Well it is official, I will be leaving the oilsands for at least awhile. I have a new opportunity back in Halifax. I can't wait to go home and be part of the family. I can say this for sure, I have been able to do a lot of things I might normally been unable to do, but have also missed a lot in the last three years. Yay!

When I am gone.

Just watching the news back home and there is a huge forest fire that has already taken out 12 homes and hundreds evacuated. Wow, most of this crazy stuff happens when I am gone to work. Only 12 or so days and I will be home, can't wait.

I am not Irish

Luck is not something I have a lot of. Yes I am very lucky in love, I love my kids and of course my wife and I am sure they love me very much too. When it comes to other things , like making business deals or making a large purchase. I am NOT lucky. I have some land home for sale and have had some really serious inquiries. I was to sell it for X amount of dollars and use that money to get ahead. Well now I have to pay X amount to even keep it. The asshole who sold it to me had made a side deal with this other asshole who messed up part of the land and now I got to pay the clean up fees as well as the legal fees to remove him from the land. How is that for karma. I got news for buddy, I ain't quitting until till the scumbag is kicking rocks down the road. It's not about the money even though I don't have much, it's about principal. So begins what is sure to be a battle at least I have some money and he is a broke loser.

Just another day.

Well its just another day in the oil sands here in Alberta. I wish I had more exciting things to blog about but the fact is , its the same everyday. Although the busing to and from work is a sore spot right now. When the job was in full swing there was 3 different routes that picked up the staff employees in there respective neighborhoods. Now in the greater wisdom of the extremely well paid coordinator who has never stepped on the bus once we all get on the same bus after an hour and a half of zipping in and out of side streets picking everybody up. In the mean time I am melting into my seat while the person in front of me is laying in my lap and the person behind me has there knee in my frigging kidney. By the time I get to work I feel like I just was put through the tumble dry cycle in a dryer. Okay I am done bitching now.

Still here!

I know I say I want to go home and work but given the current economic state of things, its best to hold onto a good thing. I will mention though that this job like all others is starting to wind down. I imagine I will make it to late July. I am currently looking for other work in the oil sands although I continue to work on the possibility of making a living back in Halifax again. I enjoy the work out here ( on green sites at least) and the 20 days away from home is not terrible, but being so removed from what really goes on at home is a little disconcerting. My wife Shari is a real trooper and we have a very strong relationship. I know its my decision to be here so I can't complain. If I had more time at the end of a working day I would look at different ways of making a living. In the interim I will keep on plugging away. I joke with my wife about taking my acreage down home and building a cottage on it and living off of the grid and the hell with money. LOL

New Pad

I have lived at the same house for about 1 1/2 years and finally I snapped. The people were actually great to me. They just lived a very active lifestyle and equipment was everywhere. Honestly I lived in a basement with the furnace and laundry so it was quite noisy. I literally had the footprint of my double bed as space to myself. Essentially no privacy and the living room was right above my bed so again it could get noisy. I had to move, there wasn't much choice. Now I live in a condo with one person not 4 others which was very crowded. I should have done it long ago! It is so nice and quiet here and oh yeah, no dog hair everywhere. Life is good. My wife and I decided that I will be leaving the Oilsands after this project, which will be roughly September. I can't wait to back home full time.

I'll be home for Christmas!

Tomorrow morning I will be leaving for Halifax and starting my holidays. I have 40 days off and can't wait to be with my other family and friends. This will be the longest period of time that I have been home in over two years. I am looking at different ways of trying to go home permanently. I want to have some children and we don't drink milk, and we have satellite mailboxes so I guess I am gonna have to go home to get momma pregnant LOL. Honestly though these last couple of years have just blew by and I am missing my son score goals at hockey and all kinds of other events. You only live once and this is not a dress rehearsal so I got to get home and live life with my family. The money is great but not worth sacrificing life for. For now we will plug on but I hope to be home by no later than the end of summer. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all the oilsands workers and their families.