Wrapping up this adventure...

Well, my days of camp life are coming to an end. At the end of the work day on July 5, 2012, I'll be heading home for good. I've been offered and accepted a job scheduling the nursing staff at a nursing/retirement home and saying goodbye for my Albian family. I've spent quite a bit of time wondering how I was going to wrap this up, and I still am just going to "fly by the seat of my pants" here.
I guess for one thing, I never intended to be here this long. I thought maybe six months, and if I made it a year, it would be a miracle. Never thought I'd be able to handle the twenty days in a row, ten hours a day. But I really did like those eight days off every month! I do really like my job, and the people I work with. I've made a lot of good friends, met a lot of very nice people. It's an experience I could have never foreseen for myself, but I am really glad I was able to have the first hand "tour of duty" in the oilsands. It is a whole different lifestyle, and the variety of people who work here, reasons they are here, length of time they spend here has always been interesting to me. I know it's hard to really explain camp life, unless you've lived this type of life before, but I have tried to give some sort of picture of what it's like. The last while has been difficult to book flights, not "technically" difficult, just hard to realize what a pain in the butt it is to get someone to pick me up at whatever airport I was flying in to (because of the cost and time of flights, some had better options than others) and then getting me to the airport when I had to go back. Then making sure I had the car or someone to pick me up in Fort McMurray, so I didn't have to book a flight first thing in the morning (to catch the ESS shuttle back to camp). Seeing the price of flights get high, watching the airlines changing their flight schedules, it all became very burdensome for me. But there are things I am going to miss. It will be strange to leave these long days, (and long nights, once winter rolls around). It will be strange having the 24 hour round-the-clock activity of the camp. It will be strange not to hear the water cannons going off all day and night. It will be strange to not hear of bear, coyote, moose, or other wildlife sightings. Or seeing bear paw prints on the dining room window :) Of course, it will be strange to be able to go to the store whenever I want, and not have to worry about at least an hour drive each way. I won't miss that! And yes, it will be strange having to cook and clean for myself again. THAT I might miss! It has been fun being "Jomamma", kind of a den mother, or a camp mom to most of the staff here. Heck, I am the oldest of the salaried staff here! I enjoyed the vast majority of the people who work and live here too. There are always those grumpy souls that you can never make happy, but most of the people that work here are appreciative to being "cared for" by ESS staff. It was always interesting to hear how far people were travelling on their days off, who was back home, and being in the Guest Services area, the luggage room, I did have contact and time to chitchat with a lot of people. I enjoyed being on my feet most days, running the halls. Even though I DID complain when I had a lot of rooms to visit, or memos to deliver, like a couple hundred or so, especially when it was hot and humid. Well, Alberta humid. (Albertans do NOT know what humid is, believe me!). But it felt good to be active and not just sit at a desk all the time. So, it will be sad tomorrow to leave people behind for the last time. I've had a lot of nice comments from people, a lot of people telling me how much I'll be missed, and that feels good. I do feel like I've made a difference, however small it might be, to my department anyway.
So, come Monday morning, I'll be getting started at my new job, and settling into the regular Monday to Friday workweek. Driving to work everyday, instead of walking down the hall. Having two days a week to sleep in! Cooking and cleaning, and looking after my house and yard. Sounds kind of "normal", doesn't it?
Bye all....it's been fun!

Cold snap in Alberta

     Yep, that's right. C.O.L.D. Woke up this morning, it was -34. With the windchill, felt like -46. What?? It's funny, people who are from around here don't put the "-" or negative, part when talking about it. Just...it's 46 out there...wow. And to convert that to Fahrenheit...well, -40 c is the same as -40 f. So yep, we're talking cold. I am very happy that I do not have to go outside at all, but wow, I feel sorry for the workers that do. When it's this cold outside, however, even INSIDE it's cold. I finally had to go begging to the maintenance guys to throw a log or two on the fire at my end of the building. Can't even guess how cold it was in here, but the thoughts of actually stripping down, getting into the shower, then having to get out all wet was extremely unappealing at 5 a.m. today!
     We continue to be extremely busy here, despite the low temperatures. Busier than ever, as a matter of fact. We have about 800 people at a third-party camp right now, more than ever before. I guess long term plans in are place for another camp, as it seems there will be more oil coming from the earth around here.
     I hear back home it's warm, above freezing, and rainy. Hard to imagine from here!

