The buildings in the back are apartment buildings. One of which I’m living in for the summer. 

“If you come across an unidentified object…land mine…do not touch!”  Yes, this was a major point discussed at the hour long safety training class all personnel are required to attend before admittance into the job site. That’s right, for the next three (3) months I will be working on a site formally used by the military for equipment testing.

In it’s place a facility more than 2.5 million square feet in size that will house over 8000 employees. The structure, also referred to as a “Super Structure,” is engineered to withstand any attack currently known to man. Basically, if a plane flies into the third floor (or any floor for that matter), it will not affect the floors above or below… 

My role for a portion of the project (roughly three (3) months) is that of a Project Engineer. Along with about a dozen, or so, other Project Engineers we will be primarily working with various design professionals at finalizing the design of the facility. For instance, the plans for phase four (4) - sequence H called for the installation of grade beams in a portion of the foundation that were too short for the width of the foundation. It is the Project Engineer’ job to confirm the discrepency, work with the Army Corp of Engineers for alternative beams, and coordinate change orders.

After the first day, it is clear to me that this will be a challenging but fun and exciting summer. 

I landed early this afternoon into Arlington, Virginia where I will reside for the next three (3) months. The first order of business after unpacking (so I guess it’s the second order of business) was the purchase of a wireless router.  

I just gotta have internet!

So I postponed my weekend plans at the office so I could spend time with the family and friends. Now that it’s Monday, I’ve had no choice but to hit the ground running in order to make up for lost time.

Time Management Tip #1:

Create a “To-Do” list and go over tomorrows activities before you leave, today. This way, you can use the least productive part of your day planning and the most productive part of the day being productive.

Good Day!

Summer has officially begun. My brother and sister were both in town this weekend - what better way to kick off the summer.   Friday evening and early Saturday morning we spent partying at Dublin Square. Today we spent the day together in preparation for my grandparents anniversary party tomorrow afternoon. 

I was very happy to spend the weekend together given that all of us will be spending the summer many thousand miles away from one another. My sister will be in Mexico volunteering her services at a local medical clinic, my brother is relocating to Maine to continue his residency, and I will be in the District completing my construction internship.

Hope you all have a good summer!

I participated in the first company softball game of the season. It was great to take a break from my daily responsibilities and simply have fun with friends and coworkers. 

On a different note, training is coming along. Last week I peddled over 80 miles. This week I’m off to slow start with only 30 done. Guess I better step it up. 

There were to many head-winds this morning to continue bike training so I decided to get an early start on my studying. I only have two (2) exams next week - Monday and Tuesday. I might end up taking one on Wednesday evening if I find out my grade in the particular class is such that it would beneficial to take it.

So I’m sitting here in the crowded Stoddard Street Starbucks reading my Contracts textbook. I’m more particularly zeroing in on the AGC 655, a contract between Contractor and Subcontractor. It’s this type of document that makes me think about one important question, “WHY CAN’T WE JUST WORK TOGETHER WITHOUT CONFLICT?” 

Maybe I’ll make that my goal once I graduate. 

Bike training today. 

Klan residence.

Eleven (11) miles.

Rough terrain. 

Leah says hi.

Goodbye.

The site tour of the new MSUFCU Corporate Headquarters was phenomenal. The Construction Management company, Workstage, has done a truly amazing job from every aspect of the project so far. The site was very neatly organized from tool/material storage to phase structure. As for the building itself, it is oriented and glazed in such a way that they will be utilizing natural lighting and only need to use actual flourescent lighting at night. The building will be LEED Silver candidate when it is completed. TRULY AMAZING!

Unfortunately I don’t have any pictures to show you as my attention was focused on the building itself. You’ll just have to visit the site.

I picked up the bike I will be training with and using for the Dalmac.  Isn’t it gorgeous?

I’ve only been able to ride it once this week as the weather has not allowed anything beyond…