Crazy Week</h1> <article> <h1>Crazy Week</h1> <p>razorhack — Thu, 27 May 2010 15:11:00 GMT</p> <p>Wow, it has been more than a year since I last posted. To those depending on me to "keep it fresh," I apologize. I'm sure I have plenty of excuses, but probably no good reasons. Anyway, this week has been, and continues to be, crazy! We interviewed three people yesterday, and we are trying to set up interviews for others. All three that came to the office yesterday are well qualified - they all have Masters degrees (two chemical engineers and one civil engineer) - and I enjoyed meeting with them, but the process sure does eat up a day. I am anxious to see who might join our team. Today we have an ISO audit, an internal "brownbag" training session, and all company conference call from the CEO, and we have another executive in our office all day (partially for the ISO audit). In case you don't know what "ISO" is: International Standards Organization. To be ISO certified means that you have systems, procedures, policies, etc. in place to ensure that everyone in the organization provides "excellent work" with the "highest degree of integrity," that we "continually evolve so that our services and products are increasingly effective," and that we "continually improve" the very system we are working under. However, it is soon to be all a memory because tomorrow I'm taking off...to fish, have lunch with my daughter (her last day of school), and prepare for and have a picnic with my Sunday School class...and then Saturday we are going to Silver Dollar City and White Water in Branson, MO!</p> </article> <article> <h1>Missing Brandon</h1> <p>razorhack — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 21:21:00 GMT</p> <p>Today is the start of the first week in Little Rock without Brandon Mik. Brandon worked for the Little Rock office for more than a year, but he moved to our Albuquerque office last week. We will miss Brandon, and we wish him the best. We know that his transfer will be a successful growth opportunity for him.</p> </article> <article> <h1>A day to breathe easy</h1> <p>razorhack — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 20:21:00 GMT</p> <p>Yesterday was a big push to finalize a huge draft application. So today there is almost no stress. I'm just cleaning up a few things that slipped a little because of the big project and writing a few cost proposals. It's good that this day came. We are starting to run short on work. Hopefully these proposals will generate projects to keep us busy for a while longer.</p> <p> Also, today is the first full day with a new president. It's sort of like a birthday - I don't really feel any differently.</p> </article> <article> <h1>"Travelin' Man"</h1> <p>razorhack — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 01:21:00 GMT</p> <p>You're probably too young to even know the band Lynyrd Skynyrd, much less one of their songs. I don't listen to LS anymore, but I've recently been reminded of their song "Travelin' Man." The only part of the song that describes me is the title; the song is about a much different type of travelin' man. Regardless, lately I have been a travelin' man. Two weeks ago I had a day trip to West Memphis (about 2.5 hours one-way from the office), last Monday was a day trip to Blytheville (3.5 hours), last Wednesday I drove to Oklahoma City (5.5 hours) and then drove back on Thursday, and tonight I'm in Columbus, MS (6 hours). I go back home Thursday after two days of meetings at a paper mill and then a half day meeting with the state agency in Jackson, MS (the drive home will be about 5 hours). I was even supposed to fly out of Jackson on Friday for a day trip to Washington, DC, but that got cancelled - thankfully. This amount of travel is abnormal, especially right before Christmas, and it is about to wear me out. I'll be able to recoup once this week is over. The next two weeks include the Christmas and New Years holidays, and I'm taking some extra days off so that I'll only work two days per week. See you in January!</p> </article> <article> <h1>Looking back on my first 1/2 year</h1> <p>RagazzaDCitta — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 03:28:00 GMT</p> <span style="font-weight:bold;">My first ½ year</span><br /><br />When I read other people’s blogs, I notice that there are obvious differences among offices across the country. Each office is unique in its culture and people. The Dallas EC is made up of many young consultants who just graduated from school within a couple of years. I certainly like it that my first job in the real world is in a young and energetic environment I didn’t have a clear idea of what I’ll be doing when I accepted the job. I thought I’d be running models by clicking some buttons and reading books of regulations. That’s totally not a portrait of my regular day. Some of the excerpts of my first ½ year: walking through a plant where the air smells like ammonia, working for a few days in the colorful Albuquerque office, spending a whole day looking at many piping and instrumentation diagrams, staring at the computer trying to draw accurate buildings for models, getting excited in checking out model run results, doing millions of calculations using Excel, reading hundreds of MSDS and being shocked by some nasty species in chemicals, and sitting in on my colleagues’ brownbags while savouring my home-cooked meal. <br /><br />What I enjoy most in the past half year is the people I work with and the flexibility we get. We don’t have to come in the office at a certain time and we can make up a couple of hours if we go for doctor