Henderson outdoor pool.

We left home about 1100 this morning after a hearty breakfast.. (pancakes, eggs and bacon) The pool opened at 1200, so the plan was to have a walk around the lake. We only got as far as the park and the kids wanted to play. We went on the see-saw and the twirly thing, tried to do cartwheels and handstands against the tree. I don't think I am as agile as I used to be.. Once in the pool in was suncream on as the sun was scorching.. (factor fifty for me, so I only burnt a little bit.) The water was lovely and warm.. We spent ages jumping and diving in (it was smiles all around)..

Who Let the Cows Out?????

Guess who left the gate open and allowed his cattle to roam freely around the Albertan countryside...... What a dipstick I am..

Another accident by Calamity...

Lauren crashed off her bike the other day and this was the result... 4 stiches, (I suppose on the upside no broken arm...)

Extra money on a Saturday..

I went Hay Hauling yesterday. It was something brand new for me; working with a flat deck was nice in the summer sun, but I can imagine to be less desirable in the -30 winter. I'll stick with the cattle for the long term I think..

Getting there...

On Thursday all the kids had a day off school and we went down to the border, to hand in my old work permit and apply for my new one. After what seemed like ages trying to get into the States, we were eventually turned around with the proof we needed that we had left the country and we came back to the Canadian side ready to try our luck. The reason I say this is you are not supposed to exchange your permits this way as they say the border is not a processing office and they have more important things to deal with. So after a good bollocking and alot of puffing and sighing, he eventually changed the permit. (Now I can get paid from the start and I don't have to volunteer while I wait for my permit.) The kids got bored very easily and I think he might have took pity on us as they looked very fed up.
We had the permits in our hands at lunch time, so I rang my new boss up to find out what the next step was and he told me to come straight to the feed lot east of Iron Springs and load my first trailer full. I drove directly there and met him in the pouring rain. (When I say pouring it drenched me in two minutes flat) There was about five of our wagons loading and Jim had already loaded mine, so I stood and watched the other guys get their cows on and it was off to the plant to get rid of them. This was my second time this week driving with the Eaton fuller transmission, but this time I had someone to impress with my skills, as the boss wants to know that you are not going to kill his truck. Needless to say I didn't impress, but he did bare with me and by the end of the day I was able to get by without using the clutch and not too much grinding..
When we got to Brooks it was great to not turn right where the reefers go. The amount of time I have spent in this place, you would think I was part of the furniture. Waiting for trailers to be ready was my worse nightmare and to go straight on and wait 10 minutes before I unloaded was like a breath of fresh air. (Even though the reality was, it was not that fresh) Once I had backed on the chute the adrenalin started pumping as it was time to get in the trailer. Armed again with my trusty giant rattle, I opened the back door and they started to walk off. The size when you are stood up close is phenomenal and as they rumble past, I started to build up my courage. Once those on the back had come off, I ran up the ramp opened the door to the top deck, turned and legged it. (There wasn't actually any need for this as they didn't come straight away, but better safe than sorry) I think I thought I was the cow whisperer, as they didn't need any coxing off.
The emptying of the dog house is supposed to be the hardest of unloading but they came off just as easy..
The loading was, however a completely different thing. When you are taking animals off a trailer they are looking for an escape route out of their confinement, but when you are loading you are trying to coup them up so they don't want to go in. Again though, I must have been talking fluent moo, because they walked, just where they were supposed to go.. I think it will get harder in time, as I get animals that are a bit more problematic. But only time will tell..

Day one at new job...

Got up at 5 this morning to get to work for half past... The body is going to need a bit of training to start getting up at this time again. H&R was more of a "start at reasonable hour and work late sort of a job.." I'm sure I'll get used to it, but the wife might be a different matter.
I drove up to High River to pick up (skinnies), but they were 700 pounds themselves so not so small. Apparently (fats) are a lot easier to deal with, but I suppose that's only if they don't kill you first.
I stood back and watched the loading of the animals at first, learning how to prod them and where to stand, which was interesting.. Little did I know that after a 2 hour drive I would be getting in with them..(alone)
After the initial fear and armed with a giant rattle, I proceeded to lead them off.. More to follow..

The Soldier

One of my favorite poems:

If I should die, think only this of me:
That there's some corner of a foreign field
That is for ever England. There shall be
In that rich earth a richer dust concealed;
A dust whom England bore, shaped, made aware,
Gave, once, her flowers to love, her ways to roam,
A body of England's, breathing English air,
Washed by the rivers, blest by suns of home.

And think, this heart, all evil shed away,
A pulse in the eternal mind, no less
Gives somewhere back the thoughts by England given;
Her sights and sounds; dreams happy as her day;
And laughter, learnt of friends; and gentleness,
In hearts at peace, under an English heaven.

Working the system.

