In a message dated 98-06-27 01:29:16 EDT, you write:

<< That state of affairs does not yet
 exist in preservation work, and I hope it never does. An ethical nightmare.
  >>

Bruce,

I'm not sure I understand your comment. In my preservation work I am
increasingly called upon by the architectural conservators to make the repairs
invisible to the eye and as closely matching to the existing as possible...
this becomes a nightmare as the demands for mimicry often outdistance the
capabilities of technology or technique. I get tired of dealing with
insurmountable materials application problems and the design professionals
standing there saying, "But Gus & Gus did it on my other project it."
Particularly when you know what Gus & Gus did was smoke n' mirrors and a bit
of sleight of hand. The applicability of  standardization has to keep ahead of
the inflation of unreal expectations produced by the graduate programs.

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