appointments, car maintenance, etc (not to say we can do this every day). And of course, with our jobs we are always learning. There are always things we do not know about. New regulations/guidance keep coming. Tricky problems that we need to tackle for our clients. Although I have not been involved with projects of high complexity, I know we do have a smart and dedicated group here<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">What everyone is thinking about? The financial crisis…</span><br /><br />Since I started my job back in May, Trinity has opened a couple of offices. Whenever I heard of an opening, I’m pretty impressed that our company is expanding quickly despite the current financial crisis. This is not to say that we are immune to the crisis. But we are doing better than the norm. How are we affected? As a pretty new employee, I recently noticed that one of our client’s stocks has dropped to 10 percent of its level a year ago. When our client limits their projects, our business is going to be limited to a certain extent. Yet, this is not the time for worry. I'm curious to see how long it takes for the economy to bounce back. <br /><br /> </article> <article> <h1>I have my own office now - how cool is that?</h1> <p>aerogirl — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 15:34:00 GMT</p> <p>Okay, so it has been approximately 10 months since my last blog which is truly pitiful. However, I have made great use of that time by opening Trinity's newest office in Indianapolis! This definitely tops the list of cool things I have done since I have been at Trinity (approaching four years now). I am not quite sure where to start, but here it goes...</p> <p>In areas where Trinity feels like they have untapped market share, they look at whether it is feasible to open an office in the area. So far, Indiana has been served mostly out of the Chicago office with some help on the southern end from the Kentucky office. When the company made the decision to open a new office in Indy, I wasn't sure that a new office was the right fit for me. I had really always considered staying in one of the bigger existing offices and was not sure I quite had the entrepreneurial spirit to head out there into the unknown. However, after much discussion with the family, I decided to go ahead and jump off that cliff. So for the last six months or so I have split my time between wrapping things up with my existing clients in St. Louis and doing A LOT of sales here in Indianapolis. It has been extremely exhausting spending so much time on sales, since it is definitely out of my comfort zone. However I could not have asked for better experience than this crash course in sales. I have had the opportunity to work with some of the more senior people within Trinity and learn from their sales experience. So, what does my day look like as a new office manager? Well, quite a bit of them so far have been doing somewhat mundane things like looking for office space, setting up the computer network and printer (with a lot of help from others, since I am not quite as computer savy as some), and working on a budget for next year. However, the majority of my time has been spent doing regulatory update luncheons throughout the state, learning and teaching the Indiana Air Permitting course, doing sales calls, and trying to come up with a sales plan for 2009. Really challenging stuff for me, since a lot of it is WAY out of my comfort zone. I am learning a lot though, so I am grateful for the opportunity.</p> <p>One really interesting thing about opening a new office is that you are often working with only one other person from Trinity Although I was not in a large Trinity office in St.Louis, I at least had a few people to choose from when I wanted to chat! Good thing is though, that the other person in the Indianapolis office and I get along well and are having a great time exploring downtown eateries during our lunch hour! </p> <p> </p> </article> <article> <h1>Ciao!</h1> <p>RagazzaDCitta — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 03:13:00 GMT</p> <p>Hello all! My first post finally!! </p><p>I remembered reading the blogs on 56stories last year around November when I was researching about Trinity. At that time, I told myself that I'd write one if I got a job here. So here it is, I'm writing on 56stories!</p><p>I'm the newest hire at Trinity's Dallas Environmental Consulting (Dallas EC). Dallas is the headquarter so we have lots of other folks like computing support and accounting people in our big and nice office. I've been with Trinity for 5 months as a consultant. I'm not gonna talk about my job in my first post but I can say that I'm very happy working here. </p><p>My background: I had a BS in Environmental Sciences from the University of Virginia and a Master in Meteorology (more precisely atmospheric sciences) from Penn State. I'm originally from Hong Kong and have been in the States for 7 years. In Dallas EC, we have a good mix of engineers and meteorologists. Surprise surprise, I don't know anything more about weather forecasting than most of you and I don't actually need to know about it for my job. What is important though, is to understand the underlying principles of atmospheric dispersion modeling that I learned quite a bit in my undergrad and grad courses. </p><p>Besides working 40 hours of week, I enjoy shopping in fancy malls (you'll understand if you go to Hong Kong) and traveling. My latest plan for traveling is to celebrate my 10th anniversary of visits by revisiting the same place. This Christmas I'm going to visit Tokyo and