Would you like to take a survey? - Part 16

Here I am once again in Fort Erie. Now that November is around the corner and winter fast approaches, the weather is really drab and miserable. Overcast most days - quite depressing. Even when it's sunny, it's still bitterly cold! The winds blowing in off the lake are the worst culprit. Not just the occasional chilly breeze once in a while, but a sustained and powerful howl that freezes you right to the bone. A thoroughly unpleasant experience...

Moreover, the sheer force and intensity of the wind is astonishing! It often feels like a subarctic hurricane is blowing through town! Indeed, I was talking with one of the locals here, who said that meteorologists were expecting the gusts to hit upwards of 100 km/h! That's gale-force velocity, for pity's sake!! Apparently, the whole region - from Windsor to Washington, D.C. - has been battered pretty badly by the wind. Power outages all along New England and the other northern states east of the Mississippi, as well as in portions of Ontario, Quebec and the Maritime provinces.

Fort Erie was by no means spared - we lost power here for a good two hours on Sunday afternoon. As if this poor city hasn't suffered enough already this month! They're still cleaning up from the big snowstorm that hit the area 3 weeks ago. The sight of dead traffic lights, felled trees and large branches strewn about everywhere was pretty poignant as well as eeriely familiar. A weird combination of the landscapes from the 1998 Ice Storm and the Northeast Blackout of 2003, both of which I experienced firsthand.

The hotel is okay. We're staying at the Comfort Inn this time. Pretty decent - has most of the usual amenities. Not as nice as the last hotel, though (both in Niagara Falls and our previous stay in Fort Erie). Indeed, it's a real shame we couldn't book the Holiday Inn again - I really liked it there. Oh well...nichevo!

Our survey site is the Peace Bridge once again. This time, though, I was initially on the westbound side (i.e. entering Canada from the USA). It wasn't the ideal setup - very closed in, little space to work with. We can only bring in one truck at a time, thereby limiting overall productivity. However, the eastbound side is super busy! Moreover, since they're short-handed (only 3 people on that side instead of 4) and we didn't really need all 4 people on our side given the circumstances, I volunteered to go over to Danny's team on the eastbound side for the week to help out. It's been fun! A nice change of pace and scenery. I get along with everybody there, and the constant flow of trucks made things go by faster.

Some more anecdotes for your enjoyment:

Monday (October 30): Nothing much happened, but I have to say it was a beautiful day! It was actually warm (12 degrees Celsius - warm by Canadian standards for this time of year!) Indeed, it was nice enough out that, for the first time in long while, I didn't have to wear a jacket - at least until dusk! If only it could stay like that for the whole winter...

Thursday (November 2): Upon waking up, I wander over to the window and lazily peek out the drapes. A terrible, disheartening sight greets my eyes: there's snow on the ground!!! Ugh... I'm just not ready for such awful white stuff yet, especially this early! I was really hoping for a green Christmas this year. Oh well...just have to resign myself to it, I guess. No use putting off the inevitable ;-) While I love my country, I really do hate its weather sometimes!!

Shift was quite boring. Not to mention dreadfully cold and frigid! Temperature was down into the negative numbers, once you factor in wind chill. Again, ugh! We spent as much as time as possible between surveys huddled in the van for warmth. Fewer trucks + ghastly cold = shift drags on ever so slowly = no fun for Blake!! And they're expecting more of the same on Friday... :-(

Anyway, that's it for this week! Back to Windsor on Sunday. Until then!

Starland Vocal Band?! They suck!

Well, I have an important announcement to make: earlier tonight, I went and got a tattoo!

I know this news may be downright shocking to those readers out there who've known me personally for a while. While my politics tend to be liberal, my social life is more conservative. I'm really quite dull, actually! ;-) I don't go out partying much, I hardly drink, I don't smoke or do drugs, I don't gamble...basically, I spend most of my free time at home reading a book, watching TV or surfing the Internet. I crave order, structure and consistency to such a degree that I'm certainly the last person one would expect could do something so spontaneous and impulsive.

Nevertheless, I did it anyway! Funny this is, this wasn't a spur-of-the-moment decision for me at all. While working on this project and travelling around, I've taken the opportunity to do a little soul-searching and self-pondering. A personal evaluation, if you will. Basically, I've been trying to overcome my lack of self-confidence and shyness, to fundamentally become more comfortable in my own skin. I'm slowly teaching myself to break from the same old routine now and again, to embrace a certain degree of chaos in my life. Instead of resisting change, I should welcome it. Only then will I be closer to achieving a certain measure of spiritual balance or equilibrium, if you will...

