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Company Information Jobs and Partnerships Intern Testimonials Josh's Third Letter:Josh's Letters 6.27.2001 Dear Dan, I'm writing you as part of my responsibilities for the Extended Internship Program. This is the third bi- monthly update. My final letter should be received by the first of August. The first two updates chronicled my tasks during weeks 1 through 15. This update covers weeks 16 through 23, and parts of week 24. Unbelievably, there are only four more weeks left to fulfill the time requirement of my internship. Before I continue I wanted to share a concern of mine. I read the internship requirements again and I realized that a letter like this one is due at the end of every month. For some reason I opted to send one every two months, which really doesn't make sense because seven, the monthly extent of my stay, is not prettily divisible by two. I hope that I'm not in jeopardy because of my mistake. In any case, by August I'll have sent four letters instead of seven. Once again, I'd like to share some of the things I've done outside of the office, to give you a picture of my entire experience. I've managed to stay very busy during my free-time… so busy that it's become impossible to capture all of it in my journal, something I'm normally very careful about. Chronologically, I hiked with the Mount Tamalpais Interpretive Association, whitewater rafted and hiked in the Cache Creek Wilderness Area, attended a Peace Corps meeting, hiked among ancient Bristlecone pines, visited Mono Lake, explored the remains of Manzanar War Relocation Center, photographed Hetch Hetchy Reservoir in Yosemite National Park, kayaked around Richardson Bay, barbecued on a boat, and attended a San Francisco Giants game. Amidst all of that, I've finished several books, helped move our office, and accepted the Editorship for Oz magazine next year with Kendra Kirchmer, a friend from the Dept. of Architecture. It is very easy to find something to do during the weekend out here. I still have several plans before I depart July 27th. Amidst all of the above activity, yes, we moved our office. Carducci & Associates, Inc. is now located a block away from its former location, occupying the top two floors of a four-story building in Fisherman's Wharf, San Francisco. The new venue offers several benefits including more room, less rent, more natural light (from our glass ceiling), a unique floor plan, and great views of several landmarks. As with all moves, it takes some time to adjust and there are always things that need tweaking, but it seems that everyone is comfortable here. The former tenant was Monsterbook.com, one of many Internet companies swept away by the recent winter economy's gale. Rents have declined dramatically within the last few months and apartments are becoming available at a reasonable price. Week 16 (April 30th-May 4th): Sherman Street Park Plaza/ San Jose, CA I spoke with a local architectural sign company about procuring some bronze letters to wet-set into a concrete compass. I was looking for price and detail information to help complete a cost-estimate for the project. The detail would be incorporated into our construction document set. Trimble Technology Center/ San Jose, CA I worked with Jim Bensman, Associate, and Bill Fee, Principal, to lay out irrigation zones for this project. The zones consisted of three types: shrub spray irrigation heads, shrub drip lines, and lawn spray irrigation heads. This layer of information would later be transformed into a completed irrigation plan for the project. America Center, Phase 1/ San Jose, CA I completed a list of value engineering takeoffs for Paul Donnelly, an associate at our office, helping fulfill requirements for a schematic submittal. Value engineering describes possible cost-saving selections that can be made for a design. An example would be substitution of concrete for granite to make a curb. Airport Technology Center/ Oakland, CA The San Francisco Bay Conservation District Commission (BCDC) has jurisdiction over any improvements that occur within 100' of the mean high-water tide level. A portion of this project resides in that easement, even fronting Martin Luther King, Jr. Park, one of the East Bay Regional Parks (EBRP). Our improvements will accommodate a larger parking lot for the park and pedestrian links with our project and the surrounding area. This submittal required EBRP and BCDC approval before it received the "go-ahead." As such, this work was considered an additional service, preceding the scope of our improvements. Aragon High School/ San Mateo, CA This is one of six schools we are collaborating on for the San Mateo Union High School District. Each is in the Schematic Phase. After receiving approval from the Board of Trustees, each will probably move into the Construction Documents Phase. In this instance I was using electronic drawings we received from the architect to update our base drawing, making an "x-ref" swap. Using x-references in AutoCAD allows us to work efficiently without extensively modifying drawings from other consultants. Week 17 (May 7th-11th): Aragon High School/ San Mateo, CA I helped hand-draw our Schematic Design Plan, modifying it to accommodate changes made by the architects. Additionally, I used this plan to help create a cost estimate for our improvements to the school. By phasing our improvements, we gave the client an idea of what the entire package would cost and how much they would need to do the individual pieces as funds became available. The drawings, cost estimates, and other materials were incorporated into a book, Schematic Landscape Design Presentation, one specific to