next summer I hope to go to London again. </p><p> Yes, now that I've started this blog, I have to keep writing more. I shall tell you about my job in my next post :D<br /></p><p> </p> </article> <article> <h1>The Transition</h1> <p>EATER86 — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 15:10:00 GMT</p> <p>Transitioning from a full-time undergrad student to a full-time employee was pretty smooth. I began my Trinity career in May of this year as a part-time intern, taking multiple trips from school (University of California, Irvine) to work on any given day in order to squeeze in as many 'billable' hours as I could. Upon graduation, I was taken on as a full-time hire. Needless to say, there really wasn't a 'transitional period' for me. Most of the time I'm happy, and proud to have a stable job so early in life. But there are those days when I get invited to "social gatherings" and declined to attend because doing emissions calculations for a resin production facility while hugging the office toilet would not impress office managers much. I was one of those students where my social and academic life were both given top priority. Ok who am I kidding. The social aspect of college was what took up the biggest chunk of my life for the last four years, and suddenly declining invitations was very new to me. Having to wake up at 7am everyday to get in to work by 8am five days a week was also new, since I never took nor attended classes before 11am. Yea I know that guys have it lucky in the morning and only need a fraction the time compared to the gals to get ready in the morning. That's the guys extra hour of the day which I usually spend sleeping or reading Maxim. Lucky me.</p><p>Thinking that I've already been with Trinity for five months is pretty ridiculous because it sure doesn't feel like five months. Being the youngest (I'm still learning how to avoid "Free Candy" signs spray-painted on a rusty '96 Dodge cargo van) and most recently hired consultant in the office tends to play tricks on my mind, making me think that everyday is my first day.</p><p>It's the business lunch I attended yesterday with BP's Environmental Co-ordinator (Long Beach), and the week-long site visits (I'll be in Colorado for a whole week next week doing some compliance task management) that reminds me how much I've learned in the past 5 months. Trinity tough me more in the past five months than California school system has in 16-17 years. Big surprise.</p><p>All in all, it's been a great start for me, and I can't wait to start getting my hands dirty on some AB-32 related projects.<br /></p> </article> <article> <h1>I'm Dizzy</h1> <p>razorhack — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 13:50:00 GMT</p> <p>Monday I was golfing in a client-sponsored tournament (my team won second place with a 55!), yesterday I worked on five different modeling projects, and today I'm preparing course material for our newest class "Advanced Air Permitting Techniques." If I could squeeze in a plant site visit and a meeting with the state agency I'll have run the gamut in one week!</p> </article> <article> <h1>Travel, not travail</h1> <p>M1NARET5 — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 22:39:00 GMT</p> <p>So, I've been busy lately. Now that I'm in Austin, there is a big need for me to travel more for 3 reasons:</p> <ol> <li> <div>Austin is the most central location in TX, and it's home to the state capitol as well as the main office of the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ). Therefore, all the other offices in TX ask us Austin folk (all two of us Consultants) to run to the TCEQ to do file searches. There are enough stacks of papers and microfilm/microfiche to make your head explode. But it gets you out of the office, so it's not all bad. </div></li> <li> <div>Everyone in Dallas and Houston is really busy, to the point where they don't have time to go the places they want/need to go. Plus, as a Consultant, my time is cheaper than any supervisors'. So when there's a conference or a project that requires travel, it's easier to send me than someone else. And as I mentioned, Austin is more centrally located, so most places in TX are easily driveable from here.</div></li> <li> <div>I have received more responsibility lately because I have more experience now, and I'm in a smaller office that requires a greater workload from each member. Plus, I like to travel as long as it's not constant.</div></li></ol> <p>Anyways, let's see...Two weeks ago I got put on two fairly large projects, both with the prospect of a site visit. So I began planning car rentals, hotels, seeing if I knew any friends, etc. Turns out I only really needed to make one of those visits (too bad I had to miss out on that roaring good time in Texarkana), which freed me up to help with recruiting here in Austin at UT. So I came back on a Wednesday morning from the Houston area smelling like formaldehyde (Yes, I showered, but I had to wear the same shirt - and it didn't really smell at all, I was simply trying to convey the immediacy of events, gosh!) and began talking to students. Then I hear that I have to run to TCEQ to make A LOT of copies of permit applications for a Dallas client. I also learn that because someone is busy in Dallas, he can't attend a Seminar the following week, so it would be prudent for someone, ANYone to go in his stead. Like me!