T minus 2 days until.. ugh. 25

I hate starting out blog entries like this, but unfortunately life doesn't always give you pleasant things to talk about.

I just found out today that, Kelly Birch, an old coworker of mine from the Rafter Six Ranch died in a boating accident last week.

Way back in 2002 when I started at the ranch, Kelly and his commonlaw wife Donna, took me under their wing as they were newly arrived and so was I. They invited me over to their house for dinner and drinks, and got me away from the ranch when the drama that comes with living with most of your coworkers got to be too much. In the fall, when several coworkers and I decided to move out and into a place together, we selected a house just down from Kelly and Donna's and we all migrated in and out of each other's houses as if they weren't seperate residences.

Kelly loved to bug people, and I was a favorite target, not only because I was an almost constant fixture at the ranch, but because I refused to pay any attention when he instructed me not to date Donna's son, Jay. Of course, I did anyway, and it ended on sort of a down note, to which Kelly liked pointing out that he had told me all along not to go that route.

In the fall, when I left, I fell out of touch with them.

RIP Kelly.

On a brighter note, as I mentioned back on the 12th, I have someone new in my life. I haven't figured out a clever moniker for him yet, so we'll just settle with Mr. V for now.

Things are still going well. He bought a house the day before our first date, so this entire month has been a flurry of house related activity. Saturday, we took the afternoon almost completely off, and went out for dinner and a drive. We passed the Inland dealership, and he saw a new Dodge Challenger sitting there that he had to go check out quickly. Somehow I think one of their employees is going to get severely reprimanded today, since the car was completely unlocked, so he got to sit in it. Had we been less honest (and in possession of a car trailer), I might not be able to write this as I'd be on the lam with a really cool stolen set of wheels. Thank God for honesty.

Yesterday, his mom and his sister came over to prep and paint his walls, while we did yard work. We've decided that whoever owned his house prior to him must not have done proper yard work in at least the last decade. We managed to acrue an enormous pile of garbage from the house, garage and yard, and an even larger pile of wood that his neighbour has kindly offered to haul off and use in a massive bonfire. We were dirty, tired and cold but extremely pleased with ourselves, and hope that white shite stays away until next weekend so we continue on getting the yard up to par.

In any case, the house is a vast improvement to the handyman's special I first saw a few weeks ago, and the yard looks much better than the landing pad of broken gyprock, dead trees and broken down fences that it was, and with any luck, he should be able to take up residence in the next few weeks.

As for me, no word on the interview yet, which means I'm still not sleeping well. My entire life (and my family's lives) are all in limbo until we figure out what to do. If I don't get this job, then I can apply for school, dad needs to go find a local job (we can't afford to have him work in Tumbler any longer) and I can work for mom while she's out of commission the next 6 weeks following her surgery. If I do, then dad can take over for mom. I don't mind either of the options, since I'm feeling fairly optimistic about everything in my life right now, but I hate not knowing.

And yeah, I'll be 25 in 2 days. Bring on the walkers.

That White Shite

I woke up at 6 this morning, which prompted the cat to assume cuddling was on the agenda. By the time I had rolled her off of me, I was wide awake, so I rolled over and stared outside my window to see the bane of my existence covering the edges of my yard like crappy white lace.

Folks, it appears winter is here. The dreaded S word is all over my lawn despite my best efforts not to utter the word itself.

On a side note, I had my interview yesterday. It went well, and now I play the anxious waiting game -- quite likely why I only slept for 4 hours last night.

I'll be a quarter of a century old in a week, too. It's possible that's the cause of my insomnia, as well.

Life in a War Zone

The biggest local headline on October 14th:

RCMP say bomb placed along EnCana pipeline
JOSH WINGROVE
Globe and Mail Update

A hunter discovered a two-metre-wide crater underneath a British Columbia pipeline Sunday that RCMP believe was caused by a bomb.

The blast was discovered early Sunday morning under an EnCana sour gas pipeline in Northeastern B.C., east of Dawson Creek near the Alberta border, RCMP said yesterday. The blast damaged the pipeline, ripping insulation from the 30-centimetre pipe, but didn't rupture it. No gas leaked into the remote area.

The bomb was planted right in an area where the pipeline emerges from the ground at a 45-degree angle, RCMP Sergeant Tim Shields said. RCMP believe the suspected device was deliberately planted, meant to damage the pipeline.

