I've got two Bosses. One is the Boss of the other Boss and I'll call him the Big Boss. I answer to the Big Boss most of the time (he's the one I sent the e-mail to the other night) but the Little Boss is the one that I actually have more contact with. Weird I know.

So Little Boss has his Wife working here as well and Little Bosses wife, who is actually quite a nice lady when she's not working, seems to think that she's a Boss to. Unfortunately Little Bosses Wife is not a Boss and in fact she's resigned her position a few times but just seems to hang around. I don't know how she can do that because I'd love to resign my position and still get paid and keep my room and a whole bunch of other things but I guess you have to be married to a Little Boss!

So anyway Little Bosses Wife is starting to push my buttons because it seems that she thinks she's in charge of me. You can imagine how well this is going over. Unfortunately and yet rather forseeably Little Boss is towing the line for her. Now because I don't usually answer to Little Boss I'm not really paying attention to either of them all that much and this is starting to cause a little bit of friction. Frankly I don't care and I fully intend to come out on top of this one but Big Boss is the type of guy that wants to keep everyone happy and have a meeting about everything all the time. Well a meeting isn't going to tell Little Bosses Wife to take a trip and not come back (although I'd love to do that in a meeting) so we'll just end up where we are now. I'm super frusterated and I don't know what to do about it. Any suggestions?

On Friday night I sent a real flamer of an e-mail to one of my Bosses. I went on for paragraph after paragraph bitching and complaining about a situation and some people at work that have been making me really mad lately. Well needless to say that after I sent it and started to think about it the next day I got very ansy because I realized just how stupid it was. Janet pointed out, after reading it, that I didn't offer any solutions to the problems that I was whining about. As usual she was right. So Sunday afternoon I had to write another e-mail apologizing for the first e-mail. I kept it short Apologizing because I realized that all the problems that I had been whining about could very easily be fixed. I then told him it wouldn't happen again. I got his reply this morning "Do not worry about it, we all need to vent sometimes!" Two things... I am very lucky and I have a really great Boss.

You Are 8% Nerdy

You are definitely not nerdy - in fact, you probably don't know any nerds. You probably care a little too much about your image. No one will know if you secretly watch Star Trek reruns!

How Nerdy Are You?

Well I did it! I applied for University and signed up for my course in two online credit transactions which left me holding my American Express somewhat breathlessly having spent $600 some dollars in a matter of moments. I can't believe how expensive it was for one course! Talk about insane.

I'm glad that I finished my formal schooling already and I'm just doing this on a lark. Who signs up and pays for a $600 course on a lark? I must be loosing it. Apparently this place is getting to me more than I thought it was.

Unfortunately my new course doesn't begin until March 1 which leaves me a month to pay the bill but also means that I'll have all sorts of things to distract me and add to my life before that time comes. It's going to be hard to stay dilligent but I'm committed... at this point anyway.

I HAVE A QUILT! Isn't it beautiful? Thanks to Wifey for hooking me up with such a wonderful peice of quiltmanship! Your Gram's got a gift!

I got back from Edmonton at 130AM on Tuesday night. That's what I get for booking myself on the late flight. We couldn't land at site so we had to go into Fort McMurray and then wait for the busses to pick us up. Unfortunately the busses travelled so slow because of the ice that it took us about 2 hours to do a trip that usually takes a little over an hour. I was completely exhausted the next day which belied how rested I'd been during the break.

While Sask was good but dull, Edmonton was anything but. I had the most fabulous time with Mr. G and friends. True to all his bragging Mr. G is an incredible cook and he proved with with Chicken Kiev with Portabello white wine sauce, rosemary carrots, and some kind of rice extravaganza and specially for me a chocolate torte with Sumac Ridge Pipe! I contributed 5 bottles of wine!

After we ate we drank, then we drank some more, then some more... then we went to a bar and drank, etc. The evening was Super Fantastic, now if only Mr. G could remember it all! Yes, the next morning while we were driving around looking for breakfast I asked him if he'd enjoyed the bar? All I got in response was a confused look. It seems Mr. G doesn't remember a thing about his evening after a certain point very early on. He's claiming that he was possessed!

