Now, About the Next Project

Beginning last week, I started working at my new project, which is downtown in the Gallery Place area - it's also known locally as Chinatown, although because of gentrification and development the cultural references are few and far between.

Now my daily commute features a walk to the Metro and about 25 minutes on the train, a welcome change from 45 minutes of driving every day.  This post shares photos from both ends of the ride, the gate downtown, and the view of the Masonic Memorial in Alexandria, near our house.

Among the projects I will be working on with the new assignment is the large construction effort on the DC Courthouse campus - as campus style construction remains a theme of this phase of my career.  I'll also be supporting the client on the development of their capital plans and budgets, even though the worries about how the incoming administration will execute on these critical governmental duties is still unclear.

To be back in this part of Washington is a true pleasure for me - about five-years ago, I managed a small project for this client that was part of the groundwork for their current program; and back in the 2004-2005 timeframe I freelanced out of an office I was subletting from a law firm in the area.

(As proof that the internet is forever, on a whim I looked for some of the work I did during that time - this link includes the report from an economic consulting project.  My deliverable begins on page 378.  Although it was written in 2008, among the successes of that report was the identification of the recession that began in late 2007, although economic data had not yet confirmed it.)  

So, here I am again.  Really looking forward to sinking my teeth in the project, and enjoying the neighborhood.  Like I said in yesterday's post, if we focus on one step at a time, eventually the journey will take us somewhere.

The Thing About Projects

"...A project is temporary in that it has a defined beginning and end in time, and therefore defined scope and resources. And a project is unique in that it is not a routine operation, but a specific set of operations designed to accomplish a singular goal."

- Project Management Institute

Speaking professionally, and about my day job to be specific, 2017 has started with a transition for me, making it a very busy time.  It's easy to predict that I'll spend the year juggling a few priorities, especially with the brewery preparing to open in the spring.  For now, I'm planning to do what I've always done when faced with busy times - I'll just hunker down and try to keep moving forward.

I've just completed nearly five years as a construction executive at the Intelligence Community Campus-Bethesda, which we knew as "ICC-B."  Basically a redevelopment project, this effort used a campus design approach to transform a group of six buildings built from the 1940's through the 1980's into a modern office complex.  The early rendering of the design is shown in the graphic at the start of this post; while the final result is slightly modified, and the work on the campus grounds has yet to start, this perspective is pretty similar to what a pedestrian passing by the front of the campus will see.

Now, five years - in my career, that is a pretty significant amount of time to be committed to one project.  My enlistment was only six years, and my stint at one of the large architecture/engineering (A/E) firms was six and a half, but even with those tenures I transferred between efforts every year and a half or so.  I found that I still enjoyed working on the ICC-B project right up to my last day early this month.

There is still design and construction to finish at the project, three or four major efforts that my colleagues are going to see through to completion.  But with two thirds of the occupancy complete, and with tenants in every major building component of the project, it was clearly time for me to move on, and turn it over to other professionals to carry the torch.

In military and intelligence circles, there are traditions for times like these.  The company observed the transition phase by commissioning a "challenge coin," shown in the photo above, and there was a signed memento as well.  As I took my leave, I sent some emails and texts - and received some, including this one, from one of the government leads I worked with:

"...it was great working with you.  The [Program Management Office] wouldn't have been nearly as successful without your time, energy and insight.  We accomplished so much and I learned so much during that period.  Good luck in your future endeavors..."    

To say I learned a lot is an understatement - as I like to say, "I'm an economist, not an engineer."  Even with more than 20 years in the field, working on A/E projects, I'm still learning about the real estate and facilities field.  Every project, even our brewery, has its challenges, and I am not ashamed to say that there's a lot I don't know.

We can't be afraid of moving on.  We're on a journey - there are so many metaphors about the road ahead - we just need to remember to take each step one at a time.  It's the only way to get somewhere.

As seen on... Adventures in the Valley Blog -

Well, almost everywhere I went this weekend, I was greeted by a story that began:

"Howard could not be with us because he was in West Virginia helping Joe and Cooter deliver a hot tub to a trailer."

With such a fine opening statement, I'll let readers go ahead and make up their own post this morning.

