A stamp for a case of beer?

[frazil]

A guy I know found out I had my PE. His son is in the process of purchasing a property and just found out that it's in the flood plain and he needs to buy flood insurance. Well he doesn't think he needs it because the river is on the other side of the railroad track which acts as a levee and the little creek south of his property is barely a trickle most of the year.

This guy knew I had done some work for FEMA and asked if I would write a letter to get his son exempt from paying the insurance. He said there was "probably some beer in it" for me!! :huh:

Well I was a little uncomfortable with it because of where I work. But I looked at the flood study anyway. The dude is in the floodway so I told him to pay the insurance, which was an easy out for me. I don't think the guy I know was that happy with it, but I think he understood my explanation.

Anyone else have people looking for favors now that you have your PE?

 

[Guest]

Get out of paying NFIP fees for a case of beer ??!!! That dude should be biatch slapped for the cheapness of the offer alone! Good thing you were able to carefully side-step the :huh: :thumbs:

I haven't received any calls for 'services' but I get PLENTY of calls for information h34r: h34r:

JR

 

[Slugger926]

Get out of paying NFIP fees for a case of beer ??!!! That dude should be biatch slapped for the cheapness of the offer alone! Good thing you were able to carefully side-step the :huh: :thumbs:
I haven't received any calls for 'services' but I get PLENTY of calls for information h34r: h34r:

JR

I had a co-worker ask for me to stamp some drawings of modifications he was going to do to his 100 year old house. I told him to go find a structural engineer because I didn't have insurance yet. He wound up deciding not to add on to his house because the 3rd floor he was proposing would have cost $500K due to the structrual and geotech conciderations.

I used to do flood plain evaluations in Oklahoma. We had a formula aproved by the state, and the maps were all screwed up. I wrote a program to input the surveyors information that would spit out aproval or deny letters that needed a signature and stamp. That firm I worked for is making $500 a pop for 20 seconds of work these days thanks to my efforts. Also, anytime a house is resold here, it needs a new approval letter.

 

[GCracker]

Like JR, I've had calls for information but nothing requiring a stamp. Can I put a hot tub on my deck? etc...etc.

 

[kevo_55]

I've never had this kind of thing happen to me before. I would really really feel uncomfortable with it though.

 

[DVINNY]

Even if I pass this time, I could always say "I had to take the damn thing so many times, they just gave it to me on the 'NO P.E. LEFT BEHIND' program. You really want ME checking that out?"

 

[RIP - VTEnviro]

This guy knew I had done some work for FEMA and asked if I would write a letter to get his son exempt from paying the insurance. He said there was "probably some beer in it" for me!!

Well, the most important question here, which surprisingly no one has brought up, is: What kinda beer is it? :huh:

 

[frazil]

Probably some shwacky homebrew. :thumbs:

Actually he copied me on an email to his son and his exact words were, "I suspect she might drink a beer or two, but might need to be better than Bud."

Slugger - I agree that those maps are often wrong. What made me nervous was that he might actually have a case and I'd have to decide whether or not I was comfortable working on it.

The case that he presented to me was this: the property is on the east side of the railroad tracks, the river on the west, and the track were built up 20 or more feet. There's no way the water from the river would crest the tracks and flood the property -- whoever did the study didn't consider that the tracks would act as a levee.

He forgot to mention the pond just south of his house that is fed by a small little creek that flows from east to west. When I pointed out that the flooding was caused not by the river but by the creek backing up and raising the pond levels he had obviously not considered the possibility. He said "In all the years he's lived there (5), even during the wettest springs, the high water was still more than 10 feet from the house"

maybe in a 100 years...

 

[Guest]

He forgot to mention the pond just south of his house that is fed by a small little creek that flows from east to west. When I pointed out that the flooding was caused not by the river but by the creek backing up and raising the pond levels he had obviously not considered the possibility. He said "In all the years he's lived there (5), even during the wettest springs, the high water was still more than 10 feet from the house"
maybe in a 100 years...

