That dog won't hunt Monsegnior.

For those of you that wish to avoid hearing me voice my opinions on 'Architects', please leave now. I know that since I've started working in the civil sector as opposed to the industrial sector I've started to go on about this more and more. To try and save a few friends, I think it vital to start giving you fair warning when I'm about to revisit this topic. Here it is:

Disclaimer: I am about to let loose some venom-filled verbal abuse about how useless architects are. There will be excruciatingly broad generalisations and most importantly, a lot of humiliation and dishonour heaped high upon them. If for some reason you suffer from a serious brain deficiency and are sympathetic to their plights, turn away now.

Start of Rant:
I have but two very simple, yet poignant questions that I wish to ask of architects. This is problematic as I fear that many of them can not communicate with normal humans any more. I suppose that if I was willing I could source an ape that, while having learned sign language, still enjoys slinging its own feces at other apes and ask if it would be willing to act as some sort of go-between for myself and the first of these raving mad-men that I managed to capture. The main reason that I am not embarking on this 'epic quest of discovery' is that I think the overwhelming urge to 'cleanse' the wayward soul from the earth would be too strong for me to resist. Never the less, I will press on and ask my questions. I may never receive an answer that makes any sense, but whose fault will that be? Not mine sir, not mine.

My first question is the one that causes me the most pain. How can an architect working in a CAD program not manage to draw with any sort of accuracy what so ever? I make a living working inside a CAD program. Granted, I use AutoCAD which is one of the high-end programs for computer aided drawing, but honestly... even people in MS Paint manage to get lines to connect at corners, so what could you possibly offer as an excuse? When I say that I find it more inconvenient to not connect lines at intersections or draw them at the correct length, you should realise that I am very serious. As I said, this causes me a great deal of pain because drawing accurately is so very simple in CAD programs that you would have to make an effort to be so thoroughly hopeless.

And now for my second question. It may seem a little more philosophical than the first but still, I don't think that it should really be as hard to answer as an architect would want you to believe. What is the good of an architect? In years gone by, I could understand it. Back in the glory days of architecture, these men and women were pinnacles of creativity and knowledge. There was a time when the architect was not only designing the way a structure would look, but also how it would manage to stay standing. They were in short vital to the expansion of society. Now, they have fallen. We have engineers who are much more able to make a structure withstand the conditions that they will need to face in order to keep erect. We have landscapers to arrange the gardens and surrounding greenery. There are interior decorators that can work wonders with the internal space of any structure offered them. Then of course there are the humble drafters who at the direction of a client can lay out their visions of grandeur accurately within the digital realm. I have in the past, drawn up structures clear enough to be understood by even the most common of clients and which are still perfect for use by the builders. Not a 2D person? No problem! I can turn practically any set of 2D's into a 100% accurate 3D model in no time. So if there are all these people that can do everything an architect used to, why are they still plaguing me with their useless scribblings that cost me more time to try and correct than if I just redew the whole thing myself?

Mark my words, as soon as I have my qualifications and can call myself not just a 'cadet structural drafter' but a 'structural design drafter', I'm going to start doing my best to push these repugnant remnants out of the market. I may once have trained to join their ranks, but right now were Satan himself standing between me and the first person to now confuse me with one of their kind, then tomorrow Jesus would be advertising for a new Lord of Hell. Who knows, I may even apply for the job. Since most of the people there are likely to be either lawyers, accountants or architects, I think I could be just the man they'd need.
End of Rant.

Sorry about that. Just needed to vent some frustration.

-Salem
What? Did you really think Zen meant no anger?