U-Turn

As my services are suddenly no longer required at my previous position of employment, the universe has once again made a decision for me. The peril of contract work is that sometimes you don't get the luxury of notice. It is a good lesson for me if I want to keep doing what I do, as mining is not the most stable of industries on the grander scale, particularly with junior companies. Like a pop band with a hit single, one day you are on top of the charts, and the next day your cd is in the bargain bin at wal-mart. I am already working on my comeback, but it was certainly a shock to the system.

I don't really believe in fate or any grand plan, but all month I have had an on sense of foreboding that I couldn't quite shake; I chalked it up to the February blues and a touch of vitamin D deficiency. When I heard my dad got rather badly hurt after losing a fight with a hot water tank, it felt like something I was anticipating finally happened, but that anxiety I had still didn't go away. Now that my week from hell is complete, there is almost a sense of relief. I think it was that things were going far too well for too long and I was subconsciously waiting for the other shoe to drop. I was making good money at a job I loved and working with people I liked and everyone around me was healthy; perhaps it's because of my history with illness, but I am always suspicious of too much good fortune. Don't get me wrong, I am not a pessimist by any means, as when things are good I relish every second, but I don't like to assume that it will continue in a never ending nirvana of awesomeness. Without the lows, the highs aren't as impressive.

So long QR Mine- it was a blast! (mining pun!)

-A.

A Day in the Life

It's been about 4 months since my last post and most of the reason for this is laziness, but a small fraction is due to simple lack of time. Through a battle of attrition and stubbornness I have ended up as the most senior geologist on site at QR Mine. It sounds like fun on paper, but mostly involves me asking a lot of questions of everyone to know what the heck I'm supposed to be doing. The stress level is certainly up from when my only duty was to log core in a timely manner. It sounds cliche but 90% of my job is not geology but dealing with people. It is amazing how much you can get done with some friendliness and compromise. It may also help that I am female- asking nicely seems to do the trick most of the time.

A lot of people seem to see geology as this mysterious vocation and I am constantly getting questions about what my job entails. From my accountant to the woman who sold me my phone, everyone is curious. Woman are particularly interested in how I manage living and working in a place that is 95% men. I found this a surprising question at first since I had never really considered it before. Everyone is generally polite and respectful to me and there are rules on sexual harassment and discrimination should I ever be concerned, but it has never even come up. There is the odd stupid joke in the morning safety meeting about wives and the like, but nothing particularly offensive, as far as I'm concerned.

My standard day starts off at 6:30-6:45 with the morning safety meeting where the mine shift foreman goes over a particular safety topic and then we discuss the schedule for underground work for that day. I consult with my underground drillers and tell them where I need them to be working and then I head up to the geology trailer to talk to the other geologist(s) on site (if any) about what are plans are for the day. At 7:45 there is a main meeting with the Mine Manager, and the other department heads (mine, mill, geology, environment, surveying). After that I go underground to map the geology, check on the drillers and take samples. In the afternoon there is usually more office stuff and core logging to do, as well as check on the surface drill and sample the rock that has been brought up out of the mine that shift. On a quiet day I finish at 5:00 and go for supper. If we are nearing an ore body or lagging behind in core logging, I might not get out of the office until 6:30 and then have to come back after supper (one of the downfalls of a 1 minute commute is how easy it is to get back to the office in the evening).

As I said, not the most glamourous of occupations, but I love going underground and walking THROUGH the geology; sure beats working in a cubicle! And gold mine is not all that dangerous compared to a coal mine- no gasses or explosive dust to deal with. I promised my mom I would never work in a coal mine and I don't plan on it, especially after what happened in New Zealand. I am sure that I will end up at a desk all day at some point, but probably not until the osteoperosis kicks in.

-A.

