Yep, the project passed a milestone this week. They've worked ten million work hours with no lost time injuries. It's a very significant achievement in the oilsands. To celebrate, today the chef went all out with a special dinner. They served lobster tails, and carved sirloin steak, and some kind of fish and fancy potatoes and vegetables. And the desserts...oh my. I had a piece of red velvet cake that was as almost as good as any I've made :) And I heard the carrot cake, and the key lime cheesecake were equally as good. They also had to implement restrictions on the dining room, since whenever there was a special dinner, like at Thanksgiving, or other holiday, they would serve anywhere from 400-1000 more dinners than usual. They suppose that was because there are other people working on site that don't stay here, and they'd just stop off for dinner, then go back to their own camp, or town, or wherever they stay. Plays havoc on the food budget. Especially for a special event. Soon the card swipers will be in place, and if your badge beeps when you go through, you can't eat here.
We've also implemented a new procedure for walkdowns here, as a result of the deaths of the two workers in their rooms. Up until now, you could put a "Do Not Disturb" sign on your door if you didn't want service in your room, were making your own bed, etc. Housekeeping would not check these rooms. Well, they were required to enter once every three days. They've collected all the DND signs, and left notes that explain that each room must be entered every day. If you are sleeping in, and have your privacy lock on, the door will flash red. If you don't respond when the housekeeper knocks in the morning, a report will go to Security and they will come back and open the door. It may sound strange, but there are quite a few people who do not want housekeeping in their rooms, thus the signs. So I imagine there will be some upset people complaining about that in the next few days. I understand where this is coming from, and I hope they'll understand too.
We've been lucky with the weather as yet. It's cool, but sunny. I don't think I"m ready yet for the deep cold of real winter.
Wednesday, October 15, 2014
Sunday, October 12, 2014
Happy Thanksgiving!
Well, my Canadian friends will understand this :)
I was pretty disappointed, I didn't get my turkey dinner today. I'm working either day shift, or split shift for 10 days while I'm covering for reservations, and today was a day shift. Means I didn't finish my day until 5:30, and by then the lineups on the main lines were half way back to the doors and growing longer by the second. I evaluated standing in line, or doing an alternate line, and decided I did not want to wait in line. Even for turkey and stuffing. And yams. I had jerk chicken from the healthy line. And a piece of pumpkin pie. No line up for dessert.
There was another death in camp last week. An older gentleman, apparently heart attack. A very well-liked member of that contractor's team, the other guys on his crew were pretty upset. Passed away in his room.
This week was more IT troubles. Cell phone service down again. Our software system down. Right in the middle of Friday checkins. It had been happening on and off for the day, so we were prepared, but still could have been a bit of a disaster. Hoping Monday's big check ins won't see another fail.
The weather here has been just a little cooler than "back home". The forecast calls for maybe some snow by Thursday, but the longer it holds off is fine with me. I actually got outside today, as we had a planned fire drill. And I did it right this time. I did not wait for the actual alarm, since now I know they don't actually set off the alarm. It was a nice sunny day, and with my big heavy fire warden coat and hard hat, I didn't even feel the chill in the air.
Oh, and visit with baby Abigail (and of course my daughter and son-in-law) was great. So nice to have a newborn to snuggle. They make funny faces ;)
Well, that's about all I can think of since I've been back. We've welcomed another new member to the team. He's got hotel experience, so that helps with someone new. Looks like I'll have a few extra days off for the Christmas holidays. I'll have Christmas off, and have to be back on New Year's Eve to work New Year's Day. Yay me!
Hopefully I'll find something interesting to report later on during this rotation.
I was pretty disappointed, I didn't get my turkey dinner today. I'm working either day shift, or split shift for 10 days while I'm covering for reservations, and today was a day shift. Means I didn't finish my day until 5:30, and by then the lineups on the main lines were half way back to the doors and growing longer by the second. I evaluated standing in line, or doing an alternate line, and decided I did not want to wait in line. Even for turkey and stuffing. And yams. I had jerk chicken from the healthy line. And a piece of pumpkin pie. No line up for dessert.
There was another death in camp last week. An older gentleman, apparently heart attack. A very well-liked member of that contractor's team, the other guys on his crew were pretty upset. Passed away in his room.
This week was more IT troubles. Cell phone service down again. Our software system down. Right in the middle of Friday checkins. It had been happening on and off for the day, so we were prepared, but still could have been a bit of a disaster. Hoping Monday's big check ins won't see another fail.
