More randomness from the North Sea

I was talking to a friend the other day and he told me that it was time now; he needs to find a wife, settle down, have kids, and basically get on with the next stage of his life. I was pleased, becuase it is great when people solidify a plan for their lives. I would not be surprised if this past weekend he was been putting into place steps to meet that goal.

(If the above slideshow takes forever to load, please tell me and I will remove it from my blog.)

Now, in the past I've thought that I'm ready for a major shift into the next stage or possibly more aptly, MY next stage, as each person will have their own personal stages,metrics and doors they need to pass through.

The question I find myself posing is: Can we actively choose to follow the path to the next stage, to transition, or will this just come about more as a culmination of the development of a person on a number of different levels/fronts?

I'd like to, as an independant person, believe that I have to some extent control over my direction. I'm not sure how I would feel if my direction is majorly directed through the choices and results of the past, so like a large rolling boulder the best that one can do is nudge it from side to side, little by little?

Now you may be wondering why I am getting all philosophical on the crew, and its really because recently, and in the foreseeable future I have a number of big decisions to make, which requires a solidification of my plans, and also the cementation of my values into actionable steps and tangible boundaries.

As I said in an impromptu speech back in school, "Which road is the one to success? I can't say for certain, but what I can say is that I'll see you when you get there."(ad libbed a bit because I dont remember my exact words). Young. Arrogant. Optomistic... Perhaps even wise? Time will tell.

Ramblings from the North Sea (click here to see photos)

Sitting on some rocks overlooking the North Sea, listening to the constant, yet irregular flurry of waves, and I think what would I have done without this experience, this change to outflow and think about life and the direction I am going.

This is helluva dramatic as images go, sitting on the edge of a fatally compelling stretch of water. Only the other day I heard on the news of a fishing trawler going missing with all crew.

Although my line of work is nowhere near as risky, it does make me wonder; did those men love what they did? Were they the lucky ones who do something they loved, and so were the so-envious exception to the rule - don't live to work, but work so that you can live...?

I'm in no way in a position to advise anyone on this as I am currently going through the internal debate myself as to what do I want to do with my life? There are, as I can see it, two possible solutions (NOT outcomes, as many different outcomes do not solve the quandry)

The first is the more risk adverse, obvious response, which is to find a job which suits your basic skillset, and that allows you to live. (Work to LIVE)

The second is much more difficult as it requires one to look deep inside oneself and try to come up with creative solutions to allow you to do what you are passionate about as a career. Already I hear groans from people as I say this, because people are sick of hearing this and are saying "there are not many positions as flying kites <<>>" (I'm on a beach, and there are kites about, cut me some slack with the images ;) Possibly the true solution to all of this is breaking down the specific elements that you enjoy, and then try to find careers that allows you to match those.

I'm not a career guidance person, no matter what I may profess after a beer or two, so don't ask me for a customised, detail 10 step program. This may go into a book one day, this may not, I just wanted to ramble a bit, get some thoughts down onto paper. Let me know what you think, any suggestions or comments are appreciated!

Och Aye Laddie

Yeah, havent posted properly for a while, and sorry this isnt gonna be a proper post either. Just wanted to update everyone to let you know that I am currently in bonnie Scotland. I am up north in Aberdeen for work till December, then I head down to South Africa. If you are in the UK - GET IN TOUCH WITH ME PLEASE!

Calgary - take 2

Well this past weekend I was back in Calgary, spending time with Jen, Adam and Henry. I arrived on Friday night, only to be greeted with a light SNOWFALL... Winter is well and truly here!! It was a very relaxing weekend overall, with only one real PARTY night where we went across to Jason (a work colleague in Calgary) and Natasha's place for a BBQ.I got to spend time with both Jen and Henry, which was really the main objective of going across, coz I'm likely not going to see them until next year now... I flew back to Winnipeg on Tuesday, and got straight back into the craziness that is my life.

Updates x 3

Ok so there were a few updates I posted today, apologies for posting them all at once, I had them queued for a few days, I just needed to press send!!

I'm in Calgary again this weekend, which is likely going to be my last break until December. Things are really starting to get tightly sprung in preparation for busy season and my trip to Scotland. I'll have to send out an email to everyone in the UK to try and find out where you are to see if I can coordinate meeting up with you while I am over there (bearing in mind that I will be based in Northern Scotland).

