Odds n' sods

To all those people who have just started reading my blog welcome to my Knightmare. I am not an authority on anything so don't quote me on anything. This blog is just my thoughts as blasted through my fingers using an iPhone with a stupid spellcheck. Enjoy yourself! Feel free to comment as I have enabled that function. Some of what you read here is true and sometimes I just make it up! But that's what blogs are for isn't it? We are coming to the end of the job for the old surge bin. Yesterday we spent most of the afternoon taking all of the extra cables and cords from the bin back down to Terry the tool crib guy. The idea is to leave 4 complete welding setups (so 4 suitcases or welding machines, 4 power cords, 4 co2 lines and 4 propane driven tiger torches). Apart for that everything must go. In some ways it was a sad process and in others good. I started in late January of this year (2012) when it was so cold that my breath would cause my moustache to freeze to the hair just below my bottom lip. So many welders and Ironworkers have come through the doors since then to work along side of us and then to disappear during a turnaround never to return. Others have come and stayed and are now friends as well as coworkers. And when we finally leave here we will be reunited with some and will lose track of others. Yesterday's weather was such a contrast to that which we started in. It was cool in the morning but above zero. Very nice to work in if you take the cool breeze out of the equation. By afternoon the wind had stopped and the temperature went up pretty close to 20 if not higher. It was so nice working in just a long sleeved shirt and pants. It was nice to sweat and not have it freeze and cause a chill. It was just a good day to feel good! But even as things were flowing along so nicely people were starting to leave for new jobs and opportunities. Tim the scaffolder is leaving today as hi brother-in-law from Calgary is apparently very sick. Dave the Ironworker and several others will be heading over to Syncrude to get that project started. In a few short days Curt and Steve will be leaving to take the last schooling required for completion of their ironworking apprenticeships. As with all things in life there is both joy and sadness. As the job shrinks so does our space. I guess one of the trailers is being taken away as we had 5-6 new guys relocate to our trailer. It is still a fun place to be but the dynamic has changed. Brian, Matti, Brunoccio, Ache-y and I still have our usual fun time at breaks but with all the new voices the conversation has changed. As with a things nothing stays the same. But it is still fun in there. I guess it makes sense that the change in our job is starting to happen at this time of year. It is spring after all and that is nature's time of change. The sun is now up when I awaken in the morning and is still shining down When I crawl exhausted into my bed. The colour green is being slowly painted into the landscape all around. Ice has left the tailing ponds and the ever present dust now replaces the constant slush of winter. Spring is just a nice time to be working in this trade. Although this place, Kear Lake, can be pretty desolate it will be a hard place to leave. What it represents is more than just the millions of pounds of steel that we forged into a surge bin. It represents hard work that in the common battle of life forged a lot of good and enduring friendships. The battle of man versus the elements. Yes, I will miss this place!