I got bad gas and the sound that came out was "FORD!"

Maybe I will get a few snarky remarks from friends, maybe I will get some weird looks from family, but I don't care, I am going to say it: Ford sucks, but I can't change brands. I've driven all the other makes, the only one that works in the bush consistently is Ford... for better or worse.

The number one grievance this time around is the fact that I bought an extended warranty policy that is almost useless because I can't afford to book an appointment 1-2 weeks in advance. I never know where I will be or what dealer I will be closest too. Ford states that the warranty is North American wide, but just try to book at any dealer other than the one you bought from and see how you get treated. I feel like I am always low on the totem pole of priorities when I try to get work done.

I came home from the latest job the other day. I have taken to going different routes, trying to find the fastest most direct road with as little aggravating traffic as possible. So this time I came through the Alberta BC border at Baytree, and like always I try to fill up in Alberta so I don't contribute or pay into any socialist British Columbia tax hole and their ongoing green-hippy-bullshit adventures in fleecing the evil motoring public. Anyway I stop at Baytree for what I thought was a good deal, hey $1.14 per liter as opposed to $1.25 in communist BC is a good deal or so I thought. Wrong. Starting my pickup the next day proved troublesome. I got some bad gas. I should have known better...little podunk gas station out in the middle of nowhere with few customers equals slow turnaround and stale water logged gasoline.

And that brings me to the number two grievance against Ford...the dealer in my hometown called Fort Motors. A look back in this blog will show just one instance of how they fucked me over, you will have to take my word that that wasn't the only time. Service is not job #1 there. It pisses me off that in a time of need not even my shadow will darken their doorway. Maybe it's my fault that I have some scruples in who gets my hard earned money, but even if it hurts me in the end it makes me happy that it will never be this dealer. I am proud of the fact that I have never bought a vehicle from them and never will.

I found a private mechanic to scan the codes...misfire on all and random cylinders along with the story and symptoms came to the conclusion of bad gas, I was told to get some fuel conditioner and run the tank out. Its still not 100% but getting better all the time...special thanks to Walts Automotive in FSJ for taking time out of their morning to give the answer I needed.. And to the dealer mentioned: See what I did just now? bad customer experiences are never forgoten or forgiven, only now its online

Half way through 2012...no Mayans to be seen

I haven't posted for almost a month. But I am back working at Edson Alberta again. Had to go into an eye clinic yesterday and they dilated my eyes to take pictures on the inside...cool huh? Made for a very bright world.

I did indeed get some time off finally. It was a good 3 weeks. Didn't do an awful lot, hung out with PG and the kids, went to Avengers, bought some Mothers Day gifts and hurt my fingers learning banjo (I know the "G" lick now, just can't play it fast enough yet). All in all it was good to relax and do nothing.

Went online and bought some gold, much to the chagrin of PG...it's only 5 quarter ounce coins I tell her...and gold is gold! Yeah right..."Its not helping the house down payment fund now is it?" You just never know, maybe it will...but she knows me too well. Knows that I only buy the ones I love and covet. Prying them from my miserly grasp is going to be hard.

We have been actively watching the local MLS listings. Some good houses out there but it seems like there are very few with what we want for less than $400,000. That's a tough mortgage to get my head around. To get even 20% down we need to round up $80,000 and even then it is still a $2,500 payment each month. I need to get it through my head that I need to treat it like an investment opportunity, that no matter what we cannot lose and the money is not going down the drain.

The small city we are looking at (my home town) has a very bright future I believe. With ongoing big oil and gas activity some forestry and the kicker is a multi year dam project the will probably get built (though I am totally against it). I think it may hurt even more to not buy now and then watch as housing prices go through the roof...but the question is: Do I really think I can get at least a 20% return when I go to sell the hypothetical house...if we ever do? And what if we are just now entering the biggest depression the world has ever seen and the plunge of 2008 was just a popcorn fart in the whole scheme of things?

These are the questions going round and round in my mind.

It must be some sort of sign...

It's break-up again. February and March were crazy busy. It was starting to appear like we might work right through all the mud and headaches again, just like last year. Then it looked like I would get some time off. I was hoping for a good month or at least a half a month all to myself with no phone calls. It wasn't to be.

I got called back to survey some more locations and fix some sites that will be cleaned up when it thaws out, but for whatever reason needed work done RIGHT NOW! It put me in a bad mood. My attitude took a definite turn for the worst.

The bad karma "pile-on" started to take effect only I didn't know it at the time.

The drive back to Edson was horrible, a late spring snow storm made the road 500km's of glare ice and scared stupid drivers. Then the snow delayed that "rush" location repair. The surveying didn't go any better. What looked like such an easy site to do was later found to have a dubious natural clearing that the surveyor was in a tizzy to class and describe. The Alberta government resource development rules have gone gong show the last couple of years, but that's a whole 'nother story. I then had a run in with our resident, batshit crazy, landowner. Things started to heat up and I could barely hold my tongue and not tell him to go fuck himself, but I was able to put on a smile and say "Have a nice DAY!" then drive around his bumbling ass and leave location. I get back to see the surveyor and arrive just in time to to find that the chain-man (surveyors helper) has achieved the impossible by rolling an ATV on flat ground. He is messed up and needs to go to Edson Hospital emergency to get checked out...the rest of my day and a good part of the evening is taken up with incident reporting paperwork and questions coming down the pipe from company managers. Oh what fun ;-(

That wasn't all, please don't think that just because I ended the paragraph that the story is finished. Oh no...I had 3, count em' three, near misses while driving that would have ended very badly but for some reason didn't. The first happened on dry pavement, I have the right of way (common theme so pay attention) and was driving along when a log truck pulled up to a stop sign, stopped, then proceeded to pull onto the road right in from of me, less than 100 meters, I slammed on the brakes, he finally saw me and thankfully stopped before entering my lane. The next two near misses happened while driving home. In both cases I am on cruise in the slow lane, but always 5-10kmph above the limit. Number one dumb-ass (with BC plates) decides its a good idea to pass me right when the passing lane ends, traffic oncoming. This is after following at a distance for several miles. Binders are applied, black screech marks left on pavement, middle finger and expletives raised.. 5o miles down the road number two dumbass bitch comes out of nowhere, decides I need to be passed, but stays in the fast-lane a couple car lengths ahead. She starts slowing down, I know this because I am on cruise and I am gaining on her. JUST when it looks like I will be passing her, dumb-ass bitch decides to pull into the slow lane that I currently occupy. Again the brakes come on and I am almost forced into the ditch...horn is honked, 2 middle fingers extended and multiple expletives used (for several miles)

I get home after completing all my work..I settle into my chair, I happen to glance at my email...another survey request has popped up, posted just before 5pm which was 4 hours ago and 2 hours into my drive home...it must be a sign, but I'll be damned if I know what its telling me

Another post from the past, pre-blog

Looking through some old papers I found another Facebook Notes piece (writing if you can call it) that I had done for friends back in 2008. I like the process of thinking something through, putting it on paper...I think I express emotion and feelings better that way. If somebody randomly asks "How's life?" or "Whats going on in your mind?" I will seldom have an answer. This essay was done in an attempt to summarize what my life had been like to that point. I will do a postscript at the end...things do change.

