Tag Archives: fire

Carnage

Fire erupted at our client’s refinery almost a couple of weeks ago and, as a result, there was a desperate request for people from our office to go up north and assist. 

Upon arriving, the one week stint changed to a 12-2 shift rotation with me returning for multiple tours of duty. I haven’t given an answer to the return but I probably should today so that they can line up a replacement for me. 

Anyway, it’s 12 hour days with an hour of travel going there and an hour of travel coming back. So that shit is long. as. fuck. I wake up at 5:00 am and I am fighting for consciousness by 9:30 pm. And there is a ridiculous amount of work to do where things are constantly changing as the client discovers more about the condition of their facility after the fire.  It’s pretty intense and high paced. 

I’m still here for another week, flying home Sunday night. And in the next seven days, I have so much crap to do. It’s ridiculous how much there is to do and how little time we have. We are doing in days what would normally take us weeks… figuring out what the bare minimum is that we need to do and still make sure what we are doing is correct and workable. It’s a balancing act that I haven’t quite got figured out yet despite having worked in this industry for almost 20 years. The challenges are also technical things that I’m not used to dealing with so it’s hard to know what to do. 

Here’s hoping I figure it out… and soon. 

I Got A Tent… And Not In My Pants, Either!

There comes a time in every man’s summer where he just needs to get the fuck out of town, go somewhere remote and live like a complete savage for a few days. Eating food cooked over an open fire that he built with his own hands (newspaper and lighter fluid optional), hiking to beautiful natural sights, getting some dirt under his fingernails and maybe, if he’s lucky, taking a shit in the woods.

Yes, I’m talking about camping.

And let me tell you, I’m way past due for a vacation. I’ve been slugging it out at work for about two years with very little extended vacation time taken. Getting iMessages from my friend and former colleague who left the company at the end of June and took all of July off (half of it in his hometown of Kelowna, British Columbia) isn’t helping soothe my itch to commune with nature. I mean, good for him but… hey, what about good for me?

I have a couple of days booked around a weekend in August in which to vacation with a campsite booked in the Western Alberta interior on the peninsula jutting into a lake. It’s actually more of a large reservoir created by the construction of a dam way back in the day but only time will tell if this was a huge mistake or not. Review will be pending.

Last year, we hit up Fish Lake campground on Shunda Lake near Nordegg in September and, if it wouldn’t have been so fucking cold at night… the whole trip would have been glorious. Plus, the dog loved it. We’ll see how this new spot compares.