each school. Thus, each school had its own schematic booklet for presentation at a Board of Trustees meeting. Hillsdale High School/ San Mateo, CA I did the same kind of work for Hillsdale High School as Aragon above. Both schools are part of the six in the San Mateo Union High School District (SMUHSD). Hillsdale High School Playfields/ San Mateo, CA A separate part of the above schools are the playfields for a few of them. These were made ready for Bid Set submittal to begin construction work as soon as possible. I worked with Wesley Bexton, a returning associate, to wrap up an irrigation plan drafted in AutoCAD. Airport Technology Center/ Oakland, CA I continued work on the AutoCAD drawings for EBRP and BCDC approval. Week 18 (May 14th-18th): Burlingame High School/ Burlingame, CA Sometimes, so much is happening so fast that you just can't keep track of all of it. For this week, I can tell you the phase of design each project was considered, but my notes don't accurately describe what I was doing. Vaguely, I worked on Burlingame High School as part of the same six-book schematic package explained above for the SMUHSD. Mills High School/ Millbrae, CA Schematic SMUHSD book package work. Aragon High School/ San Mateo, CA Schematic SMUHSD book package work. Hillsdale High School/ San Mateo, CA Schematic SMUHSD book package work. San Mateo High School/ San Mateo, CA Schematic SMUHSD book package work. Piner High School/ Santa Rosa, CA My notes say that I helped with conceptual work, probably rendering. Airport Technology Center/ Oakland, CA I continued work for EBRP and BCDC approval. Week 19 (May 21st-25th): Burlingame High School/ Burlingame, CA Schematic SMUHSD book package work. Mills High School/ Millbrae, CA Schematic SMUHSD book package work. Aragon High School/ San Mateo, CA Schematic SMUHSD book package work. Hillsdale High School/ San Mateo, CA Schematic SMUHSD book package work. San Mateo High School/ San Mateo, CA Schematic SMUHSD book package work. Airport Technology Center/ Oakland, CA I continued work for EBRP and BCDC approval. Week 20 (May 28th-June 1st): Burlingame High School/ Burlingame, CA Schematic SMUHSD book package work. Capuchino High School/ San Bruno, CA Schematic SMUHSD book package work. Mills High School/ Millbrae, CA Schematic SMUHSD book package work. Hillsdale High School/ San Mateo, CA Schematic SMUHSD book package work. Phillips Edison Elementary/ Napa, CA I helped set up a base drawing using AutoCAD and information received from a consultant. Move We began our move this week, organizing, filing, and preparing stuff for transport. I learned that office moves are very time consuming and difficult. Week 21 (June 4th-8th): Mills High School/ Millbrae, CA Schematic SMUHSD book package work, tweaking cost estimates and plans for final presentation to the Board of Trustees. Hillsdale High School/ San Mateo, CA Schematic SMUHSD book package work. Dublin Public Library/ Dublin, CA Every once in a while a drawing is sent to our office that requires considerable changing to allow our work to continue. Loma Verde School/ Novato, CA Vince Lattanzio, Principal, needed a package of drawings for presentation at a PTA meeting. Our work on Loma Verde School is pro-bono and the school is located in Vince's neighborhood. Currently, the school has found volunteers and donations to complete the work and they're building parts of it. I haven't visited the site yet, though I intend to soon. Move We continued to move our stuff into the new location. Also, we assembled storage racks and other furniture to accommodate all of our things. Week 22 (June 11th-15th): Office Meeting We discussed our new location. We managed to move our office while only losing one or two days of production. In order to minimize impact on our operation, we moved on the weekends. It was a lot of work, but it happened very quickly. Capuchino High School/ San Bruno, CA Schematic SMUHSD book package work. Aragon High School/ San Mateo, CA Schematic SMUHSD book package work. Hillsdale High School/ San Mateo, CA Schematic SMUHSD book package work. Loma Verde School/ Novato, CA I helped coordinate deliveries of materials with Vince Lattanzio, Principal, and some of the material donators for the school. Piner High School/ Santa Rosa, CA I helped plot some drawings for a presentation. America Center/ San Jose, CA CAD drafting for all phases. Peninsula Jewish Community Center/ Foster City, CA ECE Tree Planter revisions, construction document drafting in AutoCAD. Potter Street/ Berkeley, CA Color rendering conceptual presentation work. Campbell Proposal/ Campbell, CA Color rendering a proposal cover. Office Meeting and Move We continued to move and organize our office. This time we delegated out the ` remaining tasks and completed as many of them as possible. Week 23 (June 18th-22nd): Capuchino High School/ San Bruno, CA Schematic SMUHSD book package work, including cost estimation, plan drawing, and accessibility analysis. America Center/ San Jose, CA I drafted schematic work in AutoCAD to create a base for our construction documents. This is the same project that Aaron Defenbaugh used for his Capstone Project last spring. Loma Verde School/ Novato, CA I continued to review information on donated materials, helping coordinate delivery of plants. Office Meeting and Move Again, we met to delegate the remaining office move tasks. Week 24 (June 25th-27th): Capuchino High School/ San Bruno, CA Schematic SMUHSD book package work. I hope this answers any questions you might have. If not, please feel free to contact me here at the office or via my email address, ------@ksu.edu Sincerely, Joshua M. Bender |
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