Scoop News letter article

Here is the article that I submitted to Judie for the Scoop Fall 2009

Interesting Times

It is easy to say that in the last several months we have been living in very interesting times. The politics of health has dominated the news and no matter where you sit on any specific issue everyone in the Region Office can agree on at least one thing. Darin Duersch, our Traffic and Safety Engineer, was abducted by alien bears in Yellowstone and replaced by a sleek new Darin who posses superpowers. Darin can now leap over a moving environmental study in a single bound or at least he can run faster than a speeding traffic jam. Darin’s amazing transformation prompted our local movie producer and director Rex Harris to cast the awesomeness of the “Big D” in his next film. I think the film’s working title is “Chessmaster Flash”, or was it “The Tumbling Jedi”? Although still in production, the hope is to premier the epic adventure at the Engineer’s Conference in November. Darin plays some kind of all seeing master in the film showing off his talent to evoke emotion and provide inspiration, or was that perspiration? Other health actors of note are Rex Harris along with Val Stoker showing off their talents that include swimming, running, and generally working out. All kidding aside Darin, Rex, Val, and many others have been examples to the rest of us on what can be done with a little commitment and exercise. Many in the Region have engaged in various activities such as walking, running, biking and yes, even yoga in the attempt to achieve better health. The department encourages these healthy activities because research shows a healthy employee is a happier and more productive employee. Everyone should find ways to improve their health whether it is exercise, diet or just going for a walk. What you do is not only beneficial to the department it also benefits you, your family and according to recent news releases your Country. So “Just Do It” for the old Red White and Blue.

Living in very interesting times also describes the past few months when talking about Project Delivery. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 or ARRA put some pressure on our Project Mangers and Preconstruction Staff to have “shovel ready” projects out to construction in a very short period of time. Because of the pavement preservation backlog and Kevin Griffin’s knack of identifying the right projects, the team was able to meet all the timelines that were given. Project Mangers and Preconstruction Staff completed and advertised all projects on the ARRA list for Region One within the defined schedule. Although during the process Paul Egbert was not sure if the projects were coming or going as Kevin would make changes to the project list on an hourly basis. Kevin’s moves resembled Michael Jordan when he would go to dunk the basketball and then change hands at the last second. Studying the master Paul began to anticipate Kevin’s moves with eerie accuracy. From the environmental clearances to the advertising checklist everyone worked like a well oiled machine. OK a few cogs were rusty, but still the machine worked. The ARRA projects combined with our regular scheduled projects created one of the busiest construction seasons that I can remember. Almost all roads in Ogden were either under construction or on the list to be put under construction this year. The large number of construction projects also created lots of Public interest. Vic Saunders the Region Public Information Manager is still very busy answering questions about on going projects. Our goal in Preconstruction is to put out quality projects that keep Vic and our construction folks busy for a long time to come.
I would like take this opportunity to thank everyone in Preconstruction including Judie and Julia for their persistence, hard work and dedication to the many difficult tasks they were given this year. I was very impressed with the high level of professionalism by which everyone in Preconstruction performed. Thanks!