Comment Moderation Is Working

Although I have taken a little grief for it from regular posters, this morning I rejected a spam comment - the sole English word was "cleansing."  There's really no telling what these messages a packing, so we'll just keep it safe for now!

Full Comment Moderation is Engaged

Sorry dear readers, but I have had a third incident of spam comments on the blog.  I will continue to clean those up - they are mainly in posts more than six months old at this point, but I had a couple within the last two weeks. 

So to address it, I have turned on full strength moderation, which means you will see a message after you post letting you know the comment is awaiting approval.  I avoided this for two years - it is only the last six weeks that have been a problem.

Demise of National Geo's Adventure Magazine

Last week, on the Outside blog, which is linked in the blog roll in the right hand column, I learned that National Geographic's Adventure magazine is shutting down. I have to confess that at first I was indifferent about this news, but I was interested to see how the journalists that write for Outside reacted to the loss of a competitor (turns out that some of Adventure's editorial staff had worked at Outside in the past), and finally I felt compelled to post a comment.

I wrote, “Some aspects of the magazine had grown on me, mainly gear reviews, but I wasn’t a subscriber," and then I followed up with an excerpt of a July post from this blog:

“I am not a frequent reader of “National Geographic Adventure” magazine. It tends to be a little over the top for my taste – adventure is healthy, but too often this magazine is talking about a safari to Africa, a guided hike to Machu Picchu, or a cruise in Alaska – all trips that cost in the range of $3,000 per person and up.

“I fall squarely in the demographic of their readers, but I am not after one of these “once in a lifetime” excursions that are probably just that because of the cost. I’ll take my adventure a little bit at the time, like biting an apple, thank you very much. Besides, I’ve never been fond of that kind of touring, preferring to come and go as I please, based on research I’ve done ahead of time on my own.”

(For the rest of the post, follow this link.http://hawksbillcabin.blogspot.com/2009/07/nine-secrets-to-longer-life.html - as I was writing the original post, a little black bear strolled through the yard and interrupted me.)

I have passed by this month's edition of the Nat'l Geo Adventure magazine on the newsstand a couple of times. Even since learning it is the last issue, it just doesn't attract me to pick it up. Whether that is because I'm in overload from all the media I consume and I just can't regularly pack one more print outlet into my 18-hours of waking moments, or this one just missed the mark for me, I can't decide.

The other journalists that were posting comments on the Outside blog offered respectful requiems for Adventure, and I began to think maybe I was a bit turgid in my comments. Until this morning, when I took another look. Today there was this comment from "Greg," which echoed my point of view (much more succinctly):

"Well,I prefer Outside. NGA was floating around on the NG brand. Ultimately I don't define the "Adventure Life" as paying thousands for trip and pretending that makes you an athlete."

As seen on ... David Byrne's Journal

So I was reading David Byrne's journal (you can find a link over in the blog roll to the right) and learned that the tour is winding up after a year on the road. Mary and I, and some friends, were lucky to catch the show in DC - a link to that blog post is below, as is a link to the entry on his blog.

It's just my take on it, but David has the future of collaboration all figured out in real time. The latest album, developed in collaboration with Brian Eno, showed how people can work together across the boundaries of time and space.

The process they used for packaging, releasing and marketing the new record is a model for artists of now and the future - and the shows, while doing the traditional combination of promoting new material with a mixture of old, demonstrated how to keep the work fresh and interesting.

• http://journal.davidbyrne.com/2009/08/080309-london-playing-the-building-iii.html

• http://hawksbillcabin.blogspot.com/2008/11/dc-david-byrne-show-118.html

New on the Blogroll - Sneezing Cow

Last week, my main vacation reading consisted of two books by Michael Perry:

• Population: 485 (P.S.)
• Truck: A Love Story (P.S.)

He's a humorist and essayist, and these two books were a great read. The first is about his time as a volunteer first responder in New Auburn, WI; the second is his experience fixing his vintage International Harvester pick-up and other events during a year in the life.

I enjoyed these enough that I checked out his blog, thus the addition to the blogroll, and I am also following him on Facebook.

