Saturday, February 8, 2014

08 Feb 2014

Last night I saw the Aurora Borealis for the first time in my life. It was really quite exciting. At first I thought it was just clouds reflecting the lights from the drillers and paid no attention to it, but after about 15 minutes I realized they were sure moving around quickly.. then I looked up and watched and realized what it was. It wasn't what I expected. The lights were a very pale white and shimmered and danced all over the night sky. It made me very happy. I actually did a happy dance to celebrate. Nobody could see me luckily. They lasted from about 2:30 am until maybe 4 am. I couldn't find them afterward.

Last night was also incredibly cold. The coldest temperature I've ever experienced in my life. It was -34 C (this is maybe -25 F). It was so cold that if I inhaled quickly my nose hairs would turn into little icicles almost instantaneously. It's strange that it doesn't really feel any more uncomfortable than -15 C, but you can tell it's colder by how much more quickly exposed parts of your body start to feel pain or go numb. It's really a matter of seconds rather than 10 or so minutes like it would be around -10 or -15. Tonight is supposed to be just as cold. I'll be dressing warm again!

Drilling is still making little progress. My drill rig was not operational again last night, but could maybe have started today? Not sure. I did manage to stick my truck on the side of the road though trying to pull over to park. The snow banks are an immediate drop off and I got maybe 5 cm into is and the tires just quit going forward. My driver side tires were still firmly on the road, but because the roads are pure ice they just sat there and spun while the passenger tires were lodged in the snow. Luckily the vehicle was able to pull me right out and I continued on my way.

I purchased gas last night. Saskatchewan does that thing like Oregon and New Jersey where you have to have someone else pump your gas. I wonder if this happens elsewhere in the country. Here's a photo of the truck I'm driving around



Jes showed me our bathroom with no linoleum flooring in it. Her and her uncle are tearing it up today to put in the new tile we bought. It's really quite exciting. I wish I could be there to help and maybe take her uncle and cousin to dinner afterward. I feel bad having them help out while I'm 2000 km away.

I should probably get dressed. Actually I have to get undressed and then dressed because I think the heater in my room is having issues, so I'm wearing a huge coat inside right now. Naturally I'd have a broken heater in Canada...

No comments:

Post a Comment