Christmas at Albian, 2011

     Well, at least we have a white Christmas here! It is unseasonably warm, for this part of Alberta, there must be a chinook :)  All is calm and quiet at the village these Christmas days. Population dropped from full house (around 2300-2400) to less than 500. Yes, most people are home with their loved ones for the holidays. There have been a few special touches for the staff here; hot lunch on Friday, then drinks in the bar last night for Christmas Eve. A few of us tried to sing some carols in the bar, but it apparently rubbed a few people the wrong way and we got shut down. This morning it was so quiet, it was almost spooky. I was talking to my camp attendant, and he said he only had 5 people in this whole dorm. That means 37 empty rooms in this dorm. And, as a cost saving measure, the maintenance people have been shutting down furnaces where there are a lot of empty rooms. My room is as warm as it ever is, but the arctic corridor over here....well, let's just say "Arctic" is an apt description! Our generous AGM gave everyone short shifts today and tomorrow (Boxing Day) which made everyone very happy, since most of the people here (except us) are union and hourly workers, so they are cleaning up big time over the holidays. I was all set to sleep in this morning, and when I got back to my room yesterday, there was a sign on the door coming into the dorm that said the water was going to be shut off at 7:30 am until 4 pm today. Great. Now I had to get up early anyway, just to be able to have a shower. So, alarm went off at the regular 6:30 time, I had a shower (after a momentary scare when only COLD water was coming out of the shower), and figured I might as well go have breakfast, since I was up anyway. Then, I figured I might as well work, since I was dressed, showered, fed, and downstairs anyway. I put in more hours than I had to, but it was slow and relaxed. I talked to all my kids, and later on, mom and dad. They had a lovely turkey dinner, and had the usual array of desserts and also gingerbread cookies.
     I have to admit I was feeling pretty homesick last night. It all sounded good in theory, being here for Christmas, leaving for home on the 27th and having our family Christmas on the 30th. Now I keep thinking, when I go to do my Christmas shopping after I get home, all the stores will have out their Valentine stuff. Sigh.
     All in all, being here wasn't so bad. I mean, everyone else is in the same boat, away from family and friends and loved ones. Everyone tries to be extra nice, and keep each other's spirits up.
     Oh, by the way....my old goose Christmas sweater vest won me a second place tie in the Ugly Christmas Sweater contest. Somewhere out there is a picture....but maybe that should stay lost :)

     Merry Christmas to everyone!

Time just flies....

     Holy smokes, time does fly. I arrived back at camp (in my running shoes and a hoodie) to -20 degrees (celcius) and 6 inches of snow on the ground. Finally found the car, which had my coat and boots in it, and drove back to camp, with the temp dropping all the way. My room here was FREEZING cold....and even though I cranked my baseboard heater it took days to get it even semi-warmed up.
     Since getting back, I've started in my new role as Guest Services Supervisor. The department is not fully up and running yet, but I've been assuming some of the duties, anyway. I spend a lot more time on my feet, and running around checking room status, which is a good thing. I was spending too much time sitting on my butt!! Now I can have that extra cookie and not feel guilty. Shell was passing out pedometers, and I took one, and the first day I logged about 3 miles from lunchtime to the end of my day at 6 pm, and a couple of days I actually surpassed 7 miles. And stairs!!! I refuse to take the elevators, unless I have to because my hands are full, and I have been up and down stairs so many times I can't even begin to count. Also, the flooring is still underway and some corridors are blocked off. When I got back, the 3rd floor corridors were blocked off, so if I had to check rooms on 3rd floors in different dorms in each pod, I would have to go up and down the stairs for each dorm, rather than going to the 3rd floor and checking all the 3rd floor rooms. I am counting on having buns of steel in a few months! Oh, and in my role of managing the room status, I've started enforcing the camp policy (i.e. you must check out or put your room on hold when you leave) and locking out people who are on the "No Sleep" list. I lock the rooms out and put a reminder memo that they must put their rooms on hold before going on days off. It just means that when they get back, they have to go to the front desk and get their key re-activated. Well, turns out I locked out some Very Important People. When I got the phone calls the evening that some of them returned, and asked an explanation, I said...they left on days off and didn't put their rooms on hold. I have to admit, I was a little nervous going in to work the next day, wondering if someone was going to be looking for my head on a platter, but so far...they all seem to have gotten over it. I mean, rules are rules, right?
     Anyway, I'm almost at the end of this rotation, heading home Friday night to a whirlwind week off. I will be spending Christmas at camp this year, but home for New Year's. Last year it was the other way around, I was home for Christmas and at camp for New Year's.
     The weather got above freezing for a day or two, but is back to snow again today.

