The Dash for the Finish Line

So I am feverishly trying to get things done to get out of Regina and head back to Edmonton by the end of the week. I have found that I relied too much on people committing things in a passing "Sure" or "Yeah I will buy that" I changed my mind leaving me with both an apartment to get rid of in the last couple days and some furniture. I suppose I should be pissed off, but I think I have come to expect this from even the most professional type people when it comes to money and haggling for stuff. I give them 30% off of furniture that is 4 months old, and they want 50% off. Give me a f#@king break! I give the discount to get rid of it knowing if I don't sell it I have to move it, and that's why I offer it at the price I do. Not so you can bend me over and take advantage of my leaving. These people are vultures. They actually think they are doing me a favor too! But you know, I will remember these yahoos going forward, and I am sure somewhere down the road we will work together again. And If I do have any furniture and stuff left over, I will give it away to a couple of the single moms that work with us as admin types. The ones that appreciate the hand and and appreciate what they have, not wallow in the fact they were able to jew me down another $100 on furniture.

Others were honest up front however and were a little more specific on what they wanted and I appreciated that. The fact is now I am 3 days away from leaving, and I still have my apartment and 1/3 my furniture. It is a bit stressful but I am not worried as I will hire cleaners for the house and move whatever I have to back to Edmonton. I will let the landlord try and rent it after I am gone, and hopefully it gets rented as soon as possible.

I really am hoping to be on the road by 3pm Friday, and call this place a memory. I am hoping to find some time over the next two days to pack all the stuff up, and come Friday, pack the Jeep and head er out.

Looking back to the future..

Well I have been looking back over the last year and I am amazed of what has happened both to myself and to the people and things around me. This time last year we were in downward spiral in the global economy, all the projects were being canceled and people were being laid off in droves. It was a very bleak time. I stopped by my old office the other day and three people said the same thing, it been a bad year.....I think how I resigned my job to go to another one, and then getting the shaft from that job, how a person whom I have been friends with and have worked with for many years screwed me over and didn't have the decency to even call me and let me know why the position went away. I think of all the people I tried to find work for, and couldn't and had to lay off, and the lucky ones that did find work. I think about the calls from employers for reference checks on some of the people that worked for me, that were being considered for other roles. I think of the countless resumes I sent out, and the numerous interviews I did, and the up and down feeling every time I received a phone call about a job, or a rejection email saying I didn't get the job. I remember talking to people, after being laid off, and how optimistic they were at the time that this was just a slow down and things would rebound quickly. I remember how relaxed I felt even though I didn't have a job, and how motivated I was to loose some weight and get in shape. I remember the day I received a call from Doug another person I worked with in the past, asking me to join him here in Regina on a project. I remember the excitement and the frustration of coming here, and having to deal with some inexperienced people, and working with some great people. The ups and down of again getting calls for jobs that I had applied to before coming here and even receiving a couple offers, not good offers, but none the less offers.

Yes that was my last year and I think now as I go forward again and move to a new position, and as I am preparing to leave here, how I might actually miss all these red necks, and newbies, and vendors and pain in asses, and friends I met. I think that whether I have spent 17 years or 5 months with a company, I always feel connected to the people I worked with, and I like to think that I made the place a a little bit better by being here.

As I look forward though I see a new and exciting career, I see excitement in the travel I will be doing, in the things I will be learning and the influence and hopefully the value added I will bring to the project I will be working on with TCPL. I see me being able to spend more time with my family and more time off for myself, reconnecting with some old friends in the east, and more time traveling visiting my great friends in the west.

But as I look back 12 months and I look forward twelve months, I realize how lucky I have been, with the opportunities I have had and have been given. I look at the change I have made and the difference i hope to make. I am excited and thank whoever looks after me up there or down there, for allowing me to be able to be me, and to have the family and friends I do.

One last note, I don't care what you say, when i am living in Calgary and Toronto, both hockey teams still suck ass!

The Turning Point

Well I have received and accepted an offer for a new position with TransCanada Pipeline. It is for a project down east in the Toronto Ontario Area. I was extremely excited to receive the job and it is something I have wanted to do for a while, work for an owner company on a project. I have done pretty much all the positions on the EPCM side of things, and this was a natural progression for me to move to the owner side. The only down side is I have to move, I can't go on LOA. Mind you, they pay for the move and everything, it is just tough leaving Edmonton which has been home for me for the last 9 years. I like to think I am coming back in after this project with TransCanada but who knows what will be going on in 3 years. I know I will miss the few close friends I have in Edmonton, and the not so close acquaintances even. The upside is I get to live and be close to my family, which I have not been for 30 years. I know it will be nice to see them on a more regular basis, and do a little more family things.

