, IIDA... so much to do! But I'm really excited to see everything coming together with Urban Studio.

August 12

Today, we all met on site at 8, and Caroline and I helped Jayson with the sidewalks for a little while.

It started to rain, and so we went to the studio to work on putting together a book with information about urban studio, pictures, a list of publications we've been featured in, and a list of local companies who have contributed to the project. We also wrote up a letter to take with us, and tomorrow (hopefully) we're going to start going around town asking for donations in person.

August 5, 10 & 11

It's been a while since I've updated!

I was on vacation for a week and then took a few days off last week.

Back to business.

While I was gone, drywall was put up inside and stucco (i forgot the name of the fancy kind we got) was finished on the outside. The driveway was poured, and the brick pavers came a long way!

Yesterday on site, I worked with Caroline and Jayson on the brick pavers. It was one of those days that tested my patience because I like to see progress, and instead, we spent hours trying to figure out the slope of the sidewalk, make sure the gravel was level, then make sure the bricks we put down were level. Luckily, Jayson is pretty meticulous, because I probably would have just put all the bricks down speedy quick and it would have looked more like ocean waves than a sidewalk.

Today, I met with Denise and Caroline over coffee to make a list of all the fixtures/appliances/finish materials/etc. that we need, and to try to contact people in the area about donations. We are pretty sure we found someone to volunteer to do the landscaping, but appliances/fixtures/faucets... different story. No one likes to answer the phone/return phone calls, so that's making it difficult. Hopefully we'll hear back from some places soon.

July 21 & 22

Yesterday was kind of a horrible day. It was cloudy and cold outside, and no one was in a good mood. When I got to site, Robert told me that there was a problem with some of the wires. The little blue ones for the intercoms can't run beside any other wires because they will pick up static, so I spent the day separating them. It sounded like it was going to be worse than it actually was, but it still took a while.

I also worked with Amy to put together this crazy thing that flattens the ground/gravel. We filled it with water to make it really heavy. Interesting.

Today, I was still working on wiring. I worked with Sierra to get them all separated, then Kim and Elise showed up and helped us run two more wires. We had to add a wire for the doorbell, and also run a wire to one of the intercom boxes for power.

A few people have started putting up drywall in some of the suites.

Most everyone else is working on the sidewalks. I was wrong, they aren't concrete, they are permeable brick. That will help with LEED credits. Honestly, I'm kind of glad I haven't been working on that. It seems to involve a lot of leveling and perfection.

July 20

Today was short for me. I had a dentist appointment at 1, so I had to leave site early.

I wish I could say I was sad about it, but I wasn't. Today's task was to move gravel from the giant gravel mountain delivered this morning over to the areas that have been dug out for the sidewalks to be poured. It involved everyone on site, five wheelbarrows, and a bunch of shovels. It was actual HARD work. My arms hurt.

Denise told me today that we passed our inspections. Tomorrow, someone is coming to blow insulation, then the drywall people are coming. I'm going on vacation next week, but hopefully by the time I get back we will have real walls!

July 17 & 18

I spoke too soon.

This morning, I woke up and argued with myself about whether or not I really needed to wake up and go to site. I thought about going at 10, then remembered I was supposed to bring ice today, so I decided to just deal and go on time... except I was 15 minutes late. Robert jokingly (but seriously) decided that since I was late, I got to run another wire that he discovered we missed. I tried to argue that being late on a Saturday doesn't count, but it was no use. I recruited the other Megan to help me out, and we spent the first couple of hours doing that. Robert walked by about every five minutes asking when we would be finished, and every time we told him "five more minutes."

He also decided to tell me a funny story. Here's how it went:
Robert: "Hey, wanna hear something funny?"
Me: "........ ?"
Robert: "We might have wired all the intercoms wrong."

FML.

Luckily, he wore the best shirt ever today, so I couldn't be mad. It's a picture of a box of crayons and underneath it says, "Everyone knows the purple crayon is gay."

It's funny. I don't know why.

After we ran the wire, we helped the landscaping team fill in the gravel for the sidewalks. That's hard work. Blahh. It all has to be done Monday, so... that's what we'll be doing all day Monday!

last post- July 16

I decided to stop writing until we were REALLY finished with wiring. Well, we are finished! We finished it up early this week.

Friday, I accidentally broke Gabe's chicken keychain's neck. I'm sorry, Gabe. I am still working on repairing him :(

After finishing the wiring, we started working on painting. GTCC is putting up siding slowly but surely, and I've been working with Allison, Shannon and Marianne (plus a few others) to get it caulked and painted. It's kind of a slow process, but it looks really good! The color we are painting it is sort of a dark gray-blue.

Yesterday, I got up on the roof to help paint the beams. I realized that I'm not afraid of the roof so much as I am afraid of getting from the ladder to the roof, and from the roof to the ladder. Maybe it's just ladders that I don't like...

Also tomorrow we have another cookout at Lowe's. Free food is always exciting.

July 7, 8, 9

Once again, there's not much to tell. We've spent the past few days finishing up wiring-related things. Today, we installed boxes and wires for the intercom system. I THINK we're almost finished with wiring, but then again, we've been saying that for days now...

GTCC has started putting the siding up outside, the HVAC system is being installed, and the people came today to start the framing for the curtain walls.

Today was an interesting day. I am NOT a morning person by any means, and even after having to be on site at 8 am every day this summer, I am still not used to it. Because of this flaw, (I'll attribute it to genetics or possibly to poor time management resulting in a lack of sleep), I don't ever function well until at least 10 am. This morning, I was following Caroline around because she was following Robert around asking him some questions. I was zoning out in my own little world, I think I was imagining that I was asleep in my bed, because I started drifting off. I realize this sounds ridiculous, but it's true. Maybe I suffer from narcolepsy or something like that, but regardless, I experienced something similar to sleep-walking. My eyes were closed, and I continued to walk. This did not last long though, because I more or less face-planted into the dirt. It woke me up. I'm going to have to figure out a way to function in the mornings.

Also I have to figure out a way to stop hurting myself. I have so many cuts and bruises and scars. It's ridiculous.

July 2...6

Last Thursday was spent wiring, and when we came back from lunch, Robert surprised us and gave us the afternoon off. We also had Friday off, so I had a wonderful 3.5 day weekend.

This morning, we got back to work on the wiring. It was supposed to be finished this afternoon, because we HAVE to have inspections this week. We only have 3 more weeks to get everything inspected, all the drywall up... and a lot of other stuff.

Quite frankly, I don't want to talk about wiring anymore. I'm sure the few people who ever read this don't want to read about wiring anymore either. It's boring. It's the same every day. Gross.

Instead, I will talk about grad school. I am more or less convinced that it is what I need to do next. I am all conflicted though, because I don't know where to go and what to do. For the past 5 years or so I wanted to go for Preservation and I wanted to go to Clemson/CofC. I THINK that is still what I want to do, but now I am looking into some other places. I am also becoming a lot more interested in Planning as a new potential degree, and I want to go somewhere that emphasizes sustainability. I have expanded my list of schools to apply to. It now includes (besides Clemson/CofC), University of Georgia, University of Virginia, University of Texas, University of Oregon, and maybe Columbia just for fun/to see if I could get in. I feel like I'm forgetting somewhere, but whatever. This is not even what this blog is for.