How to Roll Up a Set of Drawings

Administrative Personnel in Design Firms

How hard could this be? Just put the drawings on the table and start rolling, right?

Maybe. There's a trick to it that architects share with each other but not necessarily with the administrative staff.

Most drawings have some kind of title block along the right side. That's where you find the name of the project, the project number, the date, the client, the sheet number, the sheet name, and maybe some other similar information.

Drawings should be rolled up so that the title block can be read while the drawings are still rolled up. It's how we figure out what's in that roll without unrolling the whole thing.

They should be rolled with the drawing side facing out so that when it's time to unroll them, they will lay on the table curly side down. This makes it easier to get the roll to lie flat. Well, flatter than if the sides keep trying to roll back in on each other.

And here's a little known trick for dealing with those pesky drawings that just don't want to lie flat. This may be difficult to understand just reading this text without a diagram, but here goes.


DO NOT try this on fragile drawings or original artwork.

1. Roll the drawings back up inside out from what they had been. So if the drawings had been rolled up with the drawing side out, roll them up with the drawing side facing in.
2. Grab one end of the roll and bang the drawings on a flat surface such as a table. The drawings should land parallel to the table. Do not hit the edge of the table with the roll. It needs to hit the table with a good whack but not one that would cause the drawings to tear or bend. People in the next cubicle over should be able to hear it hit the table.
3. Grab the other end and repeat the same procedure.
4. Unroll the drawings. You should see a difference in how they lie on the table. Stubborn drawings may need a second whopping.

I don't understand how it works but it does.

Meet the Authors

This weekend, I had a chance to go to the Texas Book Festival in Austin. It's a free annual event held at the capitol. The festival is a combination of events ripe for writers, readers and listeners. Within the capitol, there are many sessions to choose from and there is such a variety that it is sometimes difficult to decide what you're willing to miss.

I attended both days, about 6 hours each day. On Saturday, I listened to Kristen Gore, Lynne Cheney, Jenna Bush, Josh Piven and Mark Penn. On Sunday, I listened to Michael Lindsay, Carl Bernstein, Todd Gitlin, Roy Blount Jr., and Douglas Brinkley.

At the end of each session, the speaker/author went to the "signing" tent where you could have them autograph their book (that you bought at the adjacent Barnes & Noble bookstore tent or brought from home).

In most cases, I hadn't planned on buying their book but after listening to them speak and feeling a connection with them, all I could think of was getting their book - and their signature. I did that with Jenna Bush, Mark Penn, Carl Bernstein and Douglas Brinkley. At the bookstore, in the collection of new books, there were already-autographed copies, presumably from a surplus of ones that the author had signed within the last few hours. At any rate, I bought "autographed copies" of books by Lynne Cheney, Josh Piven, and Kay Bailey Hutchison. Kay's speaking session conflicted with another one I went to but I was still very interested in her book (and her autograph).

So, after purchasing all those books, this "free" event cost me over $200. The up side is that I saw and heard the author in person, was greeted by Jenna's Secret Service Agents, told Carl Bernstein that he uses the word "obfuscate" alot, wandered the halls of the capitol, and sat at the desks of two Texas Senators.

Truly, it was two wonderful days in which to experience freedom of speech - in the capital city of the Great State of Texas.


My Saturday Sessions:
Kristen Gore, "Sammy's House"
Lynne Cheney, "Blue Skies, No Fences: A Memoir of Childhood and Family"
Jenna Bush, "Ana's Story"
Josh Piven, "Bad vs. Worse: The Ultimate Guide to Making Lose-Lose Decisions"
Mark Penn, "Microtrends: The Small Forces Behind Tomorrow's Big Changes"

My Sunday Sessions:
Michael Lindsay, "Faith in the Halls of Power: How Evangelicals Joined the American Elite"
Carl Bernstein, "A Woman in Charge: The Life of Hillary Rodham Clinton"
Todd Gitlin, "The Bulldozer and the Big Tent: Blind Republicans, Lame Democrats, and the Recovery of American Ideals"
Roy Blount, Jr., "Long Time Leaving: Dispatches from Up South"
Douglas Brinkley, "The Reagan Diaries"

Overheard at the Office, Part 2

Got stressed out people in your office? Check out this gems:


"I had to raise it down."

"Amy's house would be closer but I don't know where she lives."

"The only thing I know about AutoCad is that I don't know."

"Oh yeah. No. It's yeah."

"How does a hobo know?"

"Let's make butter around this station."

"Now, go O.K., okay?"

"Yeah, but once we figure it out, we'll know."

"She can't help it, she's trying to grow big hair quick."

"All I know is that the windows from there to there aren't there."

Overheard at the Office, Part 1

"One of our corporate goals needs to be to stay in business."

"Inspire Excellence. Nobody says inspire mediocrity "

"Just keep telling yourself: I never really cared about the little things."

"All you would have to do is not much to make it awesome."

"The only problem is we can't hit and we can't catch."

"A blurry image is better than total darkness."

"It doesn't matter what you do, someone will get mad."

"He's looking for his next tar pit to get into."

"They changed their brains around." (they changed their minds)

"That's the beauty of the Arabic system. You can always add one more number." (in reference to creating new project numbers)

"The beatings will continue until morale improves."

"Different clients are different."

"When you do something for nothing, they don't get much."

"It's a huge bubble moving through a snake."

"There's nobody with nothing to do."

"I can't speak from personal experience, but I can tell you that childbirth is painful. It's not like having your finger cut off."

"The most logical thing to do is to bring it to an illogical point."

"I can't answer your question right now, I'm busy getting behind on these plans."

"Whatever happens, that's what usually happens."

"The later you wait, the less your two cents is worth."

"Don't make me change this again."

"I'm so overwhelmed, I can't handle anymore surprises."

"Don't eat anything bigger than your head."

"I could do it, but I don't know what to do."

"I'll know as soon as I find out."

"Had they not screwed up, they still would have done it wrong."

"You'd be proud of me, Mom. I saved all my bags."

"I have things to do...I have to get this thing done."

"He says that's the way it is but that's not the way it used to be."

"If everyone would follow the rules, we wouldn't have any cheaters."

"You think you know you have your mind made up but you don't know that you really don't."

"That guy is so mean that anything you throw at him would change course."

"It's like trying to nail Jell-O to the wall."

"It's when I don't know what I'm going to do, that's when I get worried."

"That's going to be tough if you want it to be right."

"I'll explain it to you guys as soon as I figure it out."

"Yeah, yeah, that will work....Oh God, you're not going to do that are you?"

"The simplest thing for me to do at this point is...I don't know what the simplest thing to do is."

"If I were to say, 'thanks', would you say, 'don't dimension it' ? "

"When I don't remember my last thought, that's when I know I've passed out."

"Someday tell me what it was I wanted to know."

"Uh-oh! Our project is due today."

"That's one of the little things that it doesn't take much of."

"I don't think I like that, I know that."

"I'd be more articulate but I'm a little confused myself."

"If you ever find out what I'm supposed to tell you, let me know so I can tell you."

"He's like a fruit basket turned over and ready to go."

"I know that sacred cow. It bellows every time I kick it."

"That's so old I don't think it's new anymore."

"I'd toot my own horn but I don't know the tune."

"The floor plan looks too big for those elevations to be so small."

"Flatness is deceiving."

"I procrastinated for a long time."

"It's like trying to insert the bones back into a boneless chicken."

"We want you to get started, but not right now."

"Those guys are as flaky as a box of Special-K."

" Nobody is TBA's middle name."

"Mums the word but the cat is out of the bag."

"She can't help it. She's trying to grow big hair quick."