Wallace Design Collective

You can just imagine my delight to see the last Origin entry, ‘Be Aware of Your Surroundings’, expertly penned by our own Sam Ray, was not about Thanksgiving. I’m sure that was totally deliberate in leaving the topic open for me to address. Thanks, Sam!

Absolutely, as a Wallace family, we have so much to be thankful for:  great people, great clients, one of the coolest offices (grocery distribution warehouse turned Brady Arts District icon) and also being located right in the heart of the burgeoning arts/cultural scene to say the least. But I’m not off to write a collection of all the “I’m thankfuls” you’ve already heard. Even if I did, I’m not sure you would believe me, as this would seem a little self-serving, especially given my self prescribed topic, ‘Top Ten Reasons I’m Thankful to be an Engineer at Wallace Engineering’.  So, in classic David Letterman fashion, I’m taking on the task from my perspective.

#10. Unlike the days in architecture school I actually make it home to sleep every night.

#9. ROI on that TI 89 from college is astronomical.

#8. Holiday mixed nuts from contractors…C’mon you know it’s going to take a 18-year bourbon to get any traction.

#7. Twenty-nine out of 30 days I get to work indoors. Occasionally we find ourselves on a roof in Buffalo, New York with  three feet of snow trying to verify existing roof layout or the like.

#6. Nobody talks about that girl she hates at work.

#5. United States Geological Survey twitter updates on seismic activity.

#4. Who else gets to use infrared cameras and lasers?

#3. I can openly discuss “stress”, “toughness” and “moments” without the need for counseling.

#2. I can “own” Bob Villa in statics and strengths.

#1. Marketing = biggest, best barbecue/beer party in Tulsa.

I hope this engineer at least got a small smile out of you. As hard as we work to get things right and to meet our clients expectations there’s always time for humor in our work culture and permission to sometimes not take ourselves too seriously. For this, I am truly thankful.

“I am thankful for laughter, except when milk comes out of my nose.”  – Woody Allen