35 year old teacher seeking solid retirement planning advice
Curious2077
11 years ago
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sherwoodva
11 years agolast modified: 9 years agosushipup1
11 years agolast modified: 9 years agoRelated Discussions
seeking some career advice
Comments (24)Do yourself a HUGE favor...bite the bullet, deal with your impatience, enroll in U of Guelph, and earn your MLA. I'm new around here, thus the late response...but I feel I'm qualified to give you some career advice. I'm a managing partner/owner (and RLA) in a Landscape Architecture and Civil Engineering firm. I'll be very frank with my response...my hope is that you'll take it seriously and not be offended. If I were to get a resume from you with the MLD from Conway as your highest level of education (along with your BA History of course), I wouldn't give you a second thought. With a promising cover letter, I MIGHT peruse your info to find out more about the Conway education but you would not be a candidate for any job openings. With the current massive layoffs in the industry, you will be up against some of the top talent in the field...believe me - I've already laid them off or seen their recently brushed off resumes. To sit for the LARE, in MOST states/provinces you'll have to ALREADY have completed 2+ years of apprenticeship under a licensed landscape architect. On top of that you'll be required to have a BLA or MLA from a CLARB accredited school (schools have to renew their accredidation with CLARB every few years and that in itself is no cakewalk for the institution). There are sometimes (depending on state/province) ways around the education part, and you could very well qualify with your work experience...BUT... And then of course is the test...I worked with a person who sat for it numerous times during a 15+ year career before passing (wasn't good with the grading and construction sections but was a great conceptual designer). And that's just the licensing part. Reading your posts, I believe you're ready to go into a MLA program...and I recommend and encourage you to do so if you're serious about this: "primary interest is along the lines of large scale design, subdivisions, parks, resorts etc." You will never do that type work without being a LICENSED/REGISTERED LANDSCAPE ARCHITECT. The profession is so much broader and truly design-based than plants, patios, and pergolas. I think you've realized that whether you know it or not. When I was in school, we students had an inside joke...we thought it was easier to get a degree in landscape archtecture than it was to quadruple-major in art, horticulture, engineering, and ecology. And for some perspective, you mention "2 of the 3 projects are on a scale that far exceeds garden design or even residential layouts..." In my BLA program (and I'm sure is the same across the board), we would do 4-6 projects on a scale that far exceeds garden design or even residential layouts in one class (each semester)...and that was only our studio course, which was on top of a couple of lecture classes and/or core-related electives. I could go on and on with reasons why you should get your MLA over the Conway certificate, but I don't want to wear my fingers out typing (I've got a little sketching to do tomorrow)...just do yourself, your significant other, and future family a favor and complete your education to prepare you for what (I think) you truly want to do. A few final and perhaps random thoughts: - You mention putting a time constraint on what you want to achieve...with the time constraint you'll never achieve your goal of designing subdivisions, resorts, parks, etc. - Listen to DD when he talks about the rules...they are in place and you have to play by them. - The Univ. of Guelph will prepare you for a great career in Landscape Architecture...my best employee (who I've unfortunately had to lay off) is a graduate and is an extremely talented designer who understands the design process and is effective at commuunicating his design intent, which is always very well thought out. Of all my employees, I think his education prepared him better than most. - You've got to quit equating "landscaping" and "landscape design" with "landscape architecture"...they are two totally different things and are on very different levels. You must embrace that fact. - And on plantings, planting design, and the horticulture end of our profession... There's currently great debate regarding how plants and planting design fit into our profession and if it is or isn't being given it's proper attention. I'm of the opinion that unfortunately it's on its way to being a lost art. IMO, it's our greatest medium, but too many don't appreciate and understand plants as well as they should; and many RLAs deal very minimally with plants and focus instead on other aspects and scales of the profession where individual plants don't come into play . Plantings are VERY IMPORTANT to my designs, but only about 10% of the work I do actually involves plantings...the rest is planning (at varying scales and phases), rezoning, grading/drainage design, hardscape design, construction administration/observation, coordination of plans and designs with other consultants, water quality strategy with my PEs, etc, etc. - Pick up a few books to see if they peak your interest...if so, enroll in Guelph...try these: Landscape Architecture: A Manual of Site Planning and Design by John O. Simonds Site Analysis: Linking Program and Concept in Land Planning and Design by James A. LaGro Jr Design with Nature by Ian L. McHarg The Social Life of Small Urban Spaces by William H. Whyte Those are a few...there are many more. Good Luck!...See MoreIn seek of advice on hardwood / engineered flooring
Comments (5)I'm reviving this. I have been having discussions with contractors and still haven't started the project yet. My likely contractor sent me to a flooring showroom. (Patriot Hardwood Floors & Supply.) He said they were the wholesale suppliers for the metro Boston area. I don't know if I actually believe that, but they seemed to have a decent selection to view. The guy I was talking to there didn't know all that much, but he pulled in a rep from Mercier who happened to be in the office then. I discussed my sagging floors with him. He insisted that I needed to: - level out the sags, with a leveling compound - then put another layer of plywood down, bringing the total up to 1 1/4", or at least 1". As I noted earlier, my ceilings are very low, so every little bit counts. I'll already lose 1/4"+ just going from laminate to engineered - more for solid wood. I certainly understand the leveling. Do I really need to add on top of that? At the showroom I was looking at my options. I want a very light look. Maple seems the best. And I want it to not have much yellow cast. Of the prefinished, unstained, there was noticable difference between grades and brands. The stuff they had that looked the best to me was Mercier - either the engineered or prefinished solid. They both have the micro-bevels. I would really prefer not to have those, but the only option for that seems to be site finished. I do think the toughness of the prefinished will be an advantage for me. I've gotted mixed impressions of