It's been getting steadily colder here (as one would expect of course) but the thing that one continually faces as a foreigner from warmer climes is that when you slip and say, "It's getting cold out there," the locals laugh at you and say, "cold? that's not cold, wait until it hits -30! (or 40 or so).
Well yesterday when I left home at 7am for a Sunday breakfast meeting (don't even ask) the external temperature indicator on the car gave me the cheery news that the termpature outside was -28 degrees. Just lovely!
And I have to say, that given the forecast high for today was -22C, I have officially given Caroline the right to claim to be cold! Hey, it's the least that I could do.
And as if that's not cold enough, they announced on the radiator that the windchill factor meant that we could expect it to feel like -34C.
I didn't spend a lot of time outside today and one of the reasons for that is that I haven't really managed to get around to buying myself a decent pair of winter shoes yet. And I really, really need to do it in a hurry.
When we left home, I really had no concept of what it might feel like when the temperature plummeted to something akin to that on the 5th plane of hell, but I can now say that I'm getting more than just a conceptual understanding.
It doesn't take long when you're outside to feel the effects. And the first thing that I've noticed it on is my ears. There's nothing like coming in from a short walk outside and having to touch them with your hands to make sure that they're still attached. I really should remember to take my beanie with me to work tomorrow.
At least at the moment we look like only having a week around the -20 mark before heading back up to a significantly more comfortable range around 0 to -5C.
February might be another matter.
Nov 26, 2007
Daylight
It’s becoming rather obvious that we’re headed into the deep dark depths of winter here. I mean we’re a long way from truly being there given that its only November, but the signs are certainly there.
I’ve been leaving early for work (like between 5 and 5:30am) because there’s been industrial action blocking the entrance to site, which if you’ve read about the traffic here, you’d realise that it causes the problem to spill out onto the highway and cause chaos for one and all.
And of course when you leave at that time of day, there’s no light, it’s pitch black. Then the first indication that you have that things aren’t quite what they used to be is when you are sitting at work and realise that the sun is just starting to have an effect on the shading of the sky and its already 8am.
But then you get to enjoy the nice sunny sky as you work your way through the day until again you happen to notice that the sky has darkened and apparently night has descended upon you. The temptation is of course to pack up the computer and head off home. At least, that’s the temptation until you glance at your watch and realise that it’s about 4:15pm! Bugger, not time to go home yet.
I can't wait until we hit the shortest day of the year (in about a month!).
So the other day I had a meeting in town and didn’t drive out to the site until after 8am (can’t remember the last time that I did that … I think it must have been the first day that I went to site). It was quite enlightening to do the drive in daylight again. The first delight was driving across the bridge that spans the Athabasca river. It’s almost completely frozen over now and with the snow having built up on all of the frozen bits it’s a fantastic scene upon which to cast one’s eye.
And then I got to drive along the highway, following the valley between the trees, which having lost their leaves, are now gorgeously decorated with snow. It’s one of those things that manages to continue to surprise me about this place. For all the stress that’s work and the struggle that Fort McMurray can become, the natural beauty that surrounds us is gorgeous.
I’ve been leaving early for work (like between 5 and 5:30am) because there’s been industrial action blocking the entrance to site, which if you’ve read about the traffic here, you’d realise that it causes the problem to spill out onto the highway and cause chaos for one and all.
And of course when you leave at that time of day, there’s no light, it’s pitch black. Then the first indication that you have that things aren’t quite what they used to be is when you are sitting at work and realise that the sun is just starting to have an effect on the shading of the sky and its already 8am.
But then you get to enjoy the nice sunny sky as you work your way through the day until again you happen to notice that the sky has darkened and apparently night has descended upon you. The temptation is of course to pack up the computer and head off home. At least, that’s the temptation until you glance at your watch and realise that it’s about 4:15pm! Bugger, not time to go home yet.
I can't wait until we hit the shortest day of the year (in about a month!).
So the other day I had a meeting in town and didn’t drive out to the site until after 8am (can’t remember the last time that I did that … I think it must have been the first day that I went to site). It was quite enlightening to do the drive in daylight again. The first delight was driving across the bridge that spans the Athabasca river. It’s almost completely frozen over now and with the snow having built up on all of the frozen bits it’s a fantastic scene upon which to cast one’s eye.
And then I got to drive along the highway, following the valley between the trees, which having lost their leaves, are now gorgeously decorated with snow. It’s one of those things that manages to continue to surprise me about this place. For all the stress that’s work and the struggle that Fort McMurray can become, the natural beauty that surrounds us is gorgeous.
