[Rhonda R]

P.S. Tooo funny! Went down to dinner tonight and there were 3 new guys sitting at our table. None of the others were there so took me back a bit till I realized one of them was Jeop. Jeop was our mechanical engineer on the R3 project in Red Deer and he’s now out here for 4 months to help out on this project. I had recommended he get an apartment at our complex and it worked out well for him. LOL. So he and one of the other guys got to talking about Holland and Germany. Jeop is Dutch and still has an aunt over there. I will definitely talk with him more once I sign my contract and turn in my resignation. Jeop was married when on R3 but is single now. I’d definitely go out with him if he asked. He’s taken up rowing, but he also likes hiking, back packing, kayaking, bicycling. He said Holland is big on biking so I may have to take up a new sport. 🙂

[Rhonda R]

Hi,
Well, I just checked the climate for Gorinchem, The Netherlands, which is about as far south as I can get and still be within decent commuting distance to work. Rains 50% of the time. Dec and Jan average only 50 hours of sun a MONTH. Humidity never gets below 80%. What the HEY did I sign up for!!!!!??????? Temps are more mild, though. Doesn’t get below 0 c and not much above 25 c (32F to 80F). Guess I’ll have to become a duck!!! Did find a really cute place to rent in Gorinchem. Won’t rent till I get over there. I question my sanity. I’ll hate the area just like I’ve hated Ontario, Ohio and Louisiana. Financially, I’ll be able to make even, but sure won’t be putting a lot of money in the bank. I’ll love the job. Looking forward to that. And really hoping to have time to travel. Going for the job and for the travel. Will I stay longer than a year? Dunno. I’m hoping once I get over there and get the program started and the projects started maybe I can talk them into 3 months in Holland and 1 month in Canada. Bob did say there might be a possibility I can extend my visits to Canada by working form here for a week or two. We’ll see.

Smiles,
Rhonda

[Rhonda R]

Thank you, Spyce,
Still don’t have the offer, but Bob, my boss over there, emailed me this morning asking if I had received it. I emailed him back that I had not. So maybe Monday morning. He’s anxious to get me on board as he’s swamped. I’m getting more excited about it. The largest project I’ll be on is a hydrogen plant, the largest one in Europe, I think he said. That’s pretty exciting. And I’ll be able to set up the turnover/commissioning database program for the whole region. That’s exciting, too. Still really nervous about moving over there. Moving is a lot different than traveling. Have to rent a place, set up a banking account and local credit card, lease a car…. all major things that I wouldn’t have to do if I were just traveling. It would be really fun if I found one or two traveling companions over there. Would be fun to date over there. Hee Hee. Maybe I can find a rich gentleman to take me to an Andre Reiu concert. That would be fun. Andre Reiu is from Maastrect, Netherlands. I will definitely give you links to my pics!

Smiles,
Rhonda

[Rhonda R]

Hi, Heidi,
LOL. Yeah, work is lots of fun. Challenging to try to figure out how to pull it all together. Looking forward to my new position.

Have not gotten the official offer yet. I thought I would have it by now. Did email Sander, the HR recruiter yesterday morning. He replied right away that he was just waiting for approval for it and he thought he would have it yesterday. Hopefully he’ll get it today and it will be in my Inbox in the morning. They are 6 hours ahead of me.

Trav attached to me? Dunno. He’s very independent. Always has been from the day he was born. He’s really a good kid. Been fun watching him grow up and mature. He’s surprised me a few times with things he’s said.

Yeah, I don’t trust the mail system at all. And its gotten worse with COVID. Canada is being really stupid and still locking things down for no reason. England’s opening up totally. Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Mexico and one other country have gone back to normal with no restrictions, no testing. About time. Media has stirred up so much totally unnecessary paranoia and the pharmaceutical companies have made a killing off the virus. Way over blown in my opinion.

