Meet Arggee.

I met a man here in The Pas by the name of Lyle. He's from BC as well. I noticed one day that he came back from getting a few groceries and included in the stack was about 10 cans of cat food. Of course I had to ask.

There was a pregnant mom cat that found her way to the locomotive shop. She gave birth to some kittens and Arggee was in the bunch. Argee grew into a tom and started spraying on everything and became unpopular with some of the guys and was booted around. Lyle took it upon himself to catch and neuter Argee. Since then he's been knowm as Lyle's cat and everyone leaves him alone. He has his own eating station, filled with water and several choices of cat food. Lyle really loves him and sort of talks to the cat like a certain mother of mine. That takes a certain amount of bravery with this crowd.

Lyle wss telling me that wasn't his first rescue. Just this past winter he was driving, early in the morning to get some coffee. On the way back on this 40 below winter morning, he looked in his rearview and saw a puppy chasing along behind him on the pavement. He parked at the bunkhouse which is only a few blocks from the coffee shop and the dog immediately went to him for comfort. He said that it was so cold he only kept two paws on the ground at once and was shaking like a leaf. Lyle took him in and kept him in his room and rode around with him in his work truck. He was starting to get attached to the dog and vice versa. He knew he couldn't take on an animal but as luck would have it, some other worker that Lyle became good friends with wanted a pup so the little guy found a good home with lots of land. Great stuff. Anyway, thats all for now! Enjoy Argee.

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Train time.

Finished rules class so I am now officially certified with the Hudson Bay Railroad. My first job is taking a train from the yard here in The Pas (train 291) to a place called Pukatawagan which is about a 10hr train ride to the north.

I did find a gym and have gone a couple times already. Great gym which is pictured above. Very few people use it so when we go, we have it all to ourselves. Two guys in my train class like working out and it's nice to have company.

That's basically it for now. Just wanted to show off my rules cards and gym pictures. Hoping for a more interesting post tomorrow when I go to the diesel shop with Lyle.

Bye for now :-)

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Almost a conductor

Today I received some shiney new gear for when I will be on the trains. In the picture you see switch keys, high visibility vest, safety glasses, a new lantern and a brand new radio. Along with the new boots and overalls I bought before I left, the old hats should have no problem picking the new guy out of a line up.

Classes have been going well. I haven't received less than 90% on any of our tests which are fairly easy considering they are open book. I should get 100% each time but that instructor makes a really tricky exam. He freely admits that one must be a skilled wordsmith to ace one of his exams.

Final exam is tomorrow and once passed, I will be CROR qualified with HBR, conversant in its special special insructions and general operating rules. Then it's time to take the real test - not screwing up. Of course it's bound to happen. The sooner I get it over with, the better. Excited about getting comfortable and out of probation :-)

I met a real character (one of many) who is from Liverpool. A self proclaimed "fat bastard" who made a very hilarious effort to bestow upon me the physical laws of "fat bastard dynamics 101" and how they prevent him from using tiny bathrooms in locomotives because, apparently there's not enough pork fat and shoe horns to accomodate his girth (his words). One of the funniest monolougs I've ever heard and coupled with a trainee vomiting he's laughing so hard (seriously, and there was no alcohol involed), one of the funniest moments of my life. If only I had it on video. It felt so good to be keeled over in uncontrollable laughter.

Aside from being asked (several times now) if I was vegetarian, things have been quite smooth. Look for another update tomorrow and bye for now. :-)

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new phone and more rules.

So today was much like yesterday. Did some more classroom work. We had our first test today and I got 95% on it which I am pretty happy with. Another test tomorrow so I'll be spending an hour or so preparing for that.

After school today I went to the MTS store and got a pre-paid cell phone. I am going to need one, much to my dismay. I was told by Telus that they had an agreement with MTS so a Telus customer could use MTS towers. So why no signal? Well, according to the MTS lady, the agreement was signed but has yet to be implimented. When? Well that depends.... She says maybe 2 days or maybe 2 months. Ok swell.

So I have a new phone. I will still use this one for internet stuff and calling on Skype (Bronwyn, get Skype, it's free!)

I am getting to know people more and more and they all seem like nice guys. People from everywhere. Liverpool, Portugal, Somalia, US and nearly every Province.

I keep meaning to mention the sunrise and set times. The sun is up at about 4:30 and sets at about 10:00pm! By the end of June, the sunset will be at 10:30 and when I get further north, there's only going to be about 3-4hrs of darkness each day! Neat.

Thats a picture of my new, pay-as-you-go $27 phone :-)

Bye for now.

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First day of rules class.

Today was the first day of rules class. Met more of the guys I'll be training with and everyone seems pretty normal, thank goodness.

Not much to report. My eyeballs rolled back into my head more than once, but I managed to stay awake for the whole day with the help of some fresh air every couple of hours or so.

So yesterday it was 25°C and today it's close to 0°C with flurries. Neat.

Everything is closed as it is Victoria day. I wanted to get some soup or wraps but I guess it's beans and srawberries again for me.

Saw an interesting warning today at the Super 8 where class was held. I find it amusing this was a problem big enough to order a sign for. See attached photo. Bye for now.

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Eating food in The Pas

Today I went looking for a grocery store. If you lookup grocery in Google Maps for The Pas, Extra Foods will pop up. It was only 650 meters from the bunk house so I started walking with the directions Google Maps gave me. I came to a bog at the end of a neighbourhood street.

I decided to start exploring the down-town portion of the Pas for some vegetarian options. I walked for about 25 mins and finally saw an Extra Foods.

I got a few things that make for a generally happy and somewhat healthy Nathan, but it got me thinking. In little towns like this, with out big "everything" supermarkets, it would be very difficult to eat vegan. The other "grocery" store was an elaborate convinience store that specialized in chips, pop, meat and dairy; it was an IGA. Oh well, before I head to Gillam, I will stock up on veggie soups and stews, beans, nuts and dried fruit.

Pictures! I cant figure out how to rotate pictures so just turn your head. Bye for now.

Part one: Bunk-housing and CROR.

Yesterday I left for Winnipeg Manitoba en route to The Pas, where I will be training as a train conductor for the Hudson Bay Railway.

I almost missed my flight, I got upgraded to a suite with a king sized bed at the Hilton in Winnipeg, got to use my TRX away from home for the first time and had a 10 hour bus ride on the bus with the smelliest bathroom of all time.

Finally in the bunk house at the Pas. Rules class starts Monday  morning so I have all day tomorrow to get refreshed and maybe find a phone that gets a Rogers signal.

First picture is the my room in the bunk house, second is the HBR office and 3rd is the outside of the bunk house (yes Mom, I checked for bed bugs).

Until next time!