The blast appears to have come just after a threatening note was delivered to a small town newspaper in Chetwynd, B.C., west of Dawson Creek. The letter, delivered Saturday, urged local energy companies to pack up and leave the area. Though the affected area was sparsely populated and the damage limited, RCMP are taking the explosion seriously.

"This is a very remote area. There are no people around. Having said that, it is still serious because of the type of gas in the pipe," Sgt. Shields said.

Police don't know who might have planted the device, but there is a "significant sentiment" opposing gas and oil developments among the long-tenured members of the rural community, Sgt. Shields said. Dawson Creek Mayor Calvin Kruk said he wasn't aware of any opposition in his community.

The hunter said he'd passed through the same area a day earlier, and there'd been no crater then, leading police to believe the blast happened late Saturday evening or early Sunday morning.

Several RCMP units are investigating, including the Integrated National Security Enforcement Team. They're appealing for any witnesses to come forward, and urging workers in the region's booming oil and gas sector to keep an eye out for potential saboteurs. RCMP investigators will continue to work to figure out what type of device was planted.

"All we have is the crater and we don't know what type of explosion caused it," Sgt. Shields said.

And then today...

RCMP probes second B.C. pipeline blast
THE CANADIAN PRESS

DAWSON CREEK, B.C. – RCMP are investigating a second explosion targeting a gas pipeline near Dawson Creek, on the B.C.-Alberta border.

The natural gas pipeline is owned by Encana (TSX: ECA).

"The explosion appears to be a deliberate act that left a crater in the ground under the pipeline which was damaged but did not rupture," Sgt. Tim Shields says in a statement.

"It appears the explosion was likely detonated some time overnight."

The blast site was discovered by pipeline workers at about 9 a.m. Thursday morning along the pipeline off Highway 2, about half a kilometre from the Alberta border.

RCMP say the incident seems to be related to one earlier this week when a sour gas pipeline owned by Encana was hit.

Another bomb exploded overnight last Saturday beside a sour gas line owned by EnCana, about 50 kilometres east of Dawson Creek, B.C.

The explosion left a small crater under the line but EnCana said the line didn't rupture and no gas was released.

No one has taken responsibility for the bombing, although the RCMP believe it may be related to a letter sent to local media outlets, which demanded oil and gas projects be shut down by Saturday.

"We will no longer negotiate with terrorists which you are as you keep endangering our families with crazy expansion of deadly gas wells in our home lands," said the anonymous letter, parts of which were published by the Dawson Creek Daily News.

Many critics of sour gas development fear the gas – which contains hydrogen sulphide and can be fatal if inhaled – poses a danger to people nearby.

Police are asking oil and gas workers in the area to remain extra vigilant and make note of anyone who seems suspicious.

I guess it's an understatement when I say that most people out in my area are feeling pretty unnerved about all the recent anti-oil and gas activity. Especially people who make their living off the plant they seem to be targetting. Being that my mom is their contract janitor and I'm currently in the running for Steeprock's administrative assistant position, we're both a little pissed off.

I love the fact that the anonymous letter writer refers to the oil and gas companies as 'terrorists' but has no qualms about setting explosives off aimed to rupture a sour gas pipeline that could either blow out a 20 sq km area (complete with all occupants -- man, bird or deer) or could cause deadly H2S releases into the atmosphere and all over the outlying community. What a brilliant way to object to something -- put all your neighbours' lives in jeopardy.

Then this morning when farmer Tom called and let us know about the second explosion (less than 10 km from our front doorstep) and subsequent evacuation alert it got even more personal.

If you are the illiterate moron who is so selfish enough to take the lives of all your neighbours, friends and community members (that is, if you're even a TOMSLAKE -- that's right, one word -- resident) into your hands and play God with them, then I pray that a local father of young children finds you before the authorities do.

I refuse to live in fear of you, but I also refuse to accept this without comment.

This is not the way to get what you want.

Back on the Horse

I met someone. I know it seems odd to have met someone when my tentative plan involves leaving Dawson for destinations unknown (again), but things usually happen this way.

In any case, it's going well, and I just wanted to briefly update since I haven't since the devastation of discovering Ryan and Scarlett tied the knot.

No word on the job yet, but keep those fingers crossed anyway. It appears I'll be staying here for awhile. It's generally handy to be able to afford things.

Saddest Day of my Life..

.. was September 29th. While I was off being a drunken moron at Randy's going away party my future ex husband went off and got hitched.



Seriously, saddest day of my life. Well, maybe. Or I could just be being overly dramatic again.

Still, though. Bastard.



PS. Happy Birthday, Daddy!