Good morning!
Life is interesting. Five or six weeks after Jan and I returned to Arizona back on June 1, of last year, after hitting upon the idea of marketing "The Project" (as it shall be known for now) through detailed architectural models - in lieu of million dollar plus model homes or spec homes - I set about one morning to find a model builder. Within a matter of a few hours I had found the most sophisticated model builder that I had ever come across, and I have known and worked with some very good ones.
His name was John Penn (John William Penn in full), and his company is JWP Designs - Architectural Models. In short, I was blown away by the technology that John possessed. The laser cutters that I had for so long coveted he had (several, in fact), but it turns out that they are yesterday's technology at this point (although still quite useful).
The state of the art in model building today is the 3d Printer or 3d Color Printer. John had (has) three (or more) of them. Whatever one can model on the computer can simply be 'printed' in three dimensions . . . in color! To make a long story short, seeing John's shop and the intricate models of all types and sizes, was like walking through a dream. I was blown away. In characteristic fashion I wanted to acquire a printer for myself, and immediately set about thinking of profitable ventures that would allow me to do so.
It turned out that John had at least one earlier model that still did amazing work, and he wanted to sell it for about a third of what the newer model presently cost - and he would probably have allowed me to make monthly installments. After much discussion and exploration on my part, over a 3-4 week period, I finally suggested to John that he hire me, as he had (has) no registered architect on board (nor is he one, although he did finish architecture school). He had a museum project coming up, and could possibly have used the help. In the end he said that he wanted to "maximize [his] profit" by using his current staff, although they had begun to be busy once again.
Not being impressed by his eagerness to sell me the equipment, and his seeming unwillingness to help me get myself into a position to do so, I abandoned the idea all together, and it was at that point that I essentially 'gave up' on pursuing "The Project." I pursued several writing possibilities - one being to write a book about this year's Phoenix Suns, who were in the midst of a 13 and 4 run to start the season, and another to simply write about Goran Dragic, their 2nd year point guard from Slovenia. I contacted Steve Kerr, and he initially offered to get me into the lockerroom after games, but ultimately didn't follow through.
I also met with a friend who has developed a state of the art technology for both diagnosing and treating disease through 'energy medicine.' As the field is directly related to several of the key concepts that I covered in my book, I was very interested. In the end, however, he too was focused on saving whatever profits he was beginning to realize after years of work, so he had neither the time nor the inclination to compensate me in any way.
Finally, I fell back on an idea that I had had for some time, the idea of becoming a personal trainer. As an avid body-builder for the past fifteen years or so, I knew that I would be very good at both assisting and inspiring others to maximize their potential. So, some three or four months ago I was actually offered a job once I became certified. Thus I have spent the last several months studying for my certification.
The process has been very dissatisfying as the effort seems to be to complicate a subject that I am very interested in, rather than to put it in terms that are easy to understand. I am also somewhat uncomfortable about spending all day every day in the gym environment, so while I have completed the 300-400 page text, and all of the on-line video training, I am still several weeks away from being ready to take the exam. While I plan to complete the process and obtain my certification, I am not planning to pursue this as a career.
So, getting back to John Penn. It occurred to me in the past week - since starting this blog - that I could possibly go to work for John as a way of earning some immediate income and becoming familiar with the technology - now that I have decided to re-enter my chosen field. So I called him a half-hour ago, and we have a meeting set for 10:30 tomorrow morning. He does not know that I plan to ask for a job, so that may surprise him. In any case, I will let you know tomorrow how it goes!
Will work on the model some more today. It is extremely challenging, but it is what I love to do!
Until tomorrow,
FLLW (Frank Lloyd Wright!)
Life is interesting. Five or six weeks after Jan and I returned to Arizona back on June 1, of last year, after hitting upon the idea of marketing "The Project" (as it shall be known for now) through detailed architectural models - in lieu of million dollar plus model homes or spec homes - I set about one morning to find a model builder. Within a matter of a few hours I had found the most sophisticated model builder that I had ever come across, and I have known and worked with some very good ones.
His name was John Penn (John William Penn in full), and his company is JWP Designs - Architectural Models. In short, I was blown away by the technology that John possessed. The laser cutters that I had for so long coveted he had (several, in fact), but it turns out that they are yesterday's technology at this point (although still quite useful).
The state of the art in model building today is the 3d Printer or 3d Color Printer. John had (has) three (or more) of them. Whatever one can model on the computer can simply be 'printed' in three dimensions . . . in color! To make a long story short, seeing John's shop and the intricate models of all types and sizes, was like walking through a dream. I was blown away. In characteristic fashion I wanted to acquire a printer for myself, and immediately set about thinking of profitable ventures that would allow me to do so.
It turned out that John had at least one earlier model that still did amazing work, and he wanted to sell it for about a third of what the newer model presently cost - and he would probably have allowed me to make monthly installments. After much discussion and exploration on my part, over a 3-4 week period, I finally suggested to John that he hire me, as he had (has) no registered architect on board (nor is he one, although he did finish architecture school). He had a museum project coming up, and could possibly have used the help. In the end he said that he wanted to "maximize [his] profit" by using his current staff, although they had begun to be busy once again.
Not being impressed by his eagerness to sell me the equipment, and his seeming unwillingness to help me get myself into a position to do so, I abandoned the idea all together, and it was at that point that I essentially 'gave up' on pursuing "The Project." I pursued several writing possibilities - one being to write a book about this year's Phoenix Suns, who were in the midst of a 13 and 4 run to start the season, and another to simply write about Goran Dragic, their 2nd year point guard from Slovenia. I contacted Steve Kerr, and he initially offered to get me into the lockerroom after games, but ultimately didn't follow through.
I also met with a friend who has developed a state of the art technology for both diagnosing and treating disease through 'energy medicine.' As the field is directly related to several of the key concepts that I covered in my book, I was very interested. In the end, however, he too was focused on saving whatever profits he was beginning to realize after years of work, so he had neither the time nor the inclination to compensate me in any way.
Finally, I fell back on an idea that I had had for some time, the idea of becoming a personal trainer. As an avid body-builder for the past fifteen years or so, I knew that I would be very good at both assisting and inspiring others to maximize their potential. So, some three or four months ago I was actually offered a job once I became certified. Thus I have spent the last several months studying for my certification.
The process has been very dissatisfying as the effort seems to be to complicate a subject that I am very interested in, rather than to put it in terms that are easy to understand. I am also somewhat uncomfortable about spending all day every day in the gym environment, so while I have completed the 300-400 page text, and all of the on-line video training, I am still several weeks away from being ready to take the exam. While I plan to complete the process and obtain my certification, I am not planning to pursue this as a career.
So, getting back to John Penn. It occurred to me in the past week - since starting this blog - that I could possibly go to work for John as a way of earning some immediate income and becoming familiar with the technology - now that I have decided to re-enter my chosen field. So I called him a half-hour ago, and we have a meeting set for 10:30 tomorrow morning. He does not know that I plan to ask for a job, so that may surprise him. In any case, I will let you know tomorrow how it goes!
Will work on the model some more today. It is extremely challenging, but it is what I love to do!
Until tomorrow,
FLLW (Frank Lloyd Wright!)
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