i started out february in one position at DTE and am ending it in an entirely different one. i call it “doing the corporate shuffle,” 1) because it took so. long. and 2) because a lot of things had to be rearranged, like the internal order number for my pay, my desk phone, my office space. and after all that, i still don’t have business cards.

BUT. i am no longer the little data miner for the storm management team. instead, i’m the big bad challenge detroit fellow in charge of the city of detroit electrical infrastructure project. i get to run around to meetings with people inside and outside of DTE, collecting information on developments that are expected to happen within the next five years. so when dan gilbert wants office space at 1520 woodward ave, heaven forbid that the project doesn’t go through because DTE wasn’t able to provide the site with adequate electricity. and what happens when that building in capitol park that was apartments 60 years ago is now slated to be a data center? DTE needs to amp up the amount of power directed to the building and make sure that the grid can support it. i’m the lucky person that gets to track down all that information and then pass it on to the friendly engineers up on the 20th floor so they know what upgrades to make to the infrastructure. i know about plans that are on the ground floor and get to say, “i’m sorry, i can’t talk about certain aspects of my job.” it feels very secret agent.

it’s quite a switch, going from zero to 60 in terms of busy-ness and responsibility. i would lament having taken so long to arrive at a useful, meaningful position for my monday through thursday, but it was a good lesson in being the squeaky wheel and i was able to meet a lot of people at DTE who otherwise would’ve passed me by. now, back to figuring out the expected peak demand for the orleans landing development on the east riverfront. oops. have i said too much?