Xmas-Card Early

My brother phoned me up last Saturday and he says our Xmas card has arrived. We were thinking it would take at least 2 weeks to be delivered, hence we sent our card early this year. Look at it this way: this year we are on time and on target. Included is our moving notice, one stamp is cheaper than 2. Still Dutch, eh. Some of you who I gave a card last June will probably notice a different address. That is correct, we were given a wrong one. Even on our land title. Come to think of it, need to have that changed. We have had some 10 cm of snow today, winter has arrived. Last year too it started at the beginning of December and it became pretty cold. I like it. This in contrast with a couple of years ago when I declared someone nuts when going skiing or something like that. But then again who will emigrate at age 50? You've got to be a little nuts too!!

Some Rain..... Finally

At last there is a bit of moisture going into the ground. Last week we had snow and low temperatures, today the cold is gone and it started to rain just a little bit. We need a downpour but any amount is better then none. Overnight it will freeze up probably, so a hazardous slippery commute awaits us tomorrow morning. Not to worry, 4x4 will save us. And a visit to the car-wash is required every couple of days, the rural roads will be quite muddy again and our cars mud-brown. Next week the snow returns, the forecast is about 10 cm. Advantage is the bambii will be more visible in the white landscape and generally it will be much lighter as light will reflect of the snow. Which is also positive on winter grumpiness, the lack off that is.

Crossing Bambii....

This is what you can and will encounter on any morning commute to the office. Problem is you hardly see the bambii because ot their camouflage. And for some reason they always cross the road a couple of yards in front of you. Probably the headlights will trigger that. I had 5 of them crossing this morning, one of them slipped and fell on the icy roads and I only just could avoid a collision. Braking hardly has any effect other then slowing down just a bit and still being able to steer thanks to abs. The only option is to slow down and be very aware on a sudden movement in front of your car and on the shoulders of the road. There was one bull who probably was very interested in a female; he did not hear or see me coming and thus I scared him big time. Luckily for me, and him of course, he disappeared into the bush again. When on holiday in Denmark we noticed a traffic sign "Krysende Cyclister", "Crossing Bambii" would do nicely overhere.

This I do miss...

I really miss my daily commute by bike, just about 20-30 km, with my Storck Multitask. It has been over a year since my last one and up until now I have not been able to incorporate this bike ride into my daily routine, and that sucks. Now winter is approaching. Should I give it a shot with minus 20? If you don't try you will never know. Once, just after Christmas 2005, I did a multiday trip around the IJsselmeer in temperatures of minus 10-15. That was reasonably doable, except for my feet. I had the wrong summer (!!!) shoes, the ones with the small vent-holes. Perfect for summer conditions, in winter a big pain in the butt. I had to walk every 10 km or so to get the blood flowing again, but I succeeded. The last day all the way from Enkhuizen to Maarn, some 125 km. I was pretty happy with me and myself. I have got to find a way to incorporate cycling again. Roads here in Canada are quite boring, straight lines and 90 degree turns to yet another straight line. One possible solution is to take my bike to the river area in downtown Edmonton. Daily? Not going to happen. Somehow I will find a solution, there always is.

Power Tool Battery

This afternoon Johan and I wanted to mount some curtain railing. We have only framed drywall, so that should be easy to drill a hole in. Not true. Every time I need to use my cordless power drill tool the friking battery is empty. So we have to wait, again, until it is charged. And here in Canada it takes twice the time, as we only have 110 volt. Advantage being I can share the wait-for-the-power-tool-battery-charging misery. I'm too cheap to buy a second one, it will be empty too no doubt. Thats one advantage of ageing, you get to know oneself. And by the way Canadians are even more cheap asses as the Dutch, no matter how much money is involved they will search the net/shops for an even better deal. If unsuccessful and outside the limits, the buy is or off or very reluctantly, with a lot ifs and buts, done. Moaning and groaning over a couple of bucks, life is too short boys. Get it over with. Still the battery is not charged, and the wrath of my spouse awaits me. :-)

The Wall

I was listening to Pink Floyd's The Wall this afternoon, and I have to admit; it is a scheit album except for 3 tunes: Comfortably Numb, Run Like Hell and Another Brick in the Wall, a total waiste of money. I could not resist thinking "Thank God, Waters is no longer part of PF", lets keep it that way.

Overnight white

When we woke up this morning all was white, the Weather Network had announced 1 cm of snow. It was a bit more, closer to 5. I think it won't last the day, on the other hand you never know in Edmonton. Maybe winter is here. Last week in Jasper 50 cm of snow also overnight. This is a nice golfers quote "For every day now without snow, winter is one day shorter." and that counts here in Edmonton. Click on the picture for more, if you like. Vosje likes the snow, he runs arround like crazy, burrying his nose in the snow. Its a joy to watch that dog being happy.

Rush drummer hits on hockey

National news in Canada! Rush drummer Neil Peart will record a special rendition of The Hockey Theme. Despite his not so cheerful looks, he can play the drums like no other. Actually I cannot think of a rock drummer who can outperform him. No, there is no one. He is in a league of his own, untouchable. And even better, rumour has it Rush will be recording and/or touring (playing rare and B-side songs only) again in the near future. Life is beautiful.

52 reasons to love Edmonton

Here are 52 good reasons to love Edmonton, according to the Edmonton Journal that is. No deep thoughts, just click away to discover Edmonton via the web.

What is going on?