Nov 20, 2007
Spam!
Spam spam spam spam, everybody loves spam ...
Apparently, because of the large number of people now on the list to be notified when I update drift in my gmail account, google has decided that I am spam.
In order to try and continue to provide you with notifications (which I figure people like due to the sporadic nature of my posting) I have set up a group within google to which people on the list should find themselves members of.
If you weren't on that list and would like to be notified, drop me an email at davedrifts@gmail.com and I'll see that you get an invite.
Apparently, because of the large number of people now on the list to be notified when I update drift in my gmail account, google has decided that I am spam.
In order to try and continue to provide you with notifications (which I figure people like due to the sporadic nature of my posting) I have set up a group within google to which people on the list should find themselves members of.
If you weren't on that list and would like to be notified, drop me an email at davedrifts@gmail.com and I'll see that you get an invite.
Winter Wonderland
We’re beyond the first snow now and things have certainly turned our world white. We must have had another 6 inches of snow over the weekend, which is both fun and frustrating.
.
I came home from Banff last weekend to shovel about 6 inches of snow off the driveway but over this last weekend, must have done the job 3 times. This morning there was another couple of inches on the drive and I had to just ignore it and leave for work. I’ll have to do it when I get home.
Mowing the lawn used to be one of those things that I’d get sick of having to do every 2 weeks at home, so I know by the time that winter’s over I’ll be well and truly past the whole drive and footpath shoveling thing.
Of course there are positives to all these things as well. I still find it simply amazing to gaze out the front window and see the world all white. It is surely the biggest reminder of just how far we’ve come from home. And the snow is fun.
One of the things that I’ve started to do is turn the deck that adorns the side of the house into a sled ramp for the kids. They commenced in a small way, but if you’ve seen the sand castle that I decided to build earlier in this blog, you’ll understand how the engineer in me needs it to be bigger and better. It’s a pity that the end point for the run happens to be a mesh wire fence. I guess as winter continues and I manage to make this thing bigger, I’m going to have to do something about that. It’s one thing to go sliding into a snow drift, or up a small ramp that slows your speed and something else entirely to come to a sudden halt in a mesh fence!
Yesterday I took the kids to a small hill near our house, plastic toboggans and magic carpet in tow and we spent a fun half hour trudging up and sliding back down the hill. I can’t wait until the local ski hill opens. Apparently that have a tube run there where you slide down in a big inner tube and then get hauled back up the hill again. Sounds cool.
And of course, there’s always the debunking of the ‘Hollywood Myth’ when you get to go somewhere and you’re only expectations have been set by what you’ve seen on TV. For instance, when you see snowy scenes on TV, the roads are all crappy brown. They sure as hell are here. In order to assist in providing traction for vehicles, they first plough the snow out of the way and then they put down grit. And it’s dirty brown. So whilst you can gaze out of the window of the car and watch the winter wonderland pass by, stretching in front of and behind you is a dirty brown streak that likes to get thrown up and adhere to the car. I can’t see much cleaning of cars going on in the next couple of weeks, other than to kick the frozen mud and ice off the mud flaps perhaps!
.
I came home from Banff last weekend to shovel about 6 inches of snow off the driveway but over this last weekend, must have done the job 3 times. This morning there was another couple of inches on the drive and I had to just ignore it and leave for work. I’ll have to do it when I get home.
Mowing the lawn used to be one of those things that I’d get sick of having to do every 2 weeks at home, so I know by the time that winter’s over I’ll be well and truly past the whole drive and footpath shoveling thing.
Of course there are positives to all these things as well. I still find it simply amazing to gaze out the front window and see the world all white. It is surely the biggest reminder of just how far we’ve come from home. And the snow is fun.
One of the things that I’ve started to do is turn the deck that adorns the side of the house into a sled ramp for the kids. They commenced in a small way, but if you’ve seen the sand castle that I decided to build earlier in this blog, you’ll understand how the engineer in me needs it to be bigger and better. It’s a pity that the end point for the run happens to be a mesh wire fence. I guess as winter continues and I manage to make this thing bigger, I’m going to have to do something about that. It’s one thing to go sliding into a snow drift, or up a small ramp that slows your speed and something else entirely to come to a sudden halt in a mesh fence!
