“Things don’t just work out right. We have to make things work out right.” Nido Qubien I got my first job in archaeology in 2004. I was a crew chief working for the Idaho Transportation Department on a project in Lewis County, near Lenore, Idaho. Because I was a grad […]
I was reading a post on Think Traffic by Amy Clover and realized that, unbeknownst to me, I was starting a crusade. Maybe it was hearing President Obama’s inaugural speech that inspired me to strive for more than just trying to help archeologists find jobs. I know he’s a politician, […]
On November 21, 1968, an enormous explosion at a coal mine in West Virginia killed 78 miners. Only 21 of the 99 men working that shift at the Farmington No. 9 mine escaped with their lives. The others could not be rescued immediately because of fires that raged following the […]
If you have a cultural resource management, heritage conservation, or historic preservation job, you’re probably used to doing work on cultural resources that have reached significance because of their antiquity or a special circumstance. It’s easy to forget that cultural resources are being created all the time, all around us. […]
Last month, I was informed that I’d be running a crew that was going to excavate an archaeological feature that was believed to have been a historical forge at a mining site. This was a surprise, but, initially, I wasn’t worried. That was, until I asked about the safety plan […]
This post is part of a 100-word challenge that I accepted on the IncomePress website. The writing below the italicized text is exactly 100 words. It sums up the reason why I started Succinct Research and why I blog. Enjoy and have a Happy New Year! Times change. Lives change. […]
It’s been a long time since I did my first Level of Effort estimate. In case you don’t know, a Level of Effort estimate is an educated guess on how long it will take for your co-workers or employees to accomplish a given project. It’s important for scoping a proposal […]
My wife had lunch with a friend that is also an archaeology field director earlier this week. Conversing while they enjoyed a relaxing meal, her friend started describing how frustrating her last project was because of two particular co-workers. She was called upon to lead a particularly challenging archaeological testing […]
I was talking with a neighbor about how crappy the cell reception is in our neighborhood. He told me that a couple of years ago, a telecommunications company had planned to build a cell tower adjacent to a nearby wash in a location where it would be able to serve […]
Most construction and development companies fear the discovery of historic properties. I’ve talked to dozens of construction head honchos and project managers that absolutely dread the thought of finding a historic building or archaeological site where they propose to build something because it will require them to re-think some major […]