So I am 35 and this is life (Monday April 14, 2008)
When you were a kid did you ever wonder what your life would be like when you were older? I did. There are milestones in mine where I can think back and pinpoint the "What could have been's".   


Like Grade 5. I missed something basic in math that set my life on a track that ensured I would have very little to fear from the arithmetic demons, but it also closed some doors. I wanted to be a geologist but knew instinctively that my math scores would never be high enough to enter university.


Or how about the girl in school I never had the guts to ask out? There was one and there are very few days I don't wonder what became of her, she was my friend. I wish we had kept in touch.


In my relationship now I really don't know where I stand. There are times when I feel like taking the selfish route, tell her I'm done, but I know I can't let myself be the one to end it. So I plod on, but feel good that I have helped when she needs me.


Then there were the seemingly simple choices: I remember being 19, working in a bush camp operating heavy equipment and realized I had a piss-pot full of money and 2 choices: Take 6 months off and travel to New Zealand or buy a new pick-up. Sadly I chose the truck; it's gone now and the memories of New Zealand never were.


It's not all bad though, right out of high school I found a trade that I liked and became adept at it. It has been good to me and although the job description has changed I still love it. Some go their whole lives never finding a niche or feeling useful, but I do.


I am worried about the future and realize that now is the time to lay down some roots, start thinking about retirement. Laugh if you will but conventional thinking says I have only another 30 years to get my shit together.


Postscript:


Still love the job despite my grousing on here occasionally. On my 6th pick-up truck...it never ends.
The Girl of 12 years {Whatever that was} ended 7 months later. Haven't seen or spoken to her since. I have my PG now and don't look back. I took steps to put down those roots...the future looks good.


Thanks for reading everyone, I'm having fun.


Jeff 

Flame Wars and Tree-Hugging Hippies

The following entry has some mature content...so if you are easily offended please feel free to find your reading material elsewhere. That said I wanted to do a a little blurb on the hazards of putting anything online for the world to see. In my case it is the Youtube videos that I do every so often. I started the videos just to show a few friends and family what I was up to. It has grown since then and while I am not a well known youtuber like some, I do get a few thousand views each month and make some coin doing it.

With Youtube I get viewers from all over with varied backgrounds and political leanings. Some make themselves and their views, whatever they may be, known by commenting on the videos. Some viewers comment respectfully and ask smart questions that I am more than happy to answer. Some are Youtube pros and want everyone to know how good they are. Some comments are funny or sad, illogical or down right intriguing. But then there are the keyboard commando's, faceless stalkers, cyber bullies and trash of the internet that feel it is their duty to put you in your place...assuming they know your background, likes and dislikes or how smart you are based on the content they find online.

When I first started on Youtube I was one of those pros that thought they could make one snarky comment to prove my point and make the other user look like a dumb-ass. I think over the years I have grown a little and now see that it is a losers game that makes nobody happy with the outcome. As a publisher of online commentary I have found that block tools and comment moderation can be my best friends. I rarely get into flame wars anymore...live and let live. I just don't respond. But every once in a while....I get someone who pushes my button.

One note before I go on: The following is a comment that I responded to that was posted last night on a video I made called "Oilfield Logging". Now I'm not necessarily racist or bigoted, as a matter of fact I had to wiki search the words that some may find offensive. Its a matter of hate what you know, see or hear and quite frankly I didn't grow up in an environment that had many of this particular ethnic group. So here it is:

those are really cute machines you got, but i want you to remember one thing every time you kill a tree with that machine. for every tree you kill, you put one more nail in the coffin of death of this planet. that makes you and every person that cuts down a tree a fuck'n asshole. just so you know the planet has been raped of 80% of it's forest. that's fuck'n horrible. so every time you cut a tree down, remember that you are a fuck'n asshole, maybe even a dickhead. WE NEED TREES YOU PRICK.

odmcarp 14 hours ago

Reply

@odmcarp Thank you for that insightful yet incoherent rant. It might interest you to know that I have personally cut and burned more trees than you have ever seen, true no lie, I even video it so that informed tree-huggers like yourself can get enjoyment from it. "but i(tie) want you to remember one thing: remember you are a fuck'n asshole, maybe even a (dago)dickhead" awww... but I'm just fuck'n wit cha.., I'll be sure to give your opinion some thoughtful consideration... yeah right.

CDNcatskinner 3 hours ago

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I'm not saying what I did was right, it was wrong, but sometimes it feels good to burn them after they have attacked my livelihood and me as a person...and I'm going to burn them, I will go to their page/channel, find out who they are what they do...if they are stupid enough to leave their recent activity open I'm going to use that too...fair warning dummy.

Passing through Ponoka...

 I'm near Ponoka Alberta this week building a new oil well. Ponoka is a sleepy town a little east of Hwy #2 between Lacombe and Wetaskiwin. Hwy # 2 was rebuilt a few decades ago and it bypassed so many little towns in the area. You can really see it in the downtown cores. They are getting older and really only serve the needs of the local population. If not for a few wrong turns while trying to gather up a package I was expecting, I would not have even seen the downtown or knew it was there.

 The big box stores don't go to the little places like Ponoka although the Super 8 motel and the new  Extra Foods grocery store can be found on the outskirts... Ponoka it seems is suffering from its own form of urban sprawl while the downtown dies. Its actually a pleasure to work out of this town. No rush in the morning trying to get on the highway and its almost like they shut off the lights and roll up the streets at night

Ponoka would be a hoot in the summer I think. Its claim to fame is the "Ponoka Stampede" and it must be big if the size of the facility is any indication. Ponoka is also the site where the Alberta provincial mental health hospital is located...I got more than a few jibes from co-workers when I told them I would be going to Ponoka for a week. "Its about time" was just one of the remarks levelled in my direction.