Cheers!

as seen on Wildlife in Photography: Evan's Black Bear Posts

My fellow H-burg blogger has a series of posts up on his Wildlife in Photography blog, detailing his encounters with black bears over the last few years - link below.

Our area - and Shenandoah National Park in particular - is said to have the highest population density of black bears in the country. If that is a frequent destination for you, it is likely you will encounter one, if you haven't already. In fact, last year, Mary and I ran into a mother and cubs once on a hike near Big Meadow, and then I saw another late in the summer sauntering along Skyline Drive.

Evan's put together a great series of posts - highly recommended! http://wildlifeinphotography.wordpress.com/

Blog Milestone: 5,000 Visits

Just a quick post today on a side note – on Tuesday, this blog passed the 5,000 visits milestone since we began tracking readership in June 2008.

Although it varies from month to month, this averages out to about 20 visits a day (slow months were July and December, at an average of 13 and 16 visits, respectively). On the page view statistic, Hawksbill Cabin readers average about 1.5 pages per visit, which has been consistent over the period we have information for, since last June.

About half the readers are from Luray and Harrisonburg, (thanks to http://www.hbblogs.com/ – readers who aren’t familiar with this aggregator should check it out, because they will be pleasantly surprised by the vibrant community there!). The rest of the readers are folks who know me (family and friends), and then there are those finding the blog through random Google searches.

The Google search finds can be interesting. Last year, after the fire in Stanley, VA, which occurred during the same week two historic buildings burned down in Stanley, England, we had seven or eight visits from there, obviously looking for their local news.

Also, the Old Rag Hike and Half Dome Hike entries generate interest during hiking season. We’re getting hits on the periodic Sherriff Presgraves updates, as well as on Gracie’s canine renal condition (it is comforting to know that others are going through the same thing with their pets, and are sharing information about the experience).

It is a pretty humbling experience to know that folks are finding and reading the blog. And as my friend Brian, would say, “I guess this intro-net thing is going to catch on someday!”

Dropping YouTube Vids

Over the weekend, I decided to drop the vid feeds. I like them and may still use them from time to time, but I suspect that they impacted load times on occasion.

I mainly introduced them during the holiday season and I can promise they'll be back then, if not sooner. Comments and thoughts welcome.

Inauguration Day - a wrap

Here's a final post to go with the new video I've posted. Thanks everyone for keeping an eye on our blog here, and for your very special and important posts, as we experienced the peaceful change in our government once again, and as we celebrate our democracy in this special way we do once every four years.

The first week hasn't been without its shenanigans from the press, comically focusing on so many misdirected and frankly not-newsworthy elements of the Inauguration. The taped music, the flubbed oath.

My own attribution of this kind of comedy is that it started with the Newt era in 1994...it's a failed movement, and it's over. Although there are still the pitiful remarks eminating from the likes of Chris Wallace and Rush Limbaugh. They have nothing new to offer and I hope that their listeners will come around to that fact - and they will, unless they are listening solely for entertainment value.

Getting back to the change, I've dug up this old video of Mick and Keith at the 9-11 concerts. While this event was directed at marking the events of that time, I think the song has a broader connection to us all. It's rarely performed live, but let's keep the Salt of the Earth in our minds and hearts as the change takes hold, it's a big part of what this is all about.

One warning, if you stay with it and watch to the end, there is an f-bomb after the song is over. I know it's there and this is an advisory to you. It's an accurate statement, however, and was meant as a comfort to the audience.

Facebook Experience

We're working through the process of getting the blog put up on Facebook - if you are a member there, check us out.

So far, it's been a great experience checking in there. I've reconnected with several past communities, and looking forward to running into other friends there.

I've posted about it before, but in particular the veterans' group of folks who were stationed with me in Berlin are as close to a fraternity as you can get. Many of them are on the Facebook network. This Thursday we had a virtual reunion - back in the old days, our NCO club, "Silverwings," had Rock 'n' Roll night on Thursdays.

I thought we might try something interesting and announced the return of this event. There were some challenges for all of us learning how to use the various features (I think that is a process we will be going through for some time). But by the end of the evening, we'd had 8 or so of the group check in, post some YouTube videos, tell the same old jokes, and chat. A good time, only the 85-cent heinekens were missing!