Yeah .. lots of people don't take ALL flooding sources into account. Not to mention the unpredictable results of global warming + climate change as discussed by the IPOC!!! Too bad you couldn't have responded ............

That would have been classic!! :thumbs: :sniff:

JR

 

[MA_PE]

the high water was still more than 10 feet from the house

I'm a structural guy but 10 ft (laterally) doesn't sound like a huge buffer to me. If the guy has a case, he should pay someone to present it. (and not just a case of beer, there should be cash too.)

"I suspect she might drink a beer or two, but might need to be better than Bud."

fraz: Does this imply some sort opf reputation?

and what's that crack about "better than Bud" That's the "King of Beers" and I've had enough of them to personally endorse that claim. :thumbs: fudgin' beer snobs.

 

[Guest]

If the guy has a case, he should pay someone to present it. (and not just a case of beer, there should be cash too.)

Ooohhh .. very clever pun !! :sniff: :thumbs:

JR

 

[MA_PE]

Ooohhh .. very clever pun !! :sniff: :thumbs:
JR

I didn't even notice that.

I've been told I'm a mushroom.... a fun-gi

 

[frazil]

You mean my reputation as a beer snob or as a willing drinker?? LOL

I suspect he may have meant both! I'm a Miller Lite girl myself. :thumbs:

 

[Guest]

I've been told I'm a mushroom.... a fun-gi

I recently told some people that my position is office mushroom. Translated: They keep me in the dark and feed me shit.

:thumbs:

 

[RIP - VTEnviro]

Probably some shwacky homebrew. :sniff:

:thumbs:

fraz: Does this imply some sort opf reputation?

Yeah guys, didn't you know, fraz is the president of the local chapter of SWE, Society of Wine-o Engineers.

 

[MA_PE]

You mean my reputation as a beer snob or as a willing drinker?? LOL
I suspect he may have meant both! I'm a Miller Lite girl myself. :sniff:

not to burst your bubble, but a "beer snob" would look down more on a Miller Lite drinker than a Bud drinker.

the heck with them. I'll buy the first round of Bud and Lite and we can stamp the coasters. cheers!!! :thumbs:

 

[frazil]

Excellent!! I'm almost out of scrap paper!

Where in MA are you anyway? Maybe we should have a meeting of the local eb.com members. Maybe VT will forgive my joke and bring some of his homebrew!

 

[RIP - VTEnviro]

There are several gallons of English brown ale in my basement, awaiting my command. You can have one as long as you don't call it shwacky.

Didn't you say you're by Beantown MA? I met up with a guy from VT that I took the test with last summer to celebrate passing. He was a member here for a bit but has long since disappeared.

I'm kinda snobby when it comes to drinking beer just to enjoy one or two. If I plan to get shnockered, I'll drink any old piss. Speaking of which there is a beer tasting at Harpoon this week, both locations actually. Peach lambic, one of my all time favorites! :thumbs:

 

[grover]

A friend of mine at my last job has a PE license and moonlights on commercial structural design. He had a great attitude about it that I intend to copy- engineering advice is free, and he's more than happy to help a friend. But if you want a stamp, it will cost you $100/hr, including travel time.

Speaking of which, I think I do owe him a case of beer for the advice he gave me with my house foundation, AND acting as one of my references for the PE exam !

 

[ferryg]

I have actually not had any stamp requests (yet); however, ever since I have passed I have become the family expert on everything related to engineering/technology/math/etc.

I now get questions about concrete, pavement, traffic flows/signaling, mine subsidence (which we have a lot of here in western PA), you name…I have become the resident expert. To be honest…I don’t feel any smarter after getting my license…so I’m not sure why they all think I am. I would have been more than happy to answer those questions as vaguely and un-iformatively as possible BEFORE I got my license.

It does feel good to be important though. :thumbs: