I’ve heard some rumors that other agencies are no longer required to submit the “5-bullets”. Many folks have reported setting a “read-receipt” on their email, and never received a “read” confirmation. Which isn’t definitive, but does lead credence to my theory that “no human eyes will read these”. At this point, I’m unsure whether all of these emails have been fed into some sort of large-language model. And if it was, did Musk and DOGE get what they wanted out of all the data. Or was it a failed experiment because the data quality was poor. Or, was all of the Federal Civilian Service dancing on Musk’s whims to no meaningful end. Regardless of the final outcome, I can say that this experiment was very “efficient” and has certainly routed out significant “waste, fraud, and abuse”. Alas, I have forgotten that sarcasm is much harder to convey in the written word.
And now I’ve written too many words and should get to the point. There is potential that our format may change in the next few weeks. Unfortunately, without a strong motivation, I may not be able to keep these weekly posts up. I have a tendency to get distracted by other pursuits if I don’t have a deadline. I’ll try to keep things up, but please be understanding if I’m late or miss a post here and there.
With that in mind, here’s what I’ve been up to this week.
Bullets
- Provided timely, policy compliant, and technically sound technical assistance to field staff on multiple active construction projects.
- Project 1 – Rock slope construction, regular blasting, inspection, and reinforcement
- Project 2 – Adjusting details to account for changes to landscape between design and construction
- Project 3 – Review driven pile installation plan and schedule
- Provided timely, policy compliant, and technically sound review of design deliverables.
- Project 4 – Debris flow repairs
- Performed COR responsibilities for multiple contracts.
- Projects 5 and 6 – Logistics and coordination with contractors for geophysical and geotechnical investigations
- Completed National Highway Institute (NHI) Driven Piles course
- Completed design memo for debris flow repair project in California
Reflections
Not really captured in these notes is that one of my construction projects has reached substantial completion. Not all of the work is done, but the roadway will be ready for public traffic this week. I was only a part of making this project successful, but I’m proud of the work that I did. I was fortunate that timing, budget, and project need all aligned and I was able to attend the acceptance walkthrough for the project this week. The rock slope is a bit more ragged than I had hoped, but looks stable enough and has a more “natural” appearance that blends in with the slopes around it. The widened road provides much improved sight distances and reduces the potential for head-on collisions.
I don't have much else to reflect on this week. Two days were fully taken up by a training class and one day by a site visit, which didn't leave a lot of space for other work items. Best wishes to you all until next week.
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