The weather here has been just a little cooler than "back home". The forecast calls for maybe some snow by Thursday, but the longer it holds off is fine with me. I actually got outside today, as we had a planned fire drill. And I did it right this time. I did not wait for the actual alarm, since now I know they don't actually set off the alarm. It was a nice sunny day, and with my big heavy fire warden coat and hard hat, I didn't even feel the chill in the air.
Oh, and visit with baby Abigail (and of course my daughter and son-in-law) was great. So nice to have a newborn to snuggle. They make funny faces ;)
Well, that's about all I can think of since I've been back. We've welcomed another new member to the team. He's got hotel experience, so that helps with someone new. Looks like I'll have a few extra days off for the Christmas holidays. I'll have Christmas off, and have to be back on New Year's Eve to work New Year's Day. Yay me!
Hopefully I'll find something interesting to report later on during this rotation.
Sunday, September 28, 2014
DB in NP
Actually, I shouldn't try to be clever, out of respect for the person who passed. A deceased guest was discovered in a room in NP this morning. If the rumors are to be believed, this person had been deceased for possibly two days. I always thought if someone didn't show up for work, at least here on a remote site, that someone came looking for them. I guess nobody bothered to, and the poor guy's mother called his foreman to say she hadn't heard from him in a couple of days. He had a Do Not Disturb sign on the door, and for housekeeping purposes, the housekeepers are required to enter the room every third day, even when someone puts out the sign. So this unfortunate soul was undetected for a couple of days before a company representative found him this morning. I guess this is about the 4th or 5th time it's happened here at this camp, but still upsetting for the Health & Safety people that are required to attend the scene. As well as anyone else involved. They keep it pretty low-key, but obviously the other people living on that floor were aware, thanks to the police and security presence for most of the day. So things were pretty subdued around camp today.
One more day of work for me, then off to Calgary to spend a week with my new granddaughter. Abigail June, born yesterday, September 27. On my dad's 80th birthday. I can't wait to meet her!
Catch you on the flip side :)
One more day of work for me, then off to Calgary to spend a week with my new granddaughter. Abigail June, born yesterday, September 27. On my dad's 80th birthday. I can't wait to meet her!
Catch you on the flip side :)
Thursday, September 25, 2014
Some afterthoughts....
OK, it's a noted phenomenon here that people coming to the front desk automatically flock to the person with the "Closed" sign in front of them. I mean, when you go to the bank, and the teller has a "Closed" sign in front of them, WHO goes and stands by that person anyway, not believing the "Closed" sign? I've never seen anyone not believe the "Closed" sign. Well, here, if someone is working on a report or doing something that requires your full attention, we put the very nicely glass-framed 8x10 "Closed" sign in front. And then watch how many people look right over top or around it to ask that particular person to do whatever it is they are there for. I was trying to help Sarah, who was doing timesheets for payroll. I printed another 8x10 sign that just had the one word on it, in the largest font possible, and put that over top of the nice, professional "Closed" sign that was there. And used red and everything so it would stand out. Well, before that, I stuck bright orange sticky notes all over the sign. Then put the big one in red lettering. Nothing. Didn't make a difference. In fact, it's like a magnet and more people than ever go to that station.
It was tested again the other afternoon, when there was the general cell phone outage. We printed off nice 8x10 signs to put in nice wood and glass frames, that explained the cell outage was widespread, all networks, and we had no ETA for repair. Then we made a bet on how many people were either not going to see it at all, or else read it and then ask the questions anyway. Well, actually, the bet was how many people would stop and read the sign, then just accept that that was all the information they were going to get, and move on. Taking into account rooms being changed over, and people gone on leave, there are probably approx 2800-3000 people in this building at any given time. Our guesses were anywhere from 4 people up to 16 people. Remember, we were counting only those people that read the signs, and accepted that there was no more information to be had. The time period was from the time the buses started arrived from site with the guys returning to camp after their day of work, which is around 4:30 pm, until service was restore at approx 6. Unfortunately, we didn't keep track of how many people asked anyway, but there were 4 people that accepted the info. It's there for your information, but apparently it just can't be true.
;)
It was tested again the other afternoon, when there was the general cell phone outage. We printed off nice 8x10 signs to put in nice wood and glass frames, that explained the cell outage was widespread, all networks, and we had no ETA for repair. Then we made a bet on how many people were either not going to see it at all, or else read it and then ask the questions anyway. Well, actually, the bet was how many people would stop and read the sign, then just accept that that was all the information they were going to get, and move on. Taking into account rooms being changed over, and people gone on leave, there are probably approx 2800-3000 people in this building at any given time. Our guesses were anywhere from 4 people up to 16 people. Remember, we were counting only those people that read the signs, and accepted that there was no more information to be had. The time period was from the time the buses started arrived from site with the guys returning to camp after their day of work, which is around 4:30 pm, until service was restore at approx 6. Unfortunately, we didn't keep track of how many people asked anyway, but there were 4 people that accepted the info. It's there for your information, but apparently it just can't be true.