Yesterday I took the kids to a small hill near our house, plastic toboggans and magic carpet in tow and we spent a fun half hour trudging up and sliding back down the hill. I can’t wait until the local ski hill opens. Apparently that have a tube run there where you slide down in a big inner tube and then get hauled back up the hill again. Sounds cool.
And of course, there’s always the debunking of the ‘Hollywood Myth’ when you get to go somewhere and you’re only expectations have been set by what you’ve seen on TV. For instance, when you see snowy scenes on TV, the roads are all crappy brown. They sure as hell are here. In order to assist in providing traction for vehicles, they first plough the snow out of the way and then they put down grit. And it’s dirty brown. So whilst you can gaze out of the window of the car and watch the winter wonderland pass by, stretching in front of and behind you is a dirty brown streak that likes to get thrown up and adhere to the car. I can’t see much cleaning of cars going on in the next couple of weeks, other than to kick the frozen mud and ice off the mud flaps perhaps!
Staying Put
So we’ve finally come to the concluding point regarding where we’re going. We’re going to stay in Fort McMurray. After a lot of crap around the whole decision, minor things like actually having someone say to your face, “We really want you to be here,” for the sake of being able to move forward and a little personal sanity (for more than just myself of course) I drove the issue to a decision point.
We’ve a renegotiated contract to go with the deal so that will help ease the burden somewhat, though the real effort is of course, now attaching ourselves to the emotional component of the decision and making the most of our opportunity.
Ideally the best thing to help us to stay here would have been additional leave to enable us to take better advantage of the opportunity to travel, but the implications of driving such a bargain to the rest of the workforce meant that it was an unrealistic goal (though one I’ve planted seeds of elsewhere …). So the next task at hand is to put together the travel plan for the next 3 years (which is already down to 2 years and 7 months) so that we have things to look forward to when we’re feet deep in snow.
We’ve a renegotiated contract to go with the deal so that will help ease the burden somewhat, though the real effort is of course, now attaching ourselves to the emotional component of the decision and making the most of our opportunity.
Ideally the best thing to help us to stay here would have been additional leave to enable us to take better advantage of the opportunity to travel, but the implications of driving such a bargain to the rest of the workforce meant that it was an unrealistic goal (though one I’ve planted seeds of elsewhere …). So the next task at hand is to put together the travel plan for the next 3 years (which is already down to 2 years and 7 months) so that we have things to look forward to when we’re feet deep in snow.
Nov 11, 2007
Ski Bunnies
I had to go to Banff for work over the latter part of the last week (yes, life can be truly terrible) and because we’re in Fort Mac, I knew that I had to offer the chance of an escape to Caroline and the kids. Strangely, they said that they wanted to come. So on Tuesday we all drove down here and after spending Tuesday night with friends from work in Calgary, came up to Banff on Wednesday. We stayed at the Rimrock Resort whilst I worked and then moved to our current location, the Douglas Fir for the weekend.
During the research for the trip, we found out that this weekend (a long one as there’s a holiday for Remembrance Day) also happened to be the opening weekend of the ski season (oh darn!).
The original plan was to ski at Sunshine but due to a lack of snow, they’d delayed their opening. We found this out before we got there fortunately and we were able to discover that Lake Louise was opening yesterday (Saturday the 10th.) So we booked ourselves in for lessons (well five of us, Emily got day care).
The skiing yesterday was at best arduous as there were no lifts open that we were allowed to access on the introductory lessons that we’d booked. The t-bar that they usually use for this simply didn’t have enough snow down and they only had one run open at the resort.
The result of this was that if you wanted to ski down hill, you had to first walk yourself and your equipment uphill. Now there’s some mad people about that like to walk up mountains for the express purpose of skiing back down, but let me assure you, I’m not one of them. It didn’t help that Caroline had hurt her back and so I lugged two pairs of skis up each time.
But we did make some progress and gather some competency along the way. The boys were in a separate lesson and had an absolute ball. Unfortunately for Emily, the kiddy ski wasn’t running yet, it starts later in the season.
Probably the most notable thing about the day was the fact that it snowed almost all day (which we hoped would prove for better access today). And of course when you’ve never really driven in nice icy snowy conditions, you want the first time to be when you’re on an unfamiliar road, in the dark.
That’s what I did. For most of the way it wasn’t too bad but the visibility was at time cut back to only a hundred metres or so. The worst part was that you couldn’t see the lines for the fresh snow and so were really just following in the tracks of the cars that had gone before you. Which seemed to be fine until at one point, I glanced in my left side mirror to see an semi-trailer looming up alongside me with what in that terrifying moment seemed to be all of about 12 inches between us as he gave a blast on his air horn. I’m not sure if he was warning me not to stray or announcing to me that he was there, but the result was something of an underwear changing moment and I was just glad that I managed not to panic and maintain my line as he thundered on by!
