Today

Today I had a new experience. Today, I WROTE an update to the subdivision regulations for one of the towns I work with. Not only did I write the update, it is a completely new section of the regulations, I got to choose where to put it. My boss agreed with my placement. She agreed with the design guidelines I had concluded were the best for this particular component of residential roadway design. Sure, we went through several rounds of rewording, rearranging, etc... but the information was mine, the guidelines that developers in this town are going to be required to follow for the next 20+ years are ones that I wrote. It's a bit intimidating! Think about it, if this design criteria, when put into practice, turns out to be less effective than anticipated or more of a bother than it is worth it ultimately will reflect on me and my engineering capabilities.

I think too much. I'm really quite happy about this. It is a new undertaking I had not yet experienced, and I really enjoyed doing it. I had to do quite a bit of research for it, and I love doing research. I had to work with someone to get the final wording and arrangement figured out, and I like working with someone instead of it being alone. What's better is that because I had done the research for it, I was confident that I knew my designs criteria were appropriate and was able to make recommendations and feel like I was a peer to my boss instead of a peon that serves as an over glorified secretary at times. We actually discussed the merits and drawbacks of certain components, she took my advice on several things, but had experience that lent to some changes on others, and I was grateful for that. It felt so good to feel as though I was competent and that I did a good job on this. Too bad Monday will bring the same old grind back.

Thanks for letting me share my day with you!

Hugs & Love