</p> <p>Then comes the weekend. On the weekend, I went to ACL (Austin City Limits Music Festival) and yes, it was amazing. But a funny thing happens when you're an Air Quality Compliance Consultant - you begin to notice the quality of the air...Needless to say, after only one day of having hundreds of thousands of feet stepping all over Zilker Park, the place became a dust bowl. It literally made me sick. People were walking around with dust masks and bandanas covering their mouths and noses, because if you didn't, you'd have black snot and a mean cough. There was a PM (particulate matter) problem for sure. Anyways, we all survived and had a great time. I bought too many CDs.</p> <p>On Sunday night, after ACL, I drove down to San Antonio (where the conference was) to stay with a friend. I know SA pretty well, seeing as how I grew up 35 miles away, so I knew my way around. I was attending a Texas Aggregate and Concrete Association (TACA) Environmental Seminar. It was pretty interesting, and I learned a lot more about the Aggregates industry (I've only really worked with lime manufacturers, which is still aggregates, but fairly different than these folks). Moreover, I learned how to interact with other representatives and potential clients. Did I win anyone? No. I did exchange some cards though, and I got Trinity's name out there. That's just as important. Now I'm back in Austin and settling down some.</p> <p>The point of this entry is to show you that yes, Trinity does afford you the opportunity to travel if that's something you're interested in. I know I was/am. It can at times be stressful if you have too much going on. But thus far, I have found it to be at all times rewarding. It keeps you busy, and reminds you how varied and interesting our clients are. Anywho, here's me in Baytown, TX with one of the formaldehyde reactors just over my left shoulder, and a cooling tower adjacent to that (the big tall thing). To my right is a BDO tank that feeds the reactors, and above my head is essentially a series of heat exchange systems. Also allow me to assuage your fears: No, that's not pollutant being spewed in the air, it's steam. </p> <p>~ttfn</p> <p> <a href="http://56stories.com/blogs/m1naret5/IMG_3255_v2.JPG"></a></p> </article> <article> <h1>Wastewater Permits!</h1> <p>envirograd — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 22:06:00 GMT</p> <p>Yes, you heard it right! Traditionally, Trinity has been an environmental consultancy which focuses on "air" issues; however, ever so often we get requests for non-air work. Since a lot of the consulting staff at Trinity has years of multi-media permitting and compliance experience, its not difficult to find someone who can complete the "non-traditional" projects. Recently, we completed and submitted to TCEQ, not one but two wastewater permits! I'm excited about it since as an environmental engineering grad student, I took classes in all the different aspects of environmental permitting and compliance (haz wastes, wastewater, air, fresh water, stormwater, etc.) Even as I was interviewing with Trinity for the position of a consultant two and a half years back, the thought that I might not get an opportunity to utilize my knowledge and work in fields of environmental engineering other than air was niggling at my mind. However, now I realize that I should not have worried! Since I joined Trinity, I have worked on several multi-media projects. Last to last year, I got an opportunity to help with industrial waste (haz and non-haz) and wastewater permitting/compliance at a site for a couple of months. Later on, I also got opportunities to work on TRI, Tier II, and RMP for several clients.</p><p>Coming back to the wastewater permits, I'd like to acknowledge the efforts of one of our new consultants at the Corpus Office who assisted me with the permit applications and continues to do so with TCEQ permits review and negotiations; thanks, Raghu! <br /></p><p> </p><p> </p> </article> <article> <h1>Path to Knowing it all - Really!</h1> <p>Sid — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 02:15:00 GMT</p> <p>Ever so often, one goes through one's work without fully understanding or absorbing what its really offering.. then one fine day, in a seemingly esoteric conversation, you realize you know so much more about things you never thought you'd have the slightest clue about! </p><p>Okay, heres some background first! For the past five months, I have been working on this HUGE project for an Oil and Gas Company that has operations in several parts of the world. I say huge, not just in terms of revenue or value for the client, but also because it was a huge effort to understand and bring together all aspects of the company together - right from exploration of oil to production to transportation to refining to retail and marketing! The final goal of the project is to essentially analyze each 'business unit' of the company right down to the process level, and prepare a Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Emissions Inventory for the company as a whole. We are a team of 10, spanning over 4 Trinity offices, and between the 10 of us, we cover all aspects of this company's worldwide operations. </p><p>Now here's the interesting part. All this while I knew I was learning a lot about GHG gases and GHG reporting - you know - understanding what processes can lead to GHG emissions, getting exposure to softwares like SANGEA, all that good stuff. What I didn't realize, and essentially what sparked off this blog is that there is just SO MUCH MORE that I know now about how the Oil and Gas Industry works! What's 'upstream' versus 'downstream'? What's a 'working interest'? Are exploration rigs typically owned, chartered or leased? What is a capital lease, is it different from an operational lease? How does crude