I think there is definitely a trick with H&R and you have to learn to work the system to suit yourself. Sometimes you have to be very underhand in your attempts to get home and get the miles in.. I would always arrive in Calgary with a load, after my dispatcher had gone home, and offer to bring a trailer down to Lethbridge for another lad so he would not have to come up, regardless of whether I had the hours to do it or not. That way there was never the opportunity for them to reset me in Calgary. If I brought a load that passed through Lethbridge to go to Calgary I would OFFER to drop it in the yard, have a quick 36 and go south for them again.. 99% of the time they would tell me to drop the trailer and be ready to go as soon as the hours were spent. The one thing I was never able to get on top of was the waiting at the meat plants for a trailer and when you don't have any other options, I don't think you ever will. If you have a family and you want to be home at the weekends, this is possible but you won't earn any money.. All the best work leaves on a Thursday/Friday for Monday delivery. If you start doing these runs you can normal get there and back in a week and earn the money. The trouble is then trying to get back on the road again with a job that allows you to keep this up consistently. You might leave on a Saturday the next week and before you know it the weeks are rolling and you have lost a weeks money..I don't think the Canadians are so bothered with constantly trying to get home. They seem to work for a bit and then have some time off. I was always trying to get a pattern in my work and this might be the European in me, struggling with the Canadian way.
I am moving to another company on a TWP to haul Cattle mainly down into Washington. This was my original plan many moons ago and the paperwork has finally come. I will update more but I have to get my trailer now..

Change of plan...

On Wednesday I submitted my resignation letter to H&R Transport. I will finish on May 28th. This means as a family we will have to retract our application for permanent residency on the PNP program.. I will keep you posted

100 Degrees

I just had to pinch myself.. I was moaning about the temperature to MYSELF.. I am officially sweating my tits off. Fancy complaining to yourself about the heat, when this time 3 months ago, I couldn't even feel my fingers and if you tried hard enough you could of snapped those tits clean off.
I have decided to embrace it. I am going to go and sprawl out on the grass and catch some sunburn instead, while I wait for the back load.

Truck Trouble..

Not a lot to really say about the truck, other than its on its last legs... I have coxed it around another trip to Wisconsin and its in dire need of some TLC. I'm hoping to get it into the shop tomorrow and hopefully it will be new again by next Monday....(when I come back to work)

Failing that I'll just take on another one.. Maybe that would be a better idea...

First Trip with a co-pilot....

I had a phone call last Friday asking me if I wouldn't mind taking a lad down to Waterloo IA with me, as it has been a while since he has driven down to the States, and his mind needed some refreshing. I agreed to this as obviously I am a nice guy and helping other people, adds value to my life (plus its more money per mile). I have to say though that I have enjoyed the trip; its not maybe something I could do every week, but now and again, I think its good to have someone with you. (Even if its only for some company)

Its quite weird trying to pass on information that you have only just learnt yourself, like your some kind of expert, but I played the know-it-all well and even convinced myself I was pretty good. We picked our trailer up on Saturday morning ran down to the Chicago area and we were back in Calgary on Tuesday night. We didn't really stop, apart from doing the pickups and deliveries, so I thought it was good going. I was planned with a job to go straight back down by myself, which I thought was going to be a quick turn around and go; but it seems I was not given all the information and I am now sat 200 kms from my house, resetting my hours, as they load my trailer. So close but yet so far.....

Sharing your space with someone else, is difficult. I don't think I was aware of how set in my ways I am. I said to the lad that he could smoke in the truck, as long as he opened the window, but immediately regretted that statement, 5 cigarettes later. I didn't say anything to him but he must have picked up on the vibe, as he started waiting until we had stopped to spark up. Everybody is different, I know, but when people don't do things the way I do them, it starts to get on my nerves. This sort of sounds like a "I know best" senario, but thats not what I mean. 'I' just thinks its the best way, but I am not always right. I work at a certain tempo when I am out of the truck and I don't like to waste time.. I am definately not suited to team driving, like I thought; but that being said, I would still like to take some of the guys out for their first trips.

Loading in Ventura.. California

I met a really interesting bloke, on this trip. He has been over in Canada for two years now with his wife and children. He originates from the old USSR and moved with his family when he was 12, to Israel. He was part of the Israeli Army in his younger years, then became a truck driver and on his spouses insistence, moved to Canada, for both a better life and if they can get citizenship, avoid sending their children to do national service when they come of age. He had plenty of stories to tell, which I listened to with avid interest, as my knowledge of Israel was very limited.

Not only did we unload in the same place, but we followed each other through LA to load together as well. While our trucks were being driven by the loaders, we borrowed a car and went down to the Marina and Surfers Knoll, to soak up the smell of the Pacific Ocean and watch the shark dodgers do their best..

The seal in the picture, must have lost his head escaping JAWS...

Running in Vegas..

I stopped in Las Vegas on the way down to California and went for a run on the strip.. Needless to say I was not counting on it being quite so long, but all the stops to take pictures helped me to catch my breath. The pictures don't even come close to doing it any justice, but it does show that I was there; you will have to take my word for the fact that I was actually running.

