Bon Iver - "Calgary"

I couldn't sleep. So naturally I read, played Tiny Wings (another addictive bird game app), and checked my Facebook. Thanks to Rachel's hype, she shared Bon Iver's new single "Calgary" with me from their soon to be released second album, self-entitled Bon Iver. Should be a sweet record!

So... ya, want a free song?

8 Crazy Nights

(Dan wouldn't get out of the loader to let me plank in it.
Chuck however finished the job. Look down below!)

We're done. It's finished. C'est fini! ... For us at least. After 4 days of mosquito extinguishing and 8 straight overnight shifts of filling sandbags, WE ARE FREE. It feels good to have a life again. Throughout this period I've felt like I was in a different dimension, a limbo - if you will. Sleeping from 6am-4pm, then resting indoors before going back to work at 8pm (seeing no one during the day). What a sad work schedule. The beginning was miserable; I was pissed off after the second night. Though I finally adjusted a few nights ago so the last few nights were a breeze. Now I have to transition back... wooo (slightly positive sarcasm)!

Here are the things that got us through those 8 straight days of purgatory:

- Throwing objects at people and trying to keep a straight face afterwards. These objects included zip ties, bags, and pebbles.

- Trying to attach zip tie chains to people's clothing without them noticing.

- Collecting the free earplugs and protection glasses that they gave out every night.

- 20 questions! (Which ended up being however many it took to get the answer.)

- Our lunch table community in the conference room. Great people, great laughs. (We performed a group plank our last break. More on that below.)

- Respecting Cory, one of the awesome foremans at our machine who would always let us know when we had to get back to work. (When I planked the sandbagging shoot, he saw and said that he had heard about this planking thing. Cory would know about it.)

- Being awake to see the sunset and sunrise every night/morning. (Driving home would be blinding.)

- Harry Potter audiobooks (for Malech).

- Our "lunch" break runs to McDonald's.

- Routine.
--> For example, the first four hours consisted of 20 questions, which made it fly by. The "afternoon" (for myself) consisted of alternating Apple and Shure earbuds with earmuffs and earplugs, listening to podcasts or music.
--> Also, we would rotate to the next position after every load, switching things up so that we would never get (too) bored. (There was apparently one girl at a table who stood at the shoot, filling the sandbag every night for the full 10 hours! That's 80 hours doing that ONE THING. Unreal!)

- Our 80 year old, Moses looking, front-end loader driver. Pretty sure he was hot-boxing that thing in between loads...

- Blasting Europe's "The Final Countdown" in the last hour of the operation.

- Darcy's car. That Honda S2000 made my first ever plank very special.

- And of course planking itself:

As our final break prank, we all hid from our usual conference room and placed clues for Cory to find and follow. These clues were two drawn arrows on paper. One on the podium we placed in front of the door and the second in the hallway pointing toward where we would be... planking on the floor. Disappointingly, another foreman was the one who came to get us. But the mission was accomplished; he was very confused. Pictures to come.

