A little reminiscent...

Travelling down memory lane a bit lately. Been thinking about past work, finding that things have changed SO much. I miss it. Maybe we all long for the simpler, informative, learning periods of our lives. My memory is a timeline, everything I know, every experience is a reference back. Its why I like history so much, order in the chaos, only makes sense when looking back.

I had a weekend job working on a farm while in high-school, but work started for real in 1990. Fresh off the graduation ceremony an uncle took me on to do labor work in oilfield construction. I owe that man so much, he was a great teacher. I remember being picked up by a parts runner and driven far away to a bush camp located in Northern British Columbia. Still just a kid, I didn't know much about construction, but for some reason I always loved the heavy yellow iron. Me and my labor partner Kenny from Saskatchewan; hand pumped fuel into machines, wrangled cloth underlay in muskeg, towed culverts out to crossings with a tongue and dolly contraption, cleaned tracks at night and did lots of other things I have since forgotten. 90-90 was the number of the crew truck we drove, it was the ninetieth pick-up purchased by that contractor and the year was of course 1990. It was remarkable for one thing: It was basically the only truck that survived, intact, through the summer and into the winter on that job. So many were destroyed and broken, amazing in retrospect, it was wild. The job I first went out on was big. 120 kilometers of high grade road and a plant-site built for Canadian Hunter, an oil company that doesn't exist anymore. Its strange that the story I most repeat from that time is about the dirty consultant that worked for that oil company...few I have seen since have matched that mans penchant for crookedness, though I must admit that one just a few years back beat him by a longshot, maybe I will write about him one day. Their exploits taught me more about what not to be than anything else I have ever been witness to.

A few years and many jobs later it is the mid 90's. I am now working for a different construction contractor. ( great outfit, still much respect for them). Same type of work, away from town, staying in camp. I was running a brand new Champion 780 Series 4 road grader. Didn't mind it, a good machine if looked after. 

It was also at this time that I had started a long distance relationship with a girl I met and who would almost be the end of me (skip ahead 12 years on that mind timeline), if only I had known how it would end... (But that's history, this post is about work memories). Anyway I was opening line. It’s kind of like getting roads and trails ready for traffic before the drilling starts. All bush work, way out there. I liked it. Well one day the consultant comes up and says "We need you and the grader 100km's east by morning, here is a sketch I made that shows how you can get there cross country" So off I go into the dead of night, highballing, or high blading if you will, into a tunnel of darkness lit only by my floodlights. To show  how old I am (And its important to this story) I was listening to a mix cassette tape that misery timeline girl had made me from the club she worked at in the big city. Actually it was two tapes. Somewhere way down that cutline I stopped and got out of the machine to stretch. It was probably a couple hours later that I reached over to change the tape and...it wasn't there! I cherished those tapes, it was a connection that I had with the girl so far away, I was out of my mind. I wanted it back and the only possible answer to where it had gone is that I dropped it getting out of the grader way back down the line when I took the break. Young and dumb what do you think I did? Yes... I turned around and went back for it. Graders don't travel that fast, maybe 20 or 30 mph on a good road...this was a bush line, rough and windy with momentum killing hills through the wilderness. I got back to the place I had stopped and kicked around in the snow looking for that tape. I didn't find it. I get back in the grader and now there is a really good chance I will be late, any thoughts of a nap or breakfast are thrown out.

I got to the job in time. Had a splitting headache by the end of the day and...found the missing tape in my coat pocket where it had been all along

Almost there, but where

I came up with a new plan last month. I have gotten a little bored with the silver accumulation in the last half year. I still do it don't get me wrong, it would be monumentally stupid of me to divert my attention when prices are so low. If it was good enough for me to buy when it was double today's price, why not now? Little jaded I guess, I follow several silver channels on youtube and opinions abound on what makes the best precious metal investment. There are pure bullion stackers and there are numismatic people that collect the rarer or the potentially rare coins. Within these two factions are a multitude of subgroups and combinations of them both. That's my particular problem. I love what I buy, I like variety. I see the advantage of pure uncollectable bullion, but I also see that some plays in the numismatic or collectable world could be well worth the money down the road if they were to appreciate in value. The trouble is the conflict in paying more but not accumulating as much. So I am doomed to settle in between...or maybe not.