Tunnel Vision

Tragedy! When did my blog turn into a monthly affair? Seems about the same time I started at QR Mine. I believe my job's awesomeness has been distracting me. I've had a sort of promotion- no raise but more responsibility; a good thing, I think? I will be cross-shifting as the site underground geologist. It may sound kind of creepy, but it is actually pretty bad-ass. Any geology map, by necessity, is in 2D thanks to the limitations of paper. When you walk through a drift (a.k.a. mine tunnel), you are surrounded by the rock and every structure and contact that crosses through is visible in 3D. It's a great way to get a handle on what the hell is going on beneath what you see on surface or in cross-sections. It doesn't hurt that underground geologists are in fairly high demand internationally. How do you say "Welcome to Brazil" in Portuguese?

On the topic of travel, my original plan for the year was to work through to the fall and then take off somewhere that requires a passport, preferably before Halloween. I had narrowed it down to Cambodia, Russia or Western Europe. As things look now, I will probably be here until Christmas, so some adjustments are in order. Both a blessing and a curse, since I will have to hang around Canada a little longer, but will have more funds in the end. I am already getting itchy feet, though; it's already been over a year since I got back from Australia. Winter will be a nice time to travel since it is way less touristy. My new new plan is to get an apartment in Ireland for a few months and maybe work a bit there until another geo contract turns up. Staying put for a while is a great way to meet people and get a proper feel for the culture (and maybe check out a pub or two along the way!). For now I will have to satisfy myself with chick flicks set in Ireland and Pogues albums to get me through.

-A.

Gold Digger

I can't believe it's been over a month since I last posted. Things have changed quite a bit in the last month. Due to some rather complicated office politics, I am working for the same company, but instead of doing an exploration program in Wells, I am now stationed at the QR Gold Mine, about 60km southeast of Quesnel, BC. We are near ready for production with a concurrent exploration program also in the works. Basically I get to do way more diverse geology for more money. Win-win! The only downfall is that I am in a camp now instead of a village. A DRY camp, no less. Amy misses wine time. Alas!

My day generally consists of logging core, checking samples at the assay lab, making cross-sections in the office or checking on the drill and directing the drillers. I even have a student lackey to do my bidding. Oh the power I wield! My original contract was for a minimum of four months, but as things are looking now, this may end up being a bit more long term, at least till the snow flies. This will do great things for my winter travel budget, not to mention my credit card bills. And the icing on the cake is that I have 20/20 vision now. I honestly don't know how things could get better, at least in regard to working. I would always prefer to be sitting in a cafe in Paris or something, of course, but for the daily rate I'm getting, I will be there soon enough!

-A.

Stick 'em up!

Today was so weirdly random, I don't even know where to begin.

I am currently staying at my buddy Maureen's place in Edmonton because I am scheduled for laser surgery tomorrow at the Gimbel Eye Center. Today was my assessment day, so Maureen dropped me off at the clinic and I had my eyes poked and scanned for a couple hours. In the end I found out that I have asymmetrical corneas (there goes my eye model career!), which means I can't get the fancy instantaneous lasik surgery but must opt for PRK which is cheaper but with more recovery time. That's all fine with me because I still get to toss out my glasses at the end. After my appointment I hung around Kingsway Mall for a while and then decided to walk downtown because I was pretty wound up and excited about tomorrow. It's a decent walk, but it was so gorgeous out and I was in such a good mood I figured that if I tuckered out I could always call a cab or catch the bus. My eyes had been dilated for the assessment but my hat did a decent enough job of shading my eyes so off I went.

A couple of blocks down from the mall I came across a Royal Bank- I had intended on stopping there tomorrow morning to get a money order for the surgery since the eye people didn't take cheques (I suppose it is pretty hard to repossess freshly lasered corneas if your cheque bounces). I went in and since it was about 2:30 in the afternoon the place was pretty quiet, with only one person ahead of me. I chatted with the teller a bit and when her manager came over to authorize the money order we visited a bit too since she was also thinking about laser surgery and was wondering about costs and such. I glanced over to my left and two tellers over was a man wearing dark sunglasses and a white ball cap- I remember thinking that he was a bit of a tool for wearing is glasses indoors, and then thought that maybe he had his eyes dilated too, since the Gimbel clinic wasn't that far away. I finished my transaction and then went off to the side to try and cram all my stuff back in my purse in a way where the $3200 money order had no chance of falling out. As I headed for the door the manager was pulling the metal curtain across and dead-bolting the door. I asked if I was allowed to leave and she just said no and walked away. Turns out sunglasses man had handed the teller a note that said he wanted all the money in her drawer and to act normally (I learned this by eavesdropping on the bank employees because no one told the customers anything other than to sit in the waiting area). I never heard whether he claimed to have a weapon on him. The police showed up within 5 minutes and took statements from everyone and then I was allowed to leave. According to witnesses in the parking lot he took off on foot so I am guessing it was probably for drugs, if he didn't have enough money for a getaway car. All in all, probably not the most exciting bank robbery story you've ever heard, but I am pretty happy about that. Tomorrow: LASER EYES!