To that end, over the past month I'd been contemplating getting a tattoo. I've always been a little intrigued at the idea; unlike body piercings, I've never been opposed to the notion of getting one for myself one day. Tattoos fascinate me - I've seen many examples which I find aesthetically beautiful and/or exceptionally clever. The artistry behind some designs is really quite remarkable, often worthy of putting on canvas, in my opinion! So, I built up the courage and resolved to get a tattoo whenever the opportunity presented itself!

Well, fate was kind! I was going for a brisk stroll around downtown Niagara Falls earlier this evening when I passed by a neat little tattoo parlour! The name of the place is the Lucky 13 [sorry, but this links to the website for the Saint Catharines branch...) Caught my eye immediately - clean, well-kept, didn't look sketchy at all. I had a wad of bills burning a hole in my wallet, so I figured what the hell...now's as good a time as any to follow through on my little self-promise. So, I went in and took the proverbial plunge!

I already had my own idea about what I wanted done. Being a big history enthusiast as well as an amateur student of linguistics, the idea of having a Latin saying or expression inscribed appealed to me. While interesting in their own right, I find that Chinese characters are a bit overused these days. I wanted something more original and unconventional. Latin was the first thing that came to mind.

What I came up with was simple yet apt, I think: the word "SAPIENTIA", which means "wisdom" in Latin. I had it put on the upper portion of my right arm, just below my shoulder. Nice and generic - something I won't regret in the next 10 or 20 years. And it represents a quality or trait to which I've always tried to aspire.

For the record, I was completely sober when I did it :-) No gasps of dismay when I look at myself in the bathroom mirror tomorrow morning... Indeed, I'm quite happy with the result. I'm actually proud of myself for going through with it. I hope my friends and family back home will like it when I show it to them!...

I'll try to get a picture of it that I can upload here at some point, just so you guys & gals out there can actually see the tattoo (instead of merely trying to imagine it)!

Would you like to take a survey? - Part 15

We're back in Niagara Falls. The drive down from Windsor was okay - took about 4 hours. I slept most of the way (well, I tried to anyway - I never sleep well in a moving car).

It's good to be here once again. Feels familiar and oddly comforting. I recognized streets, buildings and landmarks almost immediately. For instance, the Skylon Tower makes for a useful reference point when it comes to navigation either by car or by foot, since it's so easy to spot!

We're staying in a different hotel this time: the Days Inn & Suites. Very nice. Way better than the last place we stayed at while in NF (the Super 8 Hotel). Well-kept, clean, nice decor. The staff are also very friendly and helpful. I actually wound up discussing at length topics such as history, politics, philosophy and linguistics with 3 different people here!:

1) Sophia - the hotel manager. A lovely, elegant, middle-aged Romanian woman. Very personable and polite. She was quite impressed by my knowledge of Romanian history and culture (which I picked up "along the way" while studying Russian/Soviet and Eastern European history as a whole during my university days).

2) Lindsay - one of the front desk attendants. Cheerful young lady that looked to be around my age (mid-20s). Ironically, she'll be studying at Algonquin College in Ottawa to be a library technician. We talked about literature (favourite authors and books, as well as what's we're reading at the moment) and current events, most notably our mutual dislike of President George W. Bush :-)

3) Petar - maintenance worker and handyman. An older, soft-spoken Bulgarian. We actually discussed many things, in both English and French! Stuff like the nature and origins of Slavic languages, the failure of communism vs. the success of liberal democracy, among other subjects... I found the conversation very refreshing and stimulating - haven't intellectualized like that with someone in a while!

My hotel room is really great! Nice and big, with lots of space. Good-sized fridge, microwave, dedicated kitchen area with cupboards, large bed, couch, nice bathroom... There are actual partitions between the bedroom/sleeping area and the living room/kitchen! This layout makes it seem more home-like to me - very comfortable. The only downside is no Weather Network on the television... :-(

One interesting feature of the hotel is that it's located right next to a Kraft baked goods factory. When you walk outside, it smells like cookies! Sweet! It can be an exercise in pure torture if I happen to be hungry at the time... :-)

Survey site is okay. We're at the Queenston-Lewiston Bridge again, though this time we're on the other side (i.e. the westbound lanes, heading into Canada from the USA). Unfortunately, the setup isn't as efficient as before. We have to rely on both CBSA staff in the booths and the accompanying Niagara police officers to divert trucks in for us. Inevitably, some are more "on the ball" than others... Moreover, trucks have to drive all the way around the customs inspection building to reach us in the survey area; it's a rather slow and awkward process, though it can't be helped. Nevertheless, despite these constraints, we still managed to get a decent number of surveys done.

That's it for now! Peace out.

