Alberta Finale

Three weeks total. Wasn’t the four minimum you were hoping for, but this has been great. The people here are ridiculously friendly, this tiny town is wonderfully quirky and for the most part, you always liked cooler weather.

Until you have to work outside in a foot of snow while another foot is accumulating beneath you, but not every day is Wednesday. 😂

This place actually reminds you of a cold South. Literally passing by General store just to get out of the house for a bit. 

Drumheller is about the size of Travelers Rest, SC, if it wasn’t close to Greenville. Big enough for an old school Walmart, but not enough for a Best Buy in retailspeak.

Thanks to a quirk in the schedule you have a day to rest before heading home, which has been great.

Difficult quantify how difficult the deployments have been because you’re just better conditioned than you were in 2022. But this one might have actually beaten Pennsylvania for the toughest gig you’ve had.

Working outside in the summer heat in Texas is rough whether you’re dealing with humid heat or desert heat. But freezing wind sucks the life out of you. Afternoons were better, but only when you started bringing a change of clothes since you sweated so much then the cold came right in and made a frozen shell around you otherwise.

The machines that you were fire-brigading were 50 pounds a piece and your squad moved 11,000 of them through freezing wind, terrible back pain, dangerous mud and a freak April blizzard. All to finish slightly ahead of schedule. Feels great; it really does. You went into the teeth of this place in literal subzero conditions and rocked the cas-bah so much the client asked yall to hit karaoke night with them. Roman Coles with one of your best bro coworkers was a great way to end the gig.

Wish you could be up here for months. Honestly, this place would be a great place to live. At the very least a summer home.

Even found a spot…

If you were to live up here, it’d be on a quirky place like Drumheller the dinosaur capital, and places like an actual saloon nearby for coal miners founded in 1913 lolz. 

But now, it’s time to head home.  Not sure what the immediate future holds, but that’s for next week to reveal.

Company branching into electrical; that might be worth getting into. Learning AI is a must either way. You will be carrying a torch soon enough.

It happens so fast. One song when you sit down in the plane. Cheesy, but you feel it in your veins. You’re going home. April in Charleston. The Sea calls. Gonna visit her tomorrow. Talk to Him. 

The future is up on the air in so many ways. This feeling though.☺️

You’re 49 now. But you’re still who you are and always were. Would be better if it was hymns that fired you up, but God can work with even Alestorm. Least until you grow up. 😂

Warmth. Life. Growth. Renewal. Confidence flooding your veins after kicking ass for two weeks.

First leg done. Chicago. So much more to come… ☺️

Holy City bound… 🕊️🙏💪

Badlands

Well, first week, short and sweet. Time to head back to the holy city. And then it’ll be back out here for the heavy work. Beautiful house; you hope you’ll be able to get the Airbnb here again. Just like the old Vrbo houses you got in Kentucky several years ago, but this one’s actually close enough stuff in this small town.

Even sounds like an industrial center. Most people are ridiculously friendly and kind; working with a really good crew as usual. Honestly, despite the cold you wish you could just stay up here continuous for a few months; until it gets warm and is the same as everywhere else.

Flame made you a hat. Works pretty darn well.

Naturally, you miss spring in Charleston, but it will be nice to get away and say something different for a change. You always enjoy working on your birthday. Tribute to that time He gave you that birthday card back in 2009 on your first day back at work after arrogance put you in the doldrums. 

Not gonna lie… you’re kind of shocked you haven’t thought about Crow constantly. I mean, yeah she’s three hours away, but you’re three hours away from Charlotte. Drumheller isn’t Edmonton. No place here will be where she kissed you in the snow. Seven years ago. Wow. Such a magical time. So much of your life was different then. In good ways and bad.

Similar weather, but this is the badlands, not the Prairie. The cash is colorful and you always loved the idea of dollars being coins. You could vacation here easily in happily. Snow is always amazing to visit. Not sure how you would deal with it being the usual.

The last two times you’ve flown have been disasters. A bit of trepidation about tomorrow, but you’ve flown so much in the last few years it was bound to happen at some point.

It’ll be warmer when you’re out here again. Hopefully won’t need to bring as many clothes. You’ll get to see Ted a little bit longer. Baby cat is hanging in there. Older and slower, but she still loves to cuddle. You’re glad mom and dad can watch her for you. Helps Mom get past the loss of Sam. Really hit her hard.

Not sure how long these deployments are gonna keep going on. End might be in sight, which means you’re gonna need to have a plan soon. You could get by entirely on the store, but that would be miserable. Your skill set is AI bait, so the next half of your life is going to be interesting no matter how you slice it. Work is looking at branching out into electrical set up. Being an electrician would be really useful, but you’re not sure you have the kind of patience needed at this point in your life. Would be a cool way to die though.🤔

Need to get to know how AI works. That’s gonna be the secret to a lot of doors opening that you don’t even know exist yet. And it’s gonna take a lot of time and patience. And learning online, which frankly you both despise and suck at.

Could always be worse. 