Random musings...

     Things at Albian have been hopping this last couple of weeks. The winter drilling program is starting to get ramped up, and although it won't be fully underway until the ground freezing, preparation is beginning and of course, occupancy is increasing. The winter drillers go into the muskeg to drill, and they can't get equipment on the land until it's frozen, as it's like swampland when it's not frozen. The beaver dams were blown up and the Athabaska River has carried all the occupants of the now defunct lake into the new lake. I'm sorry, I don't have the names of these lakes, but the beaver dam was the last relocation. The second floor arctic corridors are now open for A pod and B pod, and closed for C pod. I did some room checks this week, and forgot about the C pod 2nd floor closure, so that required lots of climbing up and down stairs, since I couldn't move from dorm to dorm along the corridor. In order to do the second floor rooms, I had to either go up to third or down to first to move over. Good exercise though! I managed to get in two Zumba classes and I hope I'll be able to make 3 times per week when I get back from vacation.
     Now for the pictures...at one of the other camps that is about 35 min driving distance from here, someone showed up for work at their job trailer (I think it was Thursday morning) and discovered a black bear had decided to try an office job. Looks like he was checking the paper stock, taking inventory of the supplies, and maybe trying to fax or copy a letter, it's hard to see. Oh, and the last picture looks like he's just on his break, or overwhelmed with the duties. No word on how they got him out of there.
     So I am off to San Francisco today. The weather looks like it will be decent, around 14-15 degrees most days (mid-high 50's) and very little precipitation for the days we'll be there. Last day there looks very nice, about 16 and full sun. I don't expect I'll be coming back with a tan, but sounds great compared to Calgary here, where they had their first snowfall (that accumulated) yesterday morning. When the plane was coming in, all I could see from the air was a nice white blanket. I visited with Aimee here in Calgary last night, and am flying out this afternoon.
     When I get back to camp, my role at work will be changing, but I will post those details on my return when I see how the department is progressing. I am not sure I'll have internet access but will try to get pics up when I can.

Now snow is in the air...

     Nothing sticking on the ground, but definitely snow in the air. We had a fire alarm a couple of days ago, and it was very windy, and also there were snowflakes in the air. Sigh...oh well, it IS the end of October, as compared to the first snowfall in mid-September last year.
     Replacement of the arctic corridor flooring is underway. The 2nd floor walkways over to the core building were sealed off on Wednesday. That means when I go to work, or back to my room, or to any other rooms for other reasons, we have to go outside. Not bad, really, unless you happen to be lugging stuff from one place to another. Hopefully, another week and the 2nd floor walkways will be open. The first and third floors don't connect to the core building anyway, so you always have to use the 2nd. I guess they figured they would get that one done before the weather got too bad.
     I heard something interesting today. They are going to be digging a new hole, or mine, I guess you'd call it, soon and in order to do this, they had to move a. the road in from Highway 63, and b. a lake. Move a lake???? I guess environmental people have been here the last 6 months moving creatures over to the new lake. Every single fish, and anything else that would life in a lake had to move. How do they move fish from one lake to another? They stun them, with a cattle prod in the water, they float up, they scoop them up, record the species etc, and dump them into the new lake. In about 15-20 minutes, they come to and swim away. The last critters to be moved were the beavers, and they blew up their dams this week and either have or will be now draining the old lake. The beavers will move on down the river and find a spot to build their new dams. NO, no beavers were harmed in the course of this relocation.
     Speaking of wildlife, there was an interesting picture in a Shell newsletter that I saw floating around camp. Because so much of northern Alberta was destroyed by wildfires this summer (over 1,000,000 acres) the bears and other hibernating animals had to travel farther and wider to stock up for their winter sleep. That's the reason there have been so many sightings (100+ last year, 400+ this year) of bears closer to human habitation (in camps, in garbage bins etc). Well one of the little guys went into a pit on site, and then couldn't get out of the hole. Workers placed a ladder in the hole and sure enough, Yogi figured out how to use a ladder and rescued himself out of the hole.
     One of the camp attendants here has started a Zumba exercise class. I finally made it to one last night. It's so much fun! I will be sure to get my exercise in 3 times a week with this! It's like a dance aerobics class, high energy with Latin/African sounding music. Sort of like learning a line dance. But a lot of fun.
     Only 5 more days of work for me, then I'm off to San Francisco for vacation!