Today we had a meeting on the bids we sent out. Bottom line is we need to sent out more bids in less time. Basically we now have 3 offices, Edmonton, Surrey (Vancouver) and Parksville (Vancouver Island). All those offices will take a look a the same bid and categorize it, and there needs to be consensus. We can do that, no problem, also in a shorter time frame. After the meeting I asked one of the Parksville guys to take a look at my bid (see previous post), which had to be revised regarding an addenda. He came up with the same amount of hours we have. So we are bang on. So far so good. In order to get this job I suggested a price drop below $400000. No we are not going to lower it cause Waiward is telling us "the lid is going off, probably shortly", again. So what is going on, are we again going industrial only or are we to travel a multilane road, where we also go for the commercial jobs. The latter I prefer, its also technically more challenging, but the industrial generates the dollars. We should go for a balanced mix, 70-30 I would say.

Drafting #1

Drafting is completely different organized here in Canada. Responsibilities are spread out, nothing like I used to do, from quote to final product with all steps in between. Also including connection design and calculations, that part I loathed, like in really hated it, it's just not my cup of tea. Here all is done by a bunch of different people. Below is the overall scheme of things:
1. Customer drawings are issued for IFC.
2. Connection design is started, internal or external, for every node.
3. At the same time modelling for the ABM is done.
4. The model is checked and the ABM is issued.
5. Connections are incorporated.
6. Drawings are run and edited, welds are a major concern.
7. Drawings and model are checked and backfixed if required.
8. Dwg's are sent for shop drawing review, by connection engineer.
9. Dwg's are sent to DC for IFA by client engineer.
10. Dwg's are returned from approval, RFA, with or without comments.
11. They need to be fixed and sent to DC for IFS including cam-data.
12. The client will receive a copy of the fixed drawings only, for their records.
Even for a small model 3 or 4 people are working on the same (multiuser) model, which is not efficient at all. For a great deal it's about keeping everybody busy, and for the oil sands projects invoicing is based on unit pricing, which is a good deal. Therefor it is easy to sub projects or parts of it. All listed items have a date assigned and need to be kept on track by the PC.
All industrial and commercial projects are split into divisions (teilsystemen), anything between 30 and 80 tons, are shipped to a module yard somewhere in Edmonton where they are assembled into, lets say, big LEGO chunks. This complete module is then shipped to site, most likely Fort Mac Murray, some 450 km north of Edmonton. Any steel connecting these modules is in a separate division and is called stick-build. In fact any division that is not a module is called stick-build, i.e. erected on site. The above requirements, module- or stickbuildsteel, painted or not, galvanized and so on, is reflected in the piece-mark.
And all of our drafting is done with 144 Tekla licences. 144? Yes, the company M&D acquired also runs a night shift with 28 licences. Like they said today: "We will have to feed a big mouth!" Everybody is very confident projects will break in the near future, and M&D is ready to take them on. Management had announced this throughout 2009, but so quick and swift I could not have guessed. So different! And I enjoy it greatly.

Restarting growth in the oilsands

This time no rumours but facts. Suncor has dusted off their Firebag 3 and 4 projects and brings them back to life again, hence the title. Even the Voyageur Upgrader project is kind of starting to come off the shelf. See this article from the Edmonton Journal. Just the other day we were talking on the cost impact of steelstructures on these projects, they are peanuts compared to piping and electrical. But still, for us as a drafting company (112 Tekla licences) the impact is huge and gets us all very busy. At least that's what I am assuming; we already did 60-70% of those and all is inter connected. Hopefully our preferred supplier contract will be reinstated also. Then Xmas will be a good one, instead of all the doom and gloom from last year. But then again, situations like those add up to your experience and makes you versatile in coping with complex difficult situations. Especially when starting a new job in a new country in a new language on your own. Fuck actually I did great, if I may say so myself. And I have to pay tribute to our management who kept, and still is keeping, us all aboard. And rumour has it Fort MacMurray will be shy of 55.000 workers next year. By the looks of all this we will be getting busy again next year, as '09 is almost gone.

Did You Know This About Leather Dresses?

Do you know that when a woman wears a leather dress, a man's heart beats quicker, his throat gets dry, he gets weak in the knees, and he begins to think irrationally???

 Ever wonder why?

Smart car...

This morning I had a meeting at Waiward Steelfabricators and I parked my truck next to a Smart, I could not resist taking a picture. It turned out to be the car from the CEO of Waiward, my truck fills up the lot whilst the Smart is only halfway. The man is loaded but he drives a Smart, fits his personality I'm told. Actually I can appreciate that, and the man is a character. Picture him in an expensive, probably taylor made, suit and tie wearing barefooted sandals accompanied by a shiny leather shoulder bag. Indeed it fits him. I'm also told an oil change for a Smart, here in Canada, sets you back $760, for a German engineered car. Big oops. For my truck its only $90 every 8000 km.

112 Licences....

Today M&D Drafting expanded to 112 Tekla licences by acquiring DDDS. Management says "Now we are ready for the big big jobs". And I like that very very much, opportunities keep popping up. Me lika the big stuff. Sometimes I wonder where I/we had been if we did not make this move. Somewhere interesting too, I believe, with other great opportunities and possibilities. Probably not in Holland, we will never know, but then again I could have finished the HU and could have been a Bachelor of ICT. That would have been nice too, certainly opportunity-wise. One really nice thing here in Canada, age does NOT count, experience on the other hand does, Big Time.

700 million

Publication on www.nu.nl - 700 million people want to emigrate.

Confucius says...

If you can't find the book you want,

you're probably shopping at the....