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The Gutter Chronicles: The Continuing Saga of Norman D Gutter, Engineer
How crazy can the civil engineering industry be? Norman D Gutter, new graduate, learns quickly as he joins I.C.E. Engineering to begin his professional career. He quickly encounters situations that stretch his capacity for understanding. THE GUTTER CHRONICLES follows Norman's first year: in the office, on the construction site, and with city reviewers. This is a spoof of consulting engineering.
Norman D Gutter graduates with his civil engineering degree, and takes a job with I.C.E. Engineering in far away Appleville. Full of great hopes to make a difference in the world, he quickly encounters the reality of having to work with strange people in a semi-disfunctional consulting engineering company.
There's his immediate supervisor, Ned O. Justice, who has trouble remembering that he has a job to do. His office mates, Peter Pan and Joe The Surly, are quite strange. Uriah Serpe, the Chairman of Founder of the company, is a charicature of the high-stressed, hard-charging aging bossman. Tank Luzano does his job well, but doesn't give Norman confidence of where the company is heading.
The city engineer of Appleville, Chowdahead, lives up to his name. Then there's the illusive J.J. Weast, of the Accounting Department. Is J.J. a man or a woman, and will Norman ever find out? And what about the purchasing manager, Yukin Stuffet, who thinks his job is to make purchasing a nightmare.
And Norman has nightmares, as he becomes his own superhero, transported back in time to solve the engineering problems of history.
THE GUTTER CHRONICLES traces Norman's first year at I.C.E. Engineering. This pokes fun at the consulting engineering business, particularly the civil engineering portion of that.
Norman D Gutter graduates with his civil engineering degree, and takes a job with I.C.E. Engineering in far away Appleville. Full of great hopes to make a difference in the world, he quickly encounters the reality of having to work with strange people in a semi-disfunctional consulting engineering company.
There's his immediate supervisor, Ned O. Justice, who has trouble remembering that he has a job to do. His office mates, Peter Pan and Joe The Surly, are quite strange. Uriah Serpe, the Chairman of Founder of the company, is a charicature of the high-stressed, hard-charging aging bossman. Tank Luzano does his job well, but doesn't give Norman confidence of where the company is heading.
The city engineer of Appleville, Chowdahead, lives up to his name. Then there's the illusive J.J. Weast, of the Accounting Department. Is J.J. a man or a woman, and will Norman ever find out? And what about the purchasing manager, Yukin Stuffet, who thinks his job is to make purchasing a nightmare.
And Norman has nightmares, as he becomes his own superhero, transported back in time to solve the engineering problems of history.
THE GUTTER CHRONICLES traces Norman's first year at I.C.E. Engineering. This pokes fun at the consulting engineering business, particularly the civil engineering portion of that.
90 pages, Kindle Edition
First published October 8, 2012
About the author
David A. Todd
26 books3 followersDavid Todd is a civil engineer by profession and a writer by passion. He writes a variety of things, including U.S. history; novels; short stories; non-fiction articles; Bible studies; and poetry. He works at CEI Engineering Associates in Bentonville, Arkansas, where he is Corporate Trainer. He lives in Bella Vista, Arkansas.
His first published works appeared in 2011. The first was his short story, "Mom's Letter", first as a Kindle e-book and later in other formats. Also in 2011 he published a non-fiction historical/political book, "Documenting America". It is available in most e-book formats and as a paperback at Amazon.com and CreateSpace.
His publication schedule for 2012 includes the following.
Jan 2012, a short story titled, "Too Old To Play". It is a sequel to "Mom's Letter".
February 2012, a novel titled "Doctor Luke's Assistant", a fictional telling of the writing of the gospel of Luke from the point of view of a Jewish secretary he hires.
March 2012 (tentative), a contemporary baseball novel titled "In Front of Fifty Thousand Screaming People". It's the story of a farm boy from the Kansas high plains who breaks into the Big Leagues as a pitcher with the Chicago Cubs and tries to lead them to their first World Series victory in over a century. He doesn't realize two rival Mafia Dons are manipulating him, with an $80 million riding on the outcome.
His first published works appeared in 2011. The first was his short story, "Mom's Letter", first as a Kindle e-book and later in other formats. Also in 2011 he published a non-fiction historical/political book, "Documenting America". It is available in most e-book formats and as a paperback at Amazon.com and CreateSpace.
His publication schedule for 2012 includes the following.
Jan 2012, a short story titled, "Too Old To Play". It is a sequel to "Mom's Letter".
February 2012, a novel titled "Doctor Luke's Assistant", a fictional telling of the writing of the gospel of Luke from the point of view of a Jewish secretary he hires.
March 2012 (tentative), a contemporary baseball novel titled "In Front of Fifty Thousand Screaming People". It's the story of a farm boy from the Kansas high plains who breaks into the Big Leagues as a pitcher with the Chicago Cubs and tries to lead them to their first World Series victory in over a century. He doesn't realize two rival Mafia Dons are manipulating him, with an $80 million riding on the outcome.
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