Too fast...

I woke up to the sound of screaming and it wasn't my own. I was confused and it took a moment to figure out that I was a passenger in the backseat of a green 1978 Ford station wagon. Looking out the window revealed a dusky mountainous landscape passing by at an alarming rate. Downhill, with hairpin turns, I could hear rubber tires fighting for purchase on a gravel shoulder and feel the centrifugal force pushing me towards the door as the car desperately tries to stay on the road. The screaming up front didn't stop and that quick mental calculation that I am sure we can all do came up with only one solution: Car travelling way too fast to make this corner or even the next...and its a long way down over the edge. I am going to die,  a sick gut wrenching feeling comes over me. I'm going to die and I don't make a sound. I look to my left at the empty bench seat...

Then I wake up. Damn. I wonder what the hell this one meant.

Heaven on Earth, for a northern boy anyway...

That's what this last weekend felt like.

Way back in November of last year I posted on facebook: Megadeth, February 17th in Edmonton... hmm? Well PG must have read that and what do you know on Valentines Day I got 2 tickets to go see them with her. WOW! I was blown away.

I always thought I would like to go see them, never thought it would happen the way my work schedule is. The stars must have aligned, I had some free time so we went. Note to self: Life is not always about work.

She printed directions off google maps and away we went. PG is a good one for lists...neurotic me asked at least 5 times: Do you have the tickets? Do you have the tickets? While waiting in line: Do you have the tickets? PG rolls her eyes: Yes!

The trip down from Ft St John was uneventful, I don't speed very much anymore, but we made good time if not for the other motorists on MY road ;-) We stayed the first night at her in laws, BandP were great. (I admire B's skills, but more on that later maybe) The night of the show we checked in at the Westin downtown, good thing we did...it was full up and only 2 blocks from the Shaw Conference center. That is the only way to go BTW. No midnight drive out of the downtown trying to find a bed, just a stroll back to the hotel.

The show was like nothing I have seen and as I posted on the video I uploaded; these guys are my heroes. They rocked. It was a 4 act concert. La Cuna Coil opened followed by Volbeat (Who I will be downloading into the ipod soon) Then Motorhead, which is another band I thought I would never see. Lemmy was just as good as I have always watched on video. Then the main act: MEGADETH!! It was something to see and because Dave Jr. rejoined the group last year it was just that much better. For the Megadeth part I took out my earplugs and basked in the loudy thumpy goodness. I got goosebumps. They play so well.


The whole concert atmosphere was neat. There were the oldsters like me that grew up with this stuff and there were a lot of young kids down in the mosh pits up front. Not too many mullets to be seen, and that is a good thing, but lots of honest to god metalheads having a good time. The Westin is a fairly good place to stay, I thought it must have been interesting for the staff too see such a conglomeration of metal t-shirted and patched people all in one place. The common theme I saw the next day all around Edmonton was so many normal appearing folks sporting concert t-shirts. I was one of them. We were all linked by a shared experience, at least for one night.

It seems so quaint now...but I didn't actually listen to Megadeth or thrash metal while in high school. My friends and I were into Kiss and AC/DC. It seemed like only the burnouts listened to either Megadeth, Metallica or Slayer. I wish I knew then what I know now. Dave Mustaine is a master guitarist and a legend. Its not what first impressions would lead you to believe. I like loud thumping music with meaning and melody, Mustaine gives that to me. I read his book when the bad things happened at the Royal Alex. I have it with me now, I plan to read it again because I think I missed some stuff during my drug induced recovery.

I thank my special PG for giving me the chance to see them. I had a rotten experience way back when a girl I knew went with me and Shaner and Shaner's Uncle G to see Kiss in Vancouver. Ity was when they reunited and went back into makeup. I think it was 1999. We watched one song of the opening act and then she got a headache, being a gentleman of some sort I left with her. Shaner and the uncle were smarter, they stayed. I hate disappointments, I love that PG shared Megadeth with me...luv ya.   Jeff

A new pursuit...

I have finally done something about a "dream" I have had for a long time. I don't know when it first occurred to me or how this particular thought entered my head. I do remember the Muppet Movie way back in 1980 I think it was. If you know the movie you probably heard Kermit singing the Rainbow Connection...and that muppet played a banjo. Something clicked in my 8 year old head and it has stayed with me all these years later. I loved that banjo sound and even though my musical taste has moved in different directions since and to be honest I would consider myself to be a mild "metal-head", any banjo still makes my ears perk up.

Well yesterday I went out and finally did something about that dream I have been kicking around for so long. I went to  a local music store with some family members and talked to the owners about music. He was kind enough to put on an impromptu banjo performance and I was sold on the spot. I didn't buy right away, it took me a couple hours to decide but then I went back and bought the banjo you see in the picture. It's a Gold Tone CC-100R, I like it a lot It's not the cheapest beginner instrument, but its not too expensive either.

Banjo is hard, very few ever truly master it, I know that. I'm not looking to become anything at all, I will be happy just to know a few songs and see how far I can get. The older I am the more I envy those that have a skill that stays with them throughout life. I see one advantage to starting so late in the game: No one is forcing me to do it. I don't have to do lessons because I have to, I will be going because I want to. The store owner says that he has over sixty students right now and many are just like me that start out late and finally decide to do it, he said he gets people like me with the same story coming in all the time. He also said he gets a lot of guys that work in the oilfield that have weird schedules like me...I hope I can find a way to attend proper classes, its a 12 week introductory banjo program, I don't know how I will work it in...until then I have youtube and my beginner book, I'm learning stuff, its addictive, I'm happy :-)

Rig moving by Howards'

Lease build 101

I thought I would do a post about what it is that I do. I am a construction supervisor for oil companies, a "consultant", "rep" or to put it simply the eyes and ears for the oil company in the field. What is a lease? The lease is the wellsite/location where an oil or gas well is drilled. It is called a lease because the oil company rarely actually owns the land they drill on, they "lease" it from private land owners or the government. Public land in Canada is considered "crown" land. There are different standards when constructing on private and crown lands.