the issues with the micro-bevels - my concern is "stuff" collecting in them and being harder to clean up. (I also don't like to look so much, but I think I can get used to that.) I did a search here and discovered boxers raising some concern about problems with their quality. The samples looked fine - better than the other stuff there. Expecially in the case of the engineered - they had a 7-ply product with the top layer being 4mm. Seemed far better than anything else. Also, they claim an anti-yellowing UV blocker. At the least their clear finish seemed less yellow than the alternatives. What other brands of prefinished (engineered or not) would be viable alternatives to Mercier? Finally, are the warranties that come with this stuff actually worth anything? I was looking at the Mercier warranty for the engineered stuff. It is for 35 years, which sounds impressive. But then I see it doesn't apply unless the finish has failed on at least 10% of the floor. I imagine that less that 10% of the average floor is in major traffic areas, or exposed to any special condition, such as sunlight. Also, I notice that they expect you to account for a 5% cutting loss and another 5% "normal defects" in what you order, and won't replace unless you exceed that. Are these terms normal? Is it a scam? Thanks in advance. I'm counting on you guys - I haven't found any other good source of advice on this subject....See MoreDelayed Speaking in 3 year old / Selective talking
Comments (55)I have read this whole thread as my son is also having similar problems. He didn't crawl till after 1, he didn't walk till later, he always made gibberish sounds with little words. He didn't start putting words in sentences till he was almost 4 and its still only a few words. He has a small attention span unless its something hes really interested in. To get him to cease doing an activity usually results in him getting very upset over it and us having difficulty calming him down. He can get rather loud and hysterical. He will keep doing behaviours he has been told specifically not to. Of a morning before we are up he will just screech & make bird noises out the window, he makes beeping noises like his grandfathers van that backs out and throws things & just general bad behaviour until we get up. If you ask him a question he will just repeat a couple words back of the question at times, if its one he knows hell answer. He had trouble making choices he will decide one and then when given that he will want the other and get upset over not getting it. He will say hello to people, look at them and us and smile and laughs, sometimes he just gets the giggles. I don't know how to toilet train him, he goes to school next year and he just doesn't know when he needs to go, he will pee if put on the toilet but that's it, there's no regularity to when he goes. He loves to sing & do action songs like clapping etc, loves TV, he knows and recognises both numbers and the alphabet, knows shapes, colours, knows his name and can spell it as well as his Nan's and pops and dads. He cannot write it, doesn't take an interest in drawing can draw a circle and a line and the letter L but that's about it. He has been attending daycare since before he was 1 as he is an only child and we have no friends with children and don't go out a lot. They referred us to a speech, physio and OT therapist who he has seen a few times a year. He is progressing but very slowly, he is way behind other children. They also put him into an early intervention group to try and get him ready for school, he loved the activities, he loves being around other kids he just doesn't interact with them. They find him strange. He has now been referred to a team to see if he is on the spectrum, they have done a part evaluation of him and are referring him to a developmental psychologist in January before deciding their diagnosis. He also has trouble with toe walking and W sitting. He refused to feed himself off and on for awhile until i took to counting to 5 and if he hadnt taken a mouthfull I put him straight to bed without finishing, he now eats his food thank godness for now especially if mummy starts counting. This is all new to me, I am a first time mum, I was an only child and also used to toe walk so did my mother. I have little experience in knowing what's normal for kids at what age so this has been tough. Its been tough realising that a lot of parents are having conversations with their kids by now and telling them things and are able to teach them things about the world etc and I have never had that communication with my son. Yes I am afraid of what putting a label on my son will do but I don't feel qualified to help him alone. I am worried about his future and am hoping he will continue to develop. He is a happy little boy mostly he loves to smile and laugh and sing. He loves cars and trains and anything electronic, going out anywhere is a great time for him. He has no problem with strangers or new environments, he loves to explore and learn how things work. Just don't leave him with a book or a picture as he will rip it up in tiny pieces even though he's been told repetitively not to. When he was younger he used to like opening and closing doors....See MoreOur new retirement plan!
Comments (56)Well Maire_cate, I just ordered a portable router that allows me to have a wireless connection from wired, any wifi hotspot, and using my 3G cellular air card, all with the security built into a router must be safe when using public wifi. So I am hoping I will at least be able to get a signal one of those ways. I will definitely bring my Vizio tablet and one of the laptops (either my netbook or his laptop) and he will most definitely have his reader. All my books are on my Vizio. I am more concerned about having an internet connection than I am about the tv connections LOL. And of course my smart phone goes everywhere. Yes I think we need to do the phone number instead of the online deal with Good Sam, I tried to tell him that last night but he just had to try it. (see me rolling my eyes?) He had me order some fancy pants break controller thing to put on his truck, he was going to buy the cheap one at walmart till he discovered all the youtube videos about all things RV. I kid you not he was up till 2am watching RV instructions on youtube. But he apparently learned a lot. He was giving me lessons on it at the crack of dawn this morning when he got up to get ready for work, I was a lot more interested in sleeping.LOL I am really glad however that I had found some of those youtubes for him, seeing is always a big help when learning something new. And some of those guys on those videos were hilarious....See Morefeedingfrenzy
11 years agolast modified: 9 years agojakkom
11 years agolast modified: 9 years agomaifleur01
11 years agolast modified: 9 years agojoyfulguy
10 years agolast modified: 9 years agomummy1234
10 years agolast modified: 9 years agojakkom
10 years agolast modified: 9 years agojoyfulguy
10 years agolast modified: 9 years agojoyfulguy
10 years agolast modified: 9 years agomaifleur01
8 years agocricket5050
8 years agomrspete
8 years agolast modified: 8 years agoTroy Farwell
7 years ago
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