travel within the US - is it pipelines, trucks or barges? What is the volume of a typical tanker truck? What are seismic vessels? Do companies actually flare natural gas cos they couldn't sell it? What in the first place is a flare?! Are contracts in Malaysia similar to those in Ecuador? What does a company's annual report contain? Aaaaaaaah! So much 'non environmental' knowledge for no cost! And to think that this is just one of the projects that I am working on right now!! Wait till you hear about what all I have learnt from my other ongoing projects - one takes me into the 'little known' world of Asphalt, and the other takes me right into the heart of the power industry! I'm telling you, by the end of it all, I would know as much about the world that we live in, as I would know about the 'environmental stuff' - and thats a perk they don't list in the benefits package! <br /></p><p> <br /></p> </article> <article> <h1>I'm writing and posting this from my new iPhone 3G</h1> <p>razorhack — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 00:58:00 GMT</p> I'm normally not a gadget geek or on technology's cutting edge so this is really cool to me. Nothing much to say otherwise; I've been home due to illness for a couple days. This phone helps me stay in touch from home (or anywhere else) even easier. </article> <article> <h1>And it starts...</h1> <p>razorhack — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 01:55:00 GMT</p> <p>It's Labor Day. Tomorrow starts the busy season. College career fairs and interviews begin in earnest this month. Several clients and industrial groups have golf tournaments over the next two months (everyone waits until it cools off). I am currently scheduled to play in three and will likely play in a couple more - what a job! On top of that, for whatever reason (maybe they are spending the rest of their budgets), clients tend to spend a little more in the fall. It's crazy but fun.</p> </article> <article> <h1>Climate Change - Do we take Action or Not! - And What is all this hype about Sustainability?</h1> <p>abhi-shake — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 16:50:00 GMT</p> <p>Surprising isn't it, how climate change has garnered so much interest, pick up a newspaper, magazine, surf the net, check google alerts, the planet is in a perpetual state of catastrophe, at the heart of which lies 'Climate Change'. Hmm, what do you think? Is climate change for real? I think climate change is an opportunity. Whether the science becomes advanced enough that it leaves no doubt in our minds that earth's temperature is going to increase by 4 °C, corrective action against climate change still remains our best avenue to correct what we have been doing wrong for sometime now.</p> <p>What the discussions and concerns on climate change have done are point to out to all the mistakes that humanity has made in the last 50 years in every respect of life (technology, energy consumption, lifestyles, cities, villages, markets). Climate Change forces us to take up issues like alternative fuels, sustainability and energy efficiency and try to make sense of them. This wasn't required about 25 years back, when the global economies were building and rebuilding. The growth of Asian superpowers has created a lot of interest and is viewed with caution by the western hemisphere. There are calls to impede their (asian superpowers) growth so as to mitigate the effect of climate change, is that fair? Well, that's another post for you on global politics . The issue of past inventories and new inventories of CO<sub>2 </sub>for developed and developing countries is a messy messy puddle of coal tar.</p> <p>Our world has been dependent on one type of fuel for a long while (fossil fuels) and assumed that limited (yet limitless) supply will never be an issue. Now suddenly solar, wind, nuclear, hydrogen have become an option.This is a really good opportunity for countries, governments, societies and corporations to have a hard look at themselves, structure themselves that energy, basic resources remains the least of their problems. The problem is that to get to this stage it requires a lot of time, energy (not surprisingly), investment but more importantly it requires perspective. Perspective which is not limited to achieving revenue, profit targets in 1 - 2 yrs. But, perspective which looks at the long term viability of revenue, profits and lowering costs of compliance, impact on society, humanity and embraces sustainability. Perspective which is not looking for results in 5 - 10 years, but 50 years, perspective which believes in live and let live.</p> <p>Sustainability, another buzzword which is all over the place, more misused in today's world than the any word that we all know about. You cannot achieve sustainability in one day, not even in years, you can strive for it, it is a thinking, not a goal, not a target, it is not quantifiable. It is a perspective, which expands one's thinking beyond the mundane economic considerations. It looks at everything and anything from all the angles and dimensions (I know the ppl in sting theory research will be happy about this). I am sorry if went off to a tangent in this post, can't help it, the topic is really diverse.