The Grill

Goals:

Outcomes:

  • A better understanding of some of the tools, semantics, and shenanigans I’ve recently encountered.
  • A clearer picture of what’s next.

Topics:

  • How Life’s Going / LWIL (Last Week I Learned) / Story Time

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Photos are Allowed | Questions are Encouraged

: ~5 minutes | Last updated:06/29/2026 03:03:54

! PLEASE !

Interrupt me and ask questions or clarifications.

I’m here to talk with you now, not to these slides.

Control tips

My preferred (FOSS) flavor of slidedecks, revealjs, has intuitive but none the less unconventional PowerPoint presentation controls:

  • Slides dynamically resize to use the entirety of the browser window, but you can still fullscreen with F.
    • This slide has a red border indicating the content extent.
  • Slide navigation is mode dependent. If there are vertical slides, press space, N, or the down arrow key, not the right arrow to advance slides
  • Press M to open to the menu, Press O for the slide deck overview, Press B to black out the presentation screen, Press S for a speaker view.
  • You can use the chalkboard to freemouse/touchpad draw.
  • Slides should render as designed1 but you can press Alt/Opt + click on the slide to zoom in. Increase text size with Alt/Opt + +, Alt/Opt + - to decrease, and Alt/Opt + 0 reset to the default scale.
  • Press C to declare victory and head home.2

This presentation

Project Status and Updates

%%---
%%displayMode: compact | The 7 P's of Project Management (needs a refresh) | Yesterdays weather | I have the estimation prowess of George RR Martin | This week's timeline by Captian Hindsight
%%---
%% [link](https://mermaid.live/edit#pako:eNp9Ve9P2zAQ_VdOnpBASqukbWiTb4jChkY31KJJTPmAiS-t1dTOHAfoEP_7Lj9IU1bwp8Tn9-7d-eXywmItkIVsyZW1kQJaglu81GbDLcAdrd5s1ptO65iVNkWo1x3mFo3g2xyekNsVmvoMPsdpITAvn58Q16hEXkeOjuD4_i18DzyOMbM55BnGMpFxlTkHqTppIamUOFDl0QlQnooVjiOWF4q2I3YC2kDE2mTMgYfCgtK2Pq6NaMIlS8T6J60eq2lrxs0aDeTW6DX2nqSwq9DPnp16I_ziJq6jMx5Luw3dvh-pGp5jbKVW8PXsx-0tnK-4sfAdt3XwXG-yFC0KsDxfw7sVCq3QaV6oGZ4DA3fg99xxb-A64LniPUtspJUxT7t0YbnpNFTEMnCAJ3QnDWPLckY6H_GgkJKFV2HnTcuwwzLosFwWtjAfs3RfCDnqsAw7LIfq6LBUFe1Y_A7LqGHZb_6tzmTc-OvXsO_Cx6sttG111fZG2Hx-tlhcX8zhZn4Q3LS5xVJrRg302-VwCoWVKRnkY2g3q98gb35egcFEKtygIrdivFLyT1F_PP8jqQWDBjmVj1IggWOtYsrMq258UuukWyuFyO-pzhAynRXpPvogeOeDqxlkMsOUVFP-vDCmuYtD4EnP7aheVCkTGhellTKdEgn_BOt5uy7XWKHjouzVu3oJ67Qgco23B7LcLJEmDVcCeGH15g0dcq9yWwud7O6mhubkVamWh9xUGZN7H8D3bTpFLsqG1RouHqmCxrTX_IGm15RvPzFuzR_03PKrFsxhG6SpKAUN7peSJWI05zYYsZAeBSa8SG3EIvVKR8t6F1sVs9CaAh1WZOWYnUq-NHzDwoSnOe1mXLHwhT2zsDfqj3x_OPTc0_HYDYLAd9iWhd5k3Pf9seeNxn4wCfzB6avD_mpNFG4_mJz6Hp0duL7rEchhKKTVZlb_XKp_TJXjdwWohRhdLFetgKUpy2leDI1xNOe6UJaF_iR4_QehLNnu)
%% [Mermaid](https://mermaid.live/edit)
gantt
    dateFormat  YYYY-MM-DD
    title       Yesterdays weather
    excludes    weekends
    %% (`excludes` accepts specific dates in YYYY-MM-DD format, days of the week ("sunday") or "weekends", but not the word "weekdays".)
    %% todayMarker stroke-width:5px,stroke:#0f0,opacity:0.5

