In a message dated 97-12-17 14:10:01 EST, [log in to unmask] writes:

> You don't have to be a celebrity to take one of my tours...preservation is
>  an egalitarian pursuit, open to all that have the constitution to stomach
>  rejection from peers and non-believers alike.
>
>  But you are the closest thing we have to a celebrity here at B-P, and you
>  can come on the tour too.

I try to ignore the rejection of pears. Squash 'em up, mash 'em down, and make
some good wine! If you want rejection of pears, hang out with writers.

If anyone wants an eagleterran tour in NYC, when visiting, I'm always glad for
an excuse to spend the day wandering around from obscure rooftop to
underground chambers. Can't tell you a damn thing about the serious history of
the buildings, leave that to the historians and architectonix scholars... but
I can take you to places you would never consider going to see the sites that
you would never think to want to see. Mechanical rooms, elevator pits, and
stair wells of the rich and famous.

Looks like we are going to get to do some probes and test pits at Carnegie
Hall.
Have not played there in a long time.

The problem with a lot of my projects is that after spending a year, or more,
wandering all around a building without restrictions, when it becomes
functional and populated I am often no longer allowed free access. Then again,
there is the thing about "looking the part" and getting free access to the
wrong buildings. My partner one time surveyed a building, talked with the
building super, went up on the roof, and wrote up a proposal before he figured
out he had been to the wrong building.

The other problem is that though we get to do the work, it is rare that we are
given access to historical background of the buildings we work on. Though the
design professionals may have access to the material, I suspect (Sometimes I
get the impression the design professional knows less about the building
history than the contractor who did not have a problem listening to the
building custodian - Sydney Poitier had his office ont eh top floor of a
building we were working on at 57th Street. One day he came into work and
found a marble panel form the nextdoor skyscraper stuck in the middle of his
desk. The stone had fallen from severl 10's of floor higher and gone through a
lightweight concrete roof slab. Needless to say, Mr. Poitier moved his office
the next day and did not return to the building again.), it does not seem to
occur to them that the contractor would be interested, and possibly motivated,
by sharing the information. Then again, maybe they have real good reasons from
dealing with idiot contractor in the past. As a contractor we are usually too
busy trying to get the work, and then getting the work done, to have the
leisure to visit a research library. Whatever is available in a bookstore,
used or new, is about the limit of access. Occasionally someone is decent and
comes across with a few stories, usually the odd things they were able to
remember.

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