Working from home...

     I am trying to get a routine going. Today hardly counted, since I didn't get my materials to work on until 11 am. However, I was able to work right through until 5:45. I didn't even stop for a break or lunch. I had a "working lunch" up at my computer. I hooked up another screen and a keyboard with a number pad to my laptop and away I went. One small problem is that my keyboard for some reason wanted to be French, and if I typed any " or ? they came out as e with accents on them. However, it appears that all is U.S. English now. When all else fails, re-start :)
     There are a couple of us that have been given the approval to work from home until the air/fire situation improves. The fire is even more massive, and apparently the south edge is within 10 km or so from camp. One of the camps appears to be totally surrounded, and there is quite a controversy right now, as people have been sending pictures to the press and making claims that may or may not be true, but will definitely shake up the employer.
     Basically what I am doing right now is data entry. Transcribing numbers from a PDF file into an Excel spreadsheet. There are a lot of numbers. Also, the spreadsheet has formulas in it so I can check as I go if I've got all the numbers right. Not terribly exciting, but I am grateful for the chance to be able to work from home so I've told them I'll do anything, just send it over.
     Anyway, since all I'll be doing is sitting at the computer...I'd better leave it alone for now!

Happy Memorial Day!

     Yes, I'm still at home. The air quality has only gotten worse since I left on May 23, and my doctor has advised that going back before it improves is "not wise" due to my asthma. So I am waiting to see if I will be able to work part time from home or what the story is. In any case, I will be here for a while. The weather forecast shows rain June 8-9, so hopefully that will put out the fires! The really big fire is north of camp, and that is the one that is dangerously out of control and the smoke is affecting Albian. I have seen pictures that people have posted on Facebook or emailed to me and it's worse than when I was there for sure. I hear they have installed charcoal filters on the big rooftop units and it has improved the indoor air quality, but I know that with the offices right near the main front doors there is just no way to keep it all outside. One of the other big camps was evacuated - twice - but are supposed to be going back today I think. The second time was actually because of fire danger, but a fire break was constructed and held the fire back. I am going to try and post a picture that was emailed to me, it is very tiny so not sure how it will show up, but it is basically the same location as the one I posted earlier from the A pod parking lot.
     We had a terrific lightning/thunder/rain storm last night. Incredible lightning show and monsoon-like rains. Well, at least it is what I think a monsoon would be like. The air was so dark with the heavy rain that I could not see the trees back behind my lot. Wish I could send this wet weather to northern Alberta! Nothing but sunshine in the forecast for weeks there, even though the sunshine is not getting through the smoky air on many days.
     I will update!

On a clear day....

     Finally....a break in the smoky air. Well, the air looks much clearer, but that smell just won't go away. Or maybe it's just in my nose and hair and clothes and will take forever to get rid of. The last couple of days were just nasty. The a/c in the buildings here was not working in some areas, so people were leaving their windows open. Well that just brought in the smoke and ash. Some of the big rooftop units pull in outside air, so the hallways and stairwells were very stinky. Even the bathrooms, because of the exhaust fans. Population at camp is sitting around 950, that number including ESS staff. I went outside a couple of times just to see what it really looked like, as the windows are so dirty it's hard to really tell...and yeah, it stinks worse out there. OK, so much for my complaining. Oh wait...one more thing, there was an e-mail that was supposed to be posted up around the building that explained the official position, and it said that the particulate in the air was not a health danger as the ash pieces were too big to be inhaled. What??? Also, the acceptable level of air quality is higher here because the general population levels have to take into account children, the elderly and those with health problems. So it's acceptable for people out here working to be exposed to more dirty air. Oh well. I do choose to be here for the paycheque. The fires are NOT out, they are still burning away, it's all in the direction of the wind. The best chance for rain is Monday, at 40%. Other than that, there has still been no rain. And we are getting almost 2 full hours more of sunlight here than back home. Sunrise here is 4:57 am, in Stratford, 5:54. Sunset out here is 9:46 and 8:47 in Stratford. We are also the warm spot in Canada, the past week we've had temps in the high 20's, or over 80 for you American folk :)
     I head home tomorrow night, on the redeye. Haha, that's funny, because my eyes are already red! I can't wait to smell clean air. I bet all my belongings stink too. Yuck!

Just when you thought it was safe...

