Changes

Of course not everything is expected to stay the same, day after day, week after week, nor would we want it to. But I think the reason most people suffer from change anxiety is because it usually is quite unexpected. Well that is a little bit of what happened this week for me. First thing Monday morning I was brought into one of the Principal’s offices to be asked if I would like to move over to the client’s office to start working on projects there. Apparently they really need the help there right now on a few projects, including a new contract for the light rail, and I was the one selected to take on that work. My mentors and daily supervisors will change. My office and workspace will change. My work tasks have already slowly transitioned to working on the structural aspects of the tunnel and underground utilities.

At first I was just stunned, then started to think of what changes would occur, and then I thought about the pros and cons of each change. I think I am going to like the new assignment and I do think that my friend Amy is right in that this is actually a good move for me in advancement of my career. I will have more exposure with the principals (including our first female principal) who work out of the Seattle office and the president of the company. I will also have more exposure with the client, which could be good. I will have new mentors who I have heard such good things about as mentors, and I was getting slightly frustrated with the communication between mine now. This will continue developing my breadth in civil studies as these next assignments will most likely entail more geotechnical aspects. I will also be surrounded by a plethora of Asian food as the other office is in the heart of the International District.

However, I will definitely miss Marika, Sean, and Phaidra in the office and even though Amy is my best friend, working with her might just drive me up the wall. I will miss having access to unlimited office coffee and the office stash of pop, granola bars and Sriracha sauce. I will also miss weekly Friday breakfasts consisting of donuts, bagels, pastries, and pancakes. I like the 1st Ave. location and being so close to the waterfront, especially now with summer approaching. And I just generally will miss the environment here.

Further changes include eating out a lot during the week for lunch. I have made it my duty to schedule one lunch out a week during this Dine Around Seattle month. I met Dev for lunch at Toulouse Petit, a Louisiana Creole restaurant at the very bottom of Queen Anne on Tuesday. For the three courses I selected the truffled cauliflower soup with dungeness crab, Toulouse lamb burger with chevre and fries, and salted caramel chocolate torte. First, I could have just had a large bowl of that soup and not been happier. It was the best soup I have had in ages, reminding me of a creamier version of my Senora’s cauliflower soup in Spain but the truffle oil I have always been curious about and there were actually very large chunks of delicious fresh crab meat. The lamb burger I was dissapointed in. They had different items listed for their entrees on the events website and was really looking for a seafood one but they CHANGED the choices and none sounded all that appealing. The lamb burger could have been good but it wasn’t seasoned that well and was extremely oily despite being lamb sirloin. The fries that came with it were okay but everything was just so rich. I had to take the torte home and ate it later but that was very rich and tasty. I could have done with the soup and torte and been good.

I also changed into the primary on the SR-99 Viaduct replacement this week while Sean is in Maui. That meant that I had night shift duties two nights this week and made daily site visits a few other days. That also meant driving the company Ford Escape all week, which actually worked out rather nicely with the immense amount of rain we have been having.

Or maybe this month could be considered a Mixed Up March, first with unexpectedly having to move and now unexpectedly having to move offices. At least I am in the same city and at least the first one worked out for the better even, hopefully this one does likewise. But for consistency, it’s still raining and I am still out enjoying events around the city. Bryan and I took in a great Motown show at the Triple Door on Thursday night and I am getting my mani/pedi tonight followed up by the trusty Q Cafe.

Chelsea