Andrew Garulay, RLA

I’m one of the few people who don’t post our full names, although I think it would take all of 20 seconds to find it out. The reason that I don’t is because that I don’t want to build a wrong impression of myself through a pattern of poor writing and misinterpretation from less than polished delivery of thoughts. I actually dropped off of the…[Read more]

Well Pat, I toned it down and changed the title before posting which really killed the intent of the post. It fell victim to self inflicted political correctness as I tried to walk the fine line between being helpful and being the subject of the post.

It was to be called “The chicken or the egg?”

It was to ask if it was after losing their jobs…[Read more]

Henry,

I get a lot more “after I read your post 5 times, I have no idea of what you are trying to say” than anything. … anything except someone writing that I said this or that, when I meant nothing close to those characterizations. I used to pass it off as other people not reading it correctly. Whether that is true or not, the fact still…[Read more]

No need for name calling in a civil discussion.

I never said that he is not capable of doing high end design. The essence of what I said is without a track record of having already done high end design either on his own or while working with/for someone else, he is extremely unlikely to be considered for high end work let alone getting those…[Read more]

It should be the number one priority of a professional organization to educate the public about the profession. But there is a huge problem with that in this case. The profession is not identifiable and has nothing that is uniquely its own. It is extremely broad while at the same time those within it do not truly have a common thread that runs…[Read more]

Oh come on. The guy wants to design landscapes at a higher level than he can ever hope to living in the small town that he currently lives in. Yes, it is possible that he could have a wonderful life landscaping within that context. Clearly, this is not what he wants to do. He wants to work in a market where there is a lot more opportunity to…[Read more]

I’m not saying that our profession is not viable. All I’m saying is that the fundamentals of what we do overlaps what others also do. It always has and always will.

Our profession does not depend on anyone’s generosity. In fact it is a testament to the value of the work done within our profession that we exist at all. I’ve tried so many times to…[Read more]

“The powers at be who ‘head’ this profession have dropped the ball by allowing engineers, architects, urban planners, landscape contractors and developers the ability to do everything we are trained to do..”

I have to disagree. This has always been the case before “the profession” was ever carved out. It is not a wide stand alone profession that…[Read more]

“… I can down play the “owning my own business part” and act as though I simply designed and installed landscape projects to get by while the market was slow (which, in fact, is the truth).”

I think that if you do that you’ll be OK. It is going to be such a shake up to the norm in hiring policy when this all shakes out. Depending how it goes,…[Read more]

Since you are very interested in getting hired by someone else at some point, another thing that you might want to get advice about is whether you are helping or hurting that possibility by doing your own thing at this point. I’m not going to claim that I know that answer, but does it make sense for another firm to hire someone who clearly is on a…[Read more]

It is a great marketing tool in the type of market that is Moscow/Pullman. Your trucks with your name on them get seen over and over again. When I had my company, there was me, my brother and two other guys. We only had three trucks, but several people made comments like “wow, that’s a big company, I see you guys everywhere” when they met me…[Read more]

My honest opinion, as a guy who worked as a laborer for others in my youth, an owner of a small design/build/maintenance company in my twenties, as a designer/site supervisor for a few others (including Moscow Landscaping/Crossroads Nursery), a landscape architect for a few companies, … if you want to work in a market and at a level that you are…[Read more]

I know your market because I used to work in it. You are very isolated in that your geographical region does not support much more than residential or very light commercial until you get to Spokane/Cd’A which is a hundred mile haul for design/build and a market that is very well served from within those communities. Additional expense of travel…[Read more]

Tom, I think that you are hitting on a most important point. That is that relationship between marketability/buildability/economic viability. My guess is that all of the posts on this thread will respond with what is perceived as “the” right balance of these for the particular situation of the office or market that the individual is working…[Read more]

What is a bumper sticker?

It is a label you put on yourself.

If you want to display your fellings you have to be prepared for reaction. I don’t think it is wrong to display your political feelings, but you have to know that feedom is a dialogue and not a monologue. Celebrating a position is much like anteing up in a poker game – maybe no one else chips in, but someone may raise you and call. As long as you…[Read more]

Very true.

There is so much diversity that there are so many things that can fit or conflict from one office to another.

Hmmm. In a week where I am working feverishly to respond to the deadline of the day each day after begging over and over for input on each of these projects and for several weeks have constantly been making review prints that disappear:

If you are a manager, efficiency dies when you do not manage and delegate to your personnel and only…[Read more]

Damian – Great observations and explanations. I totally agree.

I’d add that equally as negative as having some seniors doing CAD is having some juniors organize the office. Simply put, we don’t know what we don’t know (why do I think this phrase will be the next “it is what it is”?).

Not the case at all in the case of my boss. Part of it is that the owner can do everything and has no fear of making a deadline promise or responding to “emergencies” for our regular clients. The man is amazing, but it is not a kind of flow that is either logical or comfortable for people who like clean organization and predictability like most of…[Read more]