Retrospecticus, 2011

   Well here we are at the end of another year. For me 2011 flew by just as fast as any other year, and they seem to get faster as I get older. A lot has happened in my life this year, and honestly the majority of it hasn't been all that great, but I'm not going to write about that. There were plenty of great experiences this year, and the positive memories from those experiences far outweigh the bad ones.

   This is the time of year when most people will sum up the past year in list form. Everything from news stories to favorite songs are usually put out in a Top Ten list, so following that format I've decided to share my Top Ten Memories of 2011.

1. Mexico. From Feb. 25 to March 4th, my wife and I took our first ever trip to Mexico and stayed in a nice, all inclusive, beach front resort in the beautiful city of Puerto Vallarta. I could go on and on telling stories from that trip, but that would fill this page. Seeing humpback whales and exotic birds up close and steering a 47-foot sailboat by myself are definite highlights, but my wife and I also took in the local culture and didn't just stick to all the usual tourist traps. We also made some new friends that I hope to see again sometime soon. Overall, that whole week was the best week of the year.
2. Half My Life With My Wife. In August my wife and I celebrated 17 years as a couple, and we've been married for three of those years. I was 17 when we met and I'm 34 as I write this, so that means we've been together for half my life! I've got no problem being with her for the rest of my life, too! :)
3. A Day At Wild Play. On a nice day in July my wife and I got together with a bunch of our good friends and spent the afternoon going through Wild Play Amusement Park's "Monkido" course. The course is made up of different obstacles suspended from trees such as tight ropes, zip lines, rope climbing, and all kinds of other challenges. Everyone is rigged in for safety and just goes at their own pace. I have no fear of heights, so that was no issue for me, but some of those obstacles were still pretty tough. It was worth it though. All of us felt a hell of a sense of accomplishment when we got through it. Afterwards, all of us unwound near a historic lighthouse then went to our homes to freshen up and later reconvened at one friend's house for a few drinks. A perfect day.
4. My Turn on The Zone. This was just back in October when my favorite local radio station allowed regular listeners like myself to come in each day throughout the month to guest host our own one hour shows - playing our favorite songs, and chatting on air with the host. The real deal! I had a lot of fun during my turn, though when I listen to the playback I think I rambled a bit too much about my job during one segment. Nerves, I guess. Fortunately the host Pol helped me stay on track and I redeemed my cool factor by playing some great songs.
5. Jump Ship. The word "epic" gets tossed around a lot these days and doesn't always apply, but honestly epic is the best way to sum up that day. It started with gathering in Victoria's Inner Harbour with our friends to watch a bunch of BMX riders perform stunts on a barge tied up to the dock (thus the title Jump Ship), and the day just took off from there. After the event the lot of us wandered around downtown for a while, stopped for lunch, wandered some more, saw a bunch of naked cyclists, made our way to my home, then up to the lake nearby to meet another friend, then back to my home, then out for dinner, then finally out to another friend's house for drinks. Again, epic.
6. Sam Roberts. Now there`s a Canadian artist I`ve been wanting to see in concert for a while now and this year I finally had my chance. Mr. Roberts and his band rolled into town in October and played at the historic Royal Theatre and just the venue alone was worth the admission. What a beautiful building with great acoustics! The show went on for roughly two hours and everyone was moving. They played all of their well known hits and extended a few of them with nice little jams giving each musician a little solo here and there. I hate to say it, Sam, but I think your saxophone player stole the show a few times! I`d see them again if they come back to Victoria.
7. The Zone`s Toy Drive. I wrote about this event not too long ago. This was the second year I took part in the radio station`s Christmas Toy Drive and I`ll do it again next year too. It all goes to such a great cause and it makes me feel good to know I`ve done my small part to make some underprivileged children happy during the holidays.
8. My Birthday. As I mentioned above, I turned 34 this year, and this was the first time in many years that more than just one of my friends was able to make it to my birthday party. Thanks for coming out and making it a good one, guys. Just six more weeks until my 35th!
9. Building RMS Titanic (in 1/700 scale). I haven`t built a model ship since I was in my early teens, but in the summer of 2010 a good friend of mine, knowing my fondness of ships, gave me a plastic kit of the famous ocean liner saying it would look good in my den/office. It sat on my shelf until I finally had some time off last winter, then I went out to get some supplies and paint and had a go at building the kit. I started just before Christmas and finished this year just after my birthday in February. It does look good here in the den! I`m quite proud of how it turned out.
10.  Highest Roof In Town. The job site itself may have been a nightmare with so many other different trades around, and our task at hand was a daunting one to say the least, but there`s something to be said for having the privilege of seeing the city from a perspective that few people ever get to see it from. Although geographically there are higher points around Victoria, none offer the view you get from the roof of the 23-storey Orchard House building near Beacon Hill Park. When it wasn`t raining, it was downright beautiful up there and made up for all the job related crap we had to deal with. It also helped that a few of the guys I was working with are good friends of mine. If we didn`t have each other to vent to, we would have likely un-clipped our safety gear and taken a dive! (Okay kidding, but it was a rough job.) Thank goodness for good friends.

   So there you have it. Ten highlights from an otherwise not so great year. I`m looking forward to 2012, even if the Mayans are right and the world ends. I`m going to try to make the most of it, and you should too. Remember the people who are most important to you in your life and make time for them. Do things you wouldn`t normally do, but be safe about it. You want to make sure that if there is a 2013 you`re here to see it.

   Until next year, my friends.

The Wandering Oak

Night Owl On A Boom Lift

   Hi friends!