All the better to see you with my dear...

In exactly 2 weeks I will enter the Gimble Eye Center in Edmonton and come out a new woman. For the low low price of $3600 I will be the proud owner of some new and improved laser(ed) eyeballs. While I am hoping for better than 20/20 (just because it seems very bionic woman-ish) I will settle for being able to see my alarm clock in the morning.

Many folks these days have a "Bucket List" of stuff they want to do in their lives- I made one when I was sick and before the movie came out so mine was called "Shit I Get to Do Because I Didn't Die". Not quite as succinct, but it gets the point across. Laser eye surgery was in my top 5, along with scuba dive the Great Barrier Reef, climb a mountain, run a marathon, visit all 7 continents and stick my toe in all 5 oceans. I think some revisions will have to be made soon because my top 5 will soon be my top 2.5 I have been scuba diving at Great Barrier Reef, my eyes will soon be fixed, and I've been to all but one ocean. Damn Arctic Ocean, with it's limited road access. As far as continents go, I have technically been to 4, though I feel like South America deserves more exploration than just Trinidad (which may or may not be part of the Caribbean, depending on who you ask) and the airport in Caracas, Venezuela.

Normally I am not partial to checklists as a way of traveling: ie. go to country 1, see landmark a, b, c; go to country 2. repeat. But in a grander sense, I feel like my list is just a rough framework. A blueprint to encourage me to get off my lazy butt and shut off the xbox and go DO something. Anything. It's certainly worked so far.

Batten down the hatches, me hearties, it's ethical quandary time!

I am completely aware that if you give the average person anonymity and a forum to express themselves, sometimes they morph into a strange mutant internet beast that tends to be either extremely hostile, vulgar or completely nonsensical. There are certain places on the web that this phenomenon tends to be harsher or more benign. For example, I tend not to read the comments on popular you tube videos because it simply isn't worth the effort. Same goes for a lot of gaming forums.

One place I thought I might be alright is the Thorn Tree forum on the Lonely Planet website. I have been doing some research on a trip to Europe in the fall and posted a question about whether I should bother with a working holiday visa for Ireland to find casual work. If you just want to pick fruit for a couple weeks or help out on a farm, the $500 in fees and registration is probably not worth it. The replies ranged from unhelpful to downright hostile. One poster said that anyone who was working without a visa and from a privileged country was scum and that the only excuse for working illegally was if I had to to feed my poor family. Another said that there were many other people willing to work way harder and for less pay than me so don't bother. A third said I had two hopes for finding undocumented work, Bob Hope and no hope (which doesn't even make any sense). Disregarding the fact that these people have no idea how hard I am willing to work (I cleaned gas station toilets in the desert for minimum wage, after all), these people really pissed me off. At first I felt that the forum members were just being judgmental elitist jerks but I thought I would get a second opinion.

If a farmer is willing to hire me to do a bit of shoveling for a few euros, does that make me scum? Am I taking food out of the mouths of some poor EU family by supplementing my adventure with casual labour? . Am I missing something? Ireland isn't exactly El Salvador, after all. In

the end I will probably be going through WWOOF (Willing Workers on Organic Farms), volunteering in exchange for room and board, but my sister travelled in the 90s primarily by getting random work along the way and to me it seems like a great way to absorb the culture of an area and meet people. Thoughts?

-A.