I’ve put dating on hold till I get over to Holland. Probably won’t do much dating over there. Depends. Will definitely look for Canadians to connect with while I’m there. Will be a busy year. Have a friend that wants to come visit and I want my kids to come over while I’m there. Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, northern Italy, French Alps, would also like to make it to Portugal and the Mediterranean cost in Spain. We’ll see how much of that I make. Germany has some beautiful country as well. We’ll see how travel is in Germany when I get there. Financially it isn’t great, but I’m looking at it as semi retirement. Dutch government limits the OT you can do, so while I can do some, it won’t be the 50-60 hours that I’m used to here. And with the flexible hours I’m thinking I can make some long weekends on a fairly regular basis. I’ll be a little more settled once I get the official contract. Hope this delay doesn’t mean there are issues.

Hope you had a wonderful day,
Smiles,
Rhonda

[Rhonda R]

Hi, Heidi,
LOL. Well, I’m beating my head against the wall because it’s my job to gather data, match it up and report it in a usable form. So I’ll try to explain in a way that you can understand, but its pretty complicated, so… we’ll see how well I do.

I gather information from
1) SmartCompletions, which is the commissioning database and where turnover tracks some tasks and the system TCCCs (turnover of care, custody and control) are kept
2) an export from the scheduler’s PowerBI showing target TCCC dates for the systems
3) a walkdown forecast export from the scheduling software
4) my Access database that I developed

I track
1) Completions walkdowns
2) turnover binder submission, review and acceptance
3) punch list items
4) system status
from those four sources

All data is organized by system-contract

Here’s the fun part

Some systems have subsystems, the substation systems now not only have subsystems, but are broken into release 1 (subsystems C, F, S), release 2 (subsystems A, B, D) and release 3 (rest of the subsystems). Some contracts go with some of the subsystems and some go the just the system level (so the same system will have contracts to a subsystem level and some contracts to the system level). Some contractors are walking by structure or their area meaning there can be up to 15 walkdowns for that contract per system. And on top of that, binders are turned in by system while walkdowns can be by subsystem for the same system/contract. Now lets add that for the substations, the scheduling sources track by releases (1, 2 and 3) while SmartCompletions tracks by subsystem (A, B, C, etc….) and the punches for the substations only go to the system level. And management wants this all compiled together so they can see when a system or subsystem is ready to turnover for commissioning. ????? Then on top of that, management wants to incorporate additional SI’s (site instructions for missed scope) into that report. Some SI’s relate to systems, some don’t. Some SI’s are to a specific contractor/contract, some they didn’t designate the contract. Now can you somewhat understand my nightmare? It’s insane. It’s my job to try to pull some kind of organization and logic out of total chaos.

I did take homemade cookies in the other day. They go very quickly and people do appreciate them. That always puts a smile on people’s faces. Steph was out sick today. I feel more relaxed when she’s not around.

Talked with Bob briefly about the best location to live in Holland. He suggested a place or two near the center of the country. More out of the big cities. That would also put me closer to Luxembourg and the mountains. He suggested maybe renting a furnished place like getting an air b-n-b long term. I also thought of renting an RV and just living in an RV, but think that might be pretty expensive. It would be here in Canada, anyway.

It was -15 c here Saturday but did get some nice swan pics and gulls in flight. Also saw some long-tailed ducks. They are a sea duck that migrate through here. Very pretty ducks. First time I’ve seen those.

Told my boys I was probably going to Holland. Oldest was, Cool. Youngest was, Oh, that’s a long ways away. I asked if he was ok with that. He said he was if it was what I wanted and it was good for me. I told him it was my dream job, so he said, yes, he was fine with it. Told him to hurry up and get his passport so he could come visit. Poor kid had to renew his passport and its been lost in the mail twice. He’s had quite the issues with it. His old expired one finally showed up. He cancelled the other two, reporting them lost, so hopefully with that old one, he can show them that and get another one quickly.