   It's been a very long time since I've had to work late shifts and it takes some getting used to, but I am adapting. At one point in my life I used to be quite the night owl, but in recent years I've settled nicely into a routine of being up at dawn, working all day, and having my evenings with my wife. Now I only get to see her briefly in the mornings before she goes to work. She's usually fast asleep by the time I get home around midnight.

   At first we were upset over this new arrangement, mainly because it was somewhat sprung on me by surprise, but we discussed it and came to the consensus that work is work. If we want to be able to buy a home this year it's better to be working than to be sitting at home idle and collecting E.I. And the schedule isn't that tough. My late shifts are from Tuesday to Friday. I'm home earlier on Saturdays, and I'm off Sundays and Mondays.

   There's perfectly logical reasoning behind our new schedule. It's much easier for us painters to do what we need to do when all the other trades have gone home for the night. We're applying some smelly products (don't worry I wear a respirator) and that requires some considerable preparation, not to mention drying time.

   My tasks have so far revolved around the preparation end of things: masking and hanging plastic and paper over things we don't want to get paint on, then tearing down the masking after the other guys have painted. It's not a glamour job, but it's not that bad either. I have less exposure to the paints and I get to drive around the place on cool machines like scissor lifts, articulated lifts, and the classic boom lift just like this model.

Courtesy Google Images.

   What I like about the company I work for is that they provide on the job training for operating these machines. Once I proved to them that I can run them competently and safely I've been pretty much left on my own to do whatever needs to be done.

   I admit, I'm not one of those guys who can whip these things around and drive them at high speeds. Most of the time I dial the machine down to turtle speed (yes, there's actually a picture of a turtle on the panel) and really only dial it up to rabbit speed when I've got a lot of open space. I don't like that jerky feeling of the boom swaying really fast. The slightest movement on the ground translates into a big movement 60 feet up. It's kind of like working on a diving board! (Don't worry, I wear a fall safety harness.)

   My brother, who is really scared of heights, told me there was no way he could do my job. To me it's no big deal as long as I feel comfortable that whatever I'm standing on is secure. I'm actually far more relaxed in the basket of one of those lifts than I am on a wobbly ladder. Trust me, people, you'll NEVER see me doing things like these guys:

*Note the Jorts!

   Well that's enough writing about work. It's time I get ready for work. Have a good day/evening/night!

The Wandering Oak

The Promised Update

*Portions of this post appeared as a note on my personal facebook page and will look familiar to any of my friends and family who may read it here. That note did not contain the photographs presented here.

Hey everyone,
It’s been a while since my last blog and I feel like we should catch up. How are you? That’s great, or that sucks, whichever may apply. Myself? I’ve been busy. I’ve been back at work for a few months now, and as the weather warms up our productivity also picks up.
In case you’re wondering what I’ve been doing lately the answer is a little bit of everything. The company I work for has been contracted to replace all of the caulking in every window, balcony/patio door, and flashing on two 20 year old condo buildings in Victoria’s James Bay area overlooking the harbor. The first building is 9 stories tall and the second is 11 stories tall.

These are the buildings we're currently working on.

We also have to patch and repair any defects in the concrete, and then paint said concrete. Yes, it’s a big job. Our crew and equipment have become part of the scenery for visiting cruise ship passengers and will likely be there all summer long.

We can actually see the cruise ships from the upper floors of the buildings. To me, that's one of the best parts of working on this project. That's the stern of the giant Mariner Of The Seas seen just to the right of center.

One of the new experiences I’ve had on this jobsite is working on a swing stage. If you don’t know what that is, the easiest way to explain it is that it’s just like those platforms window washers use. They ride up and down the sides of buildings on a pair of cables suspended from the roof.

Looking Up...Waaayy Up!

Looking down. That's another smaller one-man stage going up the wall at top left.

Needless to say, swing stage work is not for everybody. I’m fine with heights as long as I feel that what I’m standing on is secure, but I admit there is a bit of a learning curve and I did have some shaky legs for a while there. There’s a reason it’s called a swing stage – it’s always moving! Now I’ve got my “sea-legs”, but from time to time a certain co-worker of mine likes to just do things without warning me and it still catches me off guard. There’s nothing like that split second feeling like you’re going to do a face-plant into a bay window 70-90 feet off the ground!
You folks don’t have to worry too much about me though. I do wear a proper fall safety harness and am clipped on to a safety line at all times, even when I’m climbing out of the stage and onto a balcony. Yep, you read that right. I ride up the building on the stage then climb out and over the rails and hop into people’s balconies to do work.
Learning and adapting to all of these new skills has earned me a recent pay raise and some great comments from my supervisors and that makes me feel pretty darn good.

Outside of work there really isn't much to tell you about. My lovely wife and I spend our free time jogging, cycling, visiting bookstores, watching cruise ships, or just staying in and watching movies.

A few weekends ago, we also visited the Royal BC Museum to check out the “Treasures: The World’s Cultures from the British Museum” exhibit and it was really fascinating. The carpenters and painters really did a good job in making our museum look like the British Museum. The Egyptian and Roman artifacts were particular favorites of ours. Much of what we saw we were already familiar with from books and TV shows, but to see the real things were something else. They actually had a casting of the Rosetta Stone and a real 3000 year old mummy!

Well that’s it my friends, and family, and everyone else. I’m still alive and well and I’ve just been spending my days hanging off the sides of buildings. That’s about it. Thankfully I’m a gifted enough writer to make it all sound interesting.

Take care!

The Wandering Oak