Today was significantly better weather wise and we had arranged to have a private instructor for the five of us that were skiing for the day. She took Emily for a half hour at the start and end of the day so that the little pink thing didn’t miss out entirely and had the rest of us for the time in between.
Having and instructor helped us with the confidence and also meant that we had lift tickets to access that one open run. Caroline and I approached it with relevant levels of trepidation, where as the boys would have been quite content to snow plough their ways straight down the mountain! Skiing next to Sam on the first placid part of the run, I enquired as to the sullen look on his face (entirely inappropriate for where we were and what we were doing). He replied that it was boring and he wasn’t allowed to go fast enough!
So Caroline and I concentrated on learning to turn and control our descent down the mountain and the boys tried to operate on the basis that turns weren’t really what they were there for. But we all managed to get better and we all managed the odd tumble. It wasn’t helped by the fact that with only one run open, everyone that was there, skiers and snow-boarders of every level of ability were all mixed in together.
Although not as terrifying as the semi-trailer, hearing a bunch of snow-boarders carving their way across the icy surface of a steep incline above you as you try and remember all the things you’ve been taught and not crash was at a minimum unsettling.
I was well pleased when the first one managed to veer into me as I leant on her and pushed her over without coming undone myself. I skied off merrily, me 1, snowboarders 0. Of course, later, on our last run, one managed to take me out and I was less than impressed. Because of course it was on one of the steep icy inclines and getting my skis back on was not a challenge that I particularly wanted at that point. Me 1, snowboarders 1.
Michael had the best fall apparently. He claims there were somersaults and all involved and given the graze that he has on his back, I’m inclined to believe that he is at least in part telling the truth! Neither Caroline or I saw it as we had other things to worry about.
And of course, best crash of the day probably goes to me. Because when it comes down to it, location and audience is a big part of any crash. So I chose the perfect spot for mine. Having completed the entire mountain, we had to traverse the almost flat land at the bottom to get back to the chair lift. As I tried to work my way up the slight incline, I over-balanced, toppled, waved my skis everywhere and went down upon my considerable arse! Right in front of the three hundred or so people waiting for the lift, whilst doing nothing that could be considered in anyway challenging!
But all in all it was a great day and we all walked away with tired legs and smiles on our faces.
During the research for the trip, we found out that this weekend (a long one as there’s a holiday for Remembrance Day) also happened to be the opening weekend of the ski season (oh darn!).
The original plan was to ski at Sunshine but due to a lack of snow, they’d delayed their opening. We found this out before we got there fortunately and we were able to discover that Lake Louise was opening yesterday (Saturday the 10th.) So we booked ourselves in for lessons (well five of us, Emily got day care).
The skiing yesterday was at best arduous as there were no lifts open that we were allowed to access on the introductory lessons that we’d booked. The t-bar that they usually use for this simply didn’t have enough snow down and they only had one run open at the resort.
The result of this was that if you wanted to ski down hill, you had to first walk yourself and your equipment uphill. Now there’s some mad people about that like to walk up mountains for the express purpose of skiing back down, but let me assure you, I’m not one of them. It didn’t help that Caroline had hurt her back and so I lugged two pairs of skis up each time.
But we did make some progress and gather some competency along the way. The boys were in a separate lesson and had an absolute ball. Unfortunately for Emily, the kiddy ski wasn’t running yet, it starts later in the season.
Probably the most notable thing about the day was the fact that it snowed almost all day (which we hoped would prove for better access today). And of course when you’ve never really driven in nice icy snowy conditions, you want the first time to be when you’re on an unfamiliar road, in the dark.
That’s what I did. For most of the way it wasn’t too bad but the visibility was at time cut back to only a hundred metres or so. The worst part was that you couldn’t see the lines for the fresh snow and so were really just following in the tracks of the cars that had gone before you. Which seemed to be fine until at one point, I glanced in my left side mirror to see an semi-trailer looming up alongside me with what in that terrifying moment seemed to be all of about 12 inches between us as he gave a blast on his air horn. I’m not sure if he was warning me not to stray or announcing to me that he was there, but the result was something of an underwear changing moment and I was just glad that I managed not to panic and maintain my line as he thundered on by!