Hope things are going well for you,
Smiles,
Rhonda

[Rhonda R]

Hi, Heidi,
Yes, things have happened kind of quickly in my life. I started praying about Holland before going home for Christmas. Told God I needed my Permanent Residency card and Emil to at least visit me in Holland. My PR card was waiting for me when I got home and Emil disappeared. Kept praying. Kept getting the feeling to go but kept hesitating. Finally told God, I need an answer. I need to know today as I have to give them an answer tonight. Got a text mid morning from my landlord that he thought he had someone to take over my unit on Feb 14 instead of being locked into the 60-day notice, meaning I would have to pay into mid-March. So I took that as a Go sign. Everything has just opened up. Should have the official e-offer in a few days. I do feel guilty for going as I don’t know if they can find someone to take over, but its a mess. I’m so frustrated and beating my head against the wall every day. I’m sure they will finish the job without me just fine. Really looking forward to my new position and new job. I’ll get to set up the databases from the start and then train others.

Here’s what I’ve learned about Holland –
1) Be careful finding a place to rent as renters often take lights and flooring with them.
2) There are several national parks. One looks like it has a herd of some kind of elk
3) There are sand dunes along the coast in the north and seals on the islands off the coast
4) Luxembourg on the south border has some pretty country that’s starting to get into the mountains. If I live in central Holland it will be maybe a 3-hour drive. So I’ll be closer to the mountains there than here.
5) I’m hearing most people there speak English so I should be able to manage.
6) Lots of canals, but been told its not a good way to see Holland as the banks are higher and you can’t see much. Bicycling is better
7) Not much for wildlife. They have more birds. Switzerland has ibex and another type of mountain goat and a few snow bears at the high altitudes

Have not been out on the FB site much. Just joined but haven’t explored. Will get more active there once I get my offer signed.

I’m tired. 61 hours this week. Lots of changing things then redoing what I just spent hours doing cuz ….. yeah, cuz I hadn’t been given clear instructions. Today it was several hours of work then undo it all because someone decided to do things totally differently than they should be done. I have NEVER seen such an unorganized, mismanaged project where the data is so inconsistent and messy. I feel paralyzed. Can’t do anything. What a mess!!!!!

Anyway, on a better note…… I’ve heard there are swan on the river and the snowy owls are back. So since it will be really cold again tomorrow I’ll drive around and see what I can find to photograph. Sunday will be another full day at work just putting out fires and trying to figure out how to get all this chaos of information into something usable.

Have a SUPER weekend!
Smiles,
Rhonda

[Rhonda R]

Hi, Spyce,
I can’t get to your last post. Good thing it shows up in the email!!! I cleared my cache so it logged me out and I had to sign back in but every time I try to go to pg 54 it says I have to be a paying member. I’ve logged in at least twice and still can’t get to it. 🙁 Anyway……

So are you excited about moving? Are you just moving to a new house or clear out of the Bay Area? Glad your heat got fixed and it warmed up. We were like -12 c with high winds and high humidity. I’ll take the -20 c back home over this junk!!

Thanks. LOL. I’m questioning my sanity moving to a totally foreign country by myself. Going between US and Canada is pretty much the same and not too bad, but going to Europe is a totally different story. Think I’m up for an adventure. I am hearing most people speak English and all the people I’ll be working with speak English, so maybe I’ll be ok. Bob did point me to a FB site – Canadians in the Netherlands. I am now a member so once I actually sign the offer I’ll start asking a lot of questions.

I’ll be ok on the pay if I pay off my son’s school loans before I go then pay myself back. I could rent out my house but then I’d have to move everything into storage, pay a property management company to manage it. Pay taxes on the rent. Kick the renter out when I move back. Have no place to stay when I do come home……. Plus take the risk of getting lousy renters in there that trash the place.

Feeling a bit guilty for leaving here. Project only half done and not sure if they have anyone with my skills here that can take over. Although I remember Darren said Rebecca knows Access and Power BI so maybe she can take over. Not impressed with Steph’s data skills and less impressed with her people skills. But not my worries. I am looking forward to getting back to what I’m really good at and what I enjoy doing again. And Bob will be good to work for.

Yeah, if I’m active on that Canadians in the Netherlands, maybe I’ll meet someone. That would be fun. One of the guys here today suggested we go birding together. He’s into birding and photography. So if he wants to go, we’ll have to go soon. He said the snowy owls are back so I’ll go looking Saturday. He said he’s traveling this Saturday so maybe next weekend. We’ll see.