What a dump of Snow!!!

Alberta has just had a massive snow fall. Just when you thought it was all over; the winter just drags you back in. This time though the ground is warm and with the sudden rise in temperature today it is melting fast. Everybody sump pumps are filling up; and I can only thank good fortune for not building my house on the other side of the road. That side is open to a massive field and the water runs off it towards the houses, unfortunately putting them in harms way.

I will be going outside in a bit to dig the snow away from the walls of the house, so that as it melts it does not run down directly against the structure. ( The further away from the house the better).

Good news for work this week. I have a run down to San Diego. Ca. It is a bonded load, bound for Mexico, which will see me get a good two days driving in, right off the bat. With a bit of luck the reload will be for Alberta and that will bring me home next week as well. The last two weeks were not very good earners for me, so hopefully I can get a good few weeks consecutive earnings in and try and catch up.

I am looking forward to the kids having their summer holidays, as I am not seeing them a lot lately. Then it won't matter that I am having my days off in the week.

Its less than two months now until the first set of Grandparents turn up and just under three for the second set. We are all really looking forward to this; and what with the warm weather coming, I am predicting a really good summer....

Leaky Truck

I'm currently sat in a factory in Oregon waiting to unload in the morning, listening to the constant drops of water coming out of the roof of my truck into a strategically placed bucket. I hope the rain stops before I have to go to sleep, because the drip, drip, drip is already driving me potty. Here's hoping they bin this truck soon and give me another....

The morning after....the big break...

Happy face and stern face.. All the emotins in 3 quick photo's...

Jake's 9th and Lauren's fall.....

Today was a really long day. It started at about 0730, with Jake getting up and us all singing "Happy Birthday" to him and ended at 0030 with Lauren coming back from hospital with arm in a pot..

Jake received some nice presents off of everybody. He opened a couple of hockey sticks (one so Dad can play), a new net to score in, a SOCCER ball as he calls it, a new controller for his Xbox and a new game for it as well. Quite a good haul I think. He also had a couple of his mates around for a sleep over, and they brought a couple of gift cards, for the local game shop with them. (Both with a very generous $20 on each card.) His plan is to spend them on Saturday when, everybody comes to pick me up from work..

Jake and Lauren walked to school and I started to build the net, ready for when they got home. At about 1400 we received a phone call from school, asking us to come and get Lauren as she had fell and split her head open. Sarah went and got her and we all went to the Doctors for the first time in Canada. After a few lengthy minutes of filling in our details to the computer, she went inside and had her head glued together. When we got back we picked Jake up from school, went home and prepared the food for the BBQ we were going to have; and the kids went out to play.

After a couple of hours the kids were back inside and the steak was sizzling. Sarah asked Lauren what was wrong with her arm. She said she had hurt it, but didn't elaborate. She could move her fingers and had minimal movement at the wrist, so doctor Tom put it down to a bad sprain.. Sarah didn't believe my assessment and took her to the hospital where it turned out she had fractured both the Radius and the Ulna bones.. (This was done after we had had our dinner and Sarah got in trouble off the doctor, as she had let her have something to eat, when there was a possibility she would need to be put to sleep. So Sarah added that she had also let her have some sweets for being a good girl a couple of minutes earlier, which was met with more disapproval. What a bad mother she is!!!!) She was put to sleep, the bones were set and the cast was put on. (Seems I was not cut out for a Career in Medicine)

She is sat now, on the settee, enjoying her day off school and is fine. She just looks a bit beat up.

Coolies..

After a heavy night on the pop, we went for an investigative trek down into the coolies.. The plan was just to go down to the river, but we found a couple of parks for the kids to play in as well. It was a really good day out. It's great to have time off at the weekend, so that we can do stuff as a family. Days off in the week just involve sitting around normally as the kids are at school. Role on the summer, as it won't matter what day I get home as the kids are off for 12 weeks..

We parked the car just of the side of the Crowsnest trail and walked off towards the giant railway bridge that spans the coolies. On the way we came across a nature building which we are going to go back to, once we get rid of the dog. It looks like it will be good for the kids to learn about the local habitat. We walked along side the river, went under the bridge, to a spot were I could teach the kids the art of skimming stones.. They lost interest pretty quick and taught themselves the art of dropping boulders through the rapidly thawing river ice. The dog went ankle deep in the river, but soon got out once she felt the temperature.

We walked across to the park and the kids went up the climbing wall and played on the slide. After a good hour we walked back to the car and went off to find a restaurant for our dinner. This was courtesy of Grandad Wall and we gave the choice of venue to Jake. He chose Boston Pizza. He has been bobbing on about going there for the entire 6 months we have been here. It was nice and we stuffed ourselves silly.

I think the summer will be great, if today was anything to go by.. Especially with both sets of Grandparents coming.. Goodbye the snow and role on the heat.....