So my next year looks something like this... I leave Regina 27 November and drive back to Edmonton. I head down to Calgary on the 30 November and start with TransCanada. I put my house up for sale in Edmonton around February and move down east around March/April. I work and live in the Oakville area until late 2012 when the project ends, and then who knows....but you know what...who cares...it is exciting times for me now, and I am looking forward to the change. I will update some more on the actually job next entry when I have a little bit more time.

Until then keep your sticks on the ice!

Turbo Blogging

So here I am again, in less than a week I am blogging twice! Wow what a change eh. Well I have been really busy at work and forgetting to update this thing. I think if I had a dog, I would have a lot of poop on the floor forgetting to let him outside to do his business! So where to begin....

In the past week I have moved my office out to a Trucking yard where we have been storing our materials waiting for our onsite storage and warehouse to be ready. The trucking company is owned by 3 brothers and they are great guys. Matter of fact my main contact just retired from the RCMP. Now you know I don't like cops much, especially city clowns that can't solve a murder but can write a 1000 tickets in a day. I do have a lot of respect and admiration for the mounties. Yes even when they give me a ticket. They are more people orientated in my own opinion. Anyways, we moved our trailer out here and we started working out here this week. The y have this lil bgarage where they store their motor bikes etc that got turned into a bar of sorts. We were over there this week having a brew with some friends of theirs including ex NHL player Tiger Williams. Tigers brother Morgan an ex golden glove champ was there as well. It was fun, and we shot the shit. He is a big advocate of the supporting our troops, and we hit off right away. So that's the picture I have attached. BTW I have met several NHLers and I don't go gaga over them. I suppose that's why I get along with them.

Some how I have hurt my knee the last day or so. I am walking with a nice limp as it stiffens up and makes it impossible to put weight on it...old age maybe....or just old injuries haunting me. Hopefully I heal in the next week.

Last Friday I informed my boss I was most likely leaving the project and taking a new role with one of two potential offers. He was a little taken back but after we chatted he totally understood my drivers and actually supported me as he always has. That's the reason I came back to work with him again. Although when i told him, I was not 100% sure I had another job, but I felt it was my duty as a colleague and friend to let him know what was going on so he did not hear from someone else.

That being said , I did receive confirmation that I would be receiving an offer from one employer this week. I will update all the good stuff once I get it, sign it and send it back. There is a few things I don't want to make public yet just because I want to surprise some people if all goes well. Now i have a different set of stresses of trying to rent out my apartment and sell my furniture before I leave. I have decided because it is all new I would not sell it for a bargain but close to what I paid for it minus the tax and maybe a bit off. I don't want to loose to much on it yet. I also have to sell a vehicle either the Jeep or the X5 as I don't want to have 3 vehicles at this stage a I do believe I will have a work vehicle as well and I will be traveling lots again so I will not be driving much. So I will enlist my vehicle selling guru buddies Bill or Jon to handle getting it sold for me.

Well I will sing off now as I think I will be blogging again by Monday to update the world on the life of ME, so I leave with this thought on Remembrance day..........They shall not grow old as we who are left grow old. Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn. At the going down of the sun and in the morning, we will remember them...Lest we forget!!..

Turning a corner

SO I have been very slack in updating this blog, I think because I continue to be in a state of flux as far as where I am working. That coupled with the fact I am getting busier at work, has made me forget to do this on a more regular basis. But here I am today, Friday the 6 November, adding my thoughts on the past two weeks, and on the upcoming week.

The past two weeks have been ok, nothing to special other than I have been interviewed for a couple positions and feel I have a good shot at one that I think will fit me well. I won't get into details as I don't want to be too optimistic on where I may end up. I also received a call from one of the previous companies I have worked for inquiring about my availability. I think we all this in mind, my time at CCRL will be coming to an end before the end of the year.

I have been getting these god awful head aches the last lil while and I attribute it to stress. I think I am trying to think to much about all these things, when I should be taking it day by day and let the chips fall where they may. It is also because I have not been getting as much sleep as i should. Its not that I can't sleep, its because I stay up later and later each week I come back to Regina. Part of it is watching tv, the other part is trying to rip and encode movies. I need to slap myself and get back to my routine of in bed by 9:30 during the week!

As I approach the end of the year I also want to reevaluate loosing some weight. I have been able to maintain my weight for the past several months which is a positive thing. I think I just need to get into a routine again and make it happen. Right now I have not been able to get into the groove to make it happen. I think I am still not in a steady state so it makes it hard to focus on the new goal, But I will have to try.

Christmas is around the corner and I think this year it will be a lil quieter than other years. I don't think there will be as much gift giving as I don't think I can afford it. I need to get my line of credit paid down, and I need to pt my spending in check. I really should not need anything for a while as I have everything I need. Maybe just DVD's and video games from now on, and lay off the electronics!

Well I will try and update this again next week, and hopefully have better content.