Fall is in the air...

     Not that it's cold or anything, and certainly we didn't get snow in September, like last year, but you can tell winter is approaching. Right now it's somewhat mild, at around 10 degrees C or 50 degrees F, and expected to stay around there for the next week. Stratford, by comparison, is looking sunny for the next week, with temps in the 70's, or low 20's. Up here at camp the days are shorter by about 20 min or so, but the difference will be increasing quickly now.
     As far as camp life...well, the maintenance people have started into the new flooring project, in which all the carpet has been ripped out of all the arctic corridors (the hallways that connect the living quarters, or pods, to the main core building). Carpet was a really bad choice for that anyway, and they were really in bad shape, even a safety hazard, as the carpet was bunched up from being repeatedly shampooed and cleaned. So we're walking on plywood floors in all the hallways. Feels like we're in the middle of a big construction project, haha.
     Pretty much since the beginning of September, the camp has been overbooked and other camps have been taking in the overflow. Since these other camps are not near as nice as this one, it's like back in the day when we had the trailers, and guys crying and whining, wanting to get into Albian. There will be some big changes coming to camp, but until an official word is out....my lips are zipped!

A resurgence of summer...

     Yep, we're having a heat wave here. 27 degrees (or 81 F for my American family and friends) at 7:30 pm. I haven't hardly been out of the building, except for yesterday. Just when you think your day can't get any worse, there's a fire alarm! On the bright side, it was not the middle of winter, -15 degrees and 3 a.m. I was just really busy and was chomping at the bit for the all-clear sign. We had to be standing outside for at least 40 minutes. Nice bright sunshine, I think I even got a little burn on my face.
     Got some really bad news last week. Our beloved rec director Ed is leaving us. *Insert crying face here*. Today was his last day. He'll still be staying at camp here, but with a different company and doing an outside labourer job. We will miss him sorely. Sara the baker made a great dumbbell cake, which I will get a picture of tonight when we say our farewells to him at the bar.
     We are hopping at the village the last few days. Back to the old days of being out of rooms and running like crazy. It's kind of funny, as none of the front desk staff (well, maybe one that started last November) have ever seen camp this full and crazy. There will be no more complaints of boredom for a while. When those slow days do come around, you definitely enjoy and take advantage, after a stretch like this. I just think of it as job security, haha.
     I am on my wind-down here, only 5 more days to work and I go home again. It's been a busy one, and I don't think I've been to town yet. I'm kind of disturbed that I don't remember if I've been to town....but I'm pretty sure not. Will be heading in tomorrow with Jen though.
     So I thoroughly embarrassed myself at karaoke the other night. Yes, I have been dodging that bullet since I got here. Playing along when people start bugging "are you going to sing" I always say yes. I pick out a song, pretend to fill out a request form, then I sneak out before the inevitable. However.....this last time, with the "help" of a "friend" who actually filled out the request form, then physically held me down so I couldn't leave....I had to sing a duet with one of the young H&S guys. We gave them "Something To Talk About". It was bad, and when I looked around all I could see where cameras and iphones recording the event for posterity. Yes, it was bad. Oh well. It's not like I'll ever run into any of these people at home!!
   

Sunday, August 28 2011

     I know, it's terribly uninspired of me as for a title. So since I've gotten back, we've had a Hawaiian theme night at the bar on Friday night, and Shell Family Day on Saturday. 