;)
Wednesday, September 24, 2014
Northern Lights
I did actually get to see them, a little, last night. By the time my friend Mariola called me outside, they were just barely visible. But they were dancing, and colorful. I'll never get tired of the aurora borealis. :)
Cell phone services was down today. Pretty much every cell phone carrier was out. However, on the bright side, my own U.S. cell phone which has had no service at all for about the last 5 or 6 weeks, was back once the repair to the tower was made. It was painful listening to my buddy Ben calling the problem in to the Telus support line. Trying to explain that no, we do not have an address here. No, there is no postal code. The municipality is Wood Buffalo. W-O-O-D B-U-F-F-A-L-O. Had to spell it several times. Nearest town is Anzac. A-N-Z-A-C. No, there are no street names here. Took him about a half hour, and had to ask for a supervisor, to get the message across. I mean, Telus owns the tower that services this site. They should know how to find it!
Went for a walk outside today, the first time since I've started here that I've actually walked outside. A person is required to wear safety stripes, or reflective "suspenders" for those of us that don't have safety vests. The view is actually quite lovely, being up at the elevation we are, gives a good view of the surrounding area, and the lake that's just to the east (I think it's east!) of us. And the leaves are changing color, although the only color we get is yellow. Then dead. No red or orange leaves here. I don't know if it's the type of tree, or the particular weather, but fall colors just aren't the same.
I'm getting a little tired of the food right at the moment. I need to eat more salad and raw vegetables. There's no shortage. You do get tired of the same things all the time. The healthy line is good, but the main line has more variety and sometimes you just want perogies and not steamed chicken. The healthy line always has steamed chicken, usually a steamed fish, usually a noodle bowl, then 7 grain rice or couscous, sometimes whole wheat pasta and tomato sauce and yes, it all sounds good, but after 3 weeks you are definitely ready for a change.
My rotation will be changing to 20/8, instead of 21/7. Doesn't seem like much different, but it does make a difference!
On Monday, I had my first "triple split" shift. I worked a morning shift, 7 am - 1 pm, came back for the evening check ins, 5 pm - 9 pm, then we got word that three buses were going to come in late as they were stuck in London because of a bird strike. Yeah, that stopped us for a few minutes too. A bird strike?? Like, the airplane was on strike? Something hit the airplane?? Guess it was actually a bird hitting a plane and it grounded them for a few hours. Bottom line, I came back in to work at 1 am to help with the check ins of these poor men who had been traveling all day, close to 24 hours for some of them. All went smoothly though, and even though the buses didn't arrive until about 1:40, we had them all checked in by 2:09.
Hey, it was hump day today!
Cell phone services was down today. Pretty much every cell phone carrier was out. However, on the bright side, my own U.S. cell phone which has had no service at all for about the last 5 or 6 weeks, was back once the repair to the tower was made. It was painful listening to my buddy Ben calling the problem in to the Telus support line. Trying to explain that no, we do not have an address here. No, there is no postal code. The municipality is Wood Buffalo. W-O-O-D B-U-F-F-A-L-O. Had to spell it several times. Nearest town is Anzac. A-N-Z-A-C. No, there are no street names here. Took him about a half hour, and had to ask for a supervisor, to get the message across. I mean, Telus owns the tower that services this site. They should know how to find it!
Went for a walk outside today, the first time since I've started here that I've actually walked outside. A person is required to wear safety stripes, or reflective "suspenders" for those of us that don't have safety vests. The view is actually quite lovely, being up at the elevation we are, gives a good view of the surrounding area, and the lake that's just to the east (I think it's east!) of us. And the leaves are changing color, although the only color we get is yellow. Then dead. No red or orange leaves here. I don't know if it's the type of tree, or the particular weather, but fall colors just aren't the same.
I'm getting a little tired of the food right at the moment. I need to eat more salad and raw vegetables. There's no shortage. You do get tired of the same things all the time. The healthy line is good, but the main line has more variety and sometimes you just want perogies and not steamed chicken. The healthy line always has steamed chicken, usually a steamed fish, usually a noodle bowl, then 7 grain rice or couscous, sometimes whole wheat pasta and tomato sauce and yes, it all sounds good, but after 3 weeks you are definitely ready for a change.
My rotation will be changing to 20/8, instead of 21/7. Doesn't seem like much different, but it does make a difference!
