A Government Employee

I had my first day of my internship today - and if it was any indication of how the rest of the job is going to go I could not be happier!

I walked into work this morning as I try to enjoy the brief reprieve from the rain as much as possible. It was a pleasant commute, and I love being able to feel a bit of a local as I walk through the heart of the city.

The walk to work up George Street.

Town Hall is located in the heart of the commercial district, and the building that I actually work in, Town Hall House, is adjacent to the historic Town Hall Building, accessed via a plaza which serves as an entry to the rail station immediately below Town Hall.

The entrance to the main council chambers at Town Hall.

After checking in and getting my picture taken for my ID card, I had a brief safety introduction to the building (we have a fire alarm that tells you when the building is on fire...). Following that, I sat down at my desk and settled in before being called off to a meeting regarding a massive new residential development. We spent the rest of the morning pouring over the submitted drawings and picking out violations of building ordinances regarding setbacks and height.

The meeting recessed until the afternoon, and I accompanied two of the city planners on a trip on the train to visit a site where an infill building was proposed. We scoped out the neighborhood, looked over the plans, and confirmed our skepticism about the project. Like New Orleans, Sydney has just revamped their comprehensive zoning ordinances, and people are scrambling to submit projects before the new height limits go into effect. It is funny being on the other side of the table, as in New Orleans I work fighting the CZO for Tulane.

 We returned to the office and I had a quick lunch before launching into a project dealing with "heritage" buildings in the older area of the city. Over the next few work days, I will be doing field work documenting and verifying some properties to help update the new zoning maps.

To close out the day, we headed back downstairs to look over some more of the submitted drawings and finalized a list of compliance issues to send back to the developer. While in the meeting, my boss came to deliver my ID (which is tap enabled) and allows me access through Town Hall. I guess I am officially a government employee.

My snazzy City Employee ID and access card.

I left work around five and walked home in the evening bustle, taking a back route to do a bit of exploring.

Town Hall Plaza in the heart of the city.

Tomorrow I have a lecture from 10:00-11:00, and then will head back in to work. I might do a bit of exploring tonight after dinner as the rain is supposed to pick back up in the morning and keep up for the remainder of the week.

Word of the day 1: arvo (are - vo)

Definition: afternoon

Word of the day 2: sdoon (stoon)

Definition: contraction of "what's doing", used in place of "what are your plans?" or "how's it going?"