In a perfect world I get direction from the oil company to accompany a survey crew on the initial planning and spotting/scout of the lease. We decide the best way to access it, the size it will be and how it will be constructed. This is important. I have to know what the drilling rig requires for space, how it will set up and when it will drill the well. Winter operations are very different from summer. While spotting the wellsite sometimes I have to contact with the oil company's geology department if the co-ordinate they want is impossible to place in the field. This can sometimes be a drawn out and tedious process for a variety of reasons, like landowner concerns or terrain not conducive to construction (it sometimes seems they always pick the wettest holes known to man). Geology folks want to drill where they say for a reason, their decisions are based off of seismic information, so our lease usually can't be shifted very far or the well is not feasible. Once these decisions are made I provide a cost estimate for construction. Good consultants have a +/- 10% of estimating cost to actual costs. But on the other hand bad consultants simply hike the estimated cost and spend or steal until they reach that number.

Once the lease is ready to be constructed I am notified and receive a land package consisting of all the information I need to construct the lease. In this package are all the landowner/3rd party agreements. I am usually required to contact the affected parties and notify them of the impending construction. I also do a "first call" or "Dial before you dig" which is a phone call or online notification to an organization that has a database of  registered underground utility owners. They contact those owners and inform them that we will be doing construction in a given area, if we are in proximity or crossing underground structures, the owner usually needs 48-72 hour notice so they can arrange marking them. This is where I find I have most of my troubles because the oil company usually thinks that as soon as they tell me to start construction, that I can. Not always true, but good consultants can get things done regardless, through previous contacts, polite phone manners and a little BS. Bad consultants mess things up and aggravate the situation by pissing off 3rd parties through missed notification, bad phone etiquette or in the worst case, hitting an underground structure through ignorance. Due diligence is very important. at this stage.

At the same time that the first calls are being done I also arrange to have a contractor to do the construction. Sometimes I am allowed to call who I like other times I am required to get competitive bids from 3 or more contractors. Good contractors with good operators are like gold, they are after all the people who make the job a success or failure. As the oil company rep I am also the guy that ensures the work is done in a safe and cost effective manner. I am required to orientate the workers to the oil companies safety culture and make sure that it is followed. I personally like working for the smaller "Junior" oil companies rather than the majors. It is not that the smaller outfits are more lax/unsafe, but it has been proven, time and again, that junior operators get things done cheaper, faster and more logically. The big ones are weighed down by their own bureaucracy and in some cases will farm work out to the juniors so that even they don't have to deal with it.

Once the job starts I go to the site daily and will stay the whole day unless I have more than one project going on. Bad Consultant Tip: They hardly ever visit the job, prefering to play golf or hang out in the lounge, getting the contactor to phone them a cost at days end. I don't believe in that, we get paid to do a job and the litigation if something goes wrong would be a bitch. The neat thing about my job is that the final product is "my" vision. You have to know what the thing will look like, how it will be built, what kind of machines to use and how to incorporate functionality that will make the drilling or production easy on the people that do that work. Having a background that includes actual experience operating the equipment is the biggest advantage I have.

 I stay in contact with the drilling department and depending on how they have scheduled things my life is easy or it is a hectic gong show trying to get the lease done on time. One of the worst faux-paus I can do is promise a completion time and not deliver. It is always best to know early on that the work will not be done in time and tell them that rather than praying with crossed fingers down to the last minute. If I am wrong and the drilling rig move gets delayed there can be huge costs incurred both from the trucking company and drilling rig. In the very worst case a drilling license could be lost due to a delayed spud (start) date. Unfortunately many oil companies seem to wait until the term of the license is nearly expired before they decide to drill. Once the well has been drilled it is either put into production, left in a "standing cased" status or abandoned. In all eventualities I have work to do cleaning everything up, building production pads or total restoration back to the way it was.

Dark prediction...

I'm away at work again, roosting at the Comfort Inn at Edson AB. Rush job, but not really because the drilling rig will be delayed due to hard digging. Oh well it's nice to have the cushion...did I ever mention I hate/loath deadlines? They are a curse that shouldn't be. Due diligence and sound planning cures all. I even have a hard time watching phony reality TV shows that have them. Why don't they just do it right? Hyped ice road load counts or making a cake, I really don't care. Shouldn't quality trump everything else? Not in this world we live in I guess.

PG and I have been seriously thinking about buying a house together, I have even gone so far as to see what sort of pre-approval I might get. (will see how that goes, PG was in banking and knows the local mortgage rep at my bank...some unpleasant reviews. Rep was supposed to email me and must have forgot...not a good start)

I make no bones that the whole mortgage scenario frightens me. Sure the bank has a great interest rate right now, but that can only last so long. What happens in 5 years? What happens when the SHTF and the world credit system collapses as some believe it will?

My job is in oil and while I see no other viable alternative to our energy needs for most of MY working life, I hear rumours that the price per barrel may be heading for  $50-60 in the next year. Natural gas has already tanked and is hitting some majors hard. One of my buddies in the business phoned the other day, his employer (Junior oil company) has pulled all their money for a few months effectively ending the job he had.

I don't see a good future for carrying debt right now which is why I have paid most of mine off (*previous post) Do I want to be obligated having to round up $4000 a month to make payments? I don't know what the answer is...I'm trying to make the right decisions. This grown up stuff is hard.

However...the kid side of me went and made a few more purchases, in the picture above you can see one of them. 1/2 oz of four 9's gold, 3000 total mintage. At least I have faith in this investment.

New Year, new thoughts...

Well its January 4th 2012. I went to get a new journal from Staples, they were sold out of the one I want. I like hardcover, every page a day, blah blah...I have been keeping a daily journal for work since 1998, that's when I started consulting. Comes in handy and it's a good thing for ass covering. I forget the times, but more than once I have had to refer back in time to prove I did or didn't do something and the reasons I had for doing it.

I looked back through this blog as well. I see a lot of thinly veiled optimism, and some out-right desperation, but I'm happy to say that my biggest goal in 2011 has unbelievably been achieved...yay for me! I have paid off my unsecured debt, mainly the credit cards I had accumulated over the years. This is such a cliche'd weight that has been lifted from my shoulders, you can't imagine how good that feels. I do and I don't know how I got into that situation in the first place. And yes I did make that call to American Express, and yes I did tell them they could shove their card up their collective corporate ass...when I could get a word in edge-wise that was, as they tried to sell me on the benefits of a "different card". How good it feels to be wearing the shoe on the other foot. Hey Amex, wasn't it just a year or two ago that you were calling me when my payment was 3 days late? Ya that was you I remember well. For the information of everyone and no-one, because it is nobodies business but mine, I was never "30 days late" on anything. I was smart enough to keep those black marks off my score.