Would you like to take a survey? - Part 14

Here I am in the thriving metropolis of Windsor! The drive down from Sarnia was okay - pretty good, not too long (about two and a half hours). However it was pretty tricky for me to get directions! MapQuest kept wanting to have us go down through eastern Michigan and drive back across the border into Windsor from the Detroit side. Unfortunately, the rental agreement/contract with Enterprise prohibits the vans from leaving Canada. So, the MQ default route obviously wouldn't work! I finally figured it out by using Chatham as a waypoint/axis between Sarnia and Windsor. I plotted two separate routes - the first from Sarnia to Chatham, then the second from Chatham to Windsor. Combine the two and voilà! Directions to Windsor from Sarnia that don't involve crossing the American border!

The city is pretty decent. Nothing exceptional, though. It's pretty typical for a city its size. Has all the usual features: lots of chain stores and restaurants, shopping malls, bars and pubs, night clubs, etc. Pretty dull for me, though. There's nothing to do or see here that really appeals to my tastes and sensibilities (I'm not much of a night life kind of guy...) Oh well! I can find ways to entertain myself. One noticeable trait, though, is that the city smells funny! Even the locals jokingly refer to Windsor as "the armpit of Ontario" :-) Most likely the odour is the result of air pollution, which is quite significant here. Indeed, a number of Windsorites I talked to said that there are exceptionally high rates of cancer, asthma and other respiratory diseases among the city's population...

Our hotel - the Travelodge Ambassador Bridge Windsor - is nice. Has all the amenities: indoor pool and hot tub, free continental breakfast, good customer service, business centre with Internet access, gym. It's in a good location for us, too - about a 5-minute drive up the street from our survey site. Very easy to get to and from work. The hotel is also located in the main commercial district along the highway; lots of stores and restaurants to choose from that are within walking distance.

Our survey site is the US-bound side of the Ambassador Bridge. Decent location - the duty-free shop wasn't far away. Also, the site was right next to the central campus of the University of Windsor; I didn't realize that the school was so close to the both the bridge and the border! Oddly enough, there's a cemetery there, too - so much for resting in peace... It's the busiest commercial border crossing in North America, so there's always lots of traffic! The flow of trucks is pretty constant, so we didn't get much downtime between trucks/surveys. However, our productivity is limited due to the fact that we can only bring in two trucks at a time, one behind the other. It's also contingent upon how quickly and efficiently trucks are waved in for us - it was done this time by bridge authority personnel, as opposed to police officers like before. They were a little slow at first, but it was fine once we got our signaling system down pat and established a smooth rhythym. They were really nice folks! Very kind, good humoured, and they bought us coffee and donuts a couple of times! One downside to the site was the noise level. There was lots of loud background noises with all the trucks passing by; it was often quite hard to hear - or be heard - while interviewing the truckers. Most of the time I practically had to shout while surveying, or ask the drivers to repeat their answers. Needless to say, it was rather annoying!

One interesting thing I've noticed after surveying for a while in both Sarnia and Windsor is that all the East Indian/South Asian drivers seems to live in Brampton! Almost without exception, every time I ask them that question during the survey, that's the answer I get. I've come to expect it now. Living in the Ottawa area, maybe it's just my naïveté and unfamiliarity with the GTA, but I thought this was neat in a way. I'm sure Torontonians accept this as a matter of course and don't give it a second thought... I actually asked a couple of the drivers about this; they said the main reasons for such a concentration are cheap housing and that many trucking firms are based out of Brampton and nearby Mississauga (thus, proximity between home and work). Logical.

On a personal note, I'm no longer a driver on this project! Got a call from Bob (one of the project managers) on Wednesday informing me of this. Simon from Danny's team (same shift as me, but on the opposite side) was recently approved as a driver - he'll be assuming the driving responsibilities for us from now on, but without switching teams. Apparently, some complaints were made to management with regards to my driving - that I wasn't attentive enough on the road, getting lost a few times, etc. Basically, certain people no longer felt safe driving with me. Personally, I think they were overreacting a bit - backseating driving on a power trip of sorts. Some people are always nervous when they're not driving themselves; fundamentally, it's a control issue, I think. As a result, they make the worst passengers! Stresses out both themselves and me as the driver. I don't like it when passengers criticize my driving while I'm driving - makes me starting second guessing myself and, thus, potentially aggravating the problem! Besides, it goes without saying that you'd be a little unsure of yourself and out of your element while driving in an unfamiliar area. I wasn't the only driver who missed a turn or got lost on occasion! I know for a fact that I am a good driver; ask any of my friends and family. I guess I was just betrayed by a conspiracy of circumstances... Definitely frustrating (both for the pride factor and the fact that I'm now making $2.00 less per hour), but I'm rather surprised that the end result doesn't bother or upset me as much as I thought it would. We're close enough to the end of the contract that the pay cut isn't that much of a loss. Also, I don't really have too much ego riding on this; my annoyance springs more from the way this was handled, rather than the actual change. More of the same bullshit and immaturity that I've seen consistently on this project...

