On the Broad Gauge

According to a story in today’s Brisbane Sunday Mail, there is a ‘bold new government plan’ to develop new a new underground railway for Brisbane:

BRISBANE could have two under-the-river rail tunnels and a new rail bridge in a bold State Government public transport plan.

There could be major new train stations at Woolloongabba, Gardens Point and the “financial district” at Eagle St, and a redeveloped Exhibition line for year-round use.

Transport and Main Roads Minister Paul Lucas will today unveil details of a $5 million feasibility study to develop options for connecting the rail network north and south of the Brisbane River.

I don’t think I will be breaking any rules of confidentiality if I mention that this project is one of the reasons I haven’t been able to post anything in the last month :-p

When I interviewed with my employer in February I interviewed for a transport planner job, and said that strategic planning with an emphasis on modelling was where I wanted to go, so to speak. This was seen as acceptable all round.

In the 2 months I have been there, I have probably spent 60 minutes on transport planning. Instead I have been working full time as a project manager. This means:

* Writing weekly and monthly progress reports
* Defining staff tasks and setting deadlines
* Monitoring staff progress
* Organising meetings and workshops, and attending same
* Writing minutes and agendas
* Collecting data and reports from clients
* Allocating staff time to budgets and reallocating as required
* Organising contracts and work tasks for subcontractors
* Sorting out the mess caused by not having everything in place properly the first time

Emotionally draining and intellectually stultifying.

There is absolutely no way I want to do this full time for the rest of my career. In fact, I don’t know if I will last till the end of the month, the rate I am going.

grr >:/