On Monday, I had my first "triple split" shift. I worked a morning shift, 7 am - 1 pm, came back for the evening check ins, 5 pm - 9 pm, then we got word that three buses were going to come in late as they were stuck in London because of a bird strike. Yeah, that stopped us for a few minutes too. A bird strike?? Like, the airplane was on strike? Something hit the airplane?? Guess it was actually a bird hitting a plane and it grounded them for a few hours. Bottom line, I came back in to work at 1 am to help with the check ins of these poor men who had been traveling all day, close to 24 hours for some of them. All went smoothly though, and even though the buses didn't arrive until about 1:40, we had them all checked in by 2:09.
Hey, it was hump day today!
Sunday, September 21, 2014
Sundae Sunday
Thanks Aunt Sharon, for giving me a nudge to post. I have been meaning to, really!
Well the snow did not last, nor did the below freezing temperatures. It is actually 81 degrees here today. Yes, that's in Fahrenheit! We had a beautiful almost-double rainbow here the other day, which I surreptitiously took pictures of. Hey, I wasn't the only one!
I spent the last week covering for the girl who does reservations. Definitely a challenge. I was taken aback a bit, when I actually felt some stress. It's been a long time since I've had stress at work :) It's been a nice, busy change though. I will be spending one of my three weeks at it going forward.
Funny questions this week...there are two doors to enter/exit the main building. One is directly in the center, which is where most people enter when arriving to check in, and one set of doors about maybe 50 feet to the right (from the outside) which enters into the boot room, where workers enter when they arrive back from work so they can remove their boots before walking in the main camp. (This camp is boot-free. Along with being alcohol, drugs and weapon free). (Hey, it's in the new hire welcome talk!). This week, maintenance was working on painting the wooden walkways with a type of traction paint, and they blocked off one entry at a time and painted the walkway surrounding it. So...when the bootroom area was blocked off, everyone had to come in the main entryway. Without their boots. Maintenance rigged up a big wooden sign with an arrow that pointed to the "Boot Room" as a reminder not to walk through with their boots on, and in case anyone forgot how to get there (that's sarcasm there.) Then, when the main walkway was blocked off, it was reversed. Well I'm not sure how many asked this question, but I had one guy come to the desk when the main doors were closed off and asked how he was supposed to get out. I guess he overlooked the sign pointing to the boot room, and also the door that he came in everyday after work. :) Another guy came to the desk to ask if the wind was that strong that we had to lock the main doors. Yes, I'm still questioning myself over that one. Um, no, man. They are working on the walkway and you can't go out that way right now. Oh.
A big upset this week was the loss of the wifi for one night. Horror of horrors!! Yes, I was just as upset as the rest of them. No wifi anywhere in the building. Our main computers still worked, because they are connected to the company network via cables, but nothing else. And just when we were recovering from that the next day, the main computers and telephones went down. Yikes! Luckily, the wifi was repaired by then and I was working off a laptop in the back office, and it functions with wifi so that saved check outs for that day.
I have one more split shift after today, then I'm back to afternoons for the remainder of my rotation. Then off to see the new baby in Calgary....still isn't born yet!
Well the snow did not last, nor did the below freezing temperatures. It is actually 81 degrees here today. Yes, that's in Fahrenheit! We had a beautiful almost-double rainbow here the other day, which I surreptitiously took pictures of. Hey, I wasn't the only one!
I spent the last week covering for the girl who does reservations. Definitely a challenge. I was taken aback a bit, when I actually felt some stress. It's been a long time since I've had stress at work :) It's been a nice, busy change though. I will be spending one of my three weeks at it going forward.
Funny questions this week...there are two doors to enter/exit the main building. One is directly in the center, which is where most people enter when arriving to check in, and one set of doors about maybe 50 feet to the right (from the outside) which enters into the boot room, where workers enter when they arrive back from work so they can remove their boots before walking in the main camp. (This camp is boot-free. Along with being alcohol, drugs and weapon free). (Hey, it's in the new hire welcome talk!). This week, maintenance was working on painting the wooden walkways with a type of traction paint, and they blocked off one entry at a time and painted the walkway surrounding it. So...when the bootroom area was blocked off, everyone had to come in the main entryway. Without their boots. Maintenance rigged up a big wooden sign with an arrow that pointed to the "Boot Room" as a reminder not to walk through with their boots on, and in case anyone forgot how to get there (that's sarcasm there.) Then, when the main walkway was blocked off, it was reversed. Well I'm not sure how many asked this question, but I had one guy come to the desk when the main doors were closed off and asked how he was supposed to get out. I guess he overlooked the sign pointing to the boot room, and also the door that he came in everyday after work. :) Another guy came to the desk to ask if the wind was that strong that we had to lock the main doors. Yes, I'm still questioning myself over that one. Um, no, man. They are working on the walkway and you can't go out that way right now. Oh.
