The other day I commented about the reviews written about a street sweeping game. The post ended up on GovLoop where Denise Petet added some great insights on how the game might be made more fun and engaging. She suggested adding more interesting cars, having pedestrians interact with the sweeper, and even allowing the sweeperRead… Read more »
Day 6 Staff Development Meeting This morning we had our staff development meeting where all representatives of all departments meet to discuss active developments in our city. Today we talked about several proposed and on-going prospects along with some discussion of proposed changes to regulations. One of these issues related to the creation and managementRead… Read more »
I’ve never actually ridden in the street sweeper even though I’ve managed street sweeping operations in the past. But I can certainly imagine what it would be like. Day after day of driving about 10 miles an hour along the edge of every road carefully avoiding parked cars, pedestrians, and bicyclists. Then driving to theRead… Read more »
Raising water or sewer rates is never a popular move, and in this economy many have tried to avoid it as if they are fleeing from a zombie apocalypse. But for many utilities expenditures are exceeding revenues, and there’s sometimes little choice other than a rate increase. You can only cut so much from aRead… Read more »
Day 5 The main items grabbing my attention today involved the following: Striping Today the stripers were in town placing the thermoplastic paint on a few of our newly paved roads. Normally I don’t get too involved in the operation because we have a project engineer and technician inspecting and managing the project. But today,Read… Read more »
Most people my age have been schooled with the “sit and listen” method. But today’s teachers are breaking out of that mold by tailoring lesson plans for different learning styles using gaming ideas and platforms. So to better understand this shift in education, I am taking a summer class offered through Boise State that focusesRead… Read more »
Day 4 Safety Meeting Once a month the public works department holds a safety meeting for everyone in the department. Today’s topic was fire safety. We learned about the fire triangle: oxygen, heat, and fuel. We also learned that there are four classes of fire: Class A: Ordinary combustibles such as paper Class B: FlammableRead… Read more »
Day 3 Staff Meeting Today started off with a staff meeting for the engineering division. Normally in our meetings we discuss the status of projects and developments. Today we also discussed engineering policies for our division. Many of the other departments in the city are documenting the policies, processes, and work flows by which theirRead… Read more »
Today was one of those days filled with many micro tasks. And as @motownmutt pointed out yesterday on Twitter, listing tasks is most definitely something an engineer does. So here we go with most of the things I focused on today brought to you in typical engineering list fashion: Picking out Frames and Grates EarlyRead… Read more »
So many people seem to have no idea what civil engineers do each day. Is this because civil engineers typically avoid promoting their work and profession? Or is this just something that people are not taught in school? Or does anyone, other than engineers, really care? Or is it a little of all of that?Read… Read more »