2011 was good year. I met a new person back in April, you will know her as "PG". She is great, her family is great. I worked hard, or as hard as a consultant does work :-) PG says she is proud of me, I like that. It has been hard finding somebody outside of the oilfield that can understand the hours, days and months apart from loved ones, but she does.

As 2011 ends and a whole new 2012 begins I can finally say that I have options. I have the option to tell anyone that pisses me off to F O...I'm not beholden to very many anymore. My job I can take or leave, when it comes down to the core I am a catskinner at heart...now more than ever and I have a valuable skillset that I can fall back on. But I will take the easy money while it's easy. Some people let this job go to their heads, start thinking they are more important than they are. I never got that way and I am thankful for that....Gawd I wish the F***head was reading this, but then he would need a reading comprehension level above that of a 4 year old... hehe! Hey F*ck*ead what you did to me was the best thing that could have happened, after all I would not be where I am or met who I have met without your skull-f*ck*ry....But that's enough on FH like so many other useless and inconsequential people he is part of the past. May you reap what you have sown FH.

So whats up for 2012? I am thinking maybe a house and somewhere to hang my hat (if I wore one)...just don't know if it will be a hat hook in BC or Alberta...PG and I have lots of talking to do.

Rednecks, meth-heads,thieves...and dumbasses

I don't know what's going on lately, maybe I just notice more, maybe things just piss me off more. But I have been noticing a general lack of basic respect in our society. It can be anything from getting cut off on the highway to kids that don't hold open doors anymore. ..and they seem to think that I want to listen to what they are playing on their car stereo... and I seem to be on the list of people they think needs to hear the new (or missing) muffler they have just installed (or taken off) the shit box they drive.

Its not just the kids don't get me wrong, although I do find it interesting that BC makes them easy to spot by placing a mandatory "L" for loser on the car they drive. No its also the small genitalia rednecks that think I'm impressed they spent thousands to lift a pick-up, chip it and throw on an aftermarket mating call brand pipe. I have come to the conclusion they are over-compensating for what they lack in the pants department, it's the only answer that makes sense.

I have been staying out on random nights after the crew leaves...the redneck, no-respect, methhead, useless, unemployed, piece-of-shit thieves seem to have found out that sitting equipment at night is an easy score for fuel theft. I don't know why I stay out late, it's not my equipment. In reality their thievery barely affects me at all, it just makes me angry that some work and make good while others feed off that success by stealing.....so I shut the lights off, crack a window and wait with my camera ready.

Today proved to me that people can't be trusted to do the right thing. The survey crew I have out doing work said they had seen snowmobile tracks inside one of our frac water pits. This is unbelievably dangerous as well as reckless vandalism costing the oil company money. I have had the contractor send out a crew of labourers to chain and lock the barbed wire fences and put up danger and no trespassing signs up. It may get more expensive yet as I was also told that it took that dumbass snowmobiler several attempts to get back out of the pit, time will tell if they have ripped the liner...it only cost $95,000 to install.

Wanna work?...5 rules.

I'm 40, well 39 and a half so maybe, just maybe, at this point in my life I can start giving a little advice. I get asked every now and then how to get a job in the construction industry and operating  heavy equipment in particular. If you are someone I actually tried to help, this entry is not about you. I tried to help because I saw something worthwhile.

A little history: I have been doing what I do in an industry that I love since was 17 (I have a weird birthday and yes I did graduate high school). How did I get into it? I had an advantage over others: I went to work for family. Some might say I had an "in" and couldn't get fired, while that might be partially true you will just have to take my word that I was yelled at plenty, I didn't do things right all the time and yes I could have very easily been fired. I was very fortunate that I was taught by the best, I didn't have to go to an operating school. I don't even think that they were around when I started, at least I never heard of them. I learned the old way through trial and error and lots of coaching.

I think the number 1 rule to getting and keeping a job anywhere is to be a listener...that's important. A little more listening and a lot less talking. The talkers are usually just that: All talk. Your boss is usually a boss for a reason, it pays to absorb what others have to say and you can't do that by listening to what "you" have to say.

Number 2 rule...You have to pay your dues, it's cliche but true. You will rarely be put on the Cadillac of the fleet, you may not even get on a machine at all. I started out as general labour, I hand bombed fuel into machines, installed culverts, cleaned tracks on equipment I didn't dirty and did a myriad of other menial chores, but I stayed and didn't quit. Paying your dues also means going to places and work sites that others felt they did not have to do. The best years of my life were spent in bush camps, I treasure that time I spent there.

Rule number 3...take your work seriously, like your job depended on it. If you drink and party you need to be able to make an appearance at work the next morning and do your job sober. If you have trouble getting up in the morning you better have a good alarm clock or else find a pussy job in town that will put up with that sort of thing, you are paid very well and the company will expect the job to be done. So many kids these days are not used to actually working for a living...it's not called super happy fun time, it's called work for a reason. Your social life or lack there of is not the concern of the employer, if that is your sole concern then say hello to the rest of your life because it will be just like yesterday... when you took my order at the drive thru.

Number 4 rule...Show a little respect. In this line of work people who have done much better in life than you so far, are trusting you with a half million dollar piece of equipment that they have invested their life in. Take care of it. Think of the next guy that has to operate it. I'm sure he finds your garbage and lack of basic maintenance and housecleaning a real treat. I'm sure that if he or she has a chance they will call you out on it. I am also sure that if it gets back to the owner you will probably not be asked to work again.

Rule number 5... be where the work is. This oilfield life is an itinerant one. The work will not be down the block, it's not even in the city where you live...that's gravy if you can get it, no, you will likely not get that at all. You get the shit job in the shit places and you will like it. because it is what it is. Be where the work is or at least where the same work culture exists. So many have called me wanting a job but they expect to commute from the left coast or the sunny south. It gets old fast. Get used to bugs and short summers quickly followed by a long cold winter because that's what you have to do if you... Wannawork?

Texting a psycho...

