Category Archives: Political

Major Highway Transportation Infrastructure Construction Rages On In Denver Metro Area During COVID 19 Coronavirus Governor Polis

Transportation Infrastructure Construction Rages On In Denver Metro Area During COVID 19 Coronavirus

Governor Jared Polis of Colorado has included provisions in the Colorado Stay-At-Home that permits public infrastructure construction.

Thank you Governor Polis for keeping us at work during this crisis!  Construction personnel are able to achieve sufficient social distancing requirements out in the field.

Governor Jared Polis Young

I-25 Widening Project from Castle Rock to Monument

https://www.codot.gov/projects/i25-south-gap

 

Central I-70 Project from I-25 to the East

https://www.codot.gov/projects/i70east

 

C-470 Express Lanes Project from I-25 to the West

https://www.codot.gov/projects/C470ExpressLanes

Why Left Handed People Are Cooler and Smarter Than Right Handed People

Left handed people smarter trevor millican

My name is Trevor Millican and I am left handed.  This implies that I do just about everything with my left hand.  The only duties that I perform with my right hand are: using a mouse, and playing a guitar.  I use my right hand for those because everybody in my six-person family is right handed except for my older sister.  Therefore, all guitars and computer mice in the home were designed for right-handed people.

According to an article on the American Psychological Association’s website, approximately 8%-15% of human beings on planet Earth are left handed.  It is widely thought that a person who is left handed will typically and predominantly utilize the right hemisphere of their brain.  According to an article on TheThinkingBusiness.com, “The right brain is the creative brain, and is responsible for rhythm, spatial awareness, color, imagination, daydreaming, holistic awareness and dimension”.   So, if left-handed people have cerebral dominance in their right hemisphere, they will be cooler than people who are right handed and predominantly utilize the left hemisphere of their brain.  Now, the left hemisphere of the brain is known to be responsible for all things logical.  This includes sequential thought process, reasoning, rationale, and etc.

 

Here are some of the most amazing left-handed people in history:

Left handed people smarter trevor millican

 

trevor_millican

South Coast AQMD Vote on OC Beach Fire Ring Ban Today – PHOTOS Newport Beach, Huntington Beach

AQMD fire ring vote trevor millican

As a resident of Newport Beach, I have heard quite a bit of buzz regarding the potential ban imposed on fire rings on beaches in all of Orange County.  Many Cities argue that banning the fire rings would cause significant loss of revenue associated with visitors who will no longer visit the beach without their fires.  On the flip side, nearby residents of the beaches argue that the fire pits are a nuisance due to the obstruction to the air that the pits cause.

Today, the AQMD board will vote on the proposal to ban the fire rings on Orange County beaches.  Here is a photo taken from the AQMD offices today:

AQMD fire ring vote trevor millican

Know Your Role: The Millennials (Generation Y, ages 18-29)

An article on the Pew Research Center Publications website calls the Millennials – the generation of which I am a part –  “Confident, Connected and Open To Change” (click to read article).  The article creates a persona for the Millennials with the following attributes: more ethnically and racially diverse than previous generations, the age group hardest hit by the recession (37% of us unemployed), President Obama supporting, and less religious than previous generations.

As a Millennial, what’s your story?

Photograph:  Coworkers (and fellow Millennials) and I posing during a company picnic.

What Do Civil Engineers Do? The Marketing, Political and Business Management Side of Things

“What do you do for a living?”  is one of the most common questions that I’m asked when I meet a new person.  The response that I deliver, “Civil engineering” 9 times out of 10 says “MATHEMATICS” to the inquirer.  To many civil engineers – and engineers in general – mathematics and technical know-how means the world.

http://www.bls.gov/k12/build05.htm

Other civil engineers take a different approach to their profession.  Some pursue a career in the marketing and project management of civil engineering projects right from the start of their career.  This implies that instead of preparing highway and bridge construction documents (plans, project specifications and construction cost estimates) they are out at professional organization group meetings mingling with potential clients in order to establish relationships that lead to new project work.

Now don’t get me wrong – people with strong technical skills and deliver a great design or report to a client are marketing without ever leaving their offices by creating return clients who are convinced that they have a trustworthy bunch to hire for the next project.

Even still, some civil engineers choose to play the role of politician during their career.  These politically-savvy folks attend public meetings, city council meetings and more.  While at these meetings, the political CE will be providing information and knowledge to the public and government agency staff in order to educate them on the political repercussions and benefits associated with civil engineering projects.

For example, the Orange County Transportation Authority (OCTA) plans to widen Interstate 405 from Costa Mesa north to Westminster in California.  OCTA has hosted city council meetings at the Cities of Costa Mesa, Fountain Valley and Westminster – those impacted by the I-405 widening project.

http://www.octa.net/weeklyupdate/weekly_update_061812.html

The project plans to acquire hundreds of acres of land to accommodate the widened freeway – you can imagine the amount of footwork required by civil engineers to educate the public, city and agency officials and others impacted by the project.  Huge outreach efforts are required to educated business owners who’s operations will be affected by ongoing construction activities and the substantial impact had on vehicular traffic.

Private Sector Jobs Report: From January 2012 to June 2012 – Hiring, unemployment, recovery

In 2012 we’ve seen the number of new private sector jobs decline each month.  The decline in job numbers has caused the stock market to plunge just about every month since January, though unemployment has kept a steady 8.0% or so.

Here’s an inventory of the private sector job numbers in 2012:

January 2012:  243,000 JOBS ADDED    source:  http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0212/72409.html

February 2012:  227,000 JOBS ADDED   source: http://money.cnn.com/2012/03/09/news/economy/jobs_report_unemployment/index.htm

March 2012:  120,000 JOBS ADDED     source:  http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/07/business/economy/us-added-only-120000-jobs-in-march-report-shows.html?pagewanted=all

April 2012: 63,000 JOBS ADDED   source:  http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/06/01/may-jobs-report-2012_n_1561315.html

May 2012: 80,000 JOBS ADDED   source:  http://money.cnn.com/2012/07/05/news/economy/jobs-report-unemployment/

(May 2012 REVISED TO: 69,000 JOBS ADDED   source:  http://www.businessweek.com/news/2012-07-06/companies-using-overtime-temporary-staff-to-meet-u-dot-s-dot-demand)

June 2012:  80,000 JOBS ADDED:   source:  http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/07/06/us-stocks-june-2012-jobs-report_n_1655102.html