More of the same

I spent all week working on reports. Two of the impact evaluation reports are due tomorrow, including one covering four bridges. Since I'm leaving tomorrow for the Texas Archaeological Society annual meeting in Lubbock, it meant they were due today.
I think my boss was under the impression I had written these before. I've done similar things, but not an actual impact evaluation for TxDOT. I had a template to go by, but I was basically on my own. It was pretty stressful, mostly because of the time constraint. It's also not easy to describe how an area looks and all the pros and cons as far as the archaeological potential. Of the five recommendations I made, three of them got kicked back by my reviewer. The comment on one was basically "this is really well-written and you do an excellent job of detailing why there is no need to survey the area, and then you recommend surveying the area." I thought there might be some potential for a historic site, so I was mostly trying to cover my ass.
So yeah, this weekend I get to challenge my spatial perception by visiting Lubbock. I don't know that I'll be doing much but listening to some papers and drinking beer with my fellow archaeologists. I do know a couple of people up there, so maybe I'll get out and see some stuff (if there's stuff to see). I'm going mainly for networking and to support people I know giving papers. I've been very gung-ho junior exec-type guy lately, partly because I asked for a raise (which I haven't heard anything about yet).
Next week: more impact evaluation reports. Joy. I guess I better blog about the TAs meeting since it's at least something different.