I remember 25 years ago thinking about having gold. I wanted it in my hands. I wanted the security, I wanted the metal. Back then I never did anything about it, as a typical young adult, I spent my money on consumer goods and things I really could have lived without. I spent foolishly as previous posts can attest. I racked up unsecured debt. If only I had started buying back then, prices were at historical lows. Hindsight is a bitch. Well starting on October 1st of this year I decided to purchase 1 ounce of gold per month in the lowest cost form that "I like". You know what I will have in one year? That's right: 12 ounces of gold, (well more than that because I already had some). I think this is attainable. To think that I used to spend double that per month trying to keep my credit cards afloat.

The Royal Canadian Mint 1oz wafer bar is 24ca (.9999). It is a bullion product I won't mind liquidating when the time comes. It is guaranteed savings, as in: I am actually putting money away, I know that PM's are volatile. The price could go down more and possibly stay down for many years...but ask yourself this: Does a dollar buy what it did 5 years ago or how about 20? The mainstream media and the banks like to report that inflation and interest rates are stagnant or non-existent. Really? I pay more money for smaller packages of food. I pay almost triple what I paid for a liter of gas than I did 20 years ago. Taxes have gone up, housing goes up every year. I could go on, but what is the point. If I put $1400 into the bank and expected to make a return on investment in 20 years would I have made any money? No. Its as simple as that. My dollar will be worth less. If I have gold and silver what do I have in 20 years? I have exactly the amount of gold and silver that I bought.

Some will think this foolish, I don't mind. Some of those same people lost more than half their net worth in the 2008 banking debacle and it wasn't just the banks, it was all that the banks did and were involved in...and that is everything.

I am now better off than most of the population because I am saving something. Many don't do it and expect the next generation to fund their lives. How much longer can debt spending last? What is the magic number where those that are owed the money say this is enough, this is unsustainable? Don't believe me? Well the USA just about went into default this month, the politicians kicked the can a few months down the road and these events are getting closer together with every new crisis  The currencies we have now will not be around in twenty years, there will be a settling of accounts and it won't be pretty.

 
 
 
 
 

 

 

Up, Up, anyways.

Whoa!? I last posted in May? It has been awhile. No life altering facts to report, no major milestones achieved. Just working away...away from home with little break.

 Home for the odd weekend, but not much down time despite the terrible summer weather we have been slogging through. Yes the broken record continues to play. So tired of it. Occasionally I dream of a different career, or no career at all, maybe go bottle picking...yeah that's going to happen. Not.

I have been working in a central area of Alberta, only had to leave twice to work in other parts. Nice not to have to travel so much this year...other than driving back to BC when I can.

Actually I lied, I did achieve a milestone this summer, well two when I think about it: One year smoke free and I went to the dentist for the first time since I was thirteen. I continue to take Nicorette gum (seems no matter what I still need a vice to deal with the addiction). And the dentist said I have a couple of cavities that need attention, all in all not too bad for such a long absence.

My "team" at the clinic wanted me to go because teeth are really important to overall health, I went because I was tired of making excuses to them and my family. I got put on a new drug at the last checkup. Its injectable and that kind of put me off, but its not so bad. Barely feel it going in. I think I could even manage insulin if they decide that route in the future. In my mind, however, that would be a failure. The long term goal is to be off the meds completely through diet and exercise. I hope to do better and the new injection med has the potential to achieve the goal. Never feel hungry, how's that for a side effect? Well it slows down the digestion and helps regulate the release of sugars or something like that...I researched it a bit, understood it, but can't explain it. I do know I feel kind of like I have always eaten fully when I haven't at all?!.. weird.

 

My freedom day

So it turns out that May 3 is my hypothetical "Tax Freedom" day. I signed my e-file papers at the accountants, got the slip that told me how much I owed for 2012, went out to my pick-up...and SCREAMED! No not really...I knew how much I was paying, actually I fired up the laptop, logged into my bank account and decided I could pay it out. It feels good and bad. Good that I won't have the Rev-Can Mafia calling about payment, but bad that I had to pay out so much. Watching the news this week I found out that Revenue Canada is owed something like 30 BILLION in delinquent tax. In a related story apparently Canada can build a new Naval ship for 280 million when Norway can float the exact same design, to the same standard for 90 million...Way to go Canada! So much corruption and incompetence.