After spending some time with Mr. G I went to Raph and Wifey's new place which is an absolutely fantastic condo in the downtown area. I was absolutely thrilled to be their first overnight guest and claim MY room. I'm looking forward to many, many visits!

Now I'm back at camp and things are well. Work has picked up dramatically and I feel like I have a purpose again which is quite nice. Today my Manager lost his liscense for speeding on site, so I'll have a vehicle for the next two weeks which is also quite nice.

Tonight I looked into a course at Athabaska U and I'll be making some calls tomorrow to find out a little more information then I'm fully intending on signing up. I'm pretty nervous about the whole prospect but it's not like it's anything I haven't done before!

What does the word Casino bring to mind for you when you hear it? I'm pretty sure that most people instantly think of Vegas in all of it's glamour. I know the last thing I think about is where I went yesterday. The Painted Hand Casino in Yorkton, like most other casino's I've been in, is absolutely depressing and completely disgusting.

The disgusting comes from the fact that smoking is still allowed in this backwards province. My eye's were literally burning from all the smoke in the place. I had to go and stand outside in the -15C weather (that my Grandmother keeps insisting on calling a "Heat Wave!") just to soothe my eyes.

The depressing comes from the sight of all the Seniors in there mindlessly plugging their money into the VLT's. My Grandparents seem to enjoy going and playing the penny machines. I don't really have any problem with that because at worst they may blow $20. It's the other ones that you know are just lonely and bored sitting there plunking Loonies into a machine that bothers me. I'm making the assumption that most of these people are on some kind of fixed income or meager pension, which may be wrong of me, but I don't think I'm all that far off. These people don't have the money to support the local Native band with taxes so why on earth would they do it this way?

I told my Grandparents that I'm going to get them a Nintendo if all they go for is to sit in front of a screen and watch images flash over it while obnoxious buzzers go off. If they want the real experience then Grandma could even stop pretending she doesn't smoke and light up in the living room. Win/Win for all!

As it is I'm going to see if I can download a slots game onto Grandpa's computer...

I am pleased to annouce the Yorkton Terriers trounced the Wayburn Red Wings 7 to 1 last night. The game was not terribly interesting though as it seemed very one sided. Either that or my complete lack of interest in hockey was showing through.

Going to the game with Grandpa last night was mildly amusing though. Just watching him and his friends interact was comical enough. Of course I was following him around all night like some over protective minder and you would think that he'd introduce me to some of his friends. Apparently he didn't think that it was worth introducing me to anyone though. So for all his friends knew I really was an overprotective minder from a home.

Watching my Grandparents and the way the interact with each other is really comical though. They've been married for 56 years, Grandpa's 81 and Grandma's 76 (I think). No one's told Grandpa that at his age he's supposed to be old so he's not. I'm sure he's going to be like his father who lived to 92 (we think, no one ever could find his birth certificate) and was in his own home until he was 90. Thankfully he's a little easier to deal with than his Dad was and he's still sufficiently up with the times to have an internet connection and computer in his house. Every morning he goes down to the basement to do his 'eye exercises' which entails watching some images flash across his screen. Then he check's his e-mail, complains about all the crap he gets on it and turns the computer off. If only I'll be as with it at his age.

Today I slept till almost 11, then Grandma and I went shopping. We went to the fabulous Yorkton mall where she bought four cans of Habitat Soup, for a dollar a can, and bought us both some scrath tickets. We then had some root beer at A&W and then I bought some new razor blades a magazine and a bottle of Armani Code cologne. I'd been thinking about getting some new cologne for a while now and figured that since I obviously had the time I may as well. So whenever I use my new cologne I'll be sure to think of Yorkton... which when you think about it is really bizarre because I'm sure the majority of the populace here don't have a clue what Armani is let alone buy the fragrance.

Tonight Grandma continued on her quest to "fatten me up" and fed me home made cabbage rolls, shrimp ceasar salad, smokies, clamato, and... Sumac Ridge Pipe wine. Completely random and bizarre meal but it sure was tasty. The Pipe was a complete surprise and was very exciting for me. Tomorrow I told them that I'm buying pizza from Pizza Hut, as is my regular routine when I'm out of camp, so we'll see how they like it.

Now I'm off to the hockey game with Grandpa.