Today was significantly better weather wise and we had arranged to have a private instructor for the five of us that were skiing for the day. She took Emily for a half hour at the start and end of the day so that the little pink thing didn’t miss out entirely and had the rest of us for the time in between.
Having and instructor helped us with the confidence and also meant that we had lift tickets to access that one open run. Caroline and I approached it with relevant levels of trepidation, where as the boys would have been quite content to snow plough their ways straight down the mountain! Skiing next to Sam on the first placid part of the run, I enquired as to the sullen look on his face (entirely inappropriate for where we were and what we were doing). He replied that it was boring and he wasn’t allowed to go fast enough!
So Caroline and I concentrated on learning to turn and control our descent down the mountain and the boys tried to operate on the basis that turns weren’t really what they were there for. But we all managed to get better and we all managed the odd tumble. It wasn’t helped by the fact that with only one run open, everyone that was there, skiers and snow-boarders of every level of ability were all mixed in together.
Although not as terrifying as the semi-trailer, hearing a bunch of snow-boarders carving their way across the icy surface of a steep incline above you as you try and remember all the things you’ve been taught and not crash was at a minimum unsettling.
I was well pleased when the first one managed to veer into me as I leant on her and pushed her over without coming undone myself. I skied off merrily, me 1, snowboarders 0. Of course, later, on our last run, one managed to take me out and I was less than impressed. Because of course it was on one of the steep icy inclines and getting my skis back on was not a challenge that I particularly wanted at that point. Me 1, snowboarders 1.
Michael had the best fall apparently. He claims there were somersaults and all involved and given the graze that he has on his back, I’m inclined to believe that he is at least in part telling the truth! Neither Caroline or I saw it as we had other things to worry about.
And of course, best crash of the day probably goes to me. Because when it comes down to it, location and audience is a big part of any crash. So I chose the perfect spot for mine. Having completed the entire mountain, we had to traverse the almost flat land at the bottom to get back to the chair lift. As I tried to work my way up the slight incline, I over-balanced, toppled, waved my skis everywhere and went down upon my considerable arse! Right in front of the three hundred or so people waiting for the lift, whilst doing nothing that could be considered in anyway challenging!
But all in all it was a great day and we all walked away with tired legs and smiles on our faces.
Nov 7, 2007
a brief pause
Right, I'm off to Banff for a work thing and so I've dragged the whole family with me. Of course some blithering idiot (aka me) left the power cable for our laptop in Fort McMurray and so there won't be much posting this week.
And given the problems I've had staying connected to Blogger lately, the post prior to this one remains image and video-less. But it will happen!
And given the problems I've had staying connected to Blogger lately, the post prior to this one remains image and video-less. But it will happen!
Nov 2, 2007
Pack your bags!
Sometimes I turn the computer on and when drift comes up as my homepage, realise that it's been a while since I've updated it. Of course, I like to update it when I have something to say or a story to tell, not just for the sake of seeing something no tool to write with nearby). And then sometimes things quite simply leap out and say, "blog me!" Tonight was one of those nights, I'd been out at a work function and when I came home, did the rounds saying goodnight to the kids ... watch the attached video and you'll see why I put this here straight after!
Right, I've had all sorts of trouble trying to get either a photo or the video attached to this post, so for now, description will have to do.
I went upstairs to say goodnight to the kids, avoiding the suitcase that had been left on the landing of the stairs. I said goodnight to Thomas, looked in on Michael, but Emily was nowhere to be found. I went back down the stairs, past the suitcase to see if she'd fallen asleep on a couch or something silly.
As I walked back up the stairs to see if perhaps she'd done something crazy like decide to sleep in her wardrobe, I almost walked past the suitcase again. Thinking myself mad, I opened the lid of the suitcase.
Sure enough, curled up with her quilt, inside the suitcase was the little pink thing, fast asleep!
Right, I've had all sorts of trouble trying to get either a photo or the video attached to this post, so for now, description will have to do.
I went upstairs to say goodnight to the kids, avoiding the suitcase that had been left on the landing of the stairs. I said goodnight to Thomas, looked in on Michael, but Emily was nowhere to be found. I went back down the stairs, past the suitcase to see if she'd fallen asleep on a couch or something silly.
As I walked back up the stairs to see if perhaps she'd done something crazy like decide to sleep in her wardrobe, I almost walked past the suitcase again. Thinking myself mad, I opened the lid of the suitcase.
Sure enough, curled up with her quilt, inside the suitcase was the little pink thing, fast asleep!
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