</p> <p>Good Websites to view on Climate Change:</p> <p><a href="http://www.ipcc.ch/">www.ipcc.ch</a></p> <p><a href="http://www.unfccc.int/">www.unfccc.int</a></p> <p>Btw, Trinity has a service / business line called Sustainability and Environmental Management (SEM). worth looking it up on the website : <a href="http://www.trinityconsultants.com/Environmental_Management.asp?C=3&S=16">http://www.trinityconsultants.com/Environmental_Management.asp?C=3&S=16</a></p> </article> <article> <h1>Re - low - cay - shun</h1> <p>M1NARET5 — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 20:45:00 GMT</p> <p>Adoring reader, I've left you un-updated, lonesome, and likely worrisome of my dubious whereabouts. But I said I'd write you back, and I'm a man of my word, so here goes (better late than never):<br /><br />Where to begin? It's been almost a year since my last Dear John. To be honest, it wasn't that I got bored of writing about all my goings-on, nor that I forgot about it. I was truly...busy (funny thing how that happens at work). Trinity has certainly groomed me quite well in the past year. With experience comes comprehension, with comprehension comes skill, with skill comes more work! I have learned so much, and I have seen such a variety of projects that I could garrulously expound on all the individual projects, site visits, performance reviews, personal and professional relationships, and travel I have undertaken in the last year. I think anyone reading this would agree that this would be both difficult to accomplish themselves, and mind-numbingly painful to read. So I will spare you that. I'll wrap it into this: I learned a lot, gained much more confidence and autonomy, advanced within Trinity, added a specialty, had to leave some good friends, and made some new ones.<br /><br />To get back to the title, for myriad personal reasons, I decided that Charlotte was not the best place for me to be. I decided in July that I needed to be elsewhere, and I was pretty nervous about a) making the decision and b) letting everyone know. As I was well aware (and as my parents constantly reminded me), these kind of major decisions are not to be made lightly, and in America, are often grounds for tension in the workplace. There are many companies that do not especially care for the well-being of their employees, much less whether they are content with their careers or geographical location. Trinity is not one of these companies. From day one, I had been constantly reminded how supportive Trinity is, and how flexible it can be to work <em>with</em> its employees. I thought to myself, "Yeah, yeah, that's great, I'm sure it's true, but I'll never need to worry about it. I've got my plan, right?" Well, as I learned, plans change, especially at my age (23).</p> <p>My initial anxiety was met with understanding, discussion and options. This was great! My office manager (Tony) and I were able to candidly talk about all the different things going on in my life, both personally and professionally, and he let me know that he would give me time to think about it, but also move along the paperwork. He let me know that of course he wanted me to stay, and that he greatly valued my contribution, but also understood my position. The word "bittersweet" does not adequately describe my move from Charlotte to Austin. I learned so much, and so valued the people I worked with in Charlotte. Even with just one year experience, these people were my friends, mentors, and colleagues. To leave them was hard, <em>really</em> hard. Yet I knew that Austin was where I needed to be. The welcoming spirit of Trinity HQ in Dallas was a good way to remind me that Trinity is great everywhere, and that I would find a good home with my new office, new (home) state. I have new regulations to learn, new clients to assist, new sites to visit, and new people to meet. At the same time, I still have all the experience and contacts I had in Charlotte, and I know everytime I call over there, I will get some nice greeting and likely some tomfoolery (sorry, I had to). For all the things going on in my crazy life right now, Trinity has been there to help me with the transition. You will be hard-pressed to find any company so willing to aid you, so understanding and cooperative with its employee's life plans. I cannot help but be continually impressed and endeared to such great people. <br /><br />So I'll set my pom-poms down now, and just let you cogitate on this for a while. Trinity was just as committed to me as I was to it. Can you ask for more?<br /><br />P.S. I promise to write again soon (less than 10 months from now). Make it a great day, ~ttfn.</p> <p> </p> </article> <article> <h1>Coal-Gen Conference - Not Worth It!</h1> <p>razorhack — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 12:44:00 GMT</p> <span style="FONT-SIZE:10pt;FONT-FAMILY:Arial;">I'm starting my trip back from Louisville, KY (I have to fly through Chicago and St. Louis to get to Little Rock - go figure!) where I've been attending the annual Coal-Gen industry group conference. This was my first trip to Coal-Gen, and it will probably be my last. Despite a heavy focus in the agenda on environmental issues, especially CO2 issues, it was not the right place for an environmental consultant. The conference is just overrun by mechanical contractors, pipe fitters, industrial painters, etc. I did gather some good information about pending controls for CO2, but it really wasn't anything I couldn't have learned without spending three days out of the office. On top of the relatively ineffective conference, I had a terrible tooth ache the whole time. At least I got to watch some of the Olympics at night in the hotel.