So I'm very seriously thinking about taking a course or two. I talked to my Manager the other day and he has no problem with me spending down time on some course work. Now I'm trying to figure out what would be the most beneficial thing to take. It's to early to start on an MBA because I haven't been in a management position and most programs want a certain amount of time in one. Also I don't really think that I'd want to devote the time required. That said though I want to have the option of getting a certificate or some sort of designation from what I'm doing. Should I take a course from Athabaska Online or from OC or UBC-O or what! I need some advise. I'm kind of leaning towards taking some HR courses mostly because of the shitty way that most companies treat their employees at site. There's one from Athabaska that deals with employment law that looks interesting and would be very good for my own knowledge. I don't know what to do! Tell me would you!

Saskatchewan is really a very interesting place. Not really interesting in the "oh my god, that's fascinating" way of putting it but rather interesting in the "gee, this place sure is flat!" As I was walking out of the arrivals area of the Regina Airport today I happened to look out the window. Now as I was on the second floor I had a great view and I'll show you what I saw _______________________________________________ as far as the eye could see. I'd completely forgotten how insanely flat it is out here.

Getting into my Uncle's Van he asked if there was anything in particular I wanted before we headed out to Yorkton. I didn't even hesitate to demade a Starbucks run. Increadibly he was very excited about the idea and enthused how lucky it was that they lived not even two blocks from the only Starbucks in Regina. Lucky indeed! At this point I was thinking that the trip may not be half bad.

It's a damned good thing that I've been watching Corner Gas for the past few weeks trying to prepare myself for my visit. I swear that I ate lunch in a gas staition today! Well ok maybe it was a "restaurant" attached to a gas staition but none-the-less it was there and I ate. I was somewhat perterbed by the whole experience as soon as I walked in. As soon as I sat down I was all out disturbed. I think it was the waitresses coke fingernail (you know how coke heads grow their little finger's nail out to provide a mess free way of snorting) that really creeped me out. Either that or it was how her massive belly hung over her apron. Or it could have been the fact that aside from my 80 year old Grandfather I was the smallest guy in the place. They sure do grow 'em big out here! So there I sat in my gap jeans, Banana Republic sweater and leather boots eating a "Toonie Buger" at what may as well have been the seriously down market version of Corner Gas, and yes the locals stared at me.

I arrived in Yorkton and we went straight to the house. I was amazed that in the five years since I've been here NOTHING has changed. I'm not kidding NOTHING has changed. Come to think of it thought I don't think this place has changed at all since the first time I was here about 20 years ago. Yes, Yorkton is a time warp. Mom and Dad always say it's like going back to the 80's when you're here but I think it just may have moved into the 90's... early 90's it may be but things are moving!

Carrying on with my series of firsts for the day I did something that I've never done tonight. I watched American Idol for the very first time. It just so happens that it was the 2 hour season premier tonight and Grandma and I watched it together. I have to say I was very entertained by the whole thing and just can't believe how completely deluded so many Americans are (I'm sure Canadians are just as deluded) when it comes to their singing abilities.

Tomorrow brings more adventure as I'm going shopping with Grandma and will be attending a Yorkton Terrier's Hockey Game with Grandpa in the evening. I'll be sure to update on which is going to be more fun. Frankly I'm going with the shopping but the Hockey may surprise the hell out of me.

Quite honestly I've seriously been considering sneaking off and buying a mickey of Vodka to help me cope with the rest of this week. You just don't know when you're going to prefer to be drunk. So far since arriving here I've already bought one new sweater online from L.L. Bean and that's a coping mechanism that isn't cheap (although I've been haunting their web site waiting for them to get more in stock of this particular sweater and as luck would have it they had mediums in it in only one size left tonight, happily it was just the colour that I wanted!).



Maybe I will find a liquor store tomorrow...

Well after a reasonably good weekend I'm packing my green duffel bag (as opposed to the black crappy one my last company gave me (not that I'm ungrateful...)) to leave camp for my eight precious days off. Tonight I head to Calgary where I'm overnighting at some cousins place. Tomorrow morning I find myself in the airport again on my way to... wait for it... REGINA! I know I'm insane to go to Sask. in January but I figured I may as well do it now as opposed to waiting for a time that I'd rather be soaking up the sun and drinking wine at home in the Okanagan. So after a few (6) days in Sask. with the Grandparents I'm off to Edmonton to hang out with Mr. G and see Raph and Wifey's new place. Overall I'm sure it's going to be a good few days off.

