Friday 27th, 2018
I don't usually get paid to go hiking up a mountain, but when I do, I doubly enjoy every second of it.
It started as an average payday. I awoke at 3:20am with enough time to pack a lunch and drive all the way to Casper to be on time for the safety meeting. There was plenty of amusing conversation before we got started, probably the most notable of which were the comments when Lorne walked in. Lorne is a 50-something year-old guy who's been working here for at least twenty years. It was his day off today though, so he didn't come in his work clothes, because he only had to be there for the safety meeting and that was it. And therein lay the problem. When he walked in, he was wearing khaki shorts with a matching Hawaiian short-sleeve shirt with sandals and hat to boot. It was... something. We definitely weren't prepared for it. Somebody said, "I could've gone all day without seeing that, Lorne!" We all laughed and joked about it for a bit.
After the safety meeting we all were handed our paychecks. Besides only getting paid for 98.5 hours for two weeks of work instead of the correct 145 hours, it went off without a hitch. But I didn't let that dampen my spirits at all, this was going to be a great day; hopefully we'll get the hours fixed later. Anyways, everybody else loaded up and left, leaving Kylie and I behind. We had to go to a different location today to do a little job real quick that should only take a day to do. Kylie started telling Van (the big boss man) about how excited I was for this job, and how I'd specifically asked Kyle (our foreman) to get put on this job. Even after they both told me how steep it was, and how it might rain and be super muddy, I was just as stoked, if not more so. Van then said, "You know there is such a thing as a suspicion-of-use drug test, right? We might have to send you down to Cedar's Health today." hahae, it was pretty funny. After that Van ended up showing me how you can text a picture to an email account. My mind was blown at this new prospect of technological prowess, and it worked! Van and Kylie were pretty amused at my lack of tech-acumen, especially for being a twenty-something college student. Kylie said, laughing, "That's why I love working with this guy! You get stuff like this all the time!" Eventually though it was time to head out to the mountain. First though we had to wait for the dump to open at 7:30, so we basically sat around for another hour before leaving. Besides getting lost in the dump for half an hour and not knowing where to dump our trash, it went off without a hitch.
By and by we made it to the main event of the day. We pulled up a little gravel driveway-like thing that stopped close to the base of Casper Mountain. From there on it was just a pipeline right-of-way leading up and over the mountain. A good ways up there was a parked excavator where they had dug to reveal the pipeline beneath. There was a knick in the pipe that needed to get fixed, so they were going to cut out 28 inches of pipe and replace it with some new stuff. This of course required a welder. And everybody knows that welders require welding machines. This is slightly problematic, because welding machines weigh several thousand pounds and are not moved up steep mountains easily. Even if they're in the back of the welder's truck. This grade was simply too steep to drive up with anything but a trackhoe, and that's why we were there. Since the welding machine couldn't make it up there, we'd have to drag a couple hundred feet of leads up there so he could connect his machine to them at the bottom and weld with them up top. It was going to be a great hike!
Kylie and I each threw half the leads on our shoulders and we started up. By the time we got to the bottom of the part where it got really steep, we had to take a quick breather. And then the real fun began. It wasn't quite so steep that you needed to climb it with your hands, but it was steep enough that if you didn't lean forward dramatically the weight of the leads would pull you backwards and make you tumble down the mountain at a decent speed. How do I know this? Well actually I just decided it was true at the moment I was teetering on the edge of my balance and was wondering what would happen if I fell backwards. Imagination is a great motivator, and so I didn't actually lose my balance and fall backwards, but I'm still convinced it would've been fun for about five seconds before it started to hurt. Anyways, we made it to the top without incident. Besides the leads being all tangled up and having to untie them for twenty minutes, it went off without a hitch and we strung them out down the mountain successfully.
After that we had a little bit of barb-wire installation to do and a little of gravel-grading as well, and by the time we were done with that it was almost one o'clock. Now all we had to do was tow the broken-down truck that was there back to the shop. We found a clevice and got the towline we had brought, and thankfully both trucks had tow hooks on them, so it went on without a hitch. Then it was only a matter of driving down the mountain in a truck with manual steering and manual brakes being towed with a short rope. It's been a couple years since I've gotten to do this, so it was fun to drive it again.
And that was about it. We got off early at two for a nine hour day and that was that. It felt like a day off! Now I'm all rested up to hit it hard tomorrow morning when I get back to work. Lez do it!
Friday, July 27, 2018
Friday, July 13, 2018
Land Of The Half-Remembered
Wednesday, July 11, 2018
A transitory gleam chanced to reveal its presence through the window pane. It passed almost as quickly as it came, but even in such a short amount of time it managed to steal something from you: drowsiness. Interest piqued, you approach the door to the outer realm and with outstretched hand gave it a turn and a push. It glides open noiselessly, letting the cool night air in with such an ever slight motion that one would hardly have noticed it except for the stillness of the night. A lonely insect hums in a clump of grass. Others join him. What was it that drew you out here this late at night? You aren't quite sure. Perhaps nobody will ever know. Nevertheless, you stand there waiting, waiting for something to happen. Then of a sudden, it happens. A small gust of wind presses against the grass and sends it waving in so many spirals like the waves of the sea at dawn. A scent wafts along with that breath of wind, a scent that reminds you of something, but you can't quite put your finger down on it. You take another deep breath and.... there it is. You remember. Rain. A storm is brewing. It's not quite there yet, but you know it's coming. The night has betrayed itself, its intentions are known. The Silence and the utter Darkness have declared it and the Wind and the Grass have both confirmed it.
