A Challenging 3-D World

I guess it is a miracle I am able to walk, sit, function at all in a 3-dimensional world. Apparently 3-D is very challenging to me and having made it to the ripe old age of 32 (shut up to those who know better), must be merely a result of amazing luck on my part.

Since the Olympics so sadly came to an end I have been spending the dark hours before bed trying to draw a plan in Google SketchUp for our propane tank pad to include measurements, gas line placements and where the generator and solar hot water panels will be placed. This is my second voyage into Google SketchUp, the first being at the beginning of this house building process when I tried to recreate the house plan in 3-D - needless to say I got no further than figuring out how to get rid of "Susan" and making a box.

So figuring I had bitten off more than I could chew, since I have NO experience in any kind of 3-D software applications, I bought Google SketchUp for Dummies and hoped that Aidan Chopra could lead me through the maze of extruded piping, red axes and push/pull options that this program is riddled with. And trying my hand at drawing a simple pad with walls, some posts, a propane tank, box to represent the generator and a pipe or two, I was bound to succeed this time.couldn't fail.

After being glued to the TV for the Olympic Closing Ceremonies and with the Spice Girls still ringing in my ears, I made my second foray into the world of orbit, pan and zoom to create my masterpiece for Kyle to then take to the County for approval (Yeh, no pressure there for preciseness).

Today is August 25, which is 13 days and more hours than I care to admit of cursing Aidan Chopra (self proclaimed SketchUp Product Evangelist at Google) and damming the entire program as being worse than any Microsoft creation, who thought it could get worse than MS Project. I got further than my box and actually was pretty excited to have created something that actually looks like what it was supposed to be.

Uh, NO! There are gaps between my posts.

The generator is apparently hollow.

There is no back wall on my wall and a hole in my pipe.

And the biggest kicker is when I tried to preview the model in Google Earth I can't get it off a roof top of The West End Tavern on Pearl St in Boulder, CO and it is crooked making half the pad sink into their roof - Guess I could claim it is good for drainage.

Ugh, so I am about to hang up my .skp files and call it good. I was just made for a 2-D world and I am learning to be okay with that. I think it is good to know your limitations and when you can't even make head nor tail of the "For Dummies" book, you know you are in trouble.

So the County will have to use their imagination, picture the pad and tank in CA not CO and straight, presume that we aren't that stupid as to put a hole in our gas line and that our wall will be 6" thick and not .5mm.