Visitors get up close look on tours

By Philip Rushton
Hinton Parklander


With free summer Teck tours out to Cardinal River mining operations, small boys who dream in the sandbox with Tonka trucks can go to see men at work on the real machinery.

Even workers bring their families on the tours to show their children where daddy works.

"It's awe inspiring to look down into the pits which can be as deep as 60-100 metres, said Teck tour guide Lisa Burlet on her second year as a summer student.


Haul trucks carry 250 ton loads of coal and rocks back from the Cheviot sites to the processing plant 22 km down the road at 5-10km/h so heavy is the load.

Gigantic shovels which can lift 2.5 train-cars worth of rock and fill those huge trucks in two scoops is a sight to see.

"Those huge trucks look small in comparison next to the shovels," said Burlet. "When the driver pulled up beside the bus for people on the tour, it dwarfed the bus."

As people on the tour took photos with the truck, with 5 metre high tires which came up level with the charter bus's roof. The truck's driver cab is 12 meters up for visibility above the massive diesel electric generator for the tires.

On their 20-30 loads per 12-hour shift, the truck drivers basically drive from here to Toronto during their four day on, four day off work cycle.

"Drivers joke that the wildlife are deaf out there, they don't even flinch when trucks drive past," said Burlet,. "The animals are completely comfortable with our operation."

Looking after the land, the company is in the midst of reclamation process with a public access trail through inactive sites on the land out at Sphinx Lake.

There is also workers' safety in mind as Teck has been running a Courageous Safety Leadership program since 2007.


"It's encouraging a core value on a personal level because it's part of the job and part of the lifestyle," said Burlet.

As many workers stay on at the mines 30-35 years, including Burlet's father Mike who works as an site electrician, it's unique job.

"Coal is a super fine mineral and the dust gets on everything, even in the office on my phone and computer," said Burlet. It goes right down into the groves of your fingertips.

"You can know a coal miner by his hands."

As Burlet goes back to university for 3rd year of bachelor's of education, miners will continue 24/7 to pull coal out of the ground, like generations of their fathers did before them.

The tours will continue throughout August on Thursdays from 10am - 2pm and interested people should call the day ahead to register for the tour by phoning (780) 692-5180.


P.S. I didn't have enough time to take four hours out to the mines, but I had to look up some of these amazing machines for photos and sad for it.

As I was interviewing the tour-guide girl on the phone I kept thinking of  one of my favourite child-hood stories I made my mother read over and over again. Yes I played in the garden so guilty of inserting self in story, a no-no in j-school. MEH!

It struck me though that the machinery may have gotten bigger but there's still a guy down there doing his job. The men who move mountains haven't changed so I'll be honest I really loved the description the tour guide girl gave of her father's hands. It's connections like those that tell a story in a simple phrase.

PSS thanks for the photos from these sites:

http://coalgeology.com/red-hills-mine-in-ackerman-mississippi-surface-coal-mine-lignite/19473/
group tour, dump truck & shovel

http://www.greatdreams.com/war/future_already_written.htm
red 1928 steam shovel

http://www.tmeredithphoto.com/
hands

Batting 500? THANKS!

Hot off the internets' press. My humble blog has hit 500 pageviews whatever that means. Averaging 100 a month is pretty nifty when I'm hoping people are on repeat visits too.

Am so pleased that I've gotten to another milestone in blogging - putting more articles together and trying to push myself for polished pieces and editorially solid work. Even have a bit of fun too, as only writers can do with words. Tons of ideas on the list so I'll try and keep up.

And to have visitors from all over the world? Totally welcome to comment or let me know if there's some aspect of Canadian culture you'd like me to write about as it's hardest to write about your hometown and homeland sometimes. I'd love to hear more if you've got some cool articles from your hometown, can I trade you for some photos too?

So shall continue the writing as I get better at the 9-5 at an actual town newspaper office. Take'r easy and the show shall go on.

-- PLR -- 

veterans, respect or forget

Was really happy to hear that the Canadian Defense minister in government put out a press statement on Father's Day. He reminded people that soldiers are fathers too and their kids and spouses are at home waiting for them to come home.

