I send this informative email about once a month, offering helpful hints and 
CAD news from a variety of sources.  
Richard's Rant - December, 2017
This will be my last Rant for the year. It has been a busy year - new grandson, new home, new school, new car (oh yeah, my wife's car died and we got a new one). I think I am the epitome of what New Year means....and trust me, I do NOT enjoy this much fluctuation in my life.
 
I will share one quick funny story. We went to my nephew's birthday party and the boys ended up in the game room where they won tickets. My son traded them all in for.... of all things.... a whoopee cushion. Do not underestimate the laughs of young boys at this modern marvel. It was literally hours of giggles, and I do have to admit, I joined in as well. I will not apologize for being young at heart, or what my wife calls - immature.
 
So whether it is wearing yellow in Chile, having a drink with friends on Veille du Jour de l'An in Quebec, or eating your 12 grapes in Madrid, enjoy your families and friends around you --- for those are the most precious things you have. For my family and friends, and I consider you all my friends, have an incredible Holiday Season and a Happy New Year. I will see you all at IBS next year.

 
-Richard

Quote of the Day

"When one door closes, another opens. But often we look so long, so regretfully, upon the closed door, that we fail to see the one that is opened for us."
 
- Helen Keller

Tech Tip of the Month

Platform: Autodesk AutoCAD
 
Issue: How can I save layers to turn off and on quickly?
 
Solution: LAYERSTATES. I have been reviewing a lot of architectural drawings the last few months and I get them in all shapes, sizes and conditions. I find often that people are not using layerstates to go between floors or to simply turn off/on items in the view. Try it out, it will save you hours of clicking single layers in the layer manager.
Come Visit us at IBS

The BuilderMT, Sales Simplicity, Option Online™, and PlanServices™ group will be at IBS this year under a branded MiTek booth, along with other MiTek partner companies. Come by and see us - West Hall - NextBuild - W5561.

Plan Services

We now have a PlanServices™ group in partnership with a division of MiTek. We have more than 350 drafters that can support AutoCAD, AutoCAD Architecture, Revit, 3dsmax. I am leading the charge with this team and we are growing.
 
Drop me an email or call if we can assist with plan generation, red lines, plan maintenance, lot specifics, rendering, or just general CAD work.

Social Media

Join us and follow, comment, like and tweet.

 
US Dept of Housing Report

November 17, 2017
The U.S. Census Bureau and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development jointly announced the following new residential construction statistics for October 2017:
 
BUILDING PERMITS
Privately-owned housing units authorized by building permits in October were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,297,000. This is 5.9 percent (±1.4 percent) above the revised September rate of 1,225,000 and is 0.9 percent (±1.6 percent)* above the October 2016 rate of 1,285,000. Single-family authorizations in October were at a rate of 839,000; this is 1.9 percent (±1.7 percent) above the revised September figure of 823,000. Authorizations of units in buildings with five units or more were at a rate of 416,000 in October.
 
HOUSING STARTS
Privately-owned housing starts in October were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,290,000. This is 13.7 percent (±10.5 percent) above the revised September estimate of 1,135,000, but is 2.9 percent (±10.1 percent)* below the October 2016 rate of 1,328,000. Single-family housing starts in October were at a rate of 877,000; this is 5.3 percent (±12.1 percent)* above the revised September figure of 833,000. The October rate for units in buildings with five units or more was 393,000.
 
HOUSING COMPLETIONS
Privately-owned housing completions in October were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,232,000. This is 12.6 percent (±12.2 percent) above the revised September estimate of 1,094,000 and is 15.5 percent (±11.7 percent) above the October 2016 rate of 1,067,000. Single-family housing completions in October were at a rate of 793,000; this is 2.6 percent (±11.1 percent)* above the revised September rate of 773,000. The October rate for units in buildings with five units or more was 433,000.
 

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