     The Hawaiian theme night was fun, even though attendance wasn't very high, people did seem to enjoy getting "lei-ed" as they came in. Well, most did. Some party poopers absolutely refused a lei, however most were willing to at least pretend to play along :) Our rec director Ed was in fine form, keeping the Hawaiian/beach party music going and running the games. The kitchen brought down Hawaiian pizza, chicken wings and meatballs and pineapple upside down cake for dessert. Ed had a limbo contest, a hula-hoop contest and a relay where each team had to take the lei, coconut bra and grass skirt off their teammate, run across the bar, do 6 hula moves, and run back. The bartenders served drinks in fancy glasses and I saw lots of smiles around. 

     On Saturday, Shell had their family day even. Shell employees were allowed to bring their families in, and for a few hours, there were no security stops at the gates. They had jumping castles, an ice cream truck, goodie bags, balloons and Shell toy trucks for the kids and also live music. ESS provided a lunch of hot dogs, hamburgers, grilled cheese, fries, salad and drinks. They were expecting around 750 people, but I never heard what the final tally was. It was very strange to see people and especially children and babies freely wandering about. It kind of made us workers feel like zoo exhibits, ha ha. Oh, I almost forgot...there was a guy set up in the parking lot to release foam "balloons" into the sky. The foam is pumped into a form, and when it's filled, the guy would pick up a Shell logo shaped from foam and release it into the wind. This "balloon" is made from soap and water, basically, and lasts 30-40 minutes and can rise up to 4,000 feet in the air before it just dissipates, just like bubbles. It's the "environmentally friendly" answer to balloons. 

     Today there is a big tented area set up right in the lobby across from the front desk where maintenance are going to be working for a couple of weeks. They are making some electrical upgrades or something. Anyway, the area is taped off with the Danger tape, and if anyone goes into the taped area, they will lose their site priviledges (meaning they are out of a job!). I hope everyone heeds the tape and we don't lose anyone!

Shorter days and bears

     Yes, the days will be growing shorter very rapidly. Right now, sunrise at Albian is 5:51 a.m., and sunset is 9:06 p.m. In Stratford, sunrise 6:27 a.m. and sunset 8:28. By the end of this month, sunset here will be 8:30. I only know this because it's on the dining times for the Ramadan meals :) But in the month of August, sunset will be over an hour early from the beginning to the end of the month.
     The weather has been nice this past week. Not that I get out much, the mosquitos and other small flying insects are brutal. Mosquitos are still bad inside, but nothing like they were a couple of weeks ago. Either that or we are getting used to them, haha.
     We just about had a bear in the village today. He was spotted with his nose pressed against the glass at the front entrance doors. Was also spotted by the kitchen area (garbage and grease bins) and just outside one of the B pod back emergency doors. Yep, I don't think I'll be venturing out for a casual stroll any time soon. And no pictures....not allowed. We were going over what the plan of action would be if a bear actually made it inside the doors into the village...since I sit in a back office, I said every man for himself! I'm closing the door, locking it and hiding out ha ha.
     Other than that, there is not much new and exciting happening in my rotation. Aimee has arrived in Calgary with her new car packed full of her worldly good and is starting on her new adventure. I have two more days to work after today and I'll be on my way home for my August days off.

Dog Days of Summer...

     I was home for 11 days, and it was nice to have that length of time off, but it was SO hot and nasty that I pretty much just hid out in the A/C, haha. Funny how people that are from this area think that they are having really humid weather. Come on!!! I just look at them like they've got two heads. You haven't seen humidity until you've been in Southwestern Ontario in the summer.
     It's strange thinking that it's almost a year since I came out here. I didn't imagine at the time that I would still be here and yet, here I am! Aimee has gone, her last day was last week. Her leaving has certainly left a large hole, as she was very well liked and respected. Funny I have had a couple of people that just found out I am her mom, haha. I don't know how anyone could miss Chef's big booming voice calling out "Hi Jomama!" in the hallways, and maybe wonder WHY he's calling me Jomama. Aimee has called me that for years and it sort of picked up and spread here.
     The days are starting to get shorter, sunset is around 9:41 today. The reason I know this is that Ramadan starts today. There is a fairly substantial number of Muslims here that celebrate/observe Ramadan and I've been asking questions and learning a bit about it. For those observing, it's sort of like a month-long lent. They will not take anything by mouth, not even a sip of water, from sunrise to sunset. At sunset, they have a meal. The kitchen has planned/prepared special meals for the month, with the dining room opening up at 9:30 pm. All are invited to join in, if they please. I would love to but it's too late for me, since I get up at 5 am. Maybe I will suck it up and stay up later in the month when sunset is a bit earlier :)
     I haven't heard any recent bear or moose or even coyote stories since I've been back, maybe they have the holes in the fence plugged up, ha ha.
    