I don't mind being a passenger again - I'm a pretty easygoing one, I'm not nervous when other people drive, and I'm far too polite to criticize (even when it's warranted). There's less stress, pressure and responsibility; I can just relax and admire the scenery while we travel :-) And I can have more fun and stay up later at night, without having to worry about losing sleep and being overtired the next day. So, overall, the driving has been a learning experience for me, both positive and negative. Helped expose some of my flaws and bad habits as a driver, which I can now work towards fixing and improving. Rather than be bitter and resentful, I'm humble enough to take this little lesson for what it's worth and learn from my mistakes.

Here are some other anecdotes/notes of interest from last week:

Tuesday (the 17th): Before work I met up with Andrew, a good friend from high school. He and his girlfriend moved to Windsor this past summer - she's enrolled in teacher's college at the university. We went up the street from the hotel to Casey's - nice atmosphere and good food. Had a nice time - we caught up on current events, reminisced about old times, discussed potential career plans for the future. It was really good talking with him, to be able to see a familiar face. While I get along fine with everyone in our group, I miss hanging out with my usual circle of friends back home. Socializing and partying with my fellow surveyors, while enjoyable, just isn't the same - I don't really know them as well, in a sense...

Wednesday (the 18th): It was a good shift. Very busy - we did nearly 70 surveys! The bridge authority staff were really cool - friendly and enthusiastic. They hung out with us between surveys and during our supper break, trading jokes and telling funny stories.

Also, the team on the other side (Danny's crew) got to meet The Killers! Surveyed one of their equipment trucks. Afterwards, they all signed autographs and even posed for photos. Brandon Flowers (the lead singer) even sat on Danny's lap when they were taking the group shot! I really should ask to get a copy of that pic...!

Thursday (the 19th): Jeff, one of the bridge employees who's been exceptionally helpful and nice to us, picked a bunch of us up and took us out to eat before our shift! Went to the Giovanni Caboto Club for a buffet lunch. Very nice place - posh, classy, elegant Mediterranean-style decor. Excellent food - pasta, roast chicken and beef, salad, Italian rolls, fresh sausages. Lots of fun.

Also, I think I found my new dream car: the 2007 Cadillac Escalade. It's what Jeff drove. Very impressed. Lots of headroom and space (an important consideration for a big guy like me), elegant interior, GPS satellite navigation system, rear-view camera that activates automatically when the car is put into reverse, touch-screen radio and dashboard controls, heated seats, lots of pep... Black or navy blue. I know it's a gas-guzzling SUV that would make environmentalists cringe, but I don't care! I like it anyhow. If I ever won the lottery or otherwise got my hands on a lot of money, I'd definitely buy myself one of these!

Anyway, that's it for now! We're back in Niagara Falls next week. Until then!

Would you like to take a survey? - Part 13

Still in Sarnia. Everything is status quo. Surveys are going well - good flow, lots of traffic. Had a pretty decent Thanksgiving, all things considered. The potluck dinner we planned actually went quite well. We put the tables together in the hotel's breakfast room and threw up some streamers & other festive decorations. Nice atmosphere :-) Respectable turnout, too - about a dozen people showed up. The meal was surprisingly good! We had ham, chicken, potato wedges, assorted fruits & vegetables, various cheeses, sushi (!), French bread (no butter, though...), and several other dishes as well. 3 kinds of pie for dessert, supplied by yours truly: lemon meringue, apple and raspberry. The store didn't have any pumpkin pie when I went! Oh well...I personally don't like the stuff anyway, so no big deal. All in all, a fun day spent enjoying a good meal in the company of friends :-)

Some schedule-related news: contrary to previous reports, it looks like we're actually going to Windsor after all! Unless there are some last-minute changes (which could easily happen!), we're headed there next week. I guess Transport Canada was able to pull off some last-minute deal with the border/bridge authorities. According to my sources, the remaining part of our itinerary will look something like this (again, this is very preliminary/tentative and subject to change!): next week in Windsor, 1 week back in Fort Erie, 1 week back in Niagara Falls, and then the final week back in Windsor again. So, at the contract's end, it looks like we'll be driving home to Ottawa from Windsor. Oh joy... [please note the dripping sarcasm] At least an 8-hour drive, provided weather and traffic are decent!! Since I'm a driver, that'll extra "fun" for me! Again, oh well...I'll just have to make sure I get lots of sleep the night before! And there's always the blessed miracle that is coffee... ;-)

While in Windsor, I believe my team will be surveying the Ambassador Bridge. Luckily, our shift won't change and we'll be working the same hours (4:00 p.m. to midnight). However, due to security concerns, the graveyard shift's hours will all change around - we're not allowed to operate there after midnight, apparently. So, they'll probably wind up losing some sleep :-( Also, while the main focus of our surveying efforts will the AB, the word is that one or two teams will diverted to survey trucks in the Detroit-Windsor Tunnel. Should be interesting...

