Microposts

📷 Although I missed a few days, the June 2025 Photo Challenge was fun. For the next one, I’m going to restrict myself to new photos taken during the month. I used more archived photos this time than I’d originally planned.

A vibrant tree with bright red-orange leaves stands on a sidewalk near residential houses under a clear blue sky.A white mug with a teal interior is filled with a dark liquid, likely coffee, placed on a light-colored surface.A shadow of a hand with outstretched fingers is projected onto a surface.A young boy is sitting at a table using a vintage computer, with patio doors and a plant in the background.A serene lake reflects a vibrant sunset with hues of orange and pink, silhouetting trees and a small floating platform.A black dog and a golden puppy are sitting on a wooden deck, both looking up with open mouths as if smiling.A mechanical Tork timer with dials and warning instructions is mounted inside a metal enclosure.A VIA Rail Canada train is stationed at a platform under a partly cloudy sky.A fallen tree lies across a field of lush green grass under a cloudy sky.A railway track runs through an urban area with construction buildings and cranes visible in the background.A close-up view of a brick wall showcases the texture and detail of the bricks and mortar.A damaged and rusted SentrySafe is open and surrounded by debris and dry leaves.A dirt path flanked by leafless trees and a bench runs through a serene, natural setting under a blue sky.A seaplane is docked on a calm lake at sunset, with a tree and grassy area in the foreground.A person is wearing brown leather sneakers with untied laces on a wooden floor.A golden retriever is lounging on the grass surrounded by colorful outdoor chairs in a backyard setting.A close-up of a bicycle handlebar with a textured grip and a control panel displaying colorful buttons.A statue of a man stands prominently inside a large, domed rotunda with inscriptions on the walls.A group of people are gathered on a gravel area near parked cars, surrounded by a forest.A crack in a brick wall is filled and covered with grey patchwork material.Vibrant purple morning glories with green leaves climb along a wooden fence.A large, weathered tree stump surrounded by lush green foliage in a wooded area.A wooden walkway leads through a tree-lined area under a graffiti-covered stone bridge.A large swarm of bees is clustered on a wooden beam surrounded by green leaves.A scenic view features a clear blue lake surrounded by pine trees, with mountains in the background under a partly cloudy sky.

🔗 Midsommar - Paul Wells

It’s 167 days since Carney told Jon Stewart he was an “outsider” who’d “just started thinking” about running for a leadership role in Canadian politics. He thought fast, and announced his candidacy three days later. Now he’s been prime minister for longer than Charles Tupper and John Turner were. How’s he doing?

Finished reading: I picked up World War Z by Max Brooks on a whim from the library. Lots of fun and much better than the movie. I enjoyed the unique structure and storytelling 📚

Once again, my library loan timed out on a Robert Jordan book before I finished. The immersion in a long story is part of the appeal. I just have to write down what chapter I was on and wait a few months to check it out again 📚

I was honoured by Tamer El-Diraby’s invitation to talk with his civil engineering graduate students about Project Delivery Systems and Finance.

Other than introducing the basic concepts and approaches, I also wanted to convince the engineers that the choice of delivery model will affect the project’s design and construction and, therefore, engineers need to both understand delivery models and participate in their evaluation. Plus, there is no _correct _ delivery model, rather there are trade offs that need to be evaluated in choosing the right model for each component of a project.

Download: progressive-delivery-models-in-public-transit-infrastructure.pdf

🎵 Songs of a Lost World by The Cure was a favourite album of 2024. The new Mixes Of A Lost World is a musical exploration of that album through multiple remixes.

1990’s Mixed Up was also a great remix album from The Cure. Robert Smith has a knack for these collaborations.

Mixes Of A Lost World - The Cure poster

“The Problem Factory”- Preemptive risk aversion in infrastructure planning and the role of professional services is an interesting analysis of why infrastructure projects are so expensive in the “anglosphere”.

This kind of risk – very high stakes and very low visibility of probabilities – is extremely difficult to manage and consequently extremely unattractive to private-sector investors and developers. It creates a tendency to attempt to “bulletproof” infrastructure projects. Rather than an expected net present value approach, the costing of large infrastructure projects is a process of casting the net wide to define a “risk surface” covering all possible issues which might present a probability above some threshold value of derailing the project, then spending as much as needed to mitigate those risks below the threshold value. And since almost any possible objection or issue could (with unknown and unknowable probability) be the reason for an entire project to fail, almost no potential issue is ignorable, and any expense spent on mitigating the risks is likely to look like value for money.

A key point is summarized by the phrase “the cost factory is owned by the benefit factory”. An entire industry is deeply embedded in these projects to propose, evaluate, and document potential issues, all with an incentive to put significant effort into the task.

At no stage in this process are any of the major actors likely to feel that they have a genuine choice as to what to do. Lawyers cannot ignore new precedents; they need to inform their clients and potential clients. The planning authorities are institutionally averse to losing judicial reviews, and so they consider all the objections placed before them. Objectors to planning, in an adversarial system, are unlikely to leave any potential weapons on the ground. Developers need to maximise the chances of carrying through a viable infrastructure project. The professional and scientific services firms are literally doing their job. So, the risk surface expands. Apart from the objectors, everyone involved is trying to help, but the final, systemic and predictable consequence of their actions is the gradual sclerosis of the system.

The article goes on to contrast this approach with the more statist one used in many other countries and incorporates this into some lessons and potential mitigations that would fit into the anglosphere model.