And Life Comes to a Grinding Halt

I was at work today when myself and a coworker got pulled aside to have a “talk”. As I go into my boss's office, I have nightmares of being laid off running through my head. So we go into his office and he says, “Kearl Lake”. Apparently we got a bid on a new gigantic job, surveying a new 240 kilometer power line, at Kearl Lake, roughly 100 kilometers North of Fort McMurray. So we’ve gone from having little work and short hours to too much work and ridiculous hours.

Problem is it’s out of town and we have to work on their schedule. They work 20 on 10 off or 10 on 4 off. We would probably be working 20 on 10 off because they are in a rush and have to be done by spring when the ice roads thaw. The company I work for usually doesn’t do much out of town, 3-5 days out in Cold Lake or something, staying in hotels, but with the slow down we’ve been trying to expand and get work wherever we can.

This job would be in a camp in the middle of nowhere. I’ve never stayed in a camp or worked more than 6 days in a row. I have no desired to work 20, 12 hour days in a row or stay in some crappy camp but it beats working half days here. I can’t very we’ll tell the office I’m not going, they really need people (I’m also one of the few that can pass a drug test lol) and the work has been slow, I’d be worried about getting canned and I could really use the cash. So I’m probably going to go for a bit. I told them I’d be willing to go out but I can’t go the whole time, I might go once or twice and never back to back.

If I go everything I’ve been doing will come to a screeching fiery end. I’ve been very busy lately and I like how much progress I’ve made. Here’s a rough look at my weekly schedule: (whenever I say mess around or I have free time I’m often doing UBBT stuff)

Monday: Home from work at 5:00, eat and do whatever needs doing at home, off to Kung fu at 7:00, home by 10:30, in bed by 11:30.

Tuesday: Home from work at 5:00, mess around for an hour or two, go play squash for a couple hours with friends, eat supper, in bed by 11:00.

Wednesday: Home from work at 5:00, eat and do whatever needs doing at home, off to Kung Fu at 7:00, home by 10:30, in bed by 11:30.

Thursday: Home from work by 5:00, mess around for an hour or two, go to gymnastics for an hour or two, eat supper, in bed by 11:00.

Friday: Home from work by 5:00, leave to Kung Fu at 6:00, back home at 8:00 or 9:00 depending on the day of the month, eat supper, shower and leave my house by 10:00, arrive at improv theater by 10:30, leave improv at 1:00 am, go out to play pool somewhere for an hour or two, get home around 3 or 4 am, go to bed.

Saturday: Wake up at 11:30, leave for kung fu by 12:00 or 12:30, get home from open training by 3 or 4, mess around for a few hours, meet up with friends and spend the rest of the day doing stuff with them, home late, go to bed.

Sunday: FREE DAY!! Nothing too pressing to do. Write a journal entry, do some UBBT stuff, buy groceries, do laundry, maybe go out with friends for a bit. It’s my lazy day of the week.

Not to mention the stuff I’ve been trying to do like drawing, plan the black belt retreat, research becoming a registered charity for the Benevolent foundation, try new things with friends, go snowboarding…etc. I’m really worried about going out of town for such a long length of time. It means I’m not going to be able to get near as much done and it will be tougher for me to keep in contact with people. At this point in time I don’t even know if the camp has internet and even if it does I don’t have a laptop. I might have to buy one or just bring my desktop.

If I’m going I have to decide by Friday because we will be leaving Monday morning. As usual everything at work is last minute and in a rush. I have a lot of stuff to finish before then. I’m really going to hate missing so much class and activities. ARRRGGGGHHH! I wish I had money!

I’m going to make a point of training my butt off in camp. I’m assuming there’s nothing to do down there anyways. It will be very easy survey work too so I’m sure I’ll be able to find time on the job to practice some forms, do some pushups and heck maybe even run a few kilometers in snowshoes. I will totally get behind in sparring and Jujitsu though (unless someone wants to come visit me, or maybe I should start fights with camp workers)

I’m about 90% sure I’ll be going so when its 100% sure I’ll let everyone know what’s up. I apologize to my fellow black belts and Benevolent Foundation Board Members if my absence becomes a problem; I’m hoping to only do this once. From all I’ve heard about camp life it’s not for me. At least I won’t have to cook for myself for awhile.