    

13 down, 5 more to go

     NOT that I am counting or anything, haha. It's been too long since I was home so I'm anxious. I confess I haven't felt very inspired to blog since I got back, but yesterday I was able to go on a tour of the mine sites (well, as much as we're allowed to see) that was very interesting.
     There are two separate mine sites, one is called Jackpine Mine, or the JPM site, and the other is Muskeg River Mine, or the MRM site. The JPM site is the newest one, the expansion part of Shell Albian Sands. The administration building is right across the walkway from the village here, and they do some refining at this site. ESS has a small cafe in the admin building, food is for purchase, and the medic office is over there as well. Then the MRM site is about a 10-15 min drive from here. It's not actually that far, but the roads are pretty bumpy and uneven from all the heavy equipment traffic, but the graders are out every day trying to keep them smooth and passable. This is the big mine, huge. It's an open pit mine so there is nothing underground. To try and get some perspective, take a look at that giant dump truck that we're standing next to. I saw a lineup of them in the mine waiting to dump their loads into the crusher, and they looked like little Tonka toys. So all day and all night the big giant shovels scoop up the earth, dump it into the trucks, and they drive to the crusher (in the mine) and dump the earth in there then drive back to pick up another shovel full. Once the earth is in the crusher, it gets, well, crushed, haha. Then it goes along a conveyor into another building where it is crushed further and the big rocks and stuff is filtered out. Not sure what all the processes are there, but at the MRM site there is a huge amount of piping and scaffolding around the piping. At some point the bitumen has something added to it, it's sent by pipeline to the froth plant where they do some further refining, and then it comes back as crude petroleum where it sits in those giant silo things until the pipeline can take it away to Edmonton or wherever the final refinery destination is. There are only 2 silos that I saw, as they don't store it for long. Over at the MRM site is where the majority of guys that stay at our camp work. They have great need for maintenance on the heavy vehicles, so that is non-stop. At the site ESS also maintains a cafeteria that sells limited hot meals and snacks for breakfast and lunch. Some of the workers there live in town, so don't stay at camp and therefore are on their own for meals. This is what we checked out on our tour, the actual kitchen/cafeteria building. Of course all the buildings on site (except for the JPM admin building) are trailers. They connect them up together like building blocks and there, you have an instant office/cafeteria/maintenance shops. When the oil is all sucks out of the earth, the big dump trucks take it out to the big dirt hill that surrounds the mine. I would have to say when I first got here the dirt pile has grown at least 2-3 times it's size. They used to drive on top of it, but they can't now. So the long-term plan for the big huge open pit mine is in 20 years or whenever they figure they've gotten all the oil it they will put all this earth back into the hole and the area will be just as it was. We also saw a bear trap along the way, as the camp apparently still has visit now and then from the bears. I guess they have gone right into the truck shop on site, and even into a ware house when the door was left open. They get really spoiled when they've eaten garbage and human food, and they prefer that instead of their normal diet. I guess it's like getting hooked on McDonalds, haha.
     It's still daylight until at least 10 pm, and the sky is still light past 11 pm, even though the days are now getting shorter. You can tell by the angle of the sun, but still bright skies.
     Yes, Aimee is leaving Albian. She tendered her resignation a couple of weeks ago, and her last day here will be July 26. She's packing up and moving to Calgary to explore some options there. Just finally had enough of camp life after almost 3 years and ready to get back into the "real" work world. It will be strange to not have her here, although we hardly see each other even though we work AND life together, haha.
     Oh my, it's only 7:30 pm and I am SO ready for bed. Worked 13 hrs today and I'm pooped!

Bears and now coyotes....

