Last month I enrolled in the Timber Framing class at the North Bennet Street School. The class began yesterday and so far its great. Timber framing is the traditional way of building homes and wooden structures and stick framing is the modern way. Stick framing refers to 2 x’s while timber framing refers to rough cut lumber of larger size. We’ve used rawhide mallets, framing chisels, hand saws, and the largest goofiest looking wooden mallet you’ve ever seen called a commander.

This is a subject matter I’ve always been interested in and although it won’t translate directly to modern home building, the skills are very valuable.

Here is a good link that outlines what we’re doing: http://www.taunton.com/finehomebuilding/how-to/articles/raising-timber-frame.aspx

I interviewed with Robert G. Delaney at the North Bennet Street School last Tuesday for the Preservation Carpentry Program and on the whole the interview went well. However, I have been pondering the first question he asked me which was “Do you think you’re over qualified?” I answered plainly no. Do I understand the broad concepts of carpentry? Yes. Am I qualified to work in this capacity right now? No.

And this got me to thinking what qualified really means? Dictionary.com defines the word as “having the qualities, accomplishments, etc., that fit a person for some function, office, or the like.” But simply having those qualities and accomplishments does not guarantee that a person is qualified.

In my current line of work, qualified seems to be based largely on time served. It’s the Promotion Through Attrition model, PTA as I call it. “Well Fred, you’ve lasted longer than Ernie, Dick, Pete and Mildred, so, ah, I guess we’re going to have to promote you to Project Manager.” Is Fred qualified? No, Fred is not qualified. Thankfully, my current boss is good and is actually qualified for the job. So are my current co-workers.
During good economic times an individual may be considered qualified if they have a pulse. In the early zeros, I worked with a few of these types. They wouldn’t be considered qualified today.

For rappers, qualified is based on things other than actual talent. Take Lil Boozie for example. Gold chain, check. Scowl, check. Thuggish appearance, check. Giant fake platinum Rolex watch, check. Qualified? You be the judge:

Knock Knock Im In Dis Bitch Let Me Get Sum Act Rite.Who It Is At Da Do, Bitch Dis Baby Tracklight. Dey Critisize Me Talk About Me Like Sum Fuckin Hoes Dey Fuck Mah Name Up With Promos Say I Dont Cum 2 Shows But U Got Me Fucked Up So Im Bucked Up And Fucked Up So I Wrote This Song Fa Bitch Made Niggas Still Got All Switch Played Nigga He Gon Die From Diabeties Thats Wat Dey Said The Way He Livin He Gon End Up Like His Fuckin Dad Dey Say My Attitude Rude I Need Sum A-D-D So Dey Put On Medication Told Mama To Pray For Me I Wonder Wat Make ‘em Hate On Me My Heart Made Of Gold But No Wim Pissed Off Ready To Cut Dey Dick Off Stick It Up In Dey Bitch Mouth And Suck It Oh Yeah Im Thuggin Strappin Up In Da Projects Got Me Aint Scared Of Nothing Keep My Name Up Out Yo Mouth And Be Careful Lil Nigga Or Da Fuckin Ambulance Gon Have To Help U Lil Nigga Man Im Tired Of This Childish Shit Gon Get Into Sum Ridah Shit Everytime I See U Im Gon Hit U With That Proper Bitch Fuck It Nigga Bring The Blues Really Aint Got Nuthin To Loose Keep My Name Up Out Yo Mouth And Nigga I Aint Gon Fuck Wit U Bitch!

By the way, his latest album Bad Azz has sold over 160,000 copies indicating that some people believe he is qualified.

Michael Brown spent 11 years overseeing horse trial judges and stewards for the Arabian Horse Association. The association asked him to resign so we know that he wasn’t qualified for that job. After playing with horses President Bush believed that “Brownie” was qualified to run FEMA. However in the wake of Hurricane Katrina the citizens of this country discovered that in fact he was not qualified to run FEMA either. Oops.

Don “Rummy” Rumsfeld was another man President Bush believed to be qualified for a position of national prominence. In May of 2002 Rummy went to war with the army he had against the recommendations of most senior military brass. Although the blitz to Bagdad was impressive, he neglected to consider what would happen after the initial invasion. The Decider accepted his resignation in late 2006. Rummy was decidedly not qualified for the job or should we just blame Doug Feith?

If qualified means having an intimate knowlege and first hand experience on a subject than surely no one was more qualified to be on the House Caucus on Missing and Exploited Children than Congressman Mark Foley.

Britney Spears qualified mom? Not really.

Chavez qualified statesman? Nope.

Tucker Carlson qualified dick? Yes.

Ben Johnson qualified cool dude? You bet!

So I’m left to ponder whether or not I’m over qualified for the program. By some measures, I certainly am. In a month or so I’ll know if I’ve been accepted into the program and we’ll find out if I’m qualified or over qualified.

Firstly I’d like to recognize Ze Frank for being arguably the most amusing video blogger on the net. For the uninitiated I strongly suggest you visit his site and check out the videos. Sadly, his 1 year v-blog experiment, or “internship” as he calls it, ends in two weeks. So get while the gettin’s hot.

I’m considering a major career change. Currently I work as a structural engineer at VHB, which is a great company but I’m just not cut out for the office/corporate life, at least not in the traditional sense. So after being miserable for the better part of the last decade I finally decided to MOVE ON. In part that is that catalyst for this blog, moving on.

I’m considering a few options. Firstly, I’ve begun the application process for the preservation carpentry program at the North Bennet Street School here in Boston. After the two year program I’d have to skills required to work on old timber structures, such as homes, historic buildings, barns, etc. I’ve had a long time interest in this line of work and coupled with my engineering skills, I think it would be a nice fit.

Option two is Treadcrumbs.com. It’s a bit top secret at the moment but keep checking it to see the evolution. The sweetened condensed explanation is that it is a place for people to go share their adventures in the outdoors by supplementing the traditional blog with maps of their trips. GPS will play heavily into it.

Fact: The Delmonico steak from the Capital Grill is delicious.

Fact: Bistro 5 in West Medford is one of my favorite restaurants.

Lastly, if you haven’t heard, the markets are tanking today due in large part to China’s 9% market dive, Cheney’s near miss in Afghanistan, and Alan G.’s comments from Hong Kong that the US may be headed for a recession. WTF Al, WTF Taliban!

Update 4:30 pm: That loud crashing noise you heard today was the Dow tumbling over 500 points. After a slight recovery (if it could be called that) the Dow finished down 415 points. Ouch! I suppose we should expect more selling tomorrow.