First off I must apologize for how long it has been since my last blog! I work 10 hours a day, 7 days a week..
So now I have been working in Kitimat since November 12th. I moved out of camp into a townhouse with some coworkers. So far this option is much much better than camp. I get to actually leave the job site and sort of go home each night. Still isn't perfect as my cat is in PG still and.. well.. I am still in Kitimat. However not being in camp has made this little town grow on me greatly. I also bought a truck a bit ago!!
Kind of funny for me as I am more of a volkswagon kind of guy.. However this truck is a 1988 Ford F250 single cab, standard shift with a 351 Clementine motor. Came with those great big tires and a toolbox in the truck's box for $1200. Basically too good of a deal to pass up. Definitely a bit of a gas guzzler but I really love this truck. Needs work in a few places but I have the manual and vehicles from this era were pretty straight forward when it came to the build. No computers. It's my first vehicle in 8 years and I couldn't be happier to be back on the road. I have driven home to Prince George and back to Kitimat once already. Which is about 8 hours driving each way. I didn't know how to drive a standard when I bought it and I had 4 days to learn before driving home to PG all on my own. I pulled it off though! Driving standard isn't nearly as hard as I thought and it gives you lots more control over the vehicle and motor.
Anyway, back to work stuff. Our contract before christmas was 6 weeks at work and then 1 week off. Well there was a better contract in the same area and lots of people were quitting this job to go work that one. At Christmas they switched our contract to 20 days at work and 8 days off. Much better. I get to go home and see my cat and my niece every 20 days! Lots of pros and some cons about the contract switch. We get paid travel money in order to drive or fly to and from home to come work in these places that are not desirable to us.. Obviously we'd rather be home with our families each night, so that's why we get that. However before the contract switch we would get $1525 tax free to cover all our travel expenses. I really liked that as getting home only cost me about $300. I would bank the rest tax free money. Bad ass. With the contract switch they lowered our travel expenses to $475 or your flights paid in full by the company. This job is huge and we have workers from San Diego, Nova Scotia, China etc. So at least those with far flights home and big expenses have all that paid for them. Personally I still bank nearly $200 tax free from my new travel expenses arrangement. Not as much, but that;s fine. I'll take the cut in exchange for seeing my kitty cat every 3 weeks. ALSO on the previous contract we would get Sundays off to do laundry etc. Under our new contract it is 20 sraight days, no days off, then the 8 days off. The nice thing about that is Saturday and Sunday are double time pay for us.. Literally make as much money on the weekend as you do in the entire week.. So makes a huge difference in pay. Everything with the travel balances out basically. Another nice thing is not living in camp I get LOA (Living Out Allowance). Again, due to living in a place that I don't even want to be, it is part of my union agreement that I shouldn't have to cover my own expenses. I get $125 a day tax free on top of my wages to cover my rent and groceries and gas for any of the days that I am in Kitimat working.
This job has been a great experience. I have learned so much and acquired new qualifications in my trade. I can now drive large equipment, weld and torch as well as improving my rigging skills. I have even had a very small amount of training in operating cranes. I am very glad as I have gotten so many hours under my belt for my trade as well as this other training. I know I am going to be here until September as well.. So I am becoming a very valuable tradesman. Not to mention the amount of new friends I have made. I already had some friends from all over Canada and the US from other jobs I've worked but now I have even more friends from Canada and the US, China and even Germany that are also from other trades etc. Never hurts to network. I have also gained the moniker of "Super Dave" which I fucking love as my Uncle Palmer always called me super Dave ever since I was a young boy. Also just shows that other workers notice my sense and my skill. I really appreciate that as sometimes with new skills anyone can be kind of unsure of themselves.
Also a couple months back I met a girl in a comic book store. Already this story has the best beginning out of anyone I've ever met or dated. I was still hurting over my last gf when I met this girl.. However I asked her on a date within 5 minutes either way. I couldn't miss my chance. I don't think I've ever even seen a girl in my comic book store who isn't like 13. So just based on that I had to make a move. Well I was informing my comic shop that I wouldn't be in for weeks at a time due to my work being in another city and to keep bringing my comics in and storing them in my inbox - I would be in every few weeks to pick them all up and read them. This girl was in line behind me and overheard the conversation. Well it turns out she works in trades as well. As a carpenter, so she overheard and inquired about the job - starting our conversation. We courted very slow since mid to late October. We just "officially" started dating on Feb 8th. She can speak Klingon and can work with her hands. She is as big of a stoner as I am and she likes comics and games as well as video games. Mostly old school systems but any game peaks her interest. Basically I am just amazed. I've never had so much in common with a girl. She is also really understanding. Part of why we courted for so long was that I explained to her my hurt over the last gf. She also really understands how I have to travel for work etc because she has to do exactly the same time. We may face challenges sometimes on distance etc but I feel like we are just crazy for one another so it shouldn't be much trouble. I am extremely excited for my next days off as Eva (that's her name) and I have booked and paid for 4 days in Vancouver. We are going to a Canucks game and Science World, comic book and record stores and the New Amsterdam Cafe for the vapor lounge each morning to start the day. We got a fancy hotel in downtown Vancouver so everything is walking distance or a quick sky train away. She's amazing and I can't wait to do nerdy stoner things together in such a nice big city. We also got great deals on everything as we booked it all just over a month ago. Here is my sexy Klingon warrior here.
I am a Boilermaker and just started an Iron Worker apprenticeship (yeah that's right, changing trades as I want to work on high rise buildings instead of pulp mills!!) she is a Carpenter. Not only do we have the comics etc in common but we have lots of awesome conversations about work, we teach one another things about our trades, and she completely understands most things I am talking about when I talk about work. That alone is wonderful as everyone else I dated gives me a look of total confusion when I talk about tools or boilers, welding, or even just general work times. To top it all off she is tough and independent and very fit from working with her hands. Just a bangin' body, haha! She is into tattoos and alternative models (SGs) as well. So she doesn't even mind me waking up and looking at a bunch of other naked women. Most of my gfs really didn't appreciate me looking at SGs or having a Woman Crush Wednesday, always looking at Sundies on Instagram etc. So it's pretty refreshing to have a girl that's just like "She's a fucking babe. Whats her name?"
If you can't tell I am pretty smitten. As I mentioned she is a carpenter. She is trying to get hired on at the same job site with another company. If that happens her and I are going to split my bedroom in my Kitimat townhouse. That would be perfect as we would both be making $30+ an hour and we could cuddle every night.
I am really happy with life lately. I learned a very valuable lesson with that last girl I dated. About life and about myself. I know more of what my type is now and I don't think I would ever go for someone similar to my last gf ever again. Just does not have the qualities I am actually looking for. Things are going really good. I am not super stoked to live in Kitimat for another 6-8 months, but things here are about as good as they can be.
Hope you enjoyed the update. See you in the pit.
Dave. xoxo