Also, some other positive news with respect to my own team. Eric (my crew chief) was talking to Bob (one of the project managers) a few days ago and it seems that our team is, on average, the highest-performing team in the project so far! We're getting the most surveys done per capita, and we're statistically faster than most in processing the survey from start to finish. Hooray for us! Indeed, Eric told us that Bob said he is so impressed with us that he's offered to give all four of us references when this contract ends! That's awesome! Quite a feather in our collective cap, I think - definitely something to be proud of... I just might take Bob up on his offer when I update my résumé :-)

Other anecdotes from this past week in Sarnia:

Tuesday (the 10th): Our OPP officer - Charlie is his name - was really nice and helpful. What's more, he bears an uncanny resemblance to the lovable Sgt. Schultz from the classic 1960s TV show Hogan's Heroes! As a fan of the show (albeit through re-runs, since I wasn't alive when it originally aired!), I noticed the similarity immediately. Luckily, Charlie is also a fan of the show and we joked about it off and on for the rest of the night. We would banter back and forth, me doing my very best impression of Col. Klink :-)

Wednesday (the 11th): The weather was pretty crappy - twice we got hit with heavy rainstorms, forcing us to retreat into the nearby coffee shop at the duty-free for a prolonged break ;-) We still got soaked in transit, though... Again, our OPP officer was really nice and friendly. And pretty cute, too! Her name is Mireille [pronounced "mee-RAY"] - "Mimi" to her anglophone friends and colleagues. She's a francophone originally from New Brunswick - been working for the OPP for about a year. She seemed almost relieved once she found out we all speak French! Worked out for me - gave me a chance to practice, since I've hardly used my French at all since being in Ontario...

Thursday (the 12th): Weather was atrocious!!! Bitterly cold and windy most of the time; factoring in the wind chill, it was several degrees below freezing :-( What was really vexing about it, though, was how conditions fluctuated so wildly over the course of the day. One minute we'd have clear, blue skies, followed the next minute by a fierce blizzard obscuring everything! It's like Mother Nature just can't make up Her mind!! Happened very suddenly several times over the course of the shift - like yesterday, we were in and out of the coffee shop a lot! *Heavy sigh* Needless to say, having any snowfall at all was a not-so-welcome sight! It's October, for Heaven's sake...autumn has only just started! I'm NOT ready for winter yet!! While I love my country, I really hate its weather sometimes...

I also have to say that I think I'm addicted to The Coffee Lodge's Great White Cocoa blend! CL is the aforementioned shop located in the duty-free building right next to our survey site. It's absolutely delicious - hot white chocolate with real whipped cream! *Homer Simpson-esque drooling sound* Good for warming me up, too! I've been drinking it at work practically non-stop for the past two weeks! Yet another guilty pleasure of mine... ;-)

Vive l'Arby's!!!

Earlier today, I had lunch at Arby's for the first time in at least 10 years! Two enormous hot roast beef sandwiches (and fries, of course!). The best word I can use to describe the experience is sublime. So wonderfully delicious and filling... Arby's is by far my favourite fast food chain restaurant. The reason for such a large gap since my last tasting is that there is no longer any Arby's franchise in Ottawa! Hasn't been for at least a decade. The last one I remember was in Bells Corners off Hazeldean/Robertson Road. Dad and I used to go there every so often and make pigs of ourselves :-) Something we both enjoyed a lot - one of the few true bonding experiences we had as father and son. Sadly, business there was always slow, and they were forced to shut down in the early 1990s. I've been suffering from withdrawal ever since ;-) Getting my proverbial fix again after such a long time was great, like embracing a long-lost friend... I know this sounds absurdly poetic for a mere fast food chain, but you don't know the depth of my craving! The minute I saw the Arby's when we first got into Sarnia, I made it my personal mission to go eat there at least once before we leave. I swore an mental oath to that effect. And, Hallelujah, this little gastronomic holy crusade of mine has been realized!

Now if only they would bring it back to Ottawa! Then I could die a truly happy man...