It was a happy thing because there's not a lot of noise made about soldiers making sacrifices other than funerals' announcements. So to hear about their kids waiting for them to come back okay was a great idea. So why stop there? I'd love to write more about it. I cannot forget because veterans' stories have kept me captivated with bravery in just doing their job and duty.

Having never missed a Remembrance Day ceremony, even if just on TV when I was too sick a few years, even got a speeding ticket making it to the cenotaph on time. That's how much I care. Why am I going on about this in the middle of the spring and not November? Everyone seems to forget about the common soldier the rest of the year other than Afghanistan casualties and if a veteran dies -- taking his stories with him. So I'm taking the challenge to figure out when is best to be talking to veterans.

Not the best remembering dates and years, but June 6th was D-day and there's so many other historic war deciding and small battles which have been fought before and since then. I'd love to talk to some more veterans since two years ago I went and drank beers with a bunch of wonderful older men at the legion who told me about their glory days and bitter return to normal life where nobody understood them.

Put that idea on the back burner when I was working full-time and caught up in other projects and half regret not knowing how to get in touch with the veterans. I'll dig up those interview notes and my other formal articles in student and community newspapers as well as online posts and poems too.

Having a few friends tell me wow... interviewing them sounds like an awesome project and I'm sad to say I've lost some of those photos in a stupid lack of hard-drive back-up but it's not too late to go find those wonderful veterans again and get the rest of the stories. Never-the-less I'm really wanting to tackle the issue from all angles from before during and after the war. None of the Hollywood nonsense or nationalism, just a platoon looking after each other, camaraderie that rarely is understood by civies like myself.

If you'd like to look up the kind of stuff I'm looking at doing, read a short story called 'The Things They Carried' and the inspirational book written by a journalist and later a movie called 'Black Hawk Down'. Yet I've read very few books and articles outside of November 11 about Canadians so I'd love to take up that gap in the rest of the year.

Will it be difficult? Bloody difficult to convince those old veterans that I even had an inkling of what they went through. Only because both my grandfather and father (reserves) served in the Cold War era Canadian Navy was why they started talking.

Having heard a few wild and chilling stories from my dad I am more determined to see what I can do about getting those stories out of the Legion Hall and into the electronic sphere. There seems to be a few projects out there that I'll try to latch onto and find out from others' experiences.

Check out at Facebook and the Legion that I intend to contact real soon. Thanks for any supports or ideas on what I could do with this project. It's going to be worth it as these stories bear repeating to keep peace on the forefront of how much was sacrificed by young men my age and younger who were brave enough to enlist and defend our nation. Soldiers past and present deserve to have their legacy preserved.

Cheers to them who fought, supported on the home-front and keep on guard for freedom.

-- PLR --

p.s. stay tuned on old stories and new interviews happening soon! like June 6th and any other significant battle.

stay-at-home dad? sure why not

On Father's Day a survey gives thumbs up to a stay-at-home-dad becoming more of a significant fixture in Canadian culture.

Bank of Montreal released a 21st century sign of times that guys choosing to do house-work and mind children are less rare.


As feminism isn't such a big issue anymore, 59 per cent of Canadians think there is gender equality around roles at home and work.


Which is interesting because only a generation ago, even being a single dad was almost unheard of in most parts of western culture. Only a few of my parents friends, almost none at my church and out of many clients of their daycare were single dads.


Not being the main bread-winner is hard on pride, especially when 31 per cent of guys have taken home-maker role after being put out of work during the recession.


"It made a lot of sense for them [fathers] to stay at home and raise the family," BMO spokesperson Larry Moser said.

A stay-at-home dad isn't exactly a topic that comes up after church, being the largest segment of this reporter's social circle.


There are plenty of families where both parents are out working, yet as with most financial planning, there are pros and cons.


If benefits plans of both spouses over-lap enough, it doesn't impact family, nor does kids having a parent at home to have reassurance that someone is always home to talk to about problems or help with school projects etc.


"If the woman is probably going to be promoted very shortly and start receiving a higher and higher salary, it's just common sense that the dad should stay at home and look after the kids from a financial point of view." 


The BMO press release had some good advice regarding finances:


--  Plan, plan, plan - Start the conversation at least two years in advance so that you can adequately plan, prepare and take time to evaluate your decision.


