Ralph,
My naiveté' continues. I'm comfortable with it. When I have known the
firms that were selected instead of me, they have tended very
reasonable choices. Most were excellent firms with long histories of
excellent work. Mine is a new venture. To make the final round, to be
compared favorably with such firms is itself an accomplishment and a
confirmation of the relative fairness of the client's selection
process. It doesn't pay very well and its no fun, but worse
alternatives are possible.
Earlier we addressed the dumbing down of client staff. The few times
I've truly been astounded, dumbfounded, I attribute to that. However,
luckily for the client, they still managed to select firms that won't
do harm to the resource. Then there were my two experiences with
straight bidding situations. I sure learned to empathize with our
contractor friends on those occasions. A comforting few words of
experience from a fellow pin-head helped me set the most irritating of
those aside and move on.
The truth is, I've been on this side of the contract table just long
enough to have reached an odd balance of respect and frustration for
the participants on both sides. Someday I may figure out how that
helps anyone, but for now it just makes me a little more patient.
Quite an accomplishment actually. I don't think my colleagues from my
earlier preservation-beaurocrat dayz would think of me and patience on
the same day.
Hmmm. "Patient" is a word I might use to describe some of the
preservation "elders" I've known. At least when younger
preservationeers were around. Hmmmm. You ain't the only one turning
into an old fart.
-jc
On Friday, March 21, 2003, at 10:12 PM, Ralph Walter wrote:
> In a message dated 3/21/2003 8:30:14 AM Eastern Standard Time,
> [log in to unmask] writes:
>
> Well Ralph, I'd have to agree that some of my colleagues and former
> co-workers do have similarities with a rock in the shoe. God knows we
> all know a few too many of these types. I guess I always thought that
> the relief at the end of the day was that I'd worked hard and not
> screwed anyone...maybe it was relief. I'd say it was a clean
> conscience, which in my book is a good thing. At present, I seek
> their work. Could be my attraction to relief, but I think its
> more the selection process. I know what the process is. I know that
> my reputation for good work is going to carry more weight than some
> sale's guyz winning smile and and stylish wardrobe. It'll carry more
> weight with those who matter, but whether The System allows it to
> carry as much as it should is another matter. Ken and I jointly had a
> client who started out with him, and decided Ken was hosing them, and
> changed to contractor who really DID do his best to hose them. The
> lesson from this was that in addition to there being people who are
> assholes, there are in fact people in the world who you just cannot
> satisfy despite your best efforts, even though they SHOULD be happy.
>
>
>
>
> Ralph
>
>
>
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