As of today I have less the two weeks remaining in this rotation up north. Because this rotation is the first full six week one since april. Between then and now I had a 4 week rotation and a 5 week one to fit in my three weeks of summer break. The pairing of shorter rotations with a longer break leaves me with a better perspective on the nature of the work rhythm. I have to say that from that sampling of different work cycles the 4 and 2 pattern is best for my sanity. However I have not been given that as long term choice nor have I yet attempted to demand that.
With a mind freshened by a long an satisfying break which marked the hight of my longest break i routine since landing up here May 26 2006, I feel it is time to go over just how time passes out here. Its tough to say if I should start my chronogy of my routine with the first week of my vacation or the first week of work. I will spilt the difference.
I have a two day commute to work. I make that commute northward once every two months. The first day of the commute is the hardest, it is that day that I have to leave behind what ever life I am leading at that moment and drag my self off to the Kelowna airport. That is the day where I occasionally flirt with the idea of not leaving my life behind for work. It is also the only day I that choice. That is a long day, usually a several hour drive from Nakusp to get me to town, the killing the day with some last minuet shopping. By the time I am at the airport I am tired, my meals were disjointed or poor, and I still have some time before my flight, which is usually at 8pm. Once I am on that plane I am set, there is no going back. I fly to Edmonton.
Edmonton, is the worst part of the trip, by the time I have my bags and find the shuttle bus I am happy to get into my room by 11:pm, and happy to be sleeping by 1am. The next day is a haze. I drag my self to the airport by way of the same shuttle and on autopilot to gate 49. Often stopping at the books store near the gate just in case I did not pick up enough books along the way. This flight takes me to Yellow Knife.
Once I am in YK, I am nearly at work, its a simple matter of finding my others of my cohort, and taking a cab to terminal for our chartered plane. Before lunch time that day I am back at work moved back into my room and wandering just what the fuck is going on.
The need to find out wtf is going on makes the first few days up here a string of Mondays. In this first week I am a mix of cheerful to be back with some people I call friends when they are not being in charge of me and irritation for being up here and leaving muck behind.
With in a day or two I am back in my core shack looking at rock, building up momentum, remembering the how to do my job and I will have caught up with the state of the program. So for the first week I get my footing.
The second week is easy, I will have regained my focus, what little my ADD addled brain has, and I will be in steady routine, rock in make notes rock out repeat. As week two draws to a close I start to see how long I will be away from my life and I start to become less happy.
Week three adds not only the element of how my thinking about how long I will be away form my life, but also I start thinking about how long I have already been away from it. This rotation week three saw the increase in distractions from my real work.
I am currently at the start of week four, with 13 days and some change still on the books, I start to look forward to leaving and things get a little easier. A little, for it is also at this time that the cost of the daily cycle of 10 hour work days non stop for weeks starts to catch up with me. I had planned to write this yesterday but I hit a wall, I had no brains left at the end of the day to write this with.
The trouble with being out here for six weeks is passing, a few nights short of sleep a long day, a day with too much labour and I find my self running dry. The last week to week and an half are a drain, I work because I have to, I am tired and have a harder and harder time putting full length productive days. It makes six weeks too long.
The last half week is spent coasting on the prospect of freedom and time off rather then any real energy. So by the time I am on my flight heading south to Calgary I can not help but sleep the whole flight. I spend the first few days of my break at once trying to catch up on my sleep and fighting the urge to be as busy as was at work. These goals are mutually exclusive. The result I wake up at 5am most days of my brake and talk my self back to sleep till 7am. Because I am still recovering my energy I take afternoon naps. Naturally by the time I have regained the ability to sleep in its time to go back to work.
Repeat as longs greed dominates over personal life and sanity.