</span> </article> <article> <h1>Public Hearing</h1> <p>razorhack — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 02:09:00 GMT</p> <p>I went to a public hearing today where people could comment on some proposed regulations changes. Compared to other public hearings I've been to, it was very uneventful. Only one person gave comments - the Executive Director of the Arkansas Environmental Federation, which is an advocacy group for industry in Arkansas (see <a href="http://www.environmentark.org/">www.environmentark.org</a>) - and he just read the AEF's written comments (to be submitted later). It was good to be there however. Two part-time (they also use others) clients were there, and I think we solidified the fact that we stay on top of what's going on in the air permitting world (in Arkansas at least).</p> </article> <article> <h1>A Jumpstart to Life!</h1> <p>Sid — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 00:55:00 GMT</p> <p>After three months of senseless pondering over "What my first blog should be about", common sense has prevailed. So here I am, putting down facts in plain simple english!</p><p>My name is Sid, or as my Trinity business card puts it - Siddharth (Sid) Rajmohan. I happen to be a Mechanical Engineer (Undergrad from India, Masters from Cincinnati), and have been with Trinity for close to 5 months now. In all honesty, my journey so far with Trinity has been nothing short of a jump-start to life, and I'm loving it! Just out of grad school, I was like freshly prepared dough (its a metaphor, stop picturing it!) - ready to be molded in whichever form available, and Im glad Trinity happened to be my first molding vessel (Yes, still continuing with the bad analogy.. but its true!) The work culture at Trinity is truly remarkable. Everyone around me (and now me too..) seems to have a certain sense of pride in their work, and a sense of responsibility towards the 'deliverable' that goes out to the client. And a lot of this 'faith in what you're putting out there' comes from the faith that the management has in you. As my office manager here in New Orleans puts it - "We have hired only the best, and we expect nothing less from any one of you". So doing a 'good job' at Trinity isn't a special one time event, its what you do every single day. Sounds like a daunting task in the beginning, almost like a roller-coaster you wanna ride or a peak you wanna scale but are scared of. But trust me, the satisfaction you get out of it all, is worth the plunge. I think every new college graduate who has recently joined Trinity will agree with me when I say this - "its truly a jumpstart to life"!<br /></p><p> <br /></p> </article> <article> <h1>Flexibility at Work!</h1> <p>envirograd — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 15:14:00 GMT</p> <p>It is Monday morning and I'm working out of a friend's apartment in Houston! It so happened that my husband and I had planned to drive to Houston to visit our friend over the weekend. On Thursday, my husband found out that he was going to be interviewing with a company in Houston on Monday which meant that he would have to stay back on Monday while I would have to get back to Corpus so that I can be in the office Monday morning. Now with the sky high gas and flight ticket prices, I did not wish to spend on driving to Corpus in a rental car or taking a flight out of Houston to get to the office on Monday. So I spoke with Mike (my supervisor) about it and he said that it was OK for me to work remotely from Houston on Monday!<br /></p><p><br /></p><p> </p> </article> <article> <h1>Performance Review!</h1> <p>Sundar — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 23:08:00 GMT</p> <p>Hello Folks,</p> <p>Oh yeah, I am still alive. Have been wanting to write for so long now, but haven't been able to get to it somehow. There were a couple of things I wanted to share after my introductory blog... who cares, something's fresh on my mind today, so might as well get it down on the post </p> <p>I completed 5 months with Trinity last week and this happens to be that time of the year when you are handed out what I call a "Karmic Balance Sheet" - good karma, bad karma, no karma - everything you did in past months neatly summarized and ranked in what Trinity calls a performance review. This is done once every six months for 56 graders like me. Your immediate supervisor is the one who fills out this very detailed and structured questionnaire reflecting on your performance on various aspects of your job as a consultant. Now, you all must be very curious by now as to how I fared on this one - come on, there's no way I am gonna reveal that on a blog like this - ha, too confidential. Suffice to say, I am safe </p> <p>The reason why I am writing about this is that I believe this is a very fruitful exercise that Trinity engages in. To begin with, you fill out a self review setting goals for yourself (didn't have any previous goals as this was my first one). So you have some conrol over what you wish to do in the following months ('some' control). There's also peer reviews. But the most important piece is your supervisor's review on you. Not only do you get a document that clearly spells out your performance and your future goals, but also this whole process facilitates a dialogue between you and your supervisor to discuss various aspects of your work, the expectations and your performance just to name a few. So you get a pretty good picture of what is expected out of you, how have you performed against those, and what are your goals for future. Well, this is not to say that this is the only way to get feedback - informal feedbacks are possible anytime - this process just gives some structure to the whole task.