Balancing A Life Of Two Extremes

There is nothing more satisfying than hopping in a cold refreshing lake, after planting in 17 cent slash in 32 degree weather with a perpetual slew of mosquitoes biting your every nook and cranny. I've attained this satisfaction recently at my new humblest of abodes, at the Purden Lake Resort campground an hour north of Prince George. Finally, the job is starting to feel a little more like a vacation. The scenery is mesmerising; be it the snowy rockies in the distance, or perhaps the leviathan trees - they all make life a little more negotiable. Alas, I also have the luxury of enjoying the simple primitive bliss of a cozy campfire, lightly serenaded by acoustic guitars and conversation. My tent also adds to the opulence - it took me hours to figure out the framework of the darn thing and pur it all together, but it was well worth the frustration and mosquito bites. Another new quirk of our camping lifestyle is being catered to. There's nothing like getting up at 5:30 in the morning, and ambling my way up to the cafe for a hot serving of eggs, bacon, hashbrowns and toast. The dinners have also been rather satisfactory - burgers and icecream, enchilladas and chocolate cake.. yummmmmy!

So why, you ask, could the so called "hardest job in Canada" sound so accomodatingly delicious? Well there's a price to pay for such hospitality. Let me give you all a little breakdown about this past shift: for the past four days we've had the questionable privilege of riding a beat up tank to work. They call it a "Haglin" - and it's a set of two boxes with treads on them, connected together. We all get stuffed into the back - all eleven of us - and sit on hard wooden seats. The first ride was "lots of fun!"... and "exciting" - I mean sure it was cool and all going over 45 degree slopes, up and down and up and down - over and over again, and having dogs fall all over you and your hips squished.. but the novelty quickly wore off. It has to be one of the most uncomfortable shaky rides I've ever experienced - an analogy I've coined to describe this madness goes a little something like this: it's like riding a moving see-saw.. with uncomfortable hard wooden seats. Just another experience to check off on my adventurous-vehicles-to-try list. Now wait, that's just the start of it. The land isn't that bad - 17 cent gullies with clay ground, and lots of slash - with the occasional flat patch. The real kicker is the heat. My god is it ever hot and dry. Yesterday it was 32 degrees! Poor Matt on our crew suffered from a mild form of heat stroke. I've been drinking over 8 litres of water every day now.. it's ridiculous.. even the bugs don't like it. But I digress, the hypocrite in me was begging for this weather only a few months ago.. guess I got what I wished for..

Anyway, life goes on - making money while living in camp is an enjoyable enough summer activity for me, and there's only a month and a little more than a half to go! August is going to be so relaxing. Well I should probably go purchase a sun hat so I don't fall prey to the ray - 'till next time then.

- Pajamas (yeah it's a strange nickname they call me, but I'm getting used to it)