Would you like to take a survey? - Part 6

Currently sitting in an Internet cafe in Trois-Rivières. Pretty little city - very charming and picturesque. Gorgeous view of the Saint Lawrence River right down from the hotel. The hotel itself is great. As I said in my previous post, we're staying in the Delta. All the amenities - excellent customer service, convenient location downtown, heated pool and hot tubs, sauna, gym, the works! A welcome improvement over the previous lodgings in Lacolle.

One thing I'm personally grateful to have back again in this hotel is the Weather Network (or, rather, Météo Média - its French-language equivalent)! Even in another language, I find it oddly comforting - like an old friend, a familiar face in the wilderness... When I hear the background music during the local forecast every ten minutes, I perk right up like a hunting dog catching a scent. I must be addicted to it - I find I don't feel complete and fulfilled unless I get my daily fix... :-)

Surveys are fine. Since we're at a weigh station, volume is indeed higher and we're able to process a lot more trucks. Makes the shift go by faster. My team is awesome, as usual. There's been some drama on other teams - some escalating personality conflicts and tensions which have led to some personnel transfers to other teams. Harmony prevails on my team, though - we're all pretty calm, even-tempered and in sync. We remain an island of relative tranquillity in an often tempestuous sea... :-)

Next week, we're headed to Beloeil, I think. About 15-20 minutes east of Montreal. Another weigh station, I believe, which is excellent. After that, we should be heading back to Ottawa for a little break (4 days). Looking forward to it - missing my friends and family!

Anyway, gotta go to work soon, so I'll sign off for now. Peace out!

Would you like to take a survey? - Part 5

Still in Lacolle. Sitting outside by the hotel pool geting some sun. Working tonight (4:00 p.m. to midnight - my normal shift), then we get a day off tomorrow. Woo-hoo!! Probably just gonna relax, take it easy - my usual idea of fun :-) Monday is a travel day. Our next site is Pointe-du-Lac - a provincial truck inspection station, I believe. It's northeast of here, about an hour and a half's drive. Roughly midway between Montreal and Quebec City, I think. Has a permanent weigh scale, which is great. Less to setup and more traffic volume=better flow=more surveys done. From what I've been told, we'll be staying at the Delta Inn in the nearby city of Trois-Rivieres. Hopefully the customer service there will be better than it is here...

Surveys going reasonably well. Very quiet, though. Traffic volume is surprisingly low - not that many trucks passing through. A few more refusals on average this week - mostly because they're in a hurry or have already done the survey elsewhere. Oh well....not a big deal. We get done as many surveys as we can. Some variables I simply have no control over.

One negative for me on site is my feet. For one, I tend to get blisters fairly easily, even with the proper foot care and support. My solution has been to stock up on and apply daily softskin band-aids over the affected areas - works well, I find. Unfortunately, a few days ago while in the shower my foot slipped and jammed into the jagged edge of the upraised tub stopper plug. Tore a fair-sized bit of skin from my left little toe. Hurt like a [insert expletive here]! Even properly bandaged, it's the worst place to have a cut while standing and walking frequently in steel-toed shoes for 8 hours straight. Nevertheless, healing up nicely and becoming less uncomfortable every day.

Transmission complete. Have a nice day! ;-)

Would you like to take a survey? - Part 4

Well, we're in St-Bernard-de-Lacolle (henceforth to be referred to simply as Lacolle) this week and next. It's a border crossing - on the other side is Champlain, New York (not Vermont, as I originally thought). The hotel we're staying in - the Auberge Premier - is quite lovely. Great architecture and interior decorating. Unfortunately, the customer service here sucks: slow, inconvenient hours etc. Oh well...nichevo (a Russian expression loosely translated as "it can't be helped"). Convenient in other ways, though - the survey site is right down the street from the hotel, so I can walk to work! Surveys are still going well - my team and I have got a solid routine going. Here's a breakdown of some notable events of the past week:

Wednesday, August 9

Leopold (one of my team members) had an exam back in Ottawa, so we wound up driving into Montreal to drop him off at the bus station. I'd never driven in Montreal before - needless to say, it was a bit nerve-wracking! Certainly had to learn quickly to be a little more assertive :-)

However, within half an hour of navigating the city streets, its character must have rubbed off on me. While driving downtown up University Street, a cab suddenly cut me off. Without thinking or even a moment's hesitation, I swore loudly in French: "Maudit cochon!" (translation: f***ing pig!). After that, I'm starting to think I've been in Quebec too long!... ;-)

Calisse tabarnac 'osti!

Friday, August 11

We (my team and I) drove Bob (one of the Transport Canada project managers) into Montreal so he could catch the train at the Dorval station. Afterwards, we stayed in town for a bit to do some sightseeing, shopping and lunch. We ate at this great Indian buffet - the Maharaja - on Rene-Levesque Boulevard. Delicious food! Though my colon paid for it later... :-)

Also, I found it interesting to note that, while walking up St. Catherine Street, I counted at least 7 strip clubs along a 2-3 block stretch! I guess that's "culture" for ya... ;-)

On the plus side, I'm getting more comfortable driving in the city. No bouts of Quebecois cursing this time!