Would you like to take a survey? - Part 12

Here I am in Sarnia. Well, if you want to get specific, I'm actually in Point Edward right now. It's a separate village adjacent to the city of Sarnia. Made getting directions to the hotel on MapQuest a bit tricky...good thing I actually stopped for a moment and actually looked at a map! But I quibble ;-)

The trip here went reasonably well. We actually left more or less on time, which was a pleasant surprise for me. As I expected, the drive was rather long and boring; scenery was nice enough, but pretty flat and non-descript. Passed through cities & towns like Hamilton, Brantford, Woodstock, Ingersoll, Dorchester and London. I originally estimated the trip from Fort Erie to Sarnia would take about three and a half hours. In fact, it wound up being closer to four and a half! Two reasons: 1) I missed the exit to Highway 403 West from the QEW. I was approaching Oakville before I realized my mistake. So, I had to double-back for about 15-20 minutes until I found the right turn-off...and 2) we got stuck in a traffic jam for about 40 minutes just past Hamilton - lane reductions and resulting bottleneck due to construction :-( However, the point is we did finally make it!

Sarnia (and/or Point Edward) is a pretty decent town. Has all the amenities of a big city (good restaurants and bars, shopping malls, etc.) Nice enough in terms of geography - it has some lovely harbour front views and scenes of Lake Huron and the St. Clair River. A bit on the dull side, though - not much of a nightlife. That doesn't really matter to me, though; I've never been much of a nightlife kind of guy. I'm pretty easy to please; I can find ways to entertain myself, even in the middle of nowhere (which Sarnia certainly is not) :-)

Our hotel - the Sarnia/Point Edward Comfort Inn - is decent. A bit of a let-down after staying in a Holiday Inn, but still comfortable. My room is quite nice: tasteful decor, soft bed, couch, fridge, well-lit work desk, cable TV, clean bathroom. The hotel also has the usual proverbial bells & whistles: fitness room, business centre with Internet access, and free Continental breakfast. No pool, though - oh well! In a good location, too. Right off the highway, quite close to our survey site. Overall, not too shabby!

Some unfortunate developments with respect to the work front, though. Firstly, there were some staffing changes, so to speak. One surveyor was fired very suddenly. Rather shocking, actually - there was absolutely no prior warning. She just got a phone call the night before we left Fort Erie. Apparently, TC is making the arrangements to send her back to Ottawa. Regardless of the justification behind her termination, I have to say I really disapprove of the way in which it was done. Seems almost cowardly. She should have been given at least a verbal warning and a chance to improve her performance before being fired so abruptly. It just doesn't seem fair. Nevertheless, it goes to show how truly tenuous our positions really are as agency and contract employees in this project. We have none of the legal rights and protections enjoyed by permanent employees in this regard; our fates are completely in the hands of our employer, subject to their every whim and fancy. We're not really people to them - just numbers, a means to an end. The welfare of the workers is insignificant compared to the so-called "bottom line", the almighty profit margin. To quote one of my co-workers, we're basically pond scum - easily replaceable and completely expendable. I've worked agency jobs before, and, regrettably, I see that this mindset is becoming more and more commonplace among upper management. It's sad, really...

Also, one of the graveyard shift crew chiefs has been demoted. All I have to say is oh well! Though he was well-intentioned, truthfully, I noticed this individual make several crucial mistakes and bad judgement calls when dealing with his team and working on site in general. Not only that, but he would often avoid taking responsibility for his actions & decisions once negative consequences came to light. I found him to be rather authoritarian and inflexible at times; often he didn't really listen to concerns raised by his team members and take the appropriate steps to address them. In my book, that makes for a bad leader. As I've said before, that's part of the reason I decided to "resign" (for lack of a better term) as crew chief. I myself noticed the mistakes I kept making, that I was faltering in my duties as a crew chief. Fortunately, I had the good sense to realize how untenable the situation had become and thus remove myself from it before it worsened even more. But some people just aren't as humble and wise as me, I guess ;-) Karma can be a real bitch sometimes...

Anyway, back to the usual stuff. Our survey site is the Blue Water Bridge border crossing, which connects Sarnia to Port Huron, Michigan. Again, my team is covering the Canada-to-US side (the westbound lanes, in this case). The site is decent enough - we're right next to the duty-free shop, where we can get sandwiches and hot beverages if we want. Our survey area is rather constricted, though: two narrow survey lanes located right off the highway on-ramp to the bridge. The only thing that separates us from the busy traffic is a small concrete partition. Can't help but feeling a bit exposed at times. Oh well...

Like at the Thousand Islands Bridge, this time the trucks are flagged in for us by an OPP officer. Again, they are very nice and most helpful. Efficient, too. They're right on the ball when it comes to waving the trucks in once we give the signal. This is great because this bridge has excellent flow; traffic volume is consistently high. We don't wait long, if at all, to survey the next truck! Consequently, our numbers are very good. We're averaging in the high 50 to 60+ range. I suppose this isn't surprising, given the fact that the BWB is one of the busiest border crossings in all of Ontario. In fact, if I'm not mistaken, only the Ambassador Bridge - connecting Windsor, ON and Detroit, MI - sees more traffic on a daily basis (it's the busiest commercial border crossing in all of North America!)...