Past my bed time.
Have fun moving! Ha Ha. How soon do you have that fun?
Smiles,
Rhonda

[Rhonda R]

Good morning, Spyce,
Did you get your heating system fixed? Hope so. 30s with no heat isn’t fun! I don’t remember the humidity level in SF. I think it wasn’t like out east here. Do hope things have warmed up for you.

I’m really leaning towards going to Holland. Praying lots. Have another call with Bob on Monday. Yes, it would be my dream job. But its scary to move to a totally foreign country where I don’t know the language, culture is different and I’m alone. Pay is high by European standards. Net would be quite a bit less than I’m making now. Do I rent my house out or do I not? Chances are I would only get home once a year while there. It’s Do I travel Europe, or do I come home? Likely to travel Europe rather than making multiple trips home. Moving to Europe is a much bigger change than going somewhere in US/Canada. Bob did say he was going hiking Sunday so I will ask him about hiking, photography opportunities, kayaking. I believe Holland has lots of canals so guessing lots of opportunity for kayaking. I’ll also ask about wildlife. Again, have no idea what it will do to my social life. Bob is from Belgium. His fiance is from Canada. They are planning on moving back to Ontario sometime. So one never knows. Maybe I’ll meet my dream man and he’ll come home with me to Canada. 🙂 Who knows. Doing lots of praying.

Just went to 3 of the dating sites to see if I could view anyone over in Holland. No. They’ve really got it limited to where you can search or look. Rather annoying. Really shut down any thoughts of even looking till I figure out what I’m doing.

Have an AWESOME weekend!
Smiles,
Rhonda

[Rhonda R]

Good morning, Spyce,

The Bay area is pretty nice. Are you right in San Francisco or one of the suburbs? I didn’t think it got that cold there? Have you been hit with a lot of rain from the storms? Were you hit with that storm that dumped so much snow on the Sierra Nevadas a week or so ago? I went to school for 4 years up in Angwin, about 100 miles NE of SF. Just NE of Napa. Yea, I wouldn’t like upstate NY cold, either. Way too damp. Its much drier here and I do like the snow. It’s so beautiful. And you don’t feel the cold here like back east.

I’m still in Calgary. Flight was cancelled a second time. Supposed to fly out this afternoon. We’ll see. I won’t know till I’m actually in the air. Then there’s the possibility of getting stuck in Toronto as its now not a direct flight.

Just finished my interview for Holland. Sounds like a perfect job for me. Bob will be great to work with. His manager, Ron, seems very nice. I’d be setting up the database for several projects and setting up their database template. Things I excel at and really enjoy doing. They’re going to see if they can get me over there and come up with a proposal. I’ve been praying about it and everything so far is pointing to Go. Doors keep opening for that one and other doors to other places not opening. They said all the Worley people over there speak English, so that’s a plus. They are thinking 1-2 years, which is the right timing. Dunno. Could be over in Holland in a couple months. Exciting and scary at the same time.

