A Mixed Bag

It seems there are never enough hours in the day or too few miles between friends.

The house will be quiet this week since the hubby is in FL for the Club Test. Wishing him safe travels, good weather and enough time to catch up with Tykus. I so wish I was boarding the plane with him this morning but contrary to popular belief, he really is busy all day long when he's there. It is all work;)

-Notice the bag? Yep, he's an official Club Tester-

A huge hug and Happy Birthday to Maria! She's a big 3 years old and is going to have a great birthday party thrown by her Mommy today! An extra big hug to Julia too. Love my girls!!

I'm about done with my latest nesting phase. I go through spurts that follow the seasons to change up the house. The fall weather and delivery of my goods from Nell Hills have made it a real joy to pretty up the house. Here's a shot of the goodies I bought a few weeks ago. I like the slight transformation and feeling around the house. Bring on the cold weather, I'm ready now.

-Next trip, we're driving so there's no limit on the shopping!-

I have a lot going on with work: deadlines are looming next week, business planning is in full swing, and a very, very shocking development on an old project yesterday.


DISCLAIMER - BIG ENGINEERING NERD TALK TO FOLLOW!


So, what's the shocking development? I had a project three years ago that about did me in, the Site was tough, the Owner was tough and the Contractor magnified these difficulties. To say that this project was not a success is putting it mildly. I purposely put that project out of my mind and will physically avoid the area because the feelings of failure are too high for me. I got a call yesterday from a gal Urban Drainage asking if I was the engineer responsible for this "bad" project. (This is not a call you want to get on a project you haven't heard about in two years.)


The lady, with one of the local governing agencies, went on and on asking if I knew that photos of my water quality pond were all over the Internet and in professional publications. (Engineers are merciless when it comes to evaluating good and bad design.) I told her that no I was not aware that the industry was talking about the project and could she tell me what the problem is with the Site? No problem she says, the water quality pond I designed has been published as the good example and would I be able to talk to her about the design? She had already contacted the City who directed her to me. Apparently my project is the featured example in the pending Volume 3 Criteria Manual update, is the project photo for the month of June in an upcoming engineering calendar and is a stop on an engineering groups field trip. One more thing, she asked, can I speak at the field trip and help her publish more information on this design?

To say that this is flattering is an understatement, but honestly I still think this is some sick practical joke they are playing on me. I'll know all of the details on Thursday when I have a conference call with her, stay tuned...