On another note, I've added the blog to the Amazon Associates program. So from time to time a "badge" will be included in the blog post, usually related to books, music or films. As with the Google Adsense ads in the right column, any revenues associated with either of these programs will be donated to animal rescue charities, such as the Page County Shelter, Lost Dogs, ASPCA, other others.

Thoughts on ... Canine Renal Disease

I hesitate to write this post - while the blog is meant to journalize experiences, and is certainly personal, once I make this entry I'll have started down a path revisiting this topic until a final post sometime.

(May 2009 update: Gracie is still with us and doing well. If you are finding this post from a search engine, click the "canine renal" label below for follow-up posts. My wife has put together a series of posts on our experience dealing with the disease, and they are in the process of being published - clicking the label will take you to them.)

(August 2009 update: Gracie is still with us. We are managing the canine renal failure, which requires quite a bit of prescription medicine, careful attention to diet, and plenty of vet care. Knowing that she has this condition keeps us attentive to subtle changes. It can be expensive; we're very lucky to have the resources to manage this. If you click the "canine renal" label below, you'll be able to resource a good 15 to 20 posts on the topic.)

(September 2009 update: We had to put our beloved Gracie to sleep on September 7. Given time, we'll add a few more, backdated posts about our final few visits to the vet, and the care we were giving her at the time. She was a real trooper through it all. We were very lucky to have had so much time with her, and we all - Mary, me, and Sofie Dawg, miss Gracie very much.)

This week we learned that Gracie is very likely in chronic renal failure, which means her kidneys aren't clearing all the toxins from her body. She has progressed from a mild stage of the disease which was diagnosed last Fall. About three weeks ago, she started boycotting her food, and we thought, okay - she really doesn't like the food (a special diet we had been treating the early stage with), and the battle to try and get her to eat it isn't worth it.

So we went to the vet for alternatives. In the meantime they tested her again - she lost 5 pounds over the last month and although she was always pushing it on being just a tad overweight and this brings her in line with typical border collie weights - it was an abrupt loss and concerned us.

We found another version of the food (wet - of course - the previous one was dry), and the vet confirmed that her condition had progressed in a positive direction yesterday. This dog is still a nut, driven like the border collie she is, constantly trying to tempt us with her toys, as always. She even tried to convince a Page County Deputy to play football with her over the weekend!

But the simple matter is she is 14 and her body is starting to wear out. Stage 2 renal failure is the final stage, and the vet tells us it could be weeks (! given the spirits she is in this is hard to believe) but it could be months. In any case, the news was that it is likely that we'll lose her this year.

She's been with us a long time and we've been blessed to have her by us over the years - she's been really special to us the whole way. And meanwhile, Sofie the Chow Mix still amazes everyone, thanks to her hybrid vigor!

Looking ahead at 2009

On Saturday, Mary and I went up on Hawksbill Mountain - here's a snapshot from the summit.

It's the time of year where we think about change - what's next year going to be like; how am I going to be a better person, a better world citizen; things like that.

I've never been one to set down a list, but I usually have a general concept of things I want to try and do during the year - things I know I need to and want to prepare for, and some of them turn into plans, or work themselves out. So here are a couple of thoughts about that this year - hopefully I'll tread the thin line between trite and corny with this post!

In 2009, beginning with the inauguration and Obama's new presidency, we'll begin to see change and the reemergence of American leadership because of the new direction and reversal of some policies that have genuinely failed, and frankly, dishonored our great country. And sometime during the late summer or fall, we will emerge from this recession, already a year old and longer than average.

Between these two events, in the US, I think a larger transition will be shaped or even take place, and I hope it is one that impacts our lifestyles - moving us from net consumers to stewards, while allowing us to continue to prosper, and even grow - that'd be my hope.

For me professionally, this is my second year at AECOM, and it should be the breakthrough year if typical patterns hold. I already have a speaking engagement lined up in March, and a proposal for a paper was accepted for publication also in the spring. The company is still digesting about a dozen mergers from the last two or three years, creating what my friend Dennis calls an unfrozen moment. I want to create a practice that fosters collaboration with some similar work going on in offices in San Francisco, Denver, Roanoke, DC, and Alexandria. So the plan here is to press ahead, while things seem to be working (and there are at least two United routes in that group - maybe we'll accumulate the remaining miles for a European vacation while I am at it!).

