The Flags are at Half Mast.....

Wow. This is the most incredibly sad day, out of my nearly 17 years working at the Nova Chemicals Joffre Site. You see today, the unthinkable happened. There was a workplace accident at my plant this morning, and a person lost his life.


I am absolutely stunned. This is surreal. I am sitting at my desk (yes, I am blogging from work! and I don't really care who knows about it), and I must admit I am having a hard time focusing on my tasks at hand. This is the type of thing that I often read about in the papers... but it is NOT something that I ever would have imagined I'd encounter at my place of employment. Unbelievable. Wow.


I don't know all of the details of the incident, but what I do know for sure, is that my employer is hands down the most safety-conscious company you will ever find. The well-being of its employees and contractors alike is their top-shelf priority. This was a completely unexpected tragedy, and our amazing Emergency Response crew was phenomenal in how they handled the situation. Thank you to each and every one of them.


Today's events are devastating to all of us, and my heart goes out to the worker's loved ones. Sincerest condolences - your lives have changed forever and I am so very sorry for your loss.

Please, please, PLEASE, people.... Look out for yourselves and for those with whom you work every day. Everybody NEEDS to make it home safely at the end of a shift. And today that didn't happen. What an incredibly sad day.

Be safe my friends!

Birthday weekend!

Not my birthday, mind you. It was Chris's birthday on Saturday the 16th, and by all accounts, I'd say he had a good time....

So much for the shiny new 300XC!

Chris and some buddies went out west for the day, and his new toy made its inaugural ride... Of course the bike (and Chris!) came home a tad muddy, but hey.... he didn't buy it to look at it, right! Then on Sunday, we enjoyed the beauty spring temps out at his Mom and Dad's place.

Mmmmmm, cake!

The birthday boy!

This work week has been a long one for me, as Thursday I zipped to southern Texas for an organometallics conference (google that one!). I've been to Houston a few times already, so I didn't end up doing much sightseeing - it was all work and no play!

 

Interesting Texas landscape!

 

Check it out - an alkyls demonstration.

Don't try this at home friends!

 

My plant is taking a 10-day outage starting next Sunday, so the first part of May is going to be hectic to say the least. But the chaos will be tempered by a quick trip to the Shuswap and then.... Iceland! Did I mention that I am excited??! I love having things to look forward to! Life is good!

 

Cheers!

 

 

 

 

That's the spirit!

Wow! What an eventful 48 hours this past weekend was!

Canmore hosts a fantastic, 10-day long affair called "Uncorked", which is much too cool to try and describe here (google it!). On Friday, we attended the Whiskey and Spirits Tasting event, and long story short, for $40, a person can get right proper intoxicated! You can sample as many of the varieties of whiskey, scotch, vodka, rum, gin, as there is time for. Smart move on the organizers' part - the lights came on at 10pm and we were all encouraged to continue the evening elsewhere!

Following the night of spirits, we were still able to drag our carcasses out of bed at an impressively early hour and head to Sunshine. Where, unbeknownst to us, the "Thrill of the Hill" was taking place. Now, anything sponsored by Coors Light is just going to be a run-away, you've got to expect that. And it was!

 

Not a lot of skiing happened that day, but we met a ton of great people and thoroughly enjoyed soaking up the sun and fun!

Next up: Work, work, work.... I have a training course to go to in Houston this month, and my plant is taking a major outage next month. So the ol' nose will be to the grindstone until pretty much the end of May. But then.... Iceland! Yup, I booked it. Finally! I've been wanting to go there forever, so I figure there is no better time than the present, right??! I can't wait - it will be a much needed vacation, to an amazing chunk of the planet. So excited to explore more of this beautiful world!

Cheers!

Planes, trains, and yes... automobiles.....

Well that was quite the weekend! I unexpectedly had to work on Friday... and not a casual shift, either... we're talkin' I rolled home from the ol' salt plant at around 8pm.... Oy! Then on Saturday, I jetted out to Vancouver. One of Chris's youngest offspring moved out to 'Hollywood North', so he drove her and her belongings across a province and a half, spent just enough time there to unload her things, and then turned around and headed back. He picked me up at YVR, and I was able to help break up the monotony of the second half of the 27+ hour round trip for him.

Love plane rides! Although it was only
a one-drink-long flight....

I love the snow-covered mountains!

The big city!

Here she is.... What a beauty! Very creative as well.
She's going to do fantastic in Vancouver!

And the road trip begins.....



Controlled burn?

They're a happy bunch at the
Timmy's in Sicamous!

Of course we stopped at Shuswap Lake.

A mysterious-looking Three Valley Gap....

Approaching Roger's Pass.

I never get tired of driving
through the Rockies!



Seeing the mountains in the rear-view mirror
always makes me a little melancholy...

The drive was actually pretty fun - I love road trips! The scenery was stellar and the company was great. Turns out it was not a bad way to spend a couple of lovely spring days.

Kristen, if you are reading this, I wish you happiness and adventure in your new city. Your Dad is worried silly about you, but I know you can handle it, and I'm confident you will be successful and are going to completely rock it! Look out world! Woot!

Cheers!