Anyway, that's it for now! Until the next update....

Would you like to take a survey? - Part 3

My first week out in the field supervising my surveyors (as well as doing a few surveys myself) went very well. We were located in Beaumont West - a nice rest stop on Autoroute 40 westbound, about 15 minutes east of our hotel in Lévis. Very good setup with good flow. We had one of those portable scrolling signs set up a fair distance before the turnoff to the stop. My crew and I had a good system down - one person would sit out front and activate/deactivate the sign as needed to bring two trucks in at a time, another would process and print out the axle weights from the portable scales as well as take the trucks' measurements, and the remaining two would interview the truckers. During the course of the shift, we would all rotate positions in order to make things interesting, as well as make sure everyone knows everyone else's job (in case of absences).

My crew is really awesome. We all get along great - no friction at all. We've really come together as a team, with practically no bumps along the way. Everyone is pretty patient, laid back and easygoing, yet still efficient and hard-working. They approach the work as professionals, while we maintain an informal atmosphere among ourselves. We seem to be able to reconcile these two "poles" and thus find the right balance with respect to our work ethic. I feel as though the four of us inherently understand one another and where we're coming from; there's a mutual respect that results from that. I can't sing their praises enough! They've really stepped up to the plate and taken charge of themselves and the survey process, with good humour and without complaint. I find that they need very little "supervision" in the strictest sense of the word; I admire their self-reliance. Makes my job just that much easier!...

Most of the truckers we've surveyed have been very friendly and cooperative. While we have had a few impatient ones who've refused to take the survey (to be expected), the vast majority are quite happy to give us the info we need. I think they enjoy the break in routine somewhat; they use the opportunity to stretch, have a smoke, or just plain chat & interact with another human being! Some are quite funny and generous: on her second-ever survey, one of my surveyors got a free baseball cap from the trucker she was interviewing! Another kind soul gave us 6 packages of overstock cookies! I heard that another crew got several packages of women's razors! You gotta love getting free stuff just for asking a few questions :-)

On the social front, our whole group in Lévis is really getting along well for the most part. On our off hours, we all tend to hang out together, either in someone's room or across the street at a local 24-hour restaurant. I've formed some lasting friendships here; we've all bonded to varying degrees. There's a remarkable current of trust, amicability and forthrightness that characterizes our interaction. In a lot of ways, it hardly seems like work at all! I really hope that we can all preserve this wonderful spirit and positive energy throughout our time out here...

For example, a bunch of us went up to Québec City earlier this afternoon for a little sightseeing and supper. It was a beautiful day and we all had a great time, wandering through the cobblestoned streets and alleys of Vieux-Québec (the older part of town) taking in the sights and sounds. We did a little shopping, watched some really talented street performers (jugglers, unicyclists), and just generally hung out as friends. I personally loved the city. Being a history buff, Québec really resonated with me. I just adore all the old buildings and monuments - the architecture is just gorgeous! The city has a distinctly European feel to it - you could easily believe you're strolling through Paris or Rome. Québec is saturated with history in a way no other Canadian city can match. It's really quite refreshing!

Tomorrow morning we're packing it up here in Lévis and heading out for our next sites. Half are going Saint-Eugène (near Montréal), while the rest are bound for Lacolle in the Eastern Townships. My group is destined for the latter. Lacolle is right on the American border (it's a border station) - my local geography is a little fuzzy, but I think Vermont is on the other side of the border. It should be interesting...

Alors, mes amis, à la prochaine!

Would you like to take a survey? - Part 2

Yesterday's bus ride up to Québec City was....interesting. And not necessarily in a good way. Personally, excruciating would be a better word for it. Not only was it very long (about 5 hours), but it was also uncomfortably warm, despite the bus having an air conditioning system - I was sitting at the very back of the bus (more leg room), where I had to endure the ambient heat and humidity radiating from the motor. Ugh. Oh well...I suppose hardship builds character!

We finally arrived in the quaint little community of Lévis, Québec (on the southern fringes of the city). We're staying at the local Comfort Inn - my room is quite nice, actually! Moreover, as an added bonus, once we got here we all found out that we were getting an extra day off (today) with pay! Sweet! Apparently, there were complications and delays in bringing up certain equipment for the site, which necessitated pushing back the schedule for a day.

After finding our rooms and getting our bags settled, our whole group (24 in all) went across the street to a 24-hour restaurant for supper. The food was decent, but not exceptional. We all had a good time nonetheless. I had a chance to meet and chat with the rest of my team - they seem like a good, hard-working bunch. I'm looking forward to working with all of them.

After supper, we went back to the hotel - after several people picked up a healthy quantity of beer from a nearby dépanneur (in Québec, a corner/convenience store that sells alcohol). We all met initially in one girl's room for a little get-together. Later, we all migrated outside into the parking lot. Sitting around, drinking, telling stories, having lots of laughs. At one point, we all played a suitably vulgar version of Truth or Dare - rest assured that there was no nudity or sexual contact involved, though.

Overall, I think we've all really started to bond as a big team. Morale is high and everyone seems to be making fast friends. If this is any indication, the whole experience will be more fun than work!

Stay tuned for more updates in the future (time permitting, of course)!!