A big upset this week was the loss of the wifi for one night. Horror of horrors!! Yes, I was just as upset as the rest of them. No wifi anywhere in the building. Our main computers still worked, because they are connected to the company network via cables, but nothing else. And just when we were recovering from that the next day, the main computers and telephones went down. Yikes! Luckily, the wifi was repaired by then and I was working off a laptop in the back office, and it functions with wifi so that saved check outs for that day.
I have one more split shift after today, then I'm back to afternoons for the remainder of my rotation. Then off to see the new baby in Calgary....still isn't born yet!
Saturday, September 13, 2014
Catching up...
Got back to Calgary (for one night at Aimee's) to snow. Not JUST snow, but LOTS of snow. And so many broken trees! All the deciduous trees were still loaded with green leaves, so the weight of the heavy snow was snapping branches everywhere. You couldn't drive down any street without seeing tree carnage. If there's hadn't been snow, you'd have thought a tornado would have ripped through. Having left Windsor at 80 degrees, it was a shock to the system for everyone getting off that plane!
First night back to work, camp had a special visitor. Matt Minglewood and band. I'd never heard of him, but he's popular with the East Coasters. They play bluesy-folksy-east coast type music :)
The band played for an hour and a half in the evening and attracted quite a crowd! Of course, I was working, so could only hear the music from the front desk, but it was a nice distraction. Oh, by the way, there was no snow here, just in the south, in Calgary.
I was able to move right into a fire warden room inside, which was nice. It's in SQ, so almost as far as being outside, but I won't complain! There is only one dorm farther away than this one.
Camp is full to the rafters these days. Even the outside rooms. We had a big check in last night, and had exactly enough rooms inside and 3 rooms extra outside. Luckily there were a few no shows, so that gave some breathing room.
Haven't seen any mice since I've been back. Before I left, there were a few running around behind the desk. More than once I'd have someone standing at the desk talking to me and all of a sudden point out that a mouse was running around behind me. Good thing I'm not skittish. At least when it comes to mice running amok.
A couple of nights ago a gentleman who had been growing his hair long had the head shaving ceremony in the front lobby. He was raising money for a group of single parents in Alberta dealing with cancer themselves or had kids with cancer. We wondered what the heck he was doing earlier in the day with his hair in about 10 ponytails. Looked like a little child was playing hairdresser on him. It was to make it easier on the hairdresser cutting it all off and then shaving his head. Since nobody had informed us front desk staff that it was happening, it was a bit shocking to see a couple people spreading out a large plastic sheet on the lobby floor. My first thought was that it must be for easy cleanup and body removal after somebody gets shot. Guess I've watched too many action flicks haha.
Days are getting shorter fast!
First night back to work, camp had a special visitor. Matt Minglewood and band. I'd never heard of him, but he's popular with the East Coasters. They play bluesy-folksy-east coast type music :)
The band played for an hour and a half in the evening and attracted quite a crowd! Of course, I was working, so could only hear the music from the front desk, but it was a nice distraction. Oh, by the way, there was no snow here, just in the south, in Calgary.
I was able to move right into a fire warden room inside, which was nice. It's in SQ, so almost as far as being outside, but I won't complain! There is only one dorm farther away than this one.
Camp is full to the rafters these days. Even the outside rooms. We had a big check in last night, and had exactly enough rooms inside and 3 rooms extra outside. Luckily there were a few no shows, so that gave some breathing room.
Haven't seen any mice since I've been back. Before I left, there were a few running around behind the desk. More than once I'd have someone standing at the desk talking to me and all of a sudden point out that a mouse was running around behind me. Good thing I'm not skittish. At least when it comes to mice running amok.
A couple of nights ago a gentleman who had been growing his hair long had the head shaving ceremony in the front lobby. He was raising money for a group of single parents in Alberta dealing with cancer themselves or had kids with cancer. We wondered what the heck he was doing earlier in the day with his hair in about 10 ponytails. Looked like a little child was playing hairdresser on him. It was to make it easier on the hairdresser cutting it all off and then shaving his head. Since nobody had informed us front desk staff that it was happening, it was a bit shocking to see a couple people spreading out a large plastic sheet on the lobby floor. My first thought was that it must be for easy cleanup and body removal after somebody gets shot. Guess I've watched too many action flicks haha.
Days are getting shorter fast!
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