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... ;-)