To celebrate the closure of our operation, most of our community lunch table went out for breakfast at the Salisbury House. Half of us will now go our separate ways as the others our now based at a different yard. However, our sandbagging bond will never be forgotten.

~~~

Now it's back to killing mosquitoes...

Plank Fever

My first ever plank.

Planking is unreal. It's simple and pretty stupid looking... but it is hilarious! It involves face-down rigidity and obscure locations. So much fun. It got us through night 6 of sandbagging EASILY! ... 20 questions is also a big hit. Two more nights and then we're DONE for good.

Happy planking everybody!

p.s. This is like the opposite of people-watching. You act, and other people watch in bewilderment.

Transferred

We've been transferred on a state of emergency basis to make sandbags for the province. This means night shifts... dun dun dun (or however that dramatic sound effect goes).

I feel like a zombie waiting to go back for another painful session of mindless assembly. Sandbagging takes its toll and it's worse when it's all night long and you're just filling the bags. I'm sure there are 100 people that can attest to that at our current branch. Tough stuff (especially mentally), I ain't gonna lie. It did help having good friends stand beside you and make you laugh hysterically though. I am definitely thankful for that. Anyways, I'm not going to go on about what kind of work it is because it's simple, so here's a brief summary: There are two massive machines that distribute the sand to multiple groups who assemble the bags and toss 'em in a front-end loader. This goes on for 10 hours. Yes, it is boring. So to keep sane we obviously kept ourselves entertained throughout the shift. Here are a few of the things we ended up doing:

1. We laughed at how it felt like a prison. Herding in after break, getting a less than five minute break in between loads, being in a rundown warehouse. Maybe it was more like a drug operation... everywhere you looked you saw bundles of white bags! Actually, midway through (and this was my favourite quote of the night), Dan made a comparison: "This is purgatory."

2. We laughed for no reason.

3. We played that ammo, gun, shield/block (rock paper scissors elaboration) game that apparently nobody knew about. It must be an Ontario thing...

4. We had a "Lunch break" (12:35am) McDonald's run.

5. We tried to throw the little pebbles from the sand into Ryan's back pockets... He still might not know that that was Chuck, Jess, and I. Jess actually placed zip ties in them too.

6. We talked about our childhood... you know, anything that would pass
10 FLIPPIN' HOURS BY!

Alright, so we survived one shift but it looks like this might go on for a full week! Unreal. It may sound like I'm complaining (which I blatantly am), but it actually feels good to know that we are saving many homes and properties in rural Manitoba by lending a helping hand. Apparently the Assiniboine River has not been at these levels in 300 YEARS. The province/country helped us in '97 and now it is our turn to help the province. Thank God for altruism.

Before I end this drawn out post I'll leave you with another Life Lesson from my cousin Charles, regarding the reflective decision to remove his gloves for tying the bags with zip ties...

Life Lesson: Nimble work calls for nimble fingers.

Now it's time for round 2.
Peace



(We always secretly hope that the machine breaks down...)

Made The News

As mentioned on my previous post, I was filmed sitting on the back of a truck spraying larvicide into a ditch by multiple news crews. However, I did not pvr any of these channels to see how good of a job I had done. Thanks to my friend Jill, who hunted online for it (not too long, I hope), you can see the footage HERE! You'll see my "old veteran pro" form at about the 1:42 mark in the video. Check it out!

Thanks once again Jill! Your research has earned you a well-deserved shout-out.
Check out her sweet blog: HERE IT IS.

Sprayin' A Ditch

Well, I just finished my first week of work! Hopefully all weeks fly by like this. It is a laid-back person's dream job *as I point to myself* (meaning that it's not stressful at all...). I've decided to be pretty vague with certain things about it to cover my tracks, just in case. Therefore, I will only speak of more personal stories and not of those of my fellow co-workers that I know will be hilarious. So I apologize in advance for not delivering the full details in the subsequent posts pertaining to my job!

Deal? ... Deal.

Oh, and if you don't know what my job is... my official title would probably be an Insect Control Operator. Anyways, I have two quick stories to tell you from the last couple days.

First, as I was callin' in our listing information at the end of the day yesterday, someone forgot to turn off their CB radio. Constant (somewhat elicit) chatter from our co-workers and Power 97 was the funny result, which blasted throughout everyone's radios including the loud speaker at the main yard. It went on for 20 minutes! And nobody could call in their listings during that time of course. Unreal.

Secondly, as my driver and I were out near the floodway in the middle of a listing, we got radioed back to the yard by one of our foremans. She sounded very stern so that caused us to worry and re-think what we had done in the day. We couldn't think of anything that we didn't do right! We got back to the yard and found out that we were the two chosen to perform a demonstration for the news crews that were there for a press conference! We were relieved and gladly agreed to show the cameras our skills (... there's no skill involved). So you might see me on the local news sittin' on the back of a truck (in my safety gear) sprayin' a ditch tonight!

Have a good weekend!

Tamer Animals

... is a new group I discovered today. Check out their (chill) new album down below. It hits shelves on May 10th!



p.s. Simple Math also hits the shelves May 10th. I'm pumped.
Take a listen to the album heeeeere!

"Simple Math" Album Premiere by Manchester Orchestra

p.p.s. Charles introduced me to the group Matthew & The Atlas today. I forget his stellar description of them, but his synopsis involved a mixture of Mumford & Sons and another great artist. Look 'em UP.