Speaking of which, we were supposed to be in Windsor next week to survey the AB, but unfortunately that leg of the project has been cancelled. Since the bridge is privately-owned, TC needed their explicit permission for us to conduct our surveys there. However, they refused on the grounds that our surveys would only create additional traffic delays (they're pretty long on average already!), and that there was not enough free space on or near the bridge for us to set up our site. A logical excuse, but a setback nonetheless. We've lost an opportunity to gather a great deal of data for this project. However, as a result of this development, TC is keeping us in Sarnia for an additional week. Makes sense, I think. If you can't get the proverbial gold medal, might as well go for two silvers! :-)

Finally, let me wish my fellow Canadians a very happy Thanksgiving! We get 3 days off for the long weekend. Some people in our group decided to rent cars and drive home to Ottawa for the break. Not me, though. Firstly, I'd lose 2 of the 3 days travelling between Sarnia and Ottawa (it's a good 8-hour drive!); the one, true day off I'd have would feel rushed, I think. Wouldn't enjoy it as much. Also, at the risk of sounding like an insensitive miser, I am trying to save money while we're out here. I'd rather not spend a few hundred dollars worth of rental fees, insurance and ever-expensive gas if I don't absolutely have to...

I've already told my family about my absence. They somewhat expected it, given the nature of this job. While I will be missed, they understand my reasons for not being there. This is my first ever Thanksgiving away from home! Doesn't feel as strange as I thought it might, though... Besides, the rest of the people in our group who are also staying at the hotel in Sarnia for the holiday are organizing a potluck dinner. A small affair, I think; not sure if there'll even be turkey! That's fine, though. Thanksgiving should be about the company as much as the food, in my opinion :-)

Anyway, that's it for now!

Pax vobiscum

Would you like to take a survey? - Part 11

Well, as promised, I’m writing this post from the hotel business centre in Fort Erie. Things have been pretty quiet today. Spent most of the day either sleeping or just chilling out. Unlike many of my co-workers here (who seem to have more boundless, youthful energy than I could ever muster), I’ve always believed a day off should be exactly that: a day off, where you should just relax and do as close to absolutely nothing as possible :-) If that makes me a lazy bugger, then so be it! The most strenuous thing I did today was read a book. Too boring, you say? Those of you who know me well enough should understand that I have an exceptionally high boredom threshold; it takes a lot for me to be truly bored (i.e. to the point of agitation). I find that, at times, doing nothing is almost therapeutic – it gives me a chance to meditate, contemplate, reflect or just simply daydream. Stillness lets you filter out the usual background noise (both within your mind and on the outside) and better appreciate the so-called "little things" you might otherwise miss. Stuff like gazing out the window at a beautiful day, or having a random conversation with someone. I often think our society as a whole moves far too fast these days. We live in an age of the sound bite – fast access to everything imaginable and instantaneous gratification. While convenient in many ways, I find that it has had some negative ramifications too.

For instance, most of the younger generations (including my own) have lost an appreciation of the overall effort and hard work that has gone into creating this consumer’s paradise. In addition to having no sense of patience and/or restraint, there seems to be an underlying assumption that things like debit/credit cards, cell phones and the Internet are a given, necessities that have always existed and that we have an absolute right to them at all times. I, however, believe that they are merely convenient luxuries; it is a unique privilege to be able to use them, not a right. I know and accept the fact that I could easily live without them. There are less fortunate people in this world who get by with a fraction of what we take for granted in the West, or, indeed, with no such amenities at all! Our prosperity is a blessing, not a birthright.

But, anyway, I digress ;-) Getting to Fort Erie on Tuesday was a simple, easy affair – it’s a quick 20-minute drive from Niagara Falls. There was only a bit of a delay in leaving: the usual disorganization, people sleeping in and/or being hung over from partying the night before. While this used to really annoy me, now I just sigh mentally and discreetly roll my eyes. While I still don’t approve of it, I’ve gotten used to such inconveniences. I just keeping repeating that wonderfully apt Russian expression I’ve learned: Nichevo (it can’t be helped).