You’ll almost certainly be spending the night in Chicago because the plane is late.

Could still always be worse. 😂

Guidance.

What do You want? From me that is? Do You want me to totally just forgive everything from the past? That’s fine. I did that a long time ago. Of course it was different then. She was over there, and I was over here. If we’re gonna talk about that, then my baggage gets drawn out.

My baggage it gets put on her at that point – but unfairly. She just dumped me when we were kids. Oh boo-hoo. I’ve been through so much worse since then. It’s actually kind of funny. And she’s not responsible for a fact that I didn’t have kids. I can have kids until I’m 80 but I’m just not attracted to girls. I’m attracted to *women*.

What do You want? She can’t take care of herself. She just can’t. She doesn’t have a clue how to live by herself. How much things cost. She thinks I’m the most amazing man on earth and she is absolutely head over heels in love with me. She makes me feel amazing about myself instead of ever hurting me… but she can’t survive on her own. She hasn’t even started driving again. It’s not like she’s had a reason or her own car to do it but still…. 😔

Is this what I want? No, that isn’t the question anymore. That was the question for all of my life until last year. Is that what You want for me?

What do You want? I trust You. The woman You want for me is who I need to be with. And I’m not gonna lie, I’m kind of scared. I can take care of her; health issues and all… if that’s what You want. Is it? She agrees with me on anything I want. She does what I want. She trusts me. She loves me. Her mindset is what a man in the 50s would want, but despite the fact, Pleasantville was an amazing movie. I just don’t know that that’s me.

I always thought I needed someone who would clamp down on me when I needed it. i’ve always pushed her to be independent. I don’t want a woman who needs me, but one who wants me.

In time I think she will draw me closer to You. I hope so. Pray so.

I’m confused. I’m scared. But I think I’m finally wise enough to realize that who You want for me is who I need to want for me. You know why.

And that’s what I need to focus on. You. Not me.

You.

Not me.

You.

Please draw me closer to You in all things.

Please be with those Sacred to me. Especially tonight. I’m worried about them. Hope it’s nothing. Will never stop praying though. That love for them isn’t mine. It’s Yours. And it will never die.

Please guide me in Your will. Take care of all of those whom I have shared my life and time with.

Most of all though… please guide me.

Amen. 🙏 

One Down

Another coming up in a few weeks. South Texas has been nice; only part of the country was encased in ice the last few weeks from what it seems. Snow in Charleston for two years in a row. Wow. Gotta love the global warming. 😂

The easy flight canceled so they are routing you through… New Jersey. 🤷‍♂️ Better than the alternative but wow, yeah. Flame is snowed in in Columbia because South Carolinians don’t understand driving when snowflakes are in the air. You have enough experience driving in it to be alright, but it’s always better to let a Yankee do the driving through it if possible.

You didn’t get nearly as torn up as you were afraid you would, and 2 1/2 weeks with three weeks off will probably still put you into good condition for going to Drumheller next month.

Lots of paperwork because Alberta can’t secede fast enough, lolz. 😂 They just need be careful because the US Federal Government treats state admission like a roach motel. Try to leave and self-righteous Yankees burn down everything you have, say you deserved it, and one day act like they get to be “sanctuaries” for breaking your laws agreed to in good faith and *they* get to get away with it. Skip the hundred years of economic devastation. Meh. 

Europe has plenty of countries with only 4 to 5,000,000 people; no reason why this continent can’t other than good old Manifest Destiny. 

Meh. You’re trying to keep your opinions out of this stuff. Trying to watch the news less. Get angry less. Worry about this world less, when the next one is the one that matters. Tough though. So many people just need to be punched in the face repeatedly by reality. Sometimes you’re one of them, but *never* after a few of hardhat work. 😊

Finished reading Song of Songs w/Flame. The book of erotic love poetry most Baptists forget is in the Bible, lolz. She wants to read Romans next, which is a good one. One you’ve read before recently. Ought to be good.

Been advising the other guys about Alberta weather. The obvious elephant in the room is obvious. You think about Crow pretty often. Every Sunday for sure; praying for her. That she be drawn closer to God. Have a good week. Be well in all things. Be happy; just ‘always being in a state of okay’ was never good enough. 

Severing finally was sadly needed. Not just for Flame, but it seemed to get to the point where Crow just saw you negatively, and that meant you were adding negativity to her life. Was for the best. Won’t be able to avoid thinking of her in Drumheller anyway, but being with Flame and reading the Bible with her every night (even just on a screen) will definitely be good for you.

So many more thoughts on the issue, but now isn’t the time. The past is the past, and outside of the occasional irony like Flame, that’s where it stays. Her health seems to be doing better. Seems she’s working on making things to sell and enjoying it. Has talked about being interested in driving again. All three good signs that she wants to move forward. She really loves you. Being with the wrong person for so long is enervating. But that’s all you want to encourage thinking about re: that. Still having your own things there to get past too.

Journey today will be long, inefficient, but hopefully end safely and in the month of January with all three bags.

Spilled something on the carpet… 🤔