Sept 6, 2005

A little diddy I wrote to a friend about a Popular Mechanics Article.

Not famous, maybe infamous. Engineering marvel is truly stretch. This building is someone's ego trip and has nothing to do with good engineering or new building methods. A good design would have been done with the user in mind and would have used "simple" construction techniques that would have suited the skill level and material delivery capability of Big R. With the turnover we have from season to season it is impossible to produce a quality and consistent product. Furthermore when you look into the technical capability of the engineering and construction people with Big R it is a comedy of errors:
1) Big R reviewed their own submittals and ordered equipment that did not meet the specifications. The design team was never consulted.
2) Big R decided at one point the vapor barrier below the roof was to difficult to install because of structural conflicts. They omitted it without telling the client and now the roof leaks conditioned air through the cracks in the roof.
3) My boss who has managed the project since its inception came to the company without the ability to read and understand the drawings and specifications.
4) No engineer within Big R has experience in the building industry, yes that means I have the most knowledge and understanding of what it is we are installing and how it works of anyone within the company (not tooting my horn just stating a fact).
5) Before I came to the company they never did any quality control testing or commissioning.
6) Most of the guys I work with are from the residential housing industry and not very skilled in commercial construction.

Then about "bonding" with my co-workers, we hate one another. We are so tired of each others idiosyncrasies that we often snap at one another without much reason. I suspect much of this is due to working 9 hour days 6 days a week. The station manager used to get to decide when we would get days off and two seasons ago they had every other weekend off, last season we had very few and this season even fewer. The NSF (dick) head recently noted a drop in productivity on the seventh day of every week and suggested Big R due something about getting rid of that, meaning he wanted a 7 day work week. He felt we were not science support and with the station construction activities winding down he had little desire in keeping us happy but to burn us up as much as possible before leaving the ice so NSF could maximize their dollar out put for each construction personnel. He figures we are all expendable and will likely never have the "opportunity" to return since we are just labor and not brain power. Since hearing this my attitude has really taken a crap and frankly I just don't give a rip about much of anything anymore. I have since reflected on his comments and feel his point of view is very arrogant and really self defeating. Last season we had one guy on the ice that was a plumber and he spent his winter intimidating three of the women (one beaker, one NSF, and one electrician) physically and sexually. We all asked how could this happen and made comments about it in our out briefings and yet this guy is back this year because they can't hire people to come down and work in this gulag. If he wants to work people even harder then that reduces the "talent" pool even further and we are having more trouble hiring this year with most people not passing their background checks due to domestic violence problems. I am sure all these scientific premadonnas would be really happy to hear the plumber sitting next to them at lunch has domestic violence issues and could become a threat when drunk or suffering emotionally (which he will do). My boss on the ice says he is getting applicants that say during their interviews "I just need to get away from this or that" and he immediately writes them off but because HR has to meet their quotas many of these people get hired anyway. The "A" continent is no place to run away too, we suffer big time! and any problem you had back in the states becomes much more pronounced in August when you are constantly tired, you ache all the time and certain parts of your brain have shut down because of light deficiencies. So bonding is not something we do here, I would call it surviving.
Sorry to be so negative but I refuse to be nostalgic, maybe someday but right now my focus is getting out of here and collecting my cash.

September 6, 2005

My wife wrote this today and decided not to send it out so I thought I would add it to my blog.

I talked to one of my good friends the other day and had a great conversation. She asked me how I was doing emotionally which was a very thoughtful question to ask. A real question. It told me that she somewhat understood the affects that this place is having on my mental state and she was willing to listen. That means a lot to me right now. Kirk and I are struggling even though we only have a short time left, each day the horizon is getting brighter, and we have so much to look forward to. Maybe I seem like a cry baby. I don't care. You really don't know what it's like here unless you've experienced it for yourself and I'm so tired of feeling oppressed, overworked and underappreciated.

I have been listening to NPR and reading on the web about the death and destruction that the hurricane left in it's wake. It's absolutely devastating and horribly depressing. I feel so terrible for all of those people who are suffering, who have lost everything and are barely surviving. Than I look at this war in Iraq and how hopeless and endless it seems. I hear about all of our American jobs being relocated to foreign countries because it's cheaper for "the company". The people who have given many years of their lives dedicated to companies who in return cut their retirement benefits and leave them with nothing for their futures. That the gap between the rich and the poor in America is the largest that it's been in years....I could go on and on. What is happening to our country?

As pathetic as my complaining from here may seem, I am able to empathize with the oppression these people may feel. It is a horrible feeling to know that someone else is in control of a big piece of your life and making choices for you that you would not make for yourself. The people at the top making these decisions are so far out of the loop that they have no idea how they affect the little guys...the masses...and frankly they don't care. The bottom line is always about more money and more power. That is blatantly obvious in this company every day and I think has become the standard operating procedure for American politics and companies.