Day 43 Framstående Kull (Swedish)

Good morning, thanks to all of you who have sent messages over the weekend, it has been quiet here without Ness for the last week and your messages have made me smile.

Brad wants to know why it is harder to run a training session with smaller numbers, it is because you have to “Engage” them for longer Brad. With a big group of people you can “Connect” with them for a second or so every couple of minutes, and by connect I mean make eye contact or even just look in their direction, but with a smaller group you have to continually keep them part of the session and this makes it harder for the person that is running the course. Hope that makes sense.

Arama suggested that I write country music to keep me amused while Ness is away. Come up with the music to this Arama (To be sung with a country Twang)

            I’m all by myself up on Prominent Hill

            It’s easy to see how loneliness can kill

            The people out here just work eat then sleep

            The money is great and the beer is real cheap

            The rosters are long and fill the whole day

            You think of your family a long way away

            Its a great place to work if you set some goals

            But most people end up digging themself into holes

Chorus: The mining industry can earn you big bucks

            But being away sometimes really sucks

            The places I see constantly amaze me

            But I’d rather be at Saltbush sitting under a tree

            Only come and work here if you are single and free

            Otherwise you will never see your family

Man how depressing is that song! You wanted country music Arama.

My sister Georgia asked me what they do for single people up here on site, Well Georgy they have theme nights in the bar once a month, last week they had a big night for shave for a cure, they raised over $10,000..... The social club offered to donate $1000 if I shaved my head. They also have movie nights, pool competitions, pinball & video games, they have HL co ordinators (Health & Lifestyle) who run gym & aerobics classes, basketball & half court soccer games, swimming etc so there is plenty to do for the singles out here. Truth is though that a large percentage of them just work, eat, drink and then go to sleep!

I spoke to my son Brad yesterday, he has his motorbike license now and his bike is registered. Its funny to think that the kid that only a few years ago I was changing his nappies, is now legally riding a motorbike on the road!

I’ve been in email contact with my other sister in Qld, Lesley.... I can hear you all asking “How many sisters does he have?”......I have 4 and one brother. Lesley and her husband Andrew lost their house during the bushfires last year and decided to move up to Brisbane to live with their kids. She is really enjoying it up there and the kids are all settled into their new schools, Samantha is at Uni & Andrew works for Ramsay Health (Buy some shares in this company.....trust me!) so it is good to know that their decision to move has been the right one.... Good on you Creep!

I have a legal question for you. Some of you know that we have developed a training package, we have had an enquiry from a training company that wants to use our package as part of their training courses. How do we find out about licensing, how do we enforce it & what are the Pro’s & Con’s of such an arrangement? Any advice or information greatly appreciated.

Rob, how was your first day? Do all of your staff speak English? Whats your accommodation like?..... Rob is in Vietnam so if any of you venture over to that part of the world make sure you look him up.

Ok, enough waffle for today, only two more sleeps till I am out of here..... Woo Hoo

James

Day 42 Aggettivo Nose (Italian)

What a LONG weekend, most of the staff (managers and supervisors) fly out on weekends, so the only people here are the people are the “Workers” and as they work 12 hour shifts (6AM to 6PM.... or 6PM to 6AM) and as soon as most people finish work they eat & go to sleep  so there is not much activity around the camp on the weekend. Apart from the visitors yesterday it felt like I was the sole occupant of the camp..... a bit like Will Smith in that movie where the rest of the world disappears!

All I can say is come on Wednesday.... and hurry up Ness and get back here.

I stole some Jelly Beans today, they were left over from family day and they were in a basket in the training room that I was in, there were 30 or 40 little packets.... next to the biscuit tin so I assumed that they were there for the taking..... they were yum too.

To Brad & Heather, thanks for having Dan visit on the holidays, I miss him and it will be good for him to catch up with the cousins..... also good for me to know that he is up there with you guys, I get the feeling that he is missing me & Ness too so the break will be good for him.

I’m having an early night tonight, speak to you on Monday.

James

Day 41 Proéminent Colline

Good morning, weekend time so not as many of you read the blog. Hey today I was in the Mess having brekky and they started to put balloons & streamers out. I asked what was happening and they said today is “Family Day” where the company invites employees families on to the site to see what goes on. They can bring up to 3 members of their family on to the mine site for the day. That includes flights from Adelaide, they put on a great lunch & afternoon tea and allow families to see what their dad/mum/husband/wife does on site..... What a great idea!

My afternoon session only had 3 people in it! doesn’t make any difference to me if there are 3 or 300..... but it is harder to run a training session with only a small number!

Bon Voyage to Rob, he left today for Vietnam.... I sent you a text Rob but you must have boarded the plane. Travel safe and we will be over to visit you soon.

I have no news today, Ness has nearly completed everything she had to get done at home and will be back here next week, I’ve been at this site for long enough and am waiting to get back on the road with Ness.

Anyway speak to you all tomorrow.

James

Day 40 Prominent Hill Hill Hill

I might write a story, it would have to include characters and they would probably be based on people I know, when they read the story they would probably know that I was basing the character on them! How many of you would get upset if I based a character on you? Let me know.

Today I got to sleep in, well I didn’t have to start work until 1pm. But the problem with this is that the Mess is only open until 7am.... So my dilemma was.... Do I make the most of the late start and stay in bed.....And go hungry! (the Mess does not reopen until 4pm) or do I get up at 6, go have brekky & pack my lunch and then come back to my room (snooze if possible). What would you do? Food or sleep?

To my sister Heather, I was just kidding about you working in mining, you would take over the company within a week!

And to my other sister Georgia, hope Menindee stays afloat, I heard on the ABC that if all the water makes its way down there will be no Menindee left! hope your boat is ready? Get the kids to build an ark!

