What Happened to Summer?
I recently read an interesting scientific article where the authors contend that how we experience time changes as we get older. In essence, they took what we all seem to feel, that time goes by faster the older you get, and put it into quantifiable meaning via science and math. Their conclusion, we do indeed experience time differently the older we get because we get used to repetitive experiences so our senses do not need to or want to slow down as much to experience things we have been through before. It’s like how the drive out to somewhere always seems longer than the drive back. That’s why summers tend to fly by now, but when we were kids they seemed to last forever!
Now that I have lost just about everybody, I tend to think the authors’ thesis to be true because there is no doubt about it, August flew by for the association! Together we successfully hosted the 5th Annual UAPA Golf Classic at Mountain Dell on the 17th (see below). Later this month we’ll partner with the Utah Chapter of the APWA to host a lunch and learn event, “What to Expect When Inspecting” at the Gathering Place in West Jordan. And we continue to meet with UDOT on a host of specifications that range from longitudinal joints to smoothness. Add it all up, and you get a recipe for success in building UAPA’s legacy as a willing partner and force for good in our industry.
Adding to everything that happened in August, earlier this month I was in Iowa at a conference for state asphalt execs from across the country. Each time I attend this event I’m continually amazed at the work put in by state associations across the country. I often leave this conference feeling that UAPA has so far yet to go (which is true!), but then I get days like I have had the rest of this month where the association is out making connections for people, discussing important and upcoming changes to key specifications, and raising a little bit of money for great causes in our community. Small things when taken on an individual account, but when compiled together, I see a work that is moving forward for the betterment of our industry. We stand on the shoulder of giants who have come before, and we lost a great one this month in the passing of Mont Wilson, but we are carving out something entirely new for our association and its making a difference. Thank you for your support!
In the weeks in months ahead we will be hosting additional lunch and learn events, traveling to St. George for our Southern Utah Asphalt Seminar (SUAS), and out to the Uintah Basin for our Uintah Basin Asphalt Summit (UBAS). We’ll also work hard on continued specification improvement, and hopefully be able to lay some serious groundwork for an impactful Asphalt Inspector Certification Program. I’ve said it before, but I will say it again here. If you are not a part of UAPA, you should be. We need your expertise and talents in contributing to all the association is doing in all of these areas. Special thanks to all of those members who continue to give so much!
-Reed Ryan
UAPA Executive Director
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