     ....the wind changes. I went to bed last night it was clear as a bell, no smoke to be seen. Woke up this morning in a cloud of smoke. Could barely see the sun. Which of course gave rise to all sorts of rumours, one of which I was guilty of. All ESS staff were called to a manditory meeting 8:15 a.m. to be told that Shell was pulling all their non-essential staff out (ESS is considered essential staff) and that anyone with respiratory problems or any women that were pregnant would be put on a bus. To where? They had no answer. It sounded kind of like an evacuation to me. Anyway, turns out it is business as usual for us, although some staff flew the coop as soon as they had the chance. I could have myself, as I have asthma, but I am not really feeling any effects and plus I checked flights, and to get a flight out of Ft. Mac today - cheapest way out, to Toronto, was going to cost $1400. I have my inhalers and if it does get worse, I can always bum a ride out with someone. I did not want to get on a bus to some unknown destination so decided to wait it out. It is not a fire danger, only air quality because the wind changed direction. For a while it let up today, and it looked almost clear, but tonight it's back again. Stinks something awful. The sun is an orangey-pink ball. A lot of guys left today as they are "non-essential" but otherwise, work goes on. There will be a few service interruptions (the bar is closed as the big exhaust fans are pulling in the smokey air) and no Menu Express tonight because we don't have a delivery person. A couple of our staff left so we are short staffed, I'll be putting extra time in today. The eyes burn a bit now and then, and I had to insist that security stop people from propping the front doors open (duh!) as the front desk was catching it every time people are going in and out anyway....let alone keeping the doors open. I went out to take a picture but there really is nothing interesting to see, it just looks like a light fog. And of course the orangey-pink sun. If anyone has read Stephen King's "The Dome" you will know what a creepy feeling that is :)
     So that is where things stand at the moment. Hope for a change in the wind direction!

Danger is passed

     Well for the moment anyway. Woke up to clouds, and thought maybe we'd be lucky enough to get some rain, but no such luck. However there was NO smoke visible from any of the windows I looked out today, so they have taken off in another direction. We didn't have one call today to see if we were evacuating. The mood was a little lighter around here, which was nice after a tense few days. Now I can really count down my sleeps until I go home. Only 4 counting tonight.
     Not sure if I mentioned the changes in the lunch room but it's really been pimped up! Funny the things that get you excited some days. Chicken caesar salad and corn pops....(not together of course). It is a big hit with all the guests and staff. Want a can of smoked oysters or sardines? No problem, pick them up in the lunch room (blech). I do appreciate the individual yogurts, packaged fruit salads and individual cereal boxes and cartons of milk though. I always did like a bowl of cereal for a bedtime snack :)
     So I will be going home, where it has been raining almost nonstop for almost 2 weeks, from this dry dry dry air and dusty ground, to what sounds like a rain forest in my backyard. I may have to go buy a machete to muscle it under control. They water the road around camp here several times a day to keep the dust down. Watch out if you are walking around though....it has no mercy and will sprinkle anything in it's path.
     So mom, here is the picture of my "office". My desk. My 2 computer screens. My water bottle, bulletin board with Caden calendar, picture of Kylee, my Hero award for my "Constant Drive and Passion". That's about it.

Fire, fire everywhere

     In the immediate area, there are 4 fires, 3 of which are out of control. The first picture on the right was taken from our parking lot. I can see this plume of smoke from my window. Last night, the smoke was barely visible on the horizon. The 2nd picture was taken on the access road off the main highway from Ft. Mac. It doesn't really show it, but that is the biggest fire, the one that is threatening the CNRL site. Conditions have not changed, except the wind has died down, which is good, but no rain and still warm. Last night the power went out here for about 6 hours. Diesel generators kicked in within the minute, but it meant no air conditioning, then all the breakers for ALL 75 laundry rooms had to be re-set, and all the 300+ furnaces (for the a/c) We still have not been called on to take any evacuees, although we are still on alert because the threat has definitely not passed yet. If anyone has seen the pictures of Slave Lake, that community has been decimated. I've heard in all there are over 100 fires burning in Alberta right now. The air quality is poor, of course, and some of the smaller communities have closed day cares and senior homes and moved the people in to Ft. Mac until the air clears. We looked at the area from a satellite map this morning, and it's scary to see how large the fires are, and how close they are. There are big mines all around us, which mean no trees. The tree line around the actual camp is not very wide, and apparently Shell says with the equipment they have, they can take all the trees out around us (for a complete fire break) without 2 hours. I heard from my friend Lena, she is at a camp about 60 or so km from here, and she said they have been taking in evacuees from other camps, and that the fire has jumped the river near them. I haven't heard of any other evacuations yet. We drove into town tonight (just to get out) and yesterday, where fire and lots of smoke were visible from the highway, it was clear. You could see how the fire raged quickly through though, as the tops and trunks of the tall trees were scorched and black, but the lower, new growth was basically untouched. Nasty smell though. Sure didn't smell like a nice bonfire! Will update with any new developments.

