My Weblog

Hello world!

Jenny — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 02:34:16 +0000

Welcome to WordPress.com. This is your first post. Edit or delete it and start blogging!

Proof

Jenny — Sun, 13 Apr 2008 21:31:00 +0000

that spring is actually here! While out biking and geocaching, I found this little beauty, and then many many more. This is a little earlier than my first crocus last year which may be due to the unseasonably warm weather this weekend or the fact I was out in the prairie grasses earlier this time.

If you’re like us

Jenny — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 02:37:00 +0000

you’ve probably just been sitting around in someone else’s house watching season 2 of Dark Angel and counting the hours until 12pm on April 30. But don’t worry, if Max and Logan’s forbidden love isn’t keeping you wide awake at night with excitement, this will: the Terex Titan Cam, live from “the South Eastern corner of the Province of British Columbia, Canada, on Highway No. 3, in the small town of Sparwood”. That’s right, you can watch your favorite non-operational heavy hauler 24 hours a day as it sits parked in front of that mall. Since its night time right now, you get a lovely view of the headlamps updated every few minutes. I’m assuming that the day time view is equally exciting but I haven’t got to experience it yet, I can probably check in while I watch Canada AM tomorrow.

For a different cam experience, visit the Monterey Bay Aquarium Cams. Between 7am and 7pm Pacific Time you can watch live video of penguins, sea otters, fish, birds and sea turtles. I’ll be tuning in on the weekend at feeding time to see how crazy the new blackfooted penguins are!

End of the Line

Jenny — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 03:37:00 +0000

Summer?

Jenny — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 03:31:00 +0000

Can’t wait for icecream, sunshine and heat!

Not the Mac

Jenny — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 03:28:00 +0000

Since we returned to Calgary, my travels have been restricted to one place – Fort McMurray. Given that Fort McMurray is what it is, I was pretty excited to find out that my next field trip would not be to the “Big Mac” (as my father says). So, now here I am in Cranbrook doing geotechnical geophysics, enjoying my giant hotel room (it may be bigger than my house) and loving not being in the frozen north. There are no seismic workers wanted to tell me about their gambling problems at the dinner table, I don’t have to share a bathroom and dinner tonight was not porkchops and mushroom gravy. Not that the frozen north is all bad but change is certainly good!

Troubles with the Time Change

Jenny — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 04:18:00 +0000

I’ve never had trouble with “springing forward” or “falling back” before, but this year has just been a disaster.

Sunday we completely forget that the time had even changed until we stop by A&As. A mad rush ensues to make it to our hair appointments on time.
I then forget to move my alarm clock ahead – mad rush ensues to make it to work Monday morning.
Alarm clock gets reset – for pm instead of am. Mad rush ensues to make it to work Tuesday morning.

I can’t think of anything else we’ve missed but if we’re late for work tomorrow again…

Jenny — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 02:36:00 +0000

If you haven’t had the pleasure of the MacDonalds as house guests over the past 6 months you are quickly running out of time. We have made a very adult move and purchased a home in Calgary to go along with our new grown up jobs. As of April 30 we will no longer be homless vagabonds and instead will be (respectable) land owners.

Not only will you, our wonderful friends and family, no longer have us in your spare rooms for long periods of time, but we will finally be able to move things out of our storage unit. And stop forwarding our mail. And put our clothes into the closet instead of a laundry basket. So many things to look forward to!

At Work

Jenny — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 21:47:00 +0000

A summary of my last month at work. ERT is pretty basic (when it runs well) – lay out cable, pound in long steel rods, collected data, pull steel rods, roll up cable. Repeat forever…

My first day on the job. I look all shiny and new! The metal contraption on the front of my quad is a pounder, used to hammer electrodes into the ground. At this point in my ERT career I can barely lift the pounder off the quad. I spend the first day on the job pounding electrodes and the next two weeks feeling the pain.
Later on I get promoted to running the equipment. One of my duties is to place pin flags at certain electrodes for the surveyor. I learn to dread the pin flags and spend much of my time trying to come up with a method that doesn’t require walking 1 km every time. I also learn that I cannot carry a car battery more than 10 m.
A slow day on the line. The rubbermaid tub on the quad contains our resistivity measuring equipment. I basically drive the quad up and down the line plugging into cables. When I am not collecting data I am usually pushing my quad out of a snow bank. Or doing jumping jacks to stay warm.

Just another -40 day. Bundled up in every piece of clothing I brought, walking becomes a challenge. I look at least 30lbs heavier. My once large nomex becomes tight as I try and fit two fleeces, a puffy vest, long underwear and fleece pants underneath. Everything must be carried around inside my clothes including two radios, a mini pizza, 4 sharpies and a headlamp making things even more crowded.

During our week long cold spell, my two neck warmers freeze up under my helmet making it impossible to remove until I thaw it out in the truck at the end of the day. I also have to spend time deicing my eyes so I can see. I stop carrying a mini pizza with me since I cannot get it to my mouth anyways.

Safety first. Dion, Brendan and Chris discuss the hazards associated with ERT as outlined on our oversized safety form. The discovery of the oversized form causes much giggeling and tells us that we have all been in the bush far too long if we find it funny.

After the wolf incident we get sent to a different program involving skidoos; a lot of swearing and cursing; and rock solid ground at a mine site. The weather warms up, our new camp only serves cookies for lunch and my room is smaller than the pickup truck. Still, despite all that it is, ERT is fun in the same way that treeplant was fun…

We also have to shovel out snowbanks and pour salt water over our electrodes. Luckily we have no more animal incidents and other than spending a day pushing out skidoos through the forest things go well. We finish and I get sent home earlier than expected! I rejoyce, Jon rejoyces, those left in Fort Mc carry on…

Tall Tales

Jenny — Wed, 13 Feb 2008 13:04:00 +0000

ERT requires 4 cables to run. Late yesterday afternoon, putting an end to our survey, a wolf ate our 4th cable. Seriously, he came by and ate it. How do you prepare for that? There were no witnessess to the attack, but the wolf howls, the large wolf prints and the wolf pee on the cable suggest that this was no rabbit attack.