     Yes, Aimee ran into a coyote the other night. It was late, full dark so after 11:30 as it's still light until after 11, and she went down to her car and in the parking lot, wandering around, was a coyote. Scared her a little, I think. I think I might be scared if I ran into a coyote too.
     The smoke situation was on and off last week, but has been clear the last few days. We're pretty sure we've seen the last of it, as the big fire (which has grown steadily bigger) is moving north east towards (or maybe even into already) Saskatchewan. We had rain a few days, not steady rain for 4 days like we needed, but a good amount of rain. The grass actually started to green up around camp. It is still dry, but not that moisture-sucking dry that it was before the rain.
     Camp is not full, but at a better capacity than we've been for a while. There were changes since I left, the front desk area has been re-painted and re-arranged. We all got new uniform shirts. The lunchroom changes are fantastic, and we sure here lots of positive comments about those. And today, I am taking the new shuttle service to the airport. I'm leaving on my days off today. I know it seems crazy that I have only been here 8 days, but whenever you are away for extra days, when you come back you fall into your same rotation, so....I am on my days off again. I am flying to Calgary, meeting up with Thor, and we are driving to Vancouver through the mountains. I'm pretty excited, since I've never been to B.C., and I am looking forward to seeing the mountains again, and the ocean. The weather doesn't sound fantastic, but I'm prepared. I will be checking in with pictures!

P.S.

     After some watering, my orchid has recovered beautifully and the bamboo as well. And I did do the walk on Sunday, but only 3 km. We couldn't walk outside as the smoke had rolled in, and after 36 laps around the track, we were getting a little dizzy. I did feel slightly out of breath for a while after, which I attributed to the smoke, since I wasn't even pushing it like I usually do when I'm walking laps.

Well, it was clear

     Yep, when I got in Saturday, the air was clear. Smoke was back a bit on Sunday morning. Cleared out. Back again today more than Sunday. We did get rain here though today....not enough, and I heard that lightning started 3 or 4 new fires, but that they were reported and extinguished before too much damage had occured. I read that one of the smaller fires joined up with the great big one, and now the total size is 571,000+ hectares, or 2,262 SQUARE MILES is burning. They have been successful at containing it around the "values at risk" as they call it, to the south which is where we are. The fire growth is to the north and east.
     On the positive side, the air conditioning in my room is REALLY working. It's almost cold in here and I've had to stack books on my vent. I feel really bad, because there are a lot of people complaining that their rooms are too hot and the a/c is not working....so I just shut my mouth and put on a sweater when I get back to my room!
     There was a lunch for all ESS employees today, with some VIPs from the organization in attendance. The occasion was 30 incident-free days (meaning no reportable accidents or injuries). Actually it was 55 days, but I guess that is not one of the "milestone" numbers. Chef put on a nice lunch though, bbq'ed hamburgers, chicken breasts and all the fixin's and coleslow, potato salad, pasta salad, steak fries and the famous Albian Village cupcakes too.
     I have to say I am finding it very disorienting to be going to sleep when it's still full daylight out, and getting up when it's full daylight out. I don't see any daylight when I am in my office though, as there is no window so it doesn't really make any difference during the day, and I don't go anywhere near windows much either. I do like to sit by the windows in the dining room though.
     Apparently the bears have moved on, there hasn't been a sighting in a few days now.

Clear air....

     Arrived back at camp this afternoon to a beautiful, clear day. Very strange coming in on the plane, the skies had some big fluffy clouds, but there were clear areas, and because I had a good vantage point (window seat on the side of the plane facing north) I was able to see some of the fires from up high. Of course, I really couldn't place which fires they might have been, but still very interesting to see them from above. It was certainly not the massive, huge fire but there are still many fires burning in the province, almost all of which are now under control but still burning.
     It has been almost 3 weeks since I've been here, and I have to admit it feels good to be back to work. I had a nice relaxing day today (I know it won't last). Got in around noon, picked up Trish's truck which she left at the airport yesterday when she flew out, stopped at Wal-Mart for a few supplies and arrived back here around 2:30. My room was still the way I left it, although my beautiful Mother's Day orchid is in sad shape, and my bamboo had NO water in it at all, but is still green. I unpacked, visited around a bit, grabbed a rice krispy square and headed back to my room to doze a bit, and read. Had dinner and visited around a bit more, then came back to my room to finish my book, shower and now catch up on blogging.
     Tomorrow morning I will be walking with Amanda around camp....she was supposed to walk in the walk for a cure for Juvenile Diabetes tomorrow back home, but she ended up staying longer in camp and has to miss it. I said I would join in the 5 km walk tomorrow morning.
     Camp is still not back up to full capacity yet, but I imagine as the week rolls on we'll have more people returning. The dining room was pretty empty.
     The drive up was nice, being daylight hours and all. Speaking of daylight hours....
Stratford.....sunrise 5:43 and sunset 9:03
Fort MacKay...sunrise 4:34 and sunset 10:15
I have to admit I like the extra daylight and was missing it when I was back home. Ok, I don't really miss the sunrise at 4:34, but I do miss the late sunset. On the drive back, it was apparent where fires had burned through, and it is amazing to see the regrowth already started. It can't hide the tall burnt tree trunks though. The good news is there is a 60% chance of rain on Thursday.
     So apparently the bears are just getting smarter, it wasn't that people were leaving the garbage out in the open. Bears have been seen opening up the bear-proof garbage bins and just pulling out bags. Also, lifting up the door to the grease trap and just diving in. Yummm....kitchen grease.
     Anyway, I just have 8 days to work and then I'm on my days off. OK, I have to sorta smile at that thought . Of course I do have the grace to feel slightly guilty about it.