Hey remember the other week that Ness & I were in Mackay? It will probably be hit by a cyclone this weekend! Seems that whenever Ness & I visit a place, a natural disaster follows..... Mackay, Theodore, Menindee...... anyone want to invite us for a visit?

My brother in law Brad has been quiet, I guess he is feeling the pressure of trying to create “Blokes World” many family members (including his wife & brother in law) have protested at the stupidity of “Blokes World” and will boycott the place until you see sense and rename it something more befitting. I still strongly recommend “MANLAND”

Message for Karen & Campbell....not long till footy season, Hey Campbell..... on those freezing cold winters days when you can hardly feel your toes and you would kill for something warm & soothing...... I know where you can find hundreds of cans of soup & baked beans!!!!..... oh and by the way.... I would love to be watching all the movies & DVD’s that Ness does not like.... but guess where they are?...... Yep, in the caravan 650km away!!!

Heard about the car today, they have found the parts they need...... They are in Melbourne!!! Anyone feel like a quick drive to Pt Augusta to deliver a couple of hoses??? Ill pay for fuel..... But I need them tomorrow (have a sicky)..... No they say they should be here by Monday & the car will be fixed by Tuesday. Good cause Sandy & David will need it by Wednesday! (talk about cutting it fine)

What do you think about lady GA GA, seriously what is it with gullible people, bet they are all scientologists too! I better be careful, do you think Scientologists have web surfers that comb the web looking for people that criticize scientology. I reckon Senator Nick Zenophon is a dick..... but I hope he gets his bill through on Scientology. But wait... I want my free personality test first! (good luck with that one)

Anyone that has Matt Gay’s email address can you send him an email and tell him that he should be reading my Blog! He is intentionally boycotting it because Ness sends him a link every day..... Send him an email and tell him to read James’ blog (Tell him I am talking about him) Tell him I am also annoyed that he got to drive our new car before me..... That’s a bit like wearing a pair of my undies before I get to wear them!...... Not cool Matt! (also tell him I am just joking.... in case he takes it the wrong way) Ness keep sending him the link!

Does any one watch Soccer? I know my cousin Marc does..... But he is Scottish! I was flicking the channels today and soccer was on for a large part of the day. Got me wondering, How popular is this sport in Australia? Any soccer fans out there?

Goodbye – do any of you still use a “Pencil Case”? Ness & I both have pencil cases..... how many old fashioned things do you still use.... Let me know

Day 39 Prominent Hill

Once upon a time there was a...... Oh sorry, wrong story! Hi Bloggies, I’m still here! I am slowly going nuts but I am still in Prominent Hill, bet you cant find it on your Map! Cause it is not there. The postal address is Via Adelaide.

I had breakfast with the HR manager this morning, they are doing a recruitment drive soon, they need 70 operators! Things must be going ok if you can put on 70 new staff!

Heather I reckon you should get a job up here, 2 weeks on and one week off! You would love it! drive a truck or an excavator, put on a blue singlet & get a couple of tattoos you would fit right in! Actually I probably give some people the wrong impression of mine workers, many of them have ended up in mining after having done other things, and there are teachers, retail workers, hospitality staff..... Heaps of different careers all working in mining.

Some people have asked me what working in a mine means, ok you have to keep in mind that the main reason they are here is to get the precious stuff out of the ground! Gold, silver, lead, zinc, coal, manganese, diamonds, iron ore...... and sell it!

So firstly you have management that run the place, HR, Engineers, geologists, drillers, Blasters..... (Now there is a boys fantasy job.... working with explosives and blowing things up) Support staff, Transport. Secondly you have the site & support for the mine. This includes all accommodation (for remote sites) Housekeeping & catering..... just to give you an idea this site has a minimum of 450 people here at any one time, this increases to 650 during maintenance shutdowns when they have 200+ contractors on site...... so that means they have to feed, sleep & entertain 650 people..... you housekeeping people that have worked in fancy hotels have had it easy!

Thirdly you have maintenance, for the camp and for the mine site.... this is electricians, mechanics, welders, plumbers, air conditioning specialists.....there are a lot of air conditioners up here! And fourthly you have operators. So truck drivers (Big trucks, 300 – 400 tonnes) Dozers, Scrapers, Excavators, Loaders, Shovels, Draglines and many other pieces of machinery. In the last few years they have tried “Multi Skilling” where they train operators to use different pieces of equipment..... I personally disagree with this as not many people can become really good at different things (My personal opinion). And then there are the people that work with the stuff once it is out of the ground, the wash plants, process plants, concentrator’s crushers, and loaders.

So to answer the question, what do they do on a mine site...... Heaps! The good thing about this industry is that they do put a lot of time and effort into training, and most people could work here quite easily with the right training & attitude.

One of the highest paid jobs out here is the cook! They are not necessarily chefs, but they have to know how to feed lots of people with good food. I have known of some mine camps to go on strike because of poor quality food, or boring food. Hey Angie, you can cook for large numbers.... you want a job?

I got myself a fly net today, someone offered me one when I was whingeing about the flies. It looks stupid, wandering around with fly screen around my head but at least I am not being driven mad with flies!

Before we left on our trip we disconnected Foxtel, we decided that we would not be there for 4-6 months so no use paying for it, we also disconnected the home phone number. But up here on this site they have Foxtel in all the rooms (yes you get your own TV & airconditioner in your room) and I realise that I have missed it! especially the footy. In Melbourne we don’t get much Rugby League, on Foxtel I have watched all the games.

Hey Ness.... Can you arrange Foxtel in the caravan?

Ness is picking up Brad & Dan & going to Sandy & Davids for dinner tonight..... I feel a bit left out! Will have to go up the Mess & have dinner with some smelly miners!

Goodbye – pull your pants up often, nothing worse than seeing undies hanging out!