Yes, there are wildfires in northern Alberta...

     I thought I had to make a quick post as I see the wildfires in Alberta are in the news. Yes, there are many wildfires, most of them out of control. It's dry, it's warm, it's very windy. Yes, Slave Lake has been evacuated and many of the buildings there have burned. No, we have not been evacuated. There was one news report that I found today that said Canadian Natural Resources (CNRL) and Albian Sands site have been evacuated. They have not. We were making preparations last night to take in some people that were evacuated, but it never happened. Right now everyone is on alert in case as anything can happen with forest fires out of control. Last night I could smell smoke in the wind, but I haven't yet today. I didn't take the picture I posted, I pulled it off a news website. One of our girls was in town yesterday and could see the smoke and the water bombers and took some pictures, but I don't have them. Just wanted to make sure if anyone sees any of the reports, we are all safe and sound and no flames are threatening us just yet anyway! Will update later.

It really is Monday today...

     Every day is a Monday in this world. Except the last day of work before your rotation. Then it's Friday. Sometimes it's hard to keep the days straight. I would be lost without my cell phone, which always has all those details handy.
     I went to "the barge" for a BBQ with Aimee and friends on Saturday night. I guess this is a frequent activity in suitable weather; a night away from camp - food, beverages and no work topics allowed. Luckily it was early enough in the season that there were only a few mosquitos, but I hear it's horrible once they come out in full force, being in the middle of nothing but trees and muskeg. On the drive over from camp (it's about 15 min drive) I saw my first bear! We saw him/her foraging just out of the trees and pulled the car over to get a picture. The bear noticed the car of people staring at him/her, and started to lumber over, probably hoping to get a snack. At that point Jen decided it was time to go....especially since she was sitting on the side of the car with the open window - closest to the bear. I'm not really sure why they refer to the bonfire area as "the barge", as there were no barges in sight, nor did it look like any kind of landing. The procedure was obviously down pat, from setting up the BBQ to starting and keeping the bonfire burning. It was still a bit chilly for me, but as long as I hugged the fire, all was good.
     Aimee surprised me with a beautiful orchid plant for Mother's Day. I'm going to try keeping it on my desk at work, since I'm there most of the time. However, as the room is window-less, it may not work. And I hope all the moms out there had a wonderful Mother's Day yesterday.
     We had a lot of arrivals yesterday, so occupancy today will definitely be boosted. I'm working noon-10 pm for the next few days, so back into the swing of assisting guests. There were a lot of new hires, first time to this camp yesterday. It's refreshing, because so many seem impressed with the size and amenities at this camp. There are a lot of small, older camps around and this one is newer and does offer much more than some of those. It's a nice change from the ones that complain about everything, makes for a much easier shift. Working a later shift gives me opportunity to get some laundry done (machines are ususally available during the day) and also I can still get in a morning exercise class!

Pizza lunch!

