Do Not Hold Doors

Well, it has been almost six months since my last post here when I chided myself for neglecting this blog..but ohhhwell. I've always been horrible when it comes to writing...I seem to always procrastinate no matter what the situation is. I'm just glad I somehow seem to be a little better when writing on technical matters, things just blurt out easier without the need for me to go on a three-hour Wikipedia tour.

I guess that's one of the things I didn't realize before going into this co-op (internship); there is a lot of writing that happens before anything actually gets done. There are proposals to clients outlining our past achievements, our expertise within the field and a price is put on the work we can do. Then most projects require some sort of feasibility study to research and report to the client what solutions there are, what we think the best option is and what that option would mean to their budget and future plans. Once the client decides to go ahead with a project there needs to be specifications drawn and written up that illustrate and explain exactly what it is we need for that particular project. These specifications go on to contractors who "bid" on the project, the client and the engineer then get together with the contractors to decide, based on many factors, which contractor gets the job. After all this is done, is when the actual construction can begin (if the city approves of everything, all permits are done and there isn't any community NIMBY-ism). So for the most part, my co-op has consisted of me writing a lot of first drafts of all these parts with a couple of site visits and some interny things for me to do too.

Anyway, sorry for this exciting post but just felt like explaining a little of what it is I actually do with CDM. I've really enjoyed my time working with them and still have another month or so left on my co-op before summer vacation and the fall semester start. The entire experience has given me a good idea of what it means to have to drive to work everyday, deal with traffic and the shame that comes with a larger carbon footprint, not to mention the gas prices. I guess I'm just a city boy who's too used to taking the train wherever he needs to go...though I like it bettter that way.