A map of the fire

     Finally someone posted a map of the big fire with place names on it. Keep in mind this is just the portion of Northern Alberta that is known as the Bitumen Complex. http://www.industrymailout.com/Industry/Home/5321/22967/images/Bitumont%20South_June%207-11.pdf This link will open a page that shows the big Richardson Fire MWF007. Look for Albian Village near the middle of the map. According to the scale, the actual fire looks to be about 7 km or so north of the Village, and about the same to the west. Looks like the river is holding the fire so far. As you can also see, there are other camps that are being directly threatened by the fire itself, and a lot of the fire-fighting is surrounding those areas to build firebreaks and keep the edge wet down. The smoke is really bad again in the area, but according to a smoke forecast map I found, it should clear out as the winds will be changing again after tomorrow, and blowing it northeast. As for the size of it, I wasn't sure exactly how large a hectare was, so I googled a conversion tool and 1 acre = 0.4 hectares. So when they speak of this fire being over 415,000 hectares large, I guess you can double that, plus some, to get an idea of how many acres are burning right now. That puts it over a million acres just in that one fire. Again, around Albian Village there are a couple of big mines, and by mines I mean they strip mine, so trees, brush, vegetation is gone. Notice some of the camps like CNRL and Joslyn Creek have fire right at their doorsteps. I just wish it would rain!!! I'm afraid, judging by the size of that fire, it would need to rain for days on end to make a dent in it.
     Anyway, as far as I know now, I will be heading back on Saturday.

Not so fast...

     Of course, situation changed again and smoke rolled in pretty thick yesterday, so I am home for a few more days. I wish it would rain and rain and rain there and put that big fire out for good.
     Aimee comes home today, it will be strange having her here the same time I am. Oh wait, she will only be here overnight as she has a few days away planned with a friend. I will pick her up at the airport tonight, and she will be off again tomorrow.
     Congratulations to Caitlyn and Ryan who got engaged on the weekend. We had cake yesterday (also to celebrate Ryan's birthday).
     Aimee is bringing home her laptop which I will be able to work from for a few days while she's away anyway. I will finally be able to really catch up on the things that I normally do at work.

And back to work I go....

     Not that anything has changed with the fire situation, it's still out of control and nearby, but the area has been smoke free for a few days now so those of us working from home have been summoned back to work. I have been ready to get back, it's frustrating trying to do some things from home because I'm missing parts etc. So now I have to get to work eating up all the perishable groceries I bought last week, haha.
     So last week at camp a bear found a way inside the fence and was helping himself to the garbage outside one of the dorms. He was right near one of the back exit doors of one of the dorms. Some surprise that would have been for anyone coming out that door. Oh, hello bear! Excuse me, I think I'll just go back in and maybe stay inside until you leave!
     Will update once I get back to camp.

And back to camp they go....

     So apparently whatever they were expecting to possibly happen last night did not happen, and everyone was "recalled" back to camp. The weather has cooled, and they actually had...yes, you are seeing it right...SNOW last night and in the early morning. Not a lot, of course, but snow in June. I don't think there was any in May, but other than that, there has been snow there every month since September.
     I am expecting to possibly get a call back myself in the next day or so. Will update.