     Pizza arrived for lunch today, courtesy of the kitchen. Speaking of lunches, things have really improved on that front lately. I always thought the choices were pretty good, but yes, you do get tired of the same old thing every day. Well, now they have added more "leftover" choices, and also some new pre-packed salads, with hard boiled egg and cold meat, also yogurt parfaits, more fruit, also a selection of different yogurts. It is just a nice change from the sandwiches and sometimes-if-you-get-there-at-a-good-time leftovers.
     Wow, sunrise right now here is 5:25 a.m. Sunset is 9:19 p.m. Back in Stratford, the sunrise is 6:09 and sunset is 8:32. Approximately 90 minutes extra of daylight here. It's strange how this works, and how I am in my 50's before I ever really experienced the difference in length of daylight in relation to your position on the globe. I have always wanted to be all the way up north and experience the "midnight sun" and "30 days of night"...well, OK after THAT movie came out, maybe I don't want to experience that. One or two days would be enough.
     Strange thing today, I was checking flights, and found that I can fly from here to Kitchener airport, but I can't fly from Kitchener back here. Hmm. I guess those planes only fly one way. (?) Everyone seems to be planning vacations right now. I'm thinking maybe September. Not sure where or for how long, but yes, I think a vacation is in order.
     As far as camp news...occupancy is down right now, but this week should be picking up again. The gym is being painted, and I tried to do my laps but it was too stinky. I don't like the treadmill either. I am taking advantage of stretching class whenever I can, and also the core classes (on the fitball) which are now being held in the racketball court. Ed says we can look forward to some walking trails outdoors soon, which will be quite nice. Ed also is starting movie night tonight, in the auditorium with popcorn and drinks. Kind of funny, he made up flyers advertising exactly that, movie with popcorn and drinks. Ran around placing them all around then had to reprint, and re-distributing them as some people expected ALCOHOLIC drinks and he had to clarify that it was SOFT drinks being supplied. Some people, haha.
     I'll miss the first movie night, as I am going with Aimee and her friends to the barge. I'm not sure exactly what this place is, but I know they go there and have campfires or bbq's. I will see if I can get some pictures, although I seem to have misplaced my camera so if it's light enough, I'll get some with my phone.
     That's it for now...check in later!

An extra day for me!

     Well, ok, I have an extra day only because I didn't realize that my flight back was on May 4, not May 3 until I went to check in online! That resulted in a frantic call to my boss to request a vacation day....but could not reach her! Could not reach anyone at camp! Come to find out, there was no phone or internet at all at camp, as the communication line had been cut somehow. Good thing for cell phones... So I am sitting here with an unexpected surprise day off...but let me back up a little
     My flights home were almost the worst lineup I've had. Left Ft. Mac at 8:40 pm on April 23. Flew to Edmonton, arrived shortly after 9 pm. Sit in Edmonton airport until ten after midnight. This is the long red-eye to Toronto. As luck would have it, the flight was FULL and I was assigned an aisle seat near the back of the plane (even though I checked in 24 hours earlier!!). In the middle seat was a man...not an overly large man, but a man-size man. In the window seat was a young mother with a child in her lap. I discovered that people in the middle seats are entitled to the armrests, since they are stuck in the middle seat. And if you are in an aisle seat, you can't really have that armrest either, as there is a lot of traffic down the aisle, especially if you are near the back of the plane. That's where the bathrooms are, and also the carts for the flight attendants. To say the least, I did not get any sleep time at all. Then arrive in Toronto, around 5:30 a.m. local time, April 24. Another wait in the airport...about 2 hours. By this time, I was having trouble keeping my eyes open, as it had been over 24 hours since I had slept. Flight left Toronto at 8:10 a.m. for London. That flight is only about 35 minutes long, and I fell asleep on that one, finally. Then arrive in London just before 9 am and had to drive the 45-50 minutes to Stratford and home to my own bed! I had a couple hours of sleep, then went to start calling my family to say I'm home and Happy Easter. What? No dial tone on my phones. Just a message flashing that said "Check TEL line". And what? No internet either. A call to the service line at my phone company assured me that someone would be around the next day (Monday). Monday comes and almost goes, still no sign of repair guy. Another call to phone company. Oops, Tuesday is their usual day to come to Stratford. So now I spend another day waiting for repair guy. Actually he did show fairly early on Tuesday, only to discover it was not THEIR problem, it was a problem with the Bell line. Anyway, in the end, it was Wednesday afternoon before my service was restored. And it has rained every single day (wait-I don't think there was any rain yesterday) I have been home. I did manage to get my front lawn trimmed and cut but that's all.
     Kylee spent the night with me last Monday night. We watched "Bumbo" and ate popcorn in my bed. Julie spent the night with me last Thursday night. We watched the Royal Wedding and drank tea and ate cinnamon rolls in my bed. Spent some time with Tina and family, had belated Easter dinner with family in Michigan. It has been an eventful time home. As I was expecting to be leaving for camp today, I had everything ready to go so today really is a free day! Even if it is unseasonably cold and definitely raining, I intend to enjoy every minute of it.