</p> <p>Summer's here, July 4th long weekend is so near (wow, have been waiting for this one for sometime now) and time's flying by so fast... So wishing all you guys out there a fun-filled, enjoyable, and relaxing long weekend... hit the beach or your pool or the campground or whatever it is that you like to do...have a blast! Bye..</p> <p>Sundar</p> <p> </p> </article> <article> <h1>An International Business Trip</h1> <p>dsquared — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 08:09:00 GMT</p> <p>After ten years with Trinity, I had my first international business trip. And of course, it was somewhat last minute! I bought my tickets to Germany on a Monday afternoon and flew out on Friday! For someone who hasn't traveled abroad in nine years, I had a lot to figure out in just a few days!</p> <p>Because of the last minute nature, I wasn't able to extend the trip much beyond the business needs. That was a bit of a bummer, but I still managed to take in some of the local culture during my trip. That's what is neat about business travel. It is tiring and exhausting, but it still affords an opportunity to get a flavor of different areas, customs, etc.</p> <p>One particular challenge in doing business internationally was attempting to have some insight as to customs and norms in the country you are visiting. I did not want to inadvertantly offend anyone. For example, in Germany, use of first names after an initial meeting is not necessarily the norm. Also, they shake hands a lot! Not just when you meet for the first time, but at the beginning of your meeting and at the end (not that unusual for us), but what I noted was that they shake hands with their working colleagues when they first see them in the morning and then often when they leave. That struck me as unusual. I might say "good morning" to my officemates, but I seldom shake their hands!</p> <p>I was fortunate that the individuals I was meeting with spoke English. While I used to know German, it has been a long time since I've used it. I was able to pick things up here and there. I am thankful I did not have to conduct any meetings in German, but they certainly seemed to appreciate my efforts to understand when they did speak in German and to ask questions to learn some more vocabulary. I was certainly impressed by the number of individuals I met that had some knowledge of English - that was a big help to me.</p> <p>I am looking forward to a possible opportunity to go back - I'll have to keep my fingers crossed. One of my big take-aways - some things are universal. Environmental personnel in Germany are frequently asked to do the next to impossible by operations personnel (i.e., get a permit ASAP) with very little information, just like their American counterparts. And from one office to another, regardless of continent, computers like to present technical challenges for their users!! Regardless of the users' nationality!</p> </article> <article> <h1>Get Motivated Seminar</h1> <p>razorhack — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 20:47:00 GMT</p> <p>Yesterday, my entire office (at least those of us who were not out of town) went to an all-day seminar called "Get Motivated." It was well done and included some big-time speakers such as the founder of Monster.com, Jeff Taylor, and the former major of NYC and former republican presidential primary candidate, Rudolph Giuliani. There was a little too much sales pitching going on for my taste, but I guess they have to pay for the seminar somehow (the tickets were cheap). One thing that surprised me was the amount of faith/spirituality (specifically Christian) that was presented. One of many commonalities among the many extremely successful speakers was a Christian life and a trust in biblical principles regarding finances. This probably did not sit well with all of the several thousand people in (though perhaps they reconsidered upon hearing the presentations). I enjoyed it; it was a perspective you don't often hear anywhere outside of church, i.e., from our very secular print, TV, and radio media. Anyway, to get back to the point, in hindsight, I'm not sure the seminar was worth it to Trinity (30+ hours total of unbilled time), but it is nice to know that we are willing to take a chance on something like this.</p> </article> <article> <h1>On the other side of the expert witness issue</h1> <p>razorhack — Fri, 23 May 2008 19:37:00 GMT</p> <p>An earlier post discussed my recent, grueling experience as an expert witness. Getting asked yes/no questions that you can't answer with a simple yes or no - like "have you stopped beating your spouse?" - is no fun. But now I get to be on the other side. I am working with an attorney to think of tough questions for an opposing expert witness. So basically I'm breaking down his analyses and pointing out anything that could/should be conducted differently, or anything that is questionable whatsoever. This is fun!</p> </article> <article> <h1>A Day of Sales at Memphis National Golf Club</h1> <p>razorhack — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 12:30:00 GMT</p> <p>I love my job, but sometimes are better than others. Today is one of those times. Right now I am riding to Memphis (actually Collierville), TN with my office manager and another consultant to play golf in a charity golf tournament put on by the Valero refinery in Memphis. That refinery, which has been owned by four different companies since the Trinity-Little Rock office opened (Jan. '96), has been a great, long-term client so the expense (tourney fee and lost time/revenue) of this sales effort is worth it. Unless our fourth (we don't know who it is yet) is a pro, I don't think we have any chance of winning, but I'll let you know.</p> </article> </main></body></html>