I don't know who the unit was, but there was some idjit on the teevee this morning spouting off about the Flumanachoo, yammering on about how we can't open up the economy right now because if we do we will have a second wave and chances are, if this second wave comes to Canada it will cause havoc the likes we haven't seen since the first havoc which is actually right here right now causing major inconveniences more that havoc.
Fair enough. Havoc.
His point was, as he stated, *this is not a sprint we're in, it's a marathon. Slow and steady wins the race.* When you think about it though, does slow and steady really win the race?
Taking the slow and steady approach in regard to the provincial and federal government buying ppe, gloves, masks, etc, really hasn't worked out that well. Considering all level of govdaddy are still begging for masks and gloves and what have you, slow and steady seems to be a losing proposition. Hurry the hell up and manufacture ppe seems like a smarter approach to this.
The slow and steady approach to closing off our border and not allowing diseased hordes of zombies through our gates was a pretty craptastic approach as well. Having tens of thousands of sick and ill seed our cities with disease seems, in retrospect, to be a sort of, kind of, well you know, a bad idea.
Having our Chief Health
Officer (she's not really a Chief, she's not even Indian) tell our country that flumanachoo was a very small threat to Canadian's, telling Canadian's that having foreigners self-isolate when coming to Canada wasn't necessary because there is no evidence it would help, and saying that closing the border was a bad idea, well, again, the slow and steady approach to crucial information wasn't very smart. Probably killed hundreds of people as well.
If we are indeed in a marathon and not a sprint, how is being slow and steady better than being fast and agile? The Mayor use to be a long and short distance runner about 300 years ago when he attended school. Never had he been in a race where slow and steady won. As a matter of fact, no one who has even been in a race, while being slow, won because they were steady.
When you hear how we need to be slow and steady, what you are really being told is, eat this delicious shit sandwich (there are, of course, reasons to be slow and steady. Like, when it comes to sex, slow and steady is probably good. Unless you're in a hurry, then all bets are off, you horny devil.)
Anyway, shit sandwich.
We work Sundays here. We're up north where oil used to be mined back when it was still worth something. Maybe some people do this still but the locals here in Ft Mac don't drive Lambos anymore and they're well hidden at the moment.
ReplyDeleteThe Tim's "coffee" outlet is on the way to where I work, in the morning there are about 4 cars in the drive through lineup, and at dinnertime there's typically 15. Perhaps people just want to get out and see if normal life has returned.
We go to the McDonalds in the AM for coffee on the way to work. It's less busy than Tim's and the coffee is decent, especially during March when it's all $1.00/any size. I haven't been to Tim's to sample their swill in a decade. It's tier 2.
One of the guys I work with wears a face mask made of washable cloth during the day for the first hour, then he'll take it off and say "the wife will never know" ...
I never wear a mask for breathing, I keep my distance and let's face reality here, I don't really like most people, maybe 10% of those I know are worth it, the rest should breathe deeply and embrace their kinfolk that have made the Chinese wealthy.
We have to write a safety awareness sheet everyday and keep it with us on our person, checking off the type of hazard we'll encounter, and circling the specificities listed, for example we'll check off drilling and circle "safety glasses" as if anyone would risk their eyesight for this job. I was threatened once with being "written up" by the safety manager on site because I'd written my safety sheet with a pencil, and then had the audacity to defend myself by stating our very beloved Constitution is signed in pencil and not pen. The safety officer took a photo of me with my personal number visible on my helmet. They don't care like I do. They take their job seriously, knowing that when we're injured they have extra paperwork to complete, and their Worker's Compensation rates go up up up with every sheet of paper signed.
So I started to add in the area reserved for "other" on the safety sheet, Beware of "Chinese lung rot" and "Peking pox" and "Kung Pow Fever"
It worked apparently, as Nobody ever stops me to demand to see my papers anymore.
The safety officer doesn't take this serious, not like I do.
His job is secure, his Quebec based company will surely win future contracts in Alberta with their performance at this site. The original budget was for $110 million, and local spending not this endeavor is now above $175 million, while not developing the 3rd floor, and completion is looking like 8 months overdue.
More money spent on the local economy, longer lasting employment for the locals.
ReplyDeleteWe talked this morning on level 3 in the mechanical room / boiler room for the first 2 hours about our sorry state. The boss is easily +300 lbs and we counted the 55 steps up and have come to the conclusion that even when his coffee tastes like shit he'll be unlikely to venture up the 55 steps to check out our performance. The mgmt bought steel supports for our pipes this past week, and it's all pre-drilled for bolts of 1/2 inch. Our bolts for this task are all 5/8 inch, and they all either need be re-drilled, or we can wait another week for the correct supports... Others had leaks today, the sprinkler fitters are good people, today's leak and shouting match is not an everyday event for them, everyone has leaks now and again, and the floors are dried from last week's tragic roof leaks which destroyed rooms below and set us back another 1-2 months. It's some kind of marathon, but not with real winners or those who finish first, only with those that last the full endeavor, and without having their Visa balance balloon to the price of a new car.
When this job wraps up, I'll return to Cowtown in the south, and there'll not likely be work, only employment insurance of $2200/month, and infections between humans are still being counted and our fellow worker's wives are still freaking out after having watched the local newscast on CTV or Global.
They're scared.
I'm not scared.
Sometimes when I shout at people at work, the veins in my throat pop out and are visible to bystanders, usually those being shouted at don't notice my veins pop pop as they're trying to decipher what I've said and polysyllabic isn't their forte.
A guy I've had multiple "run-ins" with at a couple of worksites with different companies was fired today. He'll collect E.I. for months. He ran for the Green Party back in the day and we have issues. I guess mgmt here had issues with him. My former foreman fired him too. He has difficulties. I can't help him, I tried.
I burst into tears at your heartful caring. You are a nice man. Spiritually, you have left a thoughtful note, maybe a pressed flower, in a cookbook you have placed in the lifeboat you know they will need. Such caring.
ReplyDeleteThe Mayor worked at Fort McMoney a few decades ago, before heading over to Slave Lake and working on the pipelines there. Fort McMoney has obviously changed a great deal since The Mayor worked there, even the name is different now - Fort Holyshit Weareintrouble.
ReplyDeleteMcDonald's has excellent coffee, unfortunately the dirty handed workers at mcpuke are not consistent, so you may get a good coffee today and a cup of crap the next. Timmy's is always consistent, and terribly so.
Wear a mask, Marc. Not because they are necessary, but because they look cool.