Dave…. My friend, Deb, posted an ice skating event for New Year’s Day on a meetup group as we both wanted to go ice skating. Dave messaged in on the event chat he would like to come but couldn’t come till later. His pic was him in a kayak, so of course I was curious. I asked what time he could make it. He said noon. I messaged back I wanted to go snow shoeing that afternoon so didn’t want ice skating to be too late. (This was Wednesday) He messaged back that would be fun, too. After a couple exchanges it sounded to me like he wanted to go snow shoeing so I messaged he was welcome to join me. Thursday morning I woke up to a message he said he could if I wanted him to. (which I was curious about why he would say he could if I wanted him to instead of something like Sure. That would be fun. ????) I messaged back “Yes, I’d like that. Will talk later.” Then I headed to Banff. Friday morning I sent him a private message on meetup asking where he wanted to meet for snow shoeing. He sent me his number and suggested we text. He texted all day Friday then asked me out for dinner late afternoon. He said I seemed like an amazing lady. We enjoy all the same things, hiking, kayaking, he said he’d do squash and rock climbing. He likes living out in the country as do I. Many, many similar interests and values. He’s also a Christian. And he’s very much a gentleman. He opened doors for others going in and out of the restaurant. Walked me to my car. Definitely someone I’d be very interested in. But I wasn’t sure about that worried, pensive look he wore consistently and his shifty eyes. Almost never looked me in the eyes. But when he smiled and laughed (and he does have a good sense of humor), his smile filled his whole face and his eyes sparkled. He said his life had been up and down and he had been dealing with some “issues” for the last couple years but things were getting better. I felt comfortable and I thought the evening went well. He walked me to my car. I said thanks and I enjoyed the company and maybe took a small step forward. He responded by giving me a quick hug. I smiled and said “See you tomorrow.” I drove past his truck on the way out and he waved. Woke up to his text that came in at 2:40 a.m. that he was dealing with “issues” and wouldn’t make snow shoeing and I haven’t heard from him since. Of course my phone died Monday. Sim card died. It was probably 11 or 12 years old. Canadian sim cards won’t take a US phone number so I was pretty much stuck. Had to get a new phone with a new Canadian number. So if he texts me, I won’t get it. I haven’t given him my new number yet. Do you think I should contact him again? I’d like to be friends. As far as interests and values, we are very similar, but not sure about his emotional state. He’s coming across like he has a low self-esteem, especially when it comes to dating. Ex was an RCMP (police officer) so makes me wonder what happened. From what I could gather, they were married for about 20 years and the divorce was about 4-5 years ago. Two kids in early twenties still living with their mom. I wonder if he’s gone through quite a bit of verbal and emotional abuse.

I’m out on four different dating sites and find very few men that really interest me. Many of those guys are outright scary. Yikes. I’ve contacted several men, but only one responded and he wasn’t interested. When I contact them I always ask about something they wrote in their profile so they know I read it. 🙁 Not the foggiest clue of what I’m doing wrong. Very, very few men contact me. No clue why. And now, if I go to Holland, it will be a death sentence to any dating. 🙁

Have an awesome, wonderful day!
Smiles,
Rhonda

[Rhonda R]

Hi, Spyce and Heidi,
Happy New Year!

It’s….. what is it? Monday, the 3rd. I was supposed to fly back to Ontario Sunday. Flight has been cancelled twice now. Was ok with it being cancelled the first time. Got to stay home an extra day and it was warm. Up to 2 c. So Deb and I went ice skating. She posted it on the meetup. Dave responded publicly to the meetup post that he couldn’t come cuz he was going to church. Not sure why he felt he needed to let everyone know he wasn’t coming because he had to go to church. ??? No one else seemed to feel they had to post why they weren’t coming. He has not responded to my text at all. Between his shifty eyes, his backing out because of “issues” and his publicly posting he wasn’t coming because he was going to church, I’m gathering he may have some emotional problems. Plus the worried, pensive look he wore all the time except the occasional time when he laughed. What are your thoughts? I really liked him, but really wonder if he’s emotionally available for a relationship.

Today is cold again. -19c and roads are really slippery. So stuck at home doing nothing. Got to remember my interview at 5:30 a.m. tomorrow!

Hope you both had a wonderful New Year.
Smiles,
Rhonda

[Rhonda R]

Hi,
Per the usual……. (sigh) So much for that. Woke up this morning to find a text that came in from Dave at 2:40 a.m. this morning that said he wouldn’t be able to make snow shoeing as he was dealing with issues. I just texted him back “Thanks for letting me know. You seem like a positive, strong, intelligent man with a deep faith in God so I’m sure you’ll get through the issues quickly and come out on top.” And wished him a Happy New Year. Left it at that.

So not sure if ice skating will get cancelled this morning or not. Looks like my day’s plans may all fall apart. Going to be colder than forecasted. Need to figure out Plan B.

Happy New Year!!
Rhonda

[Rhonda R]

Hi,
So that went well. Dave’s a sweetheart. Had a really nice dinner. He is older. From clues, I think 61. Had a good conversation. Did notice his eyes were shifty. Didn’t look me in the eye very often. But when he smiles, his eyes just sparkle. He looks a bit worried as a normal look. But he’s such a gentleman! Snow shoeing tomorrow. I think I really like him! 🙂 🙂 Got a hug as we left. Think this might work. We’ll see. 🙂 🙂 Do NOT want to go back to Ontario!

