Peer Reviews

I would like to say thanks again for your input and insight when I met one on one with each of you. The peer reviews have helped some evaluate how they contribute to the group as a whole. I for one have some work to do as my peer review from the team went down from 87% to 79% for the overall. (The honeymoon is over)I appreciate the honest feed back and I will try to improve my overall rating. I look forward to the challenge of improving my performance.

Grama Requests

Cory has given The Preconstruction Engineer, in particulr Me, the responsibility as the point of contact for any grama requests that come in. For those who don't know, a grama request is an official request for specific information, to a government agency under the Freedom of Information act. The government agency must respond to the requested in a timely manor. The government agency must also do "Due Diligence" in finding the requested information. In some cases the agency does not have the information, but they need to show that they have done their best to look for it. These requests are usually in relationship to some type of legal action and are always time sensitive. With this in mind I will be asking everyone in preconstruction to help with these requests as they come in. These requests will be logged in and the status will be tracked. I would like to have a turn around time of less than three days. The Region's vast amount of information from Maintenance to Preconstruction will need to be organized so that it can be quickly ascertained whether or not the information is available.

Rumi and Kristi with the help of others has worked to organized the vault. Although we have more work to do, Rumi and Kristi have made huge progress and deserve credit for their hard work. They were able to organize the massive amount of information stored in the Vault so that you can at least find what you are looking for without spending hours in the vault. Chris and Julia are working to organize all the Environmental and planning documents into electronic(PDF) format. This is also a huge undertaking and is a major step forward in archiving these documents. Kristi has also helped Essy update and organize his files so that it is easier to find Right of Way information when it is needed. The next step is to have all archived files in electronic format. The ultimate goal is to have most if not all of our documents accessible so it can be located and copied or printed quickly.

Val's Party

I had lots of fun at Val's place last night. Plenty of friends, food, and music. Seen several people from Region One kick up their heels and dance. I like to say thanks to Kevin for covering the cost of the Band and Val for all the work him and his family did to pull off another great party. Seen several hot air balloons flying close by which gave us a beautiful backdrop for the party. Kevin said that he would never get in a hot air balloon, not sure if it is a fear of large balloons or that he has no faith in the ropes that attach the basket to the balloon. Either way it sounded like a challenge to me and his son. Rex wasn't able to get to the party until latter, but Val told me that he dance to at least one song before it was over. Looking forward to the next Balloon Festival!

Books I have read recently

Recently I have been reading a book by Seth Godin called Tribes. I also just finished Ten Faces of Innovation by Tom Kelly. Both books have some good ideas, but tend to ramble or repeat their points to much. Both could have made their points with about half the pages. Tribes is a book on leadership that makes some interesting points about social behavior. Godin peaked my interest when he discussed the differences and the interdependency's between faith and religion in relationship to change. Godin defines religion as a set of rules or rituals that don't change over time. He defines faith as something you feel will happen i.e. you have faith that the sun will rise in the morning. Unlike religion faith can change over time. I will get copies of both books for our library in case any of you are interested. Well I need to go and get some things ready for Val's party, hope to see you there

End of the Week

It is about time to call it a day I will see you all at Val's place tomorrow night except those of you that will still be in Jackson

Rafting Trip

Several of our Preconstruction group along with others from Region One left this morning to challenge the Snake River on rafts. They will all be staying with Jesse in Jackson Wyoming during their adventure. I am looking forward to the stories they will tell when they return on Monday

Kick Off of the Region One Precon Blog

OK I am moving into some unfamiliar territory! I created this blog as an informal way to communicate issues on projects, any new ideas, and other Job related issues or concerns.

Just two guidelines

Only use first names and be respectful of others