13 Mar 2023 Monday - a conversation in the locker room

 

He: are you still working?

Me: yes..

He: from home?

Me: no, we have an office.

He: plenty of work still?

Me: ..yes. we are quite busy (there was another architect within earshot and I could not resist it)

He: I see..

I related this conversation with Sam later that evening, she said he can be forgiven for thinking that I am retired. Many of fellow class-mates have retired, I dress like I am not working, I show up at the squash courts in the middle of the afternoon.

8 March 2022 Tuesday Shall we move?

I cooked lunch on Tuesday, the chicken was in the fridge for long enough; celery, carrots, onions, olives and tinned tomatoes meant chicken cacciatore which the young ones seem to enjoy with a bit of rice. SML's latest addition is a young man from Miri 'Ah Boy' he joined us, followed by Arlene who sat down with a proposition - to relocate our office to the suburbs. Leong was worried that I would be reluctant to move, being so infatuated with the old town area where I grew up. But after almost 6 years, I don't mind a bit of change I told her - a larger place would mean distancing is easier, we can reinstate our library and maybe even have accommodation. I offered to install a full scale kitchen and dining facility on site, I wanted the proximity of food and books.

Fingers crossed. 

Change

At my age, most would settle into a comfortable routine and cruise into retirement. So, my decision to relinquish my shares in DNA to set up a smaller practice would appear strange to some, financially foolish to others and a step in the right direction for those who really really know me. One such friend summed it up by saying "time to do good rather than to do well for oneself"

So by July this year, I will working with people whom I like, doing work that I enjoy, in a part of Kuching town that I love. There is still plenty to be done; logistics and paperwork but I won't bore you with them.

This is my first impression of the new premises.

And later, when I visited the shop with Leong and Arl - I made some more sketches and impressions.

The shop house has a small frontage, dwarfed by its neighbours and forgotten by its owner for nearly ten years. Someone had padlocked the front door; using it as a store illegally, we cut the padlock and went in. The inside was dirty and filled with debris of human life from a decade ago when it was last occupied. But looking beyond the filth and water damaged wall plaster, the timber structure was sound and many of the building elements such as the double hatch front windows and the metal window frames are original and intact.

five foot way entrance

first floor

 more soon...