Ever had and anonymous fight via text with someone you don't know? I guess I can now add that to my menagerie of life skills. It all started a couple of months ago. I began receiving texts on my truck phone from a number out of the province of Saskatchewan. It was all innocent enough, only problem was that I don't text with anyone from there...I have no idea who this person is.  I have a hypothesis that it is a woman from Sask that is trying to text her rigpig boyfriend, but he gave her the wrong number so he didn't have to answer her constant bullshit. These inane texts are costing me money. Here is a sampling of what is going on:

"Hey...U alive"

"you could at least answer me that"

Well I finally got tired of the texts  and sent the following:

"Pls check numbr I don't know anyone from your area"

And the dizzy bitch sends this back today:

"I don't need friends like you get over yourself"

Oh no you di'-ENT! Now I'm mad, this person is not getting the message so I send this back:

"Hey dimwit I don't know you U R texting the wrong number"

"and have been for several months don't text this number is"

"that clear enough fuckingquestionmark" ( I don't know how to do a ? on the truck phone)

I can't wait for the response to this. I swear I could entertain myself for hours with this simple twit

Finally, but is it good or bad?

Well I might get a break, I am hoping for a good month off. As soon as tomorrow I could be going back to BC and home. It will be oh I don't know how long since I had time off, I'm through counting days at this point. Many readers might say "Wah!, he wants time off". Big whoop right? Well my job isn't that simple to define. We go until the work is done, I don't get weekends off or do any kind of 9-5 day. There are no paid holidays, I am self employed. There is no employment insurance or "pogey" because I can't collect it. There is no pension plan, unless I create my own (more on that later), not really any sick days either. I will have to look back in my journal, but I can't say that I have had more than 3-4 weeks this year where I can say I did not work, and of those days, a few were rain-outs and I had to stick around because we worked the next day. I don't live where I work, that would be impossible, I work in so many different areas of Alberta and British Columbia. When I used to work for another oil company I had almost 12 years where all the jobs were within 3hrs of my door (If a hypothetical speed of 90mph was maintained).  I haven't gone anywhere or taken a vacation since 2002. Its been a tough slog, this last year especially. It has been worth it though...

I'm excited again. With the recent dip in silver prices I bought some more. (Remember that pension plan I don't get?) At this point something is better than nothing. I don't really care what the price does, I am hoping that it accrues more value, and if what I am reading and seeing about the world financial system is any indication, my bet is not in vain. I will always have precious metals. In the above photo from left to right is: 1oz Silver Cougar, 1oz Silver Maple, 1oz Silver Grizzly and making it's debut appearance is a special edition "five nines" 1oz Gold Mountie, the first gold ounce I have ever purchased.

From what I hear one of the worst things I could do is become a "Silver Bug" and love the coins I have so much that I don't sell when the time is right. I might be one now....pictured above is a 1 oz Andean Cat in .99999 silver. It is just so beautiful don't you think? I bought 10, and I bought 10 Blue Throated Macaws produced by the same mint. They won't be here for two months...I can't wait.

OMFG!

This post isn't about any one contractor, I think its more about the troubles that contractors are having in general, finding competent workers to fill the seats.

I just finished a small service rig prep today. That's where we go in after the drilling rig has moved off and fix the messes they left behind, getting the site ready for the next service to get in and do their work. (In this case it could be a service rig or maybe the frac crew). We clean up the mud, collapse the mouse and rat holes ect... Not hard work, most equipment operators look forward to it as a easy day with little or no pressure.

The way things have been going with the busy and hectic oilfield these days, the contractor owners are pulling their hair out trying to find operators to run the equipment. They don't just work for me, they work for a dozen me's doing the same thing all over the place. From one day to the next I sometimes don't know who that operator is or where he came from, I have to trust that the person knows what they are doing, the contractor has to trust that what that person wrote on their resume was the truth.

Well I got a good one yesterday, one that is worth my time mentioning here anyway. I got to the site and watched for awhile. The guy never got out of first gear, going forward or back. It was odd, most times when I see this the operator is to put it bluntly, "Fucking the dog" (lazy), has something wrong with his machine, or the owner is greedy and has told him to work that way ie: the longer it takes the more he can charge. (I worked for someone like that once)

I told the foreman I was tired of watching this gongshow, get it done before noon and get off the site. The foreman came back once he had talked to the man...he found out the reason he never went out of first gear was because he didn't know how to put it into any OTHER GEAR! WTF! I couldn't believe what I had just heard and asked him to repeat it. I then found out that in addition to not knowing how to operate the machine that the guy was picked up off the Greyhound bus that morning. Now I know the man was put through a proper company orientation, its just the way this company operates. At what point does contractors' responsibility end and the workers responsibility to tell the truth, provide an accurate resume, and ensure that they themselves have taken the steps to ensure they are competent, begin?

You know there is an old joke that I usually attribute to my hometown: "Whats the best thing to come from.... Answer: An empty bus.

This is getting dangerous. 

What is...

a "Catskinner"? I noticed some people have searched for the word when looking at the youtube channel I have. The feedjit gadget at the bottom of this blog lets me see where visitors come from and what terms they used to get here. It is a word that some might not know or understand. I always had only a rough understanding myself so I googled and found this at a website called Kids-n-Cowboys:

The life of a “teamster”, be they a “bull whacker” or “mule skinner”, was no snap, and they usually occupied the lowest rung on the social ladder. The breed of plains men drawn to this profession were never in the mainstream of frontier life; as a group they were probably the least literate of frontiersmen. Their sweat-soaked, vermin infested hair and clothing, and vile language helped earn them this low position. They were usually red-shirted, brigands, jailbirds and desperados that commonly carried a “bowie knife”, revolver and a “bull whip”. If there was one thing in common between “bull whackers” and “mule skinners” it’s the bullwhip. It was his badge of recognition. The lash might be as short as ten or as long as twenty feet of heavy braided rawhide with a “popper” on the end to make it crack. There are many legends of drivers that could “flick” a fly off the ear of an animal without touching it. Merely cracked overhead, a bullwhip could inspire the dumbest ox or most obstinate mule to greater effort. For any frontiersman that dared to challenged a teamster, the bullwhip could be a more feared weapon than his revolver or knife.~Kids-n-Cowboys