The Windy City

I've just been in Chicago for a couple of days for SAP training, which went really well. I only got told on Friday that it would be happening, so I booked my flights and got here on Monday. Its been really awful weather the entire time, but was still good to see another city. The people here seem really friendly and helpful, which I have to admit was a bit of a surprise. I had a good time and met up with a collegue from Calgary and we went for a few drinks on one of the nights. We headed down to the beach which was a little surreal as you are surrounded by skyscrapers, yet you are on a sandy beach with waves and all.



There was apparently a bit of a weather problem yesterday, so my flight was cancelled, and the airline I was booked on has a clause that they are not liable for anything if they cancel a flight. All of the hotels in Chicago were full, so I ended up going to hotel in a little hole of a town 50km away. I'm sitting in the airport again today and my flight has been delayed 3 times already, who knows if I will get back to Winnipeg today. Its very frustrating because if I knew then I would just head to the office and get some work done. There is a lot to do, and when people see how little I have gotten done this week there will be questions.

Update:
So I got back to Winnipeg on Wednesday night only to find that they lost my bag en route. Seems as though that entire trip was jst doomed from the get go... I got my bag back from the airline only on Thursday night, and I am flying to Calgary on Friday!!

Jen, Henry, Braaiing in Calgary :o)

Well after my Edmonton trip I headed down to Calgary. What a welcome relief. I hadn't been to Calgary since April when I went skiing in Banff! I was greeted at the airport by an excited and enthused Jen and Henry - and damn was it good to see some friends. The whole weekend was kind of planned and I was really looking forward to the break. That night (Friday) we went for dinner together and then picked up Adam, Jen's other half and we went down 17th Ave, which is the "happening" street. I guess we took the places to go out in Zim for granted coz although there were _plenty_ of bars etc on 17th, none had a decent vibe. We had a couple of drinks out and about and got home at a reasonable hour.

The next day we woke up reasonably early and headed down to a shop called SA Meat Shops. They import a lot of South African goods and make their own boerewors, dry wors, and biltong. We grabbed a whole bunch of provisions for that evening, including boerewors, lamb, sadza, rusks, biltong, dry wors, koeksusters and got some castle lager at a local liquor store. That evening Jen had her friend and her other half over for a braai. It was really really great to be eating like a zimbo and be surrounded by friends from back home. Just what a home-sick man needed!

On Sunday we pretty much just hung out, went to Church and I tried roller blading down by the river. It was rather scary at first, as it is a completely un-natural feelign to have wheels strapped to your feet. I had Henry and Adam supporting me for a lot of the time, and everyone had a good laugh at some of my first attempts, as it looked as though I was russian dancing, with my skates shooting back and forward as I tried to steady myself. By the end of the session I was basically able to steady myself without falling too much. Definitely want to give that a go again!

On Monday we headed up to Banff, which is just as beautiful in the summer as it was during the winter. We went to a lake and just had a picnic with a few people, took some pictures and waded around in the lake. Really good fun, got some great photos which I will try post here soon.

Leaving for my flight on Monday night was rather sad, becuase I had such a good weekend, it was a bit of a let down to know I was going back to my lonely little apartment back in Winnipeg. The consolation was that I was going to Calgary again in a couple of weeks (this coming weekend)!!

The City with the BIG mall

Well its been a little bit since I last updated this, and I've done a bit since. Last week but one I was in Edmonton for a few days for an audit. It was my first time across there, so I was quite eager to see what it was all about. I landed there only to be greeted with a rather dismal baggage collection area, undettered I headed downtown to my hotel. My hotel was downtown, and to my dismay after 5:45pm Edmonton downtown becomes Edmonton ghosttown. I spent a couple of days there and found a couple of places that were open.

On my last night there I headed down to West Edmonton Mall, which reputedly is the biggest mall in the world or something like that. Those who know me, know that I do not like shopping at all so I guess going there was a bit of a waste on me. It is massive and rather impressive overall (Indoor rollercoaster, wavepool and icehockey rink amongst others), but certainly not something that would bring me back to Edmonton as an attraction.

On my last day I headed down to the airport (boy is it far from Edmonon - about 50 minutes away, I think its over 40km away) and the departure lounge, thank goodness is much nicer than the arrivals. I then caught a quick flight down to Calgary (it was quicker in the air to Calgary than it was to drive from Edmonton to the airport, the flight is only 43 minutes).