Norman Wells

Norman Wells, North West Territories...

13 days...

Minimal contact with the outside world...

Yup, that was the last near 2 weeks of my life. It is insane to think that I just traveled to the NWT to work. Well, to play crib and get paid for it. I am totally serious with that fact. I worked 12 hours a day, and pretty much the entire time played crib with my partner, Neil, for 10 hours of that. Let me lay out my day for you...

0445 - Alarm Clock goes off - on occassion I would get up, but mostly I made friends with my snooze button

0500 - Shower, decent pressure warm water, wonderful way to wake up in the morning

0515 - Back to my room, throw clothes on and head for breakfast

0525 - Breakfast, consisting of bacon, eggs, ham, sasuages, french toast, pancakes, poridge, hash browns, fruits, muffins, breakfast sandwiches - don't worry I didn't eat it all everyday!

0550 - Time to get ready for work, coveralls on, hardhat in hand, bagged lunch ready to go

0615 - Bus here and ready to go to the plant

0645 - At the latest, bus will arrive at the plant... not a far drive but the roads are no paved and you need to keep your eyes peeled for wildlife

0700 - Let the day begin

0700 - Team Meeting - all crews in the parking lot, prize give aways, and stretching

0725 - Safety Meeting with the safety watch team

0745 - Let our day of water runs, visiting QC trailer, hanging out with Bob the Medic, playing crib, going for walks, and mopping the trailer floor commence... oh yeah and lots of eatting and making coffee

1845 - Return radios and monitors to QC,  gear down is the correct term

1900 - Home time, load up on the bus and head back to camp

1925 - Shower

1935 - Dinner time - pretty much anything adn anything you can ask for!

2000 - Hang out, watch TV, check out a movie, go for a walk, pretty much anything to keep myself busy until the hour for a nap

2130 - Bed Time - need a eye mask cuz with 22 hours of daylight and 2 hours of twilight, darkness is a thing of the past

Oh yes, that is just a simple day in the life while on duty. Overall it was actually a pretty good experience. Gave a talk to the safety team on Foot Care, then the lovely Medic asked me, correction told me I got to give the talk to the entire team on site. Met some awesome people, saw the historical museum, made some friends, shed some tears, was a support for an explosion, caused some chaos, had some laughs. It was an amazing time. And I would do it again in a heart beat.