Would you like to take survey? - Part 8
We're back in Saint-Bernard-de-Lacolle at the moment. We leave tomorrow morning to head back into Ontario. Our destination is the thriving metropolis of Brockville - from what I hear, we'll be staying at the Days Inn there. Hopefully it'll be pretty decent. Our survey site will be the border crossing at nearby Lansdowne - the Thousand Islands bridge crossing, to be specific. Not that far from Kingston and Gananoque. Since we'll be down in the Thousand Islands area, I hope we'll get the chance to look around a bit and explore while we're there. Beautiful scenery, from what I hear.
Work wise, the past week was good. Fitting in to my new team very well. We've all gone out and socialized before the switch, so there's no real awkwardness or adjustment. We all know each other already, so it makes things easier. We got the crappier site to work with (the southbound side, going into the USA); very narrow and restricted - we could only survey one truck at a time. Therefore, our numbers were consistently low. Oh well...couldn't be helped! Long line-up of trucks a lot of the time - a lot of them were late and/or grouchy to start with, so they're not as receptive to taking the survey. The queue was especially insane yesterday. Not at all surprising, given the fact that it was September 11!! The line of trucks extended at least 3 kilometres back on the highway! It was stop and go the whole time...
On the social front, things have been going well. Some funny anecdotes to pass along:
Our first night here in Lacolle (Wednesday), I accidentally locked Josee - one of my new team members - out of her room! We were all sitting in her room after the shift drinking, watching TV and chatting. Then, we all got up to step outside, so that the smokers in our group could have a quick cigarette. Since I was the last one out, I closed the door behind me. However, once I got outside, Josee tells me she forgot her key inside! Since there's no night manager or staff working here at the Auberge Premier, there was no way for her to get back in! I was so embarassed - what a way to cap off my first shift with the new team! Fortunately, Eric (our crew chief) offered her the second bed in his room for the night - Eric is gay, so there wasn't any uncomfortability involved. Still, I felt like such a spaz... Fortunately, Josee and I just laughed the whole thing off!
Also, on Sunday night, it got quite a bit slow during the middle of the shift. We wound up entertaining ourselves by chatting and, eventually, singing songs via walkie-talkie to our comrades on the other side of the highway manning the northbound survey site. It was quite entertaining! I myself launched into some stirring renditions of Doris Day's "Que Sera" and Gnarls Barkley's "Crazy". However, apparently during the latter, someone had brought the walkie-talkie into the bathroom with them. AND some CBSA (Canada Border Services Agency) personnel happened to be tuned to the same frequency! So, quite a few people unintentionally got to hear my off-key caterwauling :-) Nevertheless, I still got a hearty round of applause at the end! Very funny, albeit a bit embarassing too...
Anyway, that's it for now! Westward ho!
Work wise, the past week was good. Fitting in to my new team very well. We've all gone out and socialized before the switch, so there's no real awkwardness or adjustment. We all know each other already, so it makes things easier. We got the crappier site to work with (the southbound side, going into the USA); very narrow and restricted - we could only survey one truck at a time. Therefore, our numbers were consistently low. Oh well...couldn't be helped! Long line-up of trucks a lot of the time - a lot of them were late and/or grouchy to start with, so they're not as receptive to taking the survey. The queue was especially insane yesterday. Not at all surprising, given the fact that it was September 11!! The line of trucks extended at least 3 kilometres back on the highway! It was stop and go the whole time...
On the social front, things have been going well. Some funny anecdotes to pass along:
Our first night here in Lacolle (Wednesday), I accidentally locked Josee - one of my new team members - out of her room! We were all sitting in her room after the shift drinking, watching TV and chatting. Then, we all got up to step outside, so that the smokers in our group could have a quick cigarette. Since I was the last one out, I closed the door behind me. However, once I got outside, Josee tells me she forgot her key inside! Since there's no night manager or staff working here at the Auberge Premier, there was no way for her to get back in! I was so embarassed - what a way to cap off my first shift with the new team! Fortunately, Eric (our crew chief) offered her the second bed in his room for the night - Eric is gay, so there wasn't any uncomfortability involved. Still, I felt like such a spaz... Fortunately, Josee and I just laughed the whole thing off!
Also, on Sunday night, it got quite a bit slow during the middle of the shift. We wound up entertaining ourselves by chatting and, eventually, singing songs via walkie-talkie to our comrades on the other side of the highway manning the northbound survey site. It was quite entertaining! I myself launched into some stirring renditions of Doris Day's "Que Sera" and Gnarls Barkley's "Crazy". However, apparently during the latter, someone had brought the walkie-talkie into the bathroom with them. AND some CBSA (Canada Border Services Agency) personnel happened to be tuned to the same frequency! So, quite a few people unintentionally got to hear my off-key caterwauling :-) Nevertheless, I still got a hearty round of applause at the end! Very funny, albeit a bit embarassing too...
Anyway, that's it for now! Westward ho!
posted by Blake @ 7:03 p.m.
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