At the turn of the last century, machinery began to replace draft animals used to tug, tow or haul heavy loads, the muleskinner and his unique profession became a thing of the past. One of those machines used to replace the mule or an ox was made by the Holt company, because of its linked track design it was known as a caterpillar as Mark Twain was once thought to have exclaimed that the machine resembled one. In 1925 Holt merged with the Best (another tracked equipment manufacturer), and the result was a company called Caterpillar. The machine and designs were so good that almost any machine that used a linked track was referred to as a "Cat". I think that you can now see where this is going...somebody that operates a piece of heavy equipment, in my line of work anyway, is called a "Catskinner". Despite the passage above that refers to a Mulskinner as occupying the "lowest rung" of society, there is no term I am more proud to called than a Catskinner. I just wish we still used the bullwhip ;-)

It started somewhere... a day in the life back in 2008

I became interested in writing, not very well admittedly, a few years ago. I wanted to tell some of my experiences, some of my opinions and to put it bluntly just have a space to vent. At first I was writing these things on facebook as part of the "notes" feature. Then in 2009 I discovered the google blogs and the rest as they say is history and can be found in the archive on the sidebar :-)

Here is an early attempt that I had printed from facebook before I deleted it. I found it while unpacking some boxes.

The story is real but the names have been changed to protect the innocent.

It's early morning and I am rolling out of bed before I even remember where I am or what I am supposed to do. Turns out its another motel room in Central Alberta. Shower time, get dressed, pack my bags, push the command start to warm up the truck, leave the room key on the T.V. and I'm out the door. But before I go, where is my pen and paper? This is what I write:

To the occupants of room #17:
Thanks for the wake up at 1:30am, thanks for the car horn at 2:30am, and thanks for not shutting your fucking mouths until 3:45am.
You pot smoking fuckwads, you are lucky I didn't call the cops, some of us have to work for a living!
To the female in the room: You are a slut and should be ashamed of yourself. I look forward to seeing you on the web at wvw.crackwhore.com.

Then its out the door, slip the note under the offending parties' wiper blade and I am gone. I guess you could say I am pissed, who wouldn't be? And people wonder why some go "postal".

I have a new job to go to but first I need to swing by the current one to make sure the crew gets started on time and to satisfy myself that they will be done by tonight like they said they would. The crew shows up minus one member after he rolled his semi last night while working for another client. He can't come until its fixed. Just great, where am I going to find someone that wants to work for only one day in -45c temperatures? I find one and when he shows up I safety orientate him and I finally get back on the road.

Its not looking good: I have 600km to go and its starting to white-out with blowing snow. I try to drive safe, but my stomach starts to turn at the thought of an icy Deerfoot during the noon rush in Calgary. And that's exactly what's going to happen if I don't start pokin' on er'.

Get through Calgary OK, but some idiot wants to use me as his personal radar detector and won't pass even though it looks like he will tag my bumper at any moment. I want to spike my brakes to teach him a lesson, but then remind the kid in me that I am not 20 anymore. Great...now I have to relieve myself, the steady drive while nursing 2 cups of coffee and a big water bottle have taken their toll. Now if I could just find the right place...there is a trick to peeing on the side of the road, I usually get off the highway a bit, down a country road, turn around then its out the door to do the deed. I f somebody happens to drive by I try to make it look like I am checking the tires or taking a stretch, but they know that I know that they know, so who cares? Thank god I am not female, I don't know how they can do it.

I finally get to the site, the office has already called and wants to know when it will be ready...I give the standard catskinner answer as diplomatically as I can: It will be done when its done, but agree to speed things up if I can. The crew is all here, but they have started without me, not good, and as I later find out, this will bite me in the ass over a trespass that nobody caught until too late. For now I gather everybody together and do an abbreviated tailgate meeting so that everyone knows that under no circumstances are they to A: run over each other or B: run over the wellhead. Why do I do this? Well it goes like this: At some future date I am on the witness stand and a smartass lawyer will ask me: "Do you mean to say that you did not specifically tell my client that he was not supposed to run over the well-site facilities? Did you happen to notice that my client is a 50 year old alcoholic with the maturity of a 10 year old? Your company has a policy against drinking in the workplace does it not?"

With the semantics out of the way I need to review the file that was bussed to me the day before and make sure I cross off all the "to do's". The phone rings, its the trucking company that will be moving the drilling rig. The dispatcher wants to know if they can drop a few loads off since my office has told him that should be OK. He doesn't get to hear what I really want to say, but I do tell him that unless he is moving this rig by helicopter there will be no loads dropped off because the road isn't even built. This is turning out to be a fine day!

Phone rings again, its the Vice President for the oil company. After a site visit the previous day he noticed that the road may be in the wrong spot. He asks me to check my survey plan. Oh my god! What looked like a botched line on a  bad fax is actually the real boundary. I am informed that we have trespassed 7m onto a section of land that is (was) protected. The natives have to be informed and an environmental group owns the land. The whole project is very sensitive. I like to think that I can bullshit most anyone, but believe me this one is hard to explain away and nobody is impressed. It is at this time that invoke rule #1 "Never pass the buck". And I don't.
The day is almost over before I realize I haven't booked a motel room.Does the fun ever start? Half an hour later and about a dozen calls to directory assistance because I don't have  a phone book, I find a room and head into town dazed by the days events. Thats when a dozen deer run across the road in front of me, I slam on the brakes and manage not to hit any of them. As the adrenaline drains away and my heart begins beating normally again I start a new letter in my mind. This one will be to my MLA asking that the laws be changed to make it legal to shoot deer from the side of the road and from a moving vehicle if need be.

Check in at the new motel...I hope its quieter than the last one.

My south is not yours...

So I am sitting in the parking lot of the laundry place in Edson Alberta waiting for three loads to dry. When they are dry I plan to drive back down to Lethbridge, its not a vacation, it's not for fun or just because I want to drive. Its because logic, logical thinking and common sense do not apply to my work most of the time. I am going to charge my dayrate, my phone rate, my sub-rate and a buck ten a kilometer to go down south, sit onsite for a grand total of 3 hours, to see a 40ft piece of pipe set in the ground. When that is done I plan to turn around and charge a buck ten all the way back. Logical huh? You have to understand that a drilling rig will be at that site in a week and granted they do need that "pipe" set in the ground, that's not the part with no common sense...no, the part that baffles me is that the rig will have a company man on location...so he can't go down a day early set the thing and then stay to drill the well?

1500km round trip when there was a chance I could have had a weekend off for the first time since June. Anyone want to take bets on when I start telling some people to go pound sand up their a**es?

