The first presenter was a "building scientist" flown in from Michigan by Dow Chemical. I had to chuckle quietly when he was introduced with his "building scientist" title. He had reams of computer-generated data, but I doubt much of what he offered could be reproduced on a real jobsite. The second presenter (just a lowly engineer) obviously knew how to build a home and his energy saving advice was excellent. He carried the "scientist", hands down.
With just two more courses I, too, can be a "Certified High Performance Building Scientist". WooHoo!
I guess I'm just wary of people with fancy titles. It reminds of an article I read years ago during the era of busing kids across town to achieve more equal racial enrollment at schools.
The term "busing" was a touchy subject back then so for PR purposes a "bus" was renamed a "motorized attendance module", and instead of hiring "bus drivers" the school system advertised for "motorized attendance module technicians". Why use 3 syllables when you can use 11, right?
Is anybody really suckered by titles these days? Is "deputy assistant undersecretary" really just the new code for "the office gofer"?
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My big embarrassing moment yesterday was when I came home at the end of the day. K immediately pushed me back and said, "Oh my gawd....what did you eat?"
As part of my seminar enrollment fee we were served lunch. I told her that we had salad, bread, and a chicken/pasta dish. She said it must have been loaded with garlic as I just reeked. Who knew?
The worst part was that after my seminar I had gone over to visit with and advise one of our homeowners from 21 years ago. They are debating whether to remodel / update their home or just sell and have us (bro with the semi-retired me assisting) build them a new one. I'm going to call them back today with some answers to their questions and somehow work in "sorry about my garlic breath yesterday."
Somebody needs to invent a portable "stink-o-meter" to keep me from embarrassing myself this way again. ;)
S