    section GANTT Chart Key
    Completed task                :done,       des1, 2026-06-15, 10d
    Completed critical task       :crit,done,  des2, after des1, 10d
    Active task                   :active,     des3, after des2, 10d
    Future task                   :            des4, after des3, 10d
    critical task                 :crit,       des5, after des4, 10d

    section Topics
    HWT Calibration               :active, 2026-06-08, 5d
    HWT Documentation             :active, 2026-06-22, 10d
    
    section Deadlines and Events
    OOO                           :done,       2026-06-12, 1d
    OOO                           :done,       2026-06-17, 2d
    Juneteenth                    :done,       2026-06-19, 1d
    Father's Day                  :done,       2026-06-21, 1d
    Independence Day              :            2026-07-04, 1d
    Tentative OOO                 :            2026-07-06, 5d
    OOO                           :            2026-09-02, 3d
    Labor Day                     :            2026-09-07, 1d

Risks:

← likelihood →
5
3,8

Progress:

4
7
← consequence →

Last updated: 06/29/2026
(A Tentative WIP)

How’s life going?

A loose task narrative

Some Items for the Adventure

Next Steps

Early Findings

  • Surfing required a few more accelerants
    • I fear I’ll need more
  • I should talk to more people
  • Wicked problems have become increasingly entangled

Next Tasks

A Statement

I believe a competent modeler can use variations in modeling surface and the uncertainty in parameterizations to reach a suitable equifinality prediction.

Therefore, I find it very hard to find something useful to say in the face of competing objectives and value judgments, the caliber of the groundwork laid before us, and a shameful lack of observation and geographic context.

A Contribution

My contribution to the science is a public, reproducible demonstration of technical and methodological excellence (ha). In order to communicate the nuances surroundings the quantification of accuracy and equifinality of FIM, I introduce concepts including mapping and modeling surfaces, and library creation and access patterns.

Making Sense Around Wicked(ly fun!) Problems

%%{init: {'theme': 'default', 'themeVariables': {'fontFamily': 'Noto, sans-serif'}}}%%
mindmap
  root(("`<center>Wicked<br/>Problem</center>`"))
    Complexity
      id1("`<center>Every problem is unique<br/>E.G.: Water is not the same<br/>as a biological outbreak</center>`")
      id2("`<center>Every problem is connected<br/>to others - E.G.: FEWS</center>`")
      id3("`<center>There is no clear<br/>problem definition</center>`")
      id4("`<center>Are multi-causal, multi-scaler,<br/>and interconnected</center>`")
    Stakeholders
      id5("`<center>Include multiple, invested stakeholders<br/>with different values, goals,<br/>and objectives</center>`")
      id6("`<center>Straddle organizational and<br/>disciplinary boundaries</center>`")
    Solutions
      id7("`<center>Solutions to an aspect have<br/>implications/ramifications<br/>across the system</center>`")
      id8("`<center>Solutions are not right or wrong,<br/>but good and bad</center>`")
      id9("`<center>Can be difficult to measure or evaluate<br/>effects of implemented solutions</center>`")
    Resolution
      id10("`<center>Problems are never<br/>completely solved</center>`")
      id11("`<center>They are wicked problems,<br/>not wicked puzzles</center>`")

I demonstrate that these are critical factors in the execution of FIModeling, and that with this new framing we can try and make a little more sense around our wicked problem.

Interested in learning more?

If the contents of these pages somehow resonate with you, you’re exactly who I want to talk to! Please reach out and don’t be afraid to bump your email if I don’t respond in a timely fashion. I am oversaturated, keep track of too many inboxes, and appreciate the reminder.

Chow, Ven Te. 1988. Open-Channel Hydraulics. Reissued. McGraw-Hill Classic Textbook Reissue Series. McGraw-Hill.