Saturdays just seem to suck the desire to be productive right out of me. It's incredible actually, I'll tell myself I'm going to bed early Friday and that I'll get up at the regular time and get some work done in the morning. Then that morning comes around and there's nothing short of our cleaning lady kicking down my door and ripping off my sheets that would make me want to get out of the warmth of my bed. I usually feel guilty about this for a few hours in the morning but by mid-afternoon I tell myself to savour the fact that I'm the only one not working up here. Now I'm going into McMurray to have lunch with an old friend who's in town visiting her boyfriend.

Past few days have been really quite good. I have decided that having the weekends off is not a good thing. Turns out that I get WAY to bored and that bodes well for no one.

Rather than have any New Year's Resolutions this year I have decided instead that I'm going to try and start some new good habits. The main one that I have chosen to work on is flossing my teeth twice daily. Now I've done this in the past and been quite succesful at it over a reasonable course of time but I always end up quitting for some reason. I'm really not sure why it is that I can't seem to stay faithful to oral care but it just doesn't seem to happen for me.

The other habit that I'm trying to cultivate is dragging my ass out of bed every morning around 625 and being down in the gym before 640. This really shouldn't be a hard thing to do because of the fact that all I have to do is put my clothes on, attach my iPod to my arm and go. I am happy to say that once I arrive at the gym and start doing my stretches I'm fully awake and actually enjoy this new ritual. By starting at that time I can work out, eat breakfast, clean myself up for the day and be waiting for my ride to work by 900. For the past week and a bit it's been working for me so I'm planning on continueing the struggle to set the habit. The real test of this one is going to be on my turnarounds where I have 8 full days for the habit to die a slow exhausted death. We'll just have to wait and see.

Now I'm going to work on the final habit I'm developing and go to bed early.

Good night.

"This Place Is A Prison"

This place is a prison
And these people aren't your friends
Inhaling thrills through $20 bills
And the tumblers are drained and then flooded again
And again

Ther're guards at the on ramps armed to the teeth
And you may case the grounds from the cascades to puget sound,
But you are not permitted to leave

I know there's a big world out there like the one i saw on the screen
In my living room late last night,
It was almost too bright to see
And i know that it's not a party if it happens every night
Pretending there's glamour and candelabra
When you're drinking by candlelight

What does it take to get a drink in this place?

What does it take, how long must i wait?

- The Postal Service


Aside from the glamour and candlelight bits this song really sums up this camp!

There are times every few weeks, hell it's oftener than that, that I feel quite lonely up here. I really miss Mr. G and wish he was still here. Having Sister here is good but she's got a new girlfriend that works with her so they spend much of their time in the girls dorm. I think I'm just tired so all of this is just weighing on my mind more than it usually would. Time for bed

I'm thinking about keeping a list that I'll call 'KS's "You've got to be kiddings!"' In the line of work I'm in we've got lost of those moments. Yesterday I had a great one to start the list off with. *Phone rings* - 'Mr. VP of Such and Such would like to be switched from the small plane to the big plane please*.' For some reason I have a feeling there's going to be a lot more of these to come.






*BTW I told Mr. VP's Admin Assistant that there was no way that was going to happen.

Well after a horrendous New Year's, that was horrendous because a 12 hour virus of some sort decided to celebrate in my body, I dragged myself onto a plane early in the morning on the 1st and made my way back up to camp. Happily I managed to sleep much of the way back in the plane as well as the truck. I arrived in time for dinner then promply went back to bed. Woke up the next morning feeling much better and managed to carry on about my business.

Things here haven't really changed all that much. The guys are all starting to make their way back from their respective holiday's and for the most part they're actually somewhat pleasant, I guess many of them, just like me, needed a vacation.

My turnaround in January is going to see me heading to Saskatchewan taking the trip that I missed out on in November. I'm looking forward to it as much as anyone can look forward to going to Saskatchewan. I am staying there for about 5 days then will be spending the rest of my time off with the Fabulous Mr. G and hopefully Raph and the Wifey in Edmonton.

New Year! New Template! Whooooo hooooooooo!