Didn't get much of a Spring Break-up "break" this year. Of the 2 weeks I did have, I was sick with the flu for half of it. That is the 3rd time this winter and I got a flu shot last November...not doing that again. I am back in Edson Alberta, we are building 900m of road and a 2 well pad. The managers want to get it built so they can get the drilling rig off the last location and start fracing. Just got another well license and I have to get a bid sheet together and off to the contractors for that one...it sounds like this "pre-build" will turn into a continuous work routine on into the summer...well at least I am free. A good portion of this summers cheques will be going towards the house down payment fund.

SweaterBear will be happy to know I was thwarted this morning trying to buy more gold online :-) Can't put more than $1500 on a credit card order and I was too lazy to get into the bank and set up a money order. $1500? WTF? that's not even an ounce...so I gave up and traveled an hour to get my taxes paid.

I will just have to be satisfied with gold silver porn for a little while.

Pomeroy Inn & Suites...terrible but,

That’s just fine, my shadow will never darken your doorway again.
I booked a room online recently; My family was going to meet me in Dawson Creek B.C. I thought:  Well I stayed in almost every motel chain known, why not try Pomeroy Inn and Suites and see what they are like.

I googled Pomeroy Inn and Suites, followed the link for Dawson Creek and filled out the information. I booked a king suite with adjoining bedroom for the kids. Days later I show up and try to check in. I waited in a line-up of one, consisting of myself, for 10 minutes while a disgruntled former employee quizzed the front desk clerk about her pay cheque. Finally I make it to the desk only they have no record of a reservation. I check my confirmation number, turns out the online link has checked me into the Grande Prairie version of Pomeroy Inn and Suites (I know this because the Dawson Creek Pomeroy Inn and Suites front desk clerk looked up the confirmation number). The front desk clerk informs me that I can have a double queen room for the same price as the king at the Grande Prairie Pomeroy Inn And Suites…I am not happy but oh well its only one night. While we are walking to the room on the 3rd floor a pair of large dogs, behind a door two rooms from ours, decide to bark…loudly…oh well ,its just for one night I am sure the owners will quieten them down.  We drop our things and head out for the night…the dogs… they start barking again when we walk down the hallway and again when we come back to the room at midnight…actually they bark every FUCKING time someone walks down the hallway.
I leave early the next morning to go back to work, the family will follow later. At 9:30 am I receive a call from the Grande Prairie Pomeroy Inn and Suites informing me that I will be paying for the room that was booked in Grande Prairie that I did not stay in…following this? The call took a decidedly downward turn as I informed the Grande Prairie Pomeroy Inns and Suites manager of what a shitty overall operation they run…when she had the gall to ask me where I would like the invoice sent I ended the call, filled with expletives up to that point, with a final: FUCK YOU!
I make no apologies…after I had calmed down I phoned the manager of the Dawson Creek Pomeroy Inn and Suites…I re-iterated, without using foul language this time why I would never be staying at any Pomeroy Inn and Suites anywhere ever again. I told them that I know I am a nobody but I do spent $10,000-$15,000 a year on motel accommodation when at work. I said your chain doesn't seem to appreciate that but what you will appreciate are the bad reviews that show up online when something is tagged correctly and starts appearing in searches
…I happen to know how to do that “Pomeroy Inn and Suites”… see what I did right there? Wonder why I mentioned the full name umpteen times already? And this is just on my little blog, wait till I have time to visit the motel review sites…I read reviews…do you? Pomeroy Inn and Suites? If I was a journalist this would be called a hatchet job...just glad I could provide you with the same service you provided me...Pomeroy Inn and Suites.

Sad...

Haven't published a blog since December of 2012. Not good I know.

As a group our company received the worst news last week. One of our Drilling Engineers, the guy that I was directly involved with for the last 3 years, lost his life in a horrible farm accident. My thoughts and condolences go out to his family. The oil industry will miss him. That is a strong statement in a job that gives little thanks and is only concerned with what have you done for me "lately", but in his case it is true. We are less without him. Rest in peace Lyle.

I'm going to cut this one short, anything else I write, on any other subject, diminishes the memory, its Lyle's day. His funeral is this afternoon.