Socially, I want to stay in touch with so many friends from the past that have come back in touch, especially my veterans group from Berlin. We can tell some bawdy stories and I revel in that, but each of us has grown to be real contributors to this great country in our own way. I'm proud of this, and look forward to celebrating a reunion with one or more of these friends this year.

I want to deliver better on my responsibilities as a husband and life partner to Mary and in our home - both here in Alexandria and at the Hawksbill Cabin. There's always some room for improvement in this department. And to my family, making the contributions I'm called to make along the way in a reliable way, with sound judgement.

Through this blog and any other medium I find that facilitates it, I am going to celebrate the community we've found in Luray. We've really come to appreciate our new friends there. There are at least four projects on my mind with the cabin (Mary has more, I am sure) - so that's another thing that will keep us coming back to that community.

Last one - I'd like to get more exercise. I'm talking with Chris about a two-day winter hike on the Massanutten Trail that recently was published in Blue Ridge Outdoors; and Henry is in touch about running the Big Sur 10K - out in Carmel, CA - in the fall. Both will take preparation and planning - and achieving either will mean I've gotten more exercise than I did in 2008.

So for the few readers who've made it this far...what are your plans for 2009? I welcome your comments!

70!

It's a quick note today to observe my dad's 70th birthday. I hope you guys are having a great day in Charlotte!

Meanwhile, here are a couple of items I thought you might enjoy, dad:

RVAH-12 "Speartips"
Established July 1, 1965 at NAS Sanford, FL with RA-5C. 4 combat cruises to Vietnam, 5 cruises to Mediterranean. Disestablished July 2, 1979.

...and from http://www.bobjellison.com/, photos of the aircraft in Sanford and Key West.

Update w/Photo from Manassas Rally

My friend Dennis and his family were some of the lucky 90K or so to get out to the Obama rally in Manassas last night. Tip o' the hat for this photo!

Click to enlarge!

Election Day is Here

We live across the street from the polling place in our neighborhood in Alexandria - the Maury School. At 6am, I walked out for the paper, and saw the lines stretched out around the block. This wasn't a surprise, as they were that long in 2004, and our neighborhood is highly participatory.

By 7, the lines were half as long; there are polling places that will have longer lines in Alexandria. Mary is planning to walk over there with our old umbrellas later, just in case the weather becomes inclement (for Brian M.: That means 'rainy') - and other neighbors are as well.

We put up our July 4 bunting and banners in a last display of support for all the line-standers (and to complement the always-on, lit sign of a very Presidential Barack Obama the neighbor across the street has had up since August).

I have news that there will be a welcoming party over at the Lyles-Crouch school at 10:30, that is where Mark Warner will vote at approximately that time.

I am still looking for a place to stop in and watch the early results...thinking back to 2004, when we went to the post-election event for Jim Moran (our Congressional Representative) things started getting quiet soon after the local news was finished. At that event, Mary took all responsibility for jinxing John Kerry, causing his loss. So she won't be going with me this evening.

Get out and vote. Today.

From Monday's Washington Post: Bob Schaefer's mother apparently admonished him to vote on election day, "It will make you feel big and strong!"

Be sure to be respectful of the poll officials, who are mostly volunteers, and comply with the new law about campaign gear in the polling place. Be sure your vote counts, no matter what.

Thanks to family and friends in Florida, NC, and Virginia for their news about early voting. For those who have yet to vote, please keep the faith and brave the lines. You are participating in something very big, that will make history, and it is important that you are part of it.

Hoping to join the election eve and election night festivities in Alexandria, Hawksbill Cabin is taking a day off Wednesday and will be back Thursday with a new Nature Post.

Special: Barack in H-burg, from Valley Observer

The link below will take you to Evan Dyson's blog, with a link to photos of the Barack campaign stop in H-burg on Wednesday.

http://valleyobserver.com/2008/10/29/slideshow-barack-obama-in-harrisonburg/

Evan and a number of others are part of the valley blogging community that is aggregated on hbblogs.com -