--  How to choose - When trying to decide which partner should stay home, take into account each other's salaries, benefit packages and any             prospective career advancements on the horizon.


--  Weigh the costs - Research local daycare or nanny costs and compare them against your salary.


--  Track everything - As part of your evaluation process, track your             expenses, create detailed budgets and revisit your financial plan to             ensure it is aligned with your new goals.




All good advice which sounds like this reporter's father would give as an independent business-man. Which is something the study doesn't take into account of how many guys have home-based businesses as well to look after their kids better.


So as Father's Day rolls around, we thank the guy who raised us and supported mom. Single dads work so hard to make it up to their kids like single moms do with a bit more of a harder mission from society's view-point that mom should be main child-raiser.


The role of fatherhood may be changing and adapting to what goes on, but manly men might be in charge of the house-hold in a different designation. Raise a beer for dads everywhere anyway.


-- PLR --


am admitting to taking a short-cut by re-quoting the BMO dude, but just thought it was an interesting piece of culture. photo came from same article


original article re-post

trying to unplug from internets?

Development of paper-thin digital technology by people at University of Waterloo claim will become a cellphone. It likely will make it simpler to stay in touch. While I'm excited to see what newspaper will become, I hesitate about thoughts of a cellphone being so ingrained and small -- like a mp3 player can be shoved into the sleeve of a jacket.

Marketing competes with cellphones capable of Skype cameras, social networking and now even portable video game playing ability. Get it now fresh out of the box.... Hey wait, are we that bored without electronics?

Before I even get started, I have to admit, I play video games on occasion. A laptop is absolutely brilliant invention for me to be writing at a coffee shop or especially when doing interviews.

However, it's becoming the norm to be always connected. Why? It's easier to email details or proposal to read later; text instead because someone doesn't do phone calls. So what if it's urgent or an emergency? Voicemail?

To the point where people seem hard pressed not to compulsively check their email, facebook, twitter and everything else digital. Starbucks, hotels and everywhere else with free wifi are winning customers. I check my mailbox attached to my house a few times a day, email can wait too.

Some claim an iPad is essential for business clientele files and communication. Books and newspapers will never be the same if simply downloadable. Still wonder what will happen when batteries run out or if an electronic gets wrecked in rain?

Will business-people and everyone else be able to exist without their electronics? I was really apprehensive to completely rely on my work and appointment schedule being purely on my cellphone. Still have a paper day-timer and wall calendar. Am I becoming rare soon for thinking so?

Many people plug into their earbuds world and text message on their cellphones when they are done work or on the bus, and everywhere else - it's hard to have a conversation in the real with them sometimes.

It feels like a conversation lasting over five minutes is becoming a lost art. I couldn't start conversations on the bus anymore when I used to do that daily in college, mostly to practice my interviewing skills, but meeting really cool people. Not anymore for the past three years, even when I commuted daily to work.

Heard a recent survey of high-schoolers were unable to deal with not using electronic devices for just one day. One day only and they were overly lonely, depressed, anxious, absolutely bored and listless without their connections; some broke down halfway through the day.

Most probably even got all the homework finished and talked to their parents and friends in the real for the first time in ages. I didn't have a cellphone until the end of high-school. Only because I was training on a bike and out most nights with friends and I liked to check in with my parents. I doubt kids do that now unless forced.

Don't get me wrong, I'm glad I can check my email on my phone away from the house. It's convenient to text message someone for a few bits of info when I can't talk for long.

There's also an updated law in Alberta being passed for distracted driving -- with a $172 fine for grooming, eating and especially texting while driving. While driving? Is texting more important than safety? This is ridiculous that we're so multi-tasking in life. Can it not wait until a red light? Or ten minutes later when arriving, safely.... it's nuts. I admit I had to drop the habit of occasionally doing that stuff, but amazing to need pass a law.

It sounds dire and maybe I'm over-reacting, but it's becoming harder to stay in touch without computer and e-communication in this future now e-connectivity.

People will learn and adapt. Still, it's nice to actually talk in the real, use a land-line telephone or write a honest to goodness paper and pen letter. I keep meaning to dig out my film camera and shoot through a few rolls for old times sake.