Fort Erie is a pretty decent town. On the small side, but far from remote. It’s large enough to have all the usual conveniences: shopping malls, good restaurants & bars, etc. I actually like it here – not too big, but not too small either. And there are several big cities a reasonably short distance away (Niagara Falls, St. Catharines, or even Hamilton), which you can easily get to in case there’s something you need or want that they don’t have here. In that sense, it kind of reminds me a bit of Carleton Place. Though Fort Erie has nearly three times the population of CP, my home town is in roughly the same geographical situation. Ottawa is about as far from CP as Niagara Falls is from FE. Toronto and Montreal are not all that far away either. So, in a way, Fort Erie feels oddly familiar…

Our hotel - the Fort Erie Holiday Inn - is very nice. Clean, excellent customer service, and it has all the amenities: in-house restaurant, arcade, bar, gym, spa, hair salon, heated indoor pool and jacuzzi, and my precious Weather Network on the TV!!! Quite luxurious, by my humble standards. Without exaggeration or hyperbole, I think that this is the best hotel we’ve stayed at so far! The staff are also super friendly and helpful. In fact, when we arrived, I had a good conversation with the head groundskeeper. His name is Anatoly – an ethnic Russian from the former Soviet republic of Moldova. An extremely nice man. In addition to teaching me how to properly pronounce the aforementioned expression (emphasis on the middle syllable), we chatted about the nature and costs of going to university in Canada. At his request, I gave him some advice and suggestions as to the best schools to consider for certain fields of study; his children were reaching the point of decision in that regard. I was only too glad to help him further his research.

The only downside to the hotel is unreliable Internet access. Apparently, I’ve been told that certain factors like Fort Erie’s relative distance from the central hub of the ISP, and the proximity of the town to both high-capacity power lines and the US border contribute to this problem. Whether or not that’s just a fancy excuse designed to placate unhappy guests, I don’t know. In any case, it worked well enough and often enough to suit me and my needs.

Our survey site this week was the Peace Bridge. It connects Fort Erie to Buffalo, New York. As usual, we covered the eastbound side heading into the USA from Canada. An excellent site. High traffic volume + lots of space for our survey lanes = more surveys done on average. We were really productive all week. As in Niagara Falls, the trucks were flagged into our survey lanes for us by an officer of the Niagara Regional Police. Again, all of them were quite nice, friendly and helpful.

Here are some other anecdotes:

Thursday (the 28th): It was an utterly miserable day. It rained for pretty much the whole shift; everything and everyone was frigidly damp. We also had to endure some bitterly cold winds blowing in from Lake Erie. I was especially uncomfortable since I was only wearing a rain slicker, which wasn’t very well insulated against the cold (more waterproof than warm!). During the shift, our measuring wheel broke down. We wound up having to use a backup wheel that only measured in US Standard units (i.e. feet and inches)! Having to figure out the conversions slowed us down a bit. Luckily, Danny came by later and fixed our broken wheel. He was the man of the hour, I must say. I owe him a drink or two! Needless to say, nerves were pretty frayed by shift’s end – we were all freezing cold and cranky. The first thing I did when I got back to my hotel room was take a nice, long, hot bath. It was glorious!

Friday (the 29th): It was a quieter day. We had another super nice cop – very friendly and affable. Chatted with us during breaks. He actually went out and picked us up some Wendy’s for our supper break! We bought this time, though ;-) It was awesome. Also, at around 11:15 p.m., we saw a fireworks display just across the river over Buffalo! No idea what the occasion was… Maybe they were just celebrating the simple fact that it was Friday! :-)

Saturday (the 30th): After work, a bunch of us went down and played bingo for a couple of hours! The name of place was Uncle Sam’s Bingo. I kept my dauber as a souvenir. More boring than fun for me – living in a smaller town like Carleton Place, I’ve seen my fair share of bingo halls. A refuge for antisocials, senior citizens and welfare recipients. As politically incorrect as it is to say, the joint just radiated white trashiness. Noticed lots of Americans there; I guess Fort Erie plays a better game of bingo than Buffalo! Still, it’s rather amusing, even fascinating, to observe the hard-core regular players go about their business. Their sitting area arrayed with armies of little funky-haired troll dolls and various other good luck charms, dabbing dozens of cards at lightning speeds, quietly mumbling to themselves, looks of fierce concentration in their eyes & faces… Kinda creepy, actually. And they get so emotional whenever a bingo is called out! Angry groans, mini temper tantrums, fits of the most profane cursing, vehemently throwing that game’s cards into the trash with disgust. Again, it all seemed a little over the top to me… However, to each his or her own, I suppose!

Today (Sunday, October 1st): Our day off, as I mentioned previously. I got up early (around 7:30) with Danny to go pick up the cargo van on site. Walking back from the vans afterwards, I was talking with Fahad and Michelle, who work the graveyard shift (midnight to 8:00 a.m.) They excitedly waved a pair of identical photographs in front of my face. They both got autographs from country music star LeAnn Rimes! Apparently her tour was returning from its Canadian leg, and they surveyed one of her equipment trucks. That must have been cool! And I think it was very kind and generous of Ms. Rimes to sign autographs, especially since her people were doing us the favour by taking the survey!

Well, that’s it from Fort Erie! Next stop: Sarnia, Ontario. Until then!