Rhonda

[Rhonda R]

Thank you, Spyce,
I hope you and Heidi both have a wonderful 2022. I forgot. Where in CA are you?

LOL. Yea, of course. The one week I’m home, we got an extreme cold spell. Its been in the -20s c all week. Not been out much at all. Drove to Banff 3 times and done a lot of driving, but no outdoor activities. Been trying out my new camera and lens. One half hour walk at -19 and that was enough. Tomorrow, my last day home, its supposed to be up to -9 c. Ice skating in the morning with a meetup group (if its warm enough by 10). In the afternoon I’m going snow shoeing with a new friend. Long story I’ll share later. We’ve been texting most of the day and he just asked if I wanted to go to dinner tonight. He seems like a real sweetheart! Maybe a bit young for me. We’ll see. I’ll stretch my age range for him! So looks like dinner tonight and snow shoeing tomorrow and he offered to build me a campfire on our snow shoe. So sweet!

Just applied for I job I think is here in Calgary. I also know someone that works for the company so will email him when I get back to work. Right up my alley. Say a few prayers I’ll get it. Have the interview for Holland on the 4th and waiting to hear about a couple other maybe possibilities.

Just got a text. Meeting Dave in an hour at a really nice restaurant. Gotta run. 🙂 🙂

Smiles,
Rhonda

[Rhonda R]

Hi, Heidi,
Glad you had a good Christmas. Sounds like a BEAUTIFUL place. Four dogs? LOL. I’m sure that was fun. Big dogs? I drove out to Banff Christmas Day. It’s been super cold so didn’t get out. Still dangerously cold today. High of -20c. Tomorrow -17c, then Saturday up to -3c so definitely going to take advantage of that as its my last day home. 🙁 Definitely dreading going back.

Hmmmmm. Dunno. I find it more difficult to be myself on line than in person. I’ve definitively felt the effects of working away from home and not socializing. There are few people I socialize with outside of work. Most of the time they have different interests and values than I do, so do very, very little socializing when working away from home – which has been 4 out of the last 5 years. I think I’ve forgotten how to socialize! Do need to work on just being myself and not worrying about trying to impress someone. (Oh, can’t find that guy again, so won’t be writing)

From a couple posts ago….. you’re right. I’ve not been in places I’ve liked for most of my last projects. I had a really, really good project fall of ’14 to spring of ’17. It was in Red Deer, but since then I’ve had a project in Ohio. Hated the place and the project was HORRIBLE and very toxic. 18 months there. Then home for a year. Project was toxic. Client boss not good at all, but my Worley boss was really good and supportive, but all my time was spent with the toxic client boss. But I was home and quite active with several meetup groups. Then Louisiana (Feb 2020 to April 2021) Hated Louisiana, but the project was ok. For the most part a good team to work with. Now Sarnia. Just like Ohio. Hate the place and the project is HORRIBLE and very toxic. Being away from home at place I hated has taken its tole on me. Sure destroys a social life! I’d have a lot more chance to meet someone if I could stay home! But I have to have a paycheck still, so………. Been in a place I liked and felt comfortable socializing only 1 of the last 5 years. 🙁

Tomorrow its out to Banff again with another girlfriend. Looking forward to that.

Smiles,
Rhonda

[Rhonda R]

Hi,
Quick update then I have to go meet some cousins at the airport before they fly back to the States.

So got some texts from Emil. He said his rig had a major accident last Monday so he didn’t make it back to Edmonton. Said several of his crew were burned and sent to St Johns. ???? Ok. So that’s a pretty major event. I tried to search it on google. Nothing. Found some other incidents – someone drowned in Cape Breighten over the weekend, but nothing about a drilling rig being hit or a ship wreck off St. Johns. I’m thinking he’s a scammer. 🙁 I texted him back to keep me posted. We’ll see what he comes back with. But I should have been able to verify that major an incident.

Gotta run.

Rhonda

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