Please do a favour and unplug from the internet and turn off the cellphone and texting once in a while. You never know what may happen or who you might meet. Then again, I guess my blogging would be unreadable, so come back occasionally ^_^

--PLR--

ps... want to hear the irony of the graphic? I found it on google images from a site called hackaday.com in a blog entry called cellphone jamming. apparently illegal and good to know....

Portfolio Slideshow Test

Testing the easily added embedded slideshow feature from Picasa ^_^ This kills two angry electronic birds with one stone to deal with the decidedly lack of photos on my blog thus far. So easy that there will definitely be more to come ^_^ Might as well showcase my portfolio from second year of journalism so enjoy!

--PLR--

Rocket Fuel for the Mind

Barely awake some mornings, everyone seems to have their favourite reboot. Not for one for routine, I decided to see which wake-ups worked best for comparison. As I work in customer service, I need to hit the floor running and thinking.

Usually my brain protests until 10AM so I tend to resort to some conventional and unorthodox methods if I need to get up earlier.

Matcha green tea - epic brain spark-plug ignition... Ten minutes later I'm running top-speed mentally. In fact anything exotic from Tea-opia is amazing but I can't really afford their stuff yet. Weirdly de-caffeinated green tea is absolutely amazing for the long haul I've found but other stuff works too.

Shot of Cappuccino - cherished  hang-over remedy. Takes a little longer to kick in but erases it better than Gatorade. Thank-you Italian barristers.

Water - un-spectacular, but effective too. Moistens up the vocal chords and splashes the face mentally. H2O simplicity.

Sparkling or non-alcoholic orange or cranberry juice - something in it just sparkles and wakes things up so fast. Yay for citrus.

Cookies! okay so not the best thing for breakfast, but in a rush, nothing wrong with a shot of chocolate and sugary fun.

Hemp seeds - high in protein and omega oils. No, they're not going to get you high so don't even imagine trying to smoke the non-bud. Hemp seeds sure have a lot of energy in them though.

Exercise - gets the blood and adrenalin flowing, Sit-ups, push-ups, or yoga stretches, it's awesome. Commuting in traffic on a bike is a whole other story for another day.

Orange Pekoe / English Breakfast / Oolong Tea - if it's black, it's stronger than some coffee. Irish blends are still my favourite.

Oddly after finding out how much sugar there was in an energy drink, Coke, Jolt, Red Bull, Mountain Dew, Monster, Rock-Star, stuff with straight B12 and Yerba in it... etc. I haven't really drank many more. They got me through long days of college assignments and photography, yet for what it does to the body, not worth it afterwards for the delayed burn-out.

Coffee - Timmy's sets a standard, but I cannot imagine the XL amount; Star Bucks is yummy; Second Cup has some really nice blends too. Even McDonalds is surprisingly good; Mac's 7-11 and Denny's are engine de-greaser but keeps the mind going.

Currently, Kicking Horse and Good Earth win with me. Forget triple espresso, there's a Good Earth drink called a High Test. Take an Americano and throw a couple of shots of espresso in it. EPIC but I don't drink them often. Making double shot of Kicking Horse at home is amazing.

Which is where this really is heading. Apparently even a new study found out people who are up later and sleep in later are more at risk of heart disease, obesity and not having any fun later in life or somewhat grumpier than early birds.

So other than long haul truck drivers, business-people, and students, it's all in moderation. Apparently guidelines of 3-4 cups of coffee or 6-7 cups of tea or something are the max a person should drink as I remember it. Those ruddy energy drinks are recommended to not be more than one per day but I've seen jittery friends on their 2-3 shots. Either way, caffeinated stuff is diuretic in a bad way aka dehydration so add a liter or two to your intake of simple H2O so necessary to survival.

Whatever the rocket fuel ignition.... take care of the body by getting enough sleep in the first place and getting stuff done before it's late at night. On that note, I'm off to sleep.

--PLR--

Old Skool Movie Magic

It's May the Fourth (a Star Wars geek-out pun), so I'm watching Star Wars!!!

Laser-brain, scruffy looking nerf-herder, some-day you'll screw up and I don't want to be around to see it. So romantic.

Watching Star Wars, I'm feeling completely nostalgic to enjoying the movies with my parents who had gone to the originals when they were young.