Typical Week

I'm in the field this week doing building assessments. Nothing great or unusual to report or to post photos of. This week we inspected mostly Department of Transportation compounds, 3 prisons, and various office buildings for DMV, Department of Agriculture, etc.

I've spent my evenings downloading and categorizing building photos and watching the Winter Olympics.

Looking forward to getting home tomorrow night.

UPS reports that my vacuum was delivered on Monday. I hope it's still on the front porch when I get home.

Napoleon Dynamite was on HBO last night. I'm glad I didn't waste any effort renting it from NetFlix. Wish I had the hour and a half back I spent watching it.

Administration Changes

My Department Director, SF, was appointed Chief Deputy Secretary for the Department of Administration this week. My boss, one of 4 Deputy Directors in the State Construction Office, did not want nor pursued the Director's job. The Deputy Director for Special Projects, GD, was appointed as the new SCO Director. I think he's a great choice for the job.

There are only a hundred or so positions that are policy / political positions appointed by the Governor. The Director of the State Construction Office is one of them. Obviously, Department Secretaries, Deputy Secretaries and Assistant Secretaries are appointed. SF's appointment is also an excellent choice as he has over 30 years experience and is a consummate administrator.

I've found in my 14 years in State Government that Governors tend to appoint career administrators to Deputy and Assistant Secretary positions. This ensures good continuity in government administration and policy.

I like working for NC State government. The people I've worked for and with have been hard working and dedicated professionals. I've been very fortunate in having had great jobs with both the Department of Environment and Natural Resources and now with the State Construction Office.

NC State Basketball

NC State play Florida State tonight at the RBC Center. I gave my tickets to a coworker who is taking his 12 year old son to his first ACC basketball game. He'll have a blast!

State let Georgia Tech hang around this weekend, as usual, and it finally came back to bite them. State clearly was the better team but just didn't put the hammer down and put Ga Tech away. Hopefully that will serve as a wake up call and State will dominate tonight's game.

Addendum 2/16 0615

Finally, NC State puts away the other team. State went on a tear in the last minutes of the first half and gained a 10+ point lead on Florida State at the half. Went on to win by 22 points. I guess the Georgia Tech loss drove home the point that in the ACC you have to take advantage when you get the chance.

I don't care how good any other conference is in any given year. Every year, every game in the ACC is tough. NC State has 4 games left. At Virginia Tech, UNC, Boston College, and at Wake Forest. NCSU is still in solid second place but anything can happen in the next 2 weeks.

Addendum 2/21

Uploaded the photo. Taken from an abandoned fire tower at a District Forestry Headquarters site. Nice View.