Everyone gets into the Irish spirit at Chicago's South Side St. Patrick's Day Parade.

Refreshing for the big city, the parade really had a local feel to it. Most of the floats were sponsored by the local trade unions. It was interesting to speculate on which unions had more clout, based on the size of their float, or, in some cases, pimped out tractor trailers. Based on that observation, the Pipe Fitter's union is the place to be. But what exactly is a pipe fitter?

One week later, the parade's organizing committee announced that this 31st showing of the parade would be the last.

The National Building Museum in Washington, DC during the E-Week family day event. Thousands of kids (and their parents) participated in engineering activities. I volunteered to help students build towers out of a few straws, pieces of paper and tape. The day's highlight was a demonstration by one of the cast members of the Design Squad TV show. He used an automatic climbing device to quickly scale ropes up into to rafters of the enormous building.

Inside the Block

Looking up through the central atrium of the incomplete Block 37 project in Chicago. Before opening, the temporary roof enclosure will be replaced with a large skylight allowing light to flood the interior of the retail center.

March 19, 2009. View of Millenium Park from the 24th floor terrace of 310 South Michigan Avenue.

Smithsonian National Native American Museum atrium dome. http://www.nmai.si.edu/

Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, Space Ship One - first privately financed manned space vehicle. Upon re-entry, the rear wings angle up to slow the vehicle's descent like a giant shuttlecock.

Me, checking shop drawings in my new office at 330 N. Wabash in Chicago.