And then, a flicker. For a second the entire world is alight, you see two trees standing a ways away. They seem fairly close, and slightly tall. And then there's also... something. There's something else out there that you didn't have time to see, but it is dark once again. And you must see it. You wait. A dozen seconds pass, and you catch another glimpse; it's just a far off treeline making it's way across the horizon. Gazelles are over there somewhere all bedded down, and the ducks have surely taken refuge as well. And it's a good thing too, for there was something else you saw that was dark and foreboding, snaking its way along daring anyone to dare and cross its path. He swallows things whole, takes them away, and no-one ever sees them again. He is a beast. Another flash among the shapeless clouds above, and... you were wrong. He was not at all ominous, he was a river. But it was a sad river that wound its way through the darkness. STRIKE! A bolt of Lightning deigns to descend from the upper reaches of the sky and strike some distant object. The sheer power of it leaves you in awe, and moments later the thunder rolls across the sky and echos into the night. And then another strike. And another. It's a lightning storm; there's dark, foreboding clouds and even some wind, but nary a drop of rain. The lightning keeps up, the land is almost continually bright. Your attention is bound and captive, and you just stare as lightning bolt after lightning bolt strikes the ground in the distance. Some of the lightning just bounces between the clouds like a game of pinball. And the Thunder. It's almost as if two armies are shooting off round after round of artillery fire, each trying to outdo the other.
Then there is a slight pause in the storm. Things are beginning to slow down, the lightning is coming less and less often. And then... KKRRFLAM!!! Lightning strikes just on the other side of the river, and the thunder takes no pause but immediately sounds out in a deafening boom. You jump up off the ground as your head snaps to the left in the direction from which it came. Your heart beats faster than when you hear your name being called out by that Special Someone. Your nerves are shattered by the unexpected savagery of the lightning. You tremble. You had let your guard down, and at that moment, it struck.
A drop of water hits the ground in front of you, and then another. It starts slow, but grows steadier and steadier. Now comes the rain. The lightning decides to come back again, and the wind picks up its pace and brings even more rain on its tail. Things are now set in motion that cannot be undone. You are about to witness The Storm. A chill goes down your spine at the long anticipated arrival; here it comes. You stand out in what has become the cold, and the rain soaks into your skin and soon you are wet. But you don't care, and just stand there and stare. It's amazing. It's beautiful. It's all it was meant to be. And while the rest of the world has given itself up to slumber, here you are, the sole witness to a microcosm of God's glory. And behold, it was Very Good.
A transitory gleam chanced to reveal its presence through the window pane. It passed almost as quickly as it came, but even in such a short amount of time it managed to steal something from you: drowsiness. Interest piqued, you approach the door to the outer realm and with outstretched hand gave it a turn and a push. It glides open noiselessly, letting the cool night air in with such an ever slight motion that one would hardly have noticed it except for the stillness of the night. A lonely insect hums in a clump of grass. Others join him. What was it that drew you out here this late at night? You aren't quite sure. Perhaps nobody will ever know. Nevertheless, you stand there waiting, waiting for something to happen. Then of a sudden, it happens. A small gust of wind presses against the grass and sends it waving in so many spirals like the waves of the sea at dawn. A scent wafts along with that breath of wind, a scent that reminds you of something, but you can't quite put your finger down on it. You take another deep breath and.... there it is. You remember. Rain. A storm is brewing. It's not quite there yet, but you know it's coming. The night has betrayed itself, its intentions are known. The Silence and the utter Darkness have declared it and the Wind and the Grass have both confirmed it.
And then, a flicker. For a second the entire world is alight, you see two trees standing a ways away. They seem fairly close, and slightly tall. And then there's also... something. There's something else out there that you didn't have time to see, but it is dark once again. And you must see it. You wait. A dozen seconds pass, and you catch another glimpse; it's just a far off treeline making it's way across the horizon. Gazelles are over there somewhere all bedded down, and the ducks have surely taken refuge as well. And it's a good thing too, for there was something else you saw that was dark and foreboding, snaking its way along daring anyone to dare and cross its path. He swallows things whole, takes them away, and no-one ever sees them again. He is a beast. Another flash among the shapeless clouds above, and... you were wrong. He was not at all ominous, he was a river. But it was a sad river that wound its way through the darkness. STRIKE! A bolt of Lightning deigns to descend from the upper reaches of the sky and strike some distant object. The sheer power of it leaves you in awe, and moments later the thunder rolls across the sky and echos into the night. And then another strike. And another. It's a lightning storm; there's dark, foreboding clouds and even some wind, but nary a drop of rain. The lightning keeps up, the land is almost continually bright. Your attention is bound and captive, and you just stare as lightning bolt after lightning bolt strikes the ground in the distance. Some of the lightning just bounces between the clouds like a game of pinball. And the Thunder. It's almost as if two armies are shooting off round after round of artillery fire, each trying to outdo the other.
Then there is a slight pause in the storm. Things are beginning to slow down, the lightning is coming less and less often. And then... KKRRFLAM!!! Lightning strikes just on the other side of the river, and the thunder takes no pause but immediately sounds out in a deafening boom. You jump up off the ground as your head snaps to the left in the direction from which it came. Your heart beats faster than when you hear your name being called out by that Special Someone. Your nerves are shattered by the unexpected savagery of the lightning. You tremble. You had let your guard down, and at that moment, it struck.
A drop of water hits the ground in front of you, and then another. It starts slow, but grows steadier and steadier. Now comes the rain. The lightning decides to come back again, and the wind picks up its pace and brings even more rain on its tail. Things are now set in motion that cannot be undone. You are about to witness The Storm. A chill goes down your spine at the long anticipated arrival; here it comes. You stand out in what has become the cold, and the rain soaks into your skin and soon you are wet. But you don't care, and just stand there and stare. It's amazing. It's beautiful. It's all it was meant to be. And while the rest of the world has given itself up to slumber, here you are, the sole witness to a microcosm of God's glory. And behold, it was Very Good.
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