PG&ME

PG came down from up north stayed for a week, I enjoyed the company so much, we stayed in the van down by the river...I left early every morning went to work then came back around 10am, then we would go for breakfast, go back to work or just bum around town. We travelled over to Jasper one rainy day and had a great time. I'm glad PG was here. I needed the break and I needed her. It meant the world to me. The best birthday present I have had in a long time, well probably the best ever :-)

I don't want to say it...I really don't, but I am getting burnt out again. That's a hard thing to admit. This is the busiest I have ever been in my life...I want normal, I want PG. Too much work and this life isn't so much fun. But you know another thought keeps entering my mind: "Everything in life happens for a reason" I truly believe that, I may not know at the time what's good for me, I may think the worst is still to come, but the clouds soon part, the sun shines, living is good and it all turns out alright....and for that I must thank "The *uc*head". Yeah its convoluted and warped, only a select few will know who I refer to, most will say huh?!? But all the same, if it wasn't for "The F**khead, I would not be where I am now, maybe I'll write about him someday...Cheers everybody, you too FH...

I said I wouldn't do it....

...But I haven't done my invoicing for 2 months. I MUST change my ways, this is getting out of hand... do it this afternoon...just as soon as I get this post done...

I did my check up the other week, this is almost the first anniversary of "When the bad things happened". I finally got the specialist diabetic consultation (ya since last summer I am now a Type 2 Diabetic). It was an interesting gang up approach led by two doctors and nurse, I have a lot of things to complete before I see them again in the fall. They changed my meds around, that sucked because I had just renewed the old ones.

 I am very optimistic about it all, a friend at work convinced me to enter a weight loss program that he has been attending. One week in and I can see the beneficial effects already. It is so hard to help yourself when there is little direction or structure. I am finding that I am one that needs that structure and discipline. Just try to go grocery shopping when you are scared shitless of the sugar content of anything, yet have no idea how much you can have. I got a new meter that I can plug into the computer and track my levels, I guess if technology is involved I like it, the doctors were impressed with my report ( but not the results really...), so I guess that's a good thing.

Work has been alright, we actually had a solid week of dry weather and that is helping to get a lot of loose ends tied up. One note though for the picture: We spent a week getting this site ready...now there is a chance it won't be drilled, oh to be able to spend money like that

Try, try again...

Rained nearly everyday in June, yesterday was the first day in a long time that we didn't get at least some precipitation at night, in the morning or the whole day long. Drier days could not have come at a better time. The oil company I am working for brought in a second drilling rig, both rigs have been moving to their new locations the past 3 days.

Little bit more stress and things seem to go wrong in a hurry. I got a call from an irate manager of mine that I didn't get some resident water wells tested prior to spud, lot of late night running around, phone calls to probable interested parties that were more than likely partying on a stat holiday....hey who wouldn't be? I mean who is dumb enough to work and never care what day of the week they work or what holiday it might be? I guess that's me. Anyway things were figured out and it turned out that we were within the regulations so no harm no foul.

I can't believe how quickly the days are accumulating, its so busy, I am behind in my filing, my paperwork and my life or what little there is of that. I am a month behind in invoicing myself out again...seems like I get a little bit of money in the bank, the worries on that side are over and I get slack. Going to have to work on that, I need a better system for life in general, need some organization.

In the picture this time is Precision Drilling rig 509, it`s a fair size piece of iron, if I am not mistaken it is an old Brelco rig The 500`s were Brelco, the 600`s were Kenting. Both companies acquired when Precision started its run at being the only source for drilling hardware in Western Canada. So glad the Alberta government bailed them out a few years ago...(not)

Over-extension-tended-tedium...

First posting for June 2011, and its a crazy start stop spring so far. Been getting a fair amount of rain but still sneaking in the day after to get the work done and dry things up. The stats aren't too good so far: Three different jobs, all cleanups, started and not completed. We can't get the final trim completed when its wet, need dry weather just like a farmer to get things done. I don't like the feeling, the spaz in me just wants things done right the first time.

A new character has been added to the catskinner cast. I call this one PG. I am enjoying the company and conversation. Lately we have discussed "Neighbour Hussy" who plays a minor role in life at this moment...NH dresses up in camouflage and hunts bear after work. NH knocked on my camper door the other night and asked if I would be so kind as to not call the cops when she goes to assassinate the bird that has pecking on her camper night and day for no apparent reason. I haven't heard the shot yet...but any day now.

Other than life being a total monotonous grind, working away from home, living in my van down by the river, wondering when it will finally rain enough to send me home for a few days...everything is good and I like that.

Indecisive spring...

What a spring its been. All of the sudden summer seems to be here...there really was no spring, just blip-blam: Here is summer and some warm temps to make you happy for awhile.

I just got back from the Edson projects. I'm not going to post the video here but check out the YouTube channel homepage for a couple of cool clips of what it takes to move a drilling rig during the spring thaw...it was interesting times.

My job is complicated sometimes, I have two to an infinite number of bosses. Last week my "employer" called to offer another job in what could be called south-central Alberta. I don't know who the client is, but it sounded good. Any other time I would jump...this time I can't. The current client offers exclusivity and a large program that has kept me as busy as I want to be. It has been probably a year and a half in the same area with at least another year to go and who knows how much after that...for a guy that has been jumping all over the province since 2006 this deal in Edson is "almost" as good as it gets. But still I am glad to have Colin and his team behind me. I appreciate that a lot. One reason I say "almost" is the life I have to interrupt to go to work...I have a new reason I want to be in FSJ. Its good.

I know some friends might want to know what I think of the recent silver pullback seeing as how I am buying into that market...well here are my thoughts: NOTHING has changed except for my ability to buy more and more at a lower price. Anybody contemplating the market should have a strategy going in with clear direction. Mine is simple: I am not playing a paper game or trying to time the market, I am in it for the long haul (5-10 years). I am going to accumulate and keep stacking. The banks can play games and rig the commodities to suit their short term needs, but the fundamental fault of a fiat currency that is no more than an out of control printing press, backed by nothing but good wishes and flawed sentiment, will lead to fundamental change. I believe in that. The US dollar is sunk, there is no way to avoid that fact. Its only a matter of time before the life support system is removed and everyone is in for a world of hurt. I don't care how low it goes, just means I BUY more.