Kevin Reff

While I am a member of CLARB, I cannot recommend them unless you anticipate working in a number of different States. IMHO, they have a monopoly on the LA licensure program. You can frequently obtain reciprocity/comity in other States if you’re willing to fill out the paperwork and pay the required fees. This does take more time, but it is…[Read more]

In Tennessee, we can all cross stamp each others work (i.e. architects, engineers, la, etc.) if we are “competent” in that particular area. However, governmental agencies can place higher restrictions than those imposed by the State. I have had agencies prohibit my LA stamp on grading plans. I argued, but eventually lost. I was told the State…[Read more]

1. How did you know when you were ready to go solo?
I agree with Andrew. Have some work coming in before you quit your current job. I started moonlighting on the side by accident. The church I was attending wanted to expand. They hired an architect, whom I met. The city required a landscape plan for the expansion and after the project was…[Read more]

Actually Laura, DDT is not bad.  It has saved millions of people.  Here is a link from the NY times from several years ago.
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/04/11/magazine/what-the-world-needs-now-is-ddt.html
Furthermore, it has been proven that renewable energy is a total bust.  The only reason it is even viable is because of government su…[Read more]

Around here Autocad is king.  My knowledge of Solid Works is minimal, however 3D isn’t a strong requirement in many offices.  CE’s do use Civil3D and Architects use Revit as well, but most LA’s I know do not use 3D.  It’s fun to work in 3D, but around here there isn’t a strong demand for it.
My recommendation is to stick with vanilla Autocad, un…[Read more]

Shawn,
I agree with the people who mentioned CE and LS firms.  This is how I started and when things slowed in the office, I went outside as a rodman and learned surveying.  Working with engineers and surveyors really paid off in the long run.  As an LA our projects ultimately consist of working with the land, so understanding a survey, gr…[Read more]

Dan,
I guess it depends on your goals in life. If you want to make more money and have potentially more job options, I’d say go with engineering (assuming you can handle the math). If crunching numbers isn’t your thing and creativity is, then studying to be an LA could be a potential option.
You can succeed at both, however engineering generally…[Read more]

I agree with mauiBob.  If you live in the States, Spanish will be much more important than Chinese.  I’m studying Chinese just for the fun of it, but I’m making my kids learn Spanish.

I’ve been studying Mandarin Chinese for over a year now.  I actually use 2 programs.  Rosetta Stone (RS) and Rocket Chinese (RC) (like Pimsluer and Berlitz).  I think you need both.  I go back and forth between the two.
RC is conversational while RS focuses on words and word combinations.  The biggest problem with RS is that sometimes it is diffi…[Read more]