Tuesday, November 02, 2010

Quick Update

Apologies for the lack of posts lately. Excuse: We've all been working overtime the past two days and I'm exhausted. Here's what's happened since I got back from my road trip last Friday:
  • Saturday - Slept and did absolutely nothing. It was great. At night there was a big party/braai not for Halloween but for the Durban Sharks winning the Currie Cup Final. I knew you'd be excited to hear that.
  • Sunday - Began moving into my new house.
  • Monday - Finished moving into my new house with the bare essentials: A bed, a refrigerator, and a clothes cupboard. Lloyd arrived at noon with his son Cameron, who brought his friend David. David and Cameron are the big ice hockey players, and David is actually visiting from Michigan and is trying to qualify to play for the South African National Ice Hockey Team. I guess it's a bit easier to crack than the US or Canadian squad. That afternoon Lloyd, David, Petrus, and I ventured down to 12 level, the deepest I have been in the mine so far at just over 400 m below the surface. It's also impossible to get any deeper at the moment because 12-15 levels are currently flooded with water. We went down to check the water level and see if another pump would be needed. Climbing up the ladders from 12 to 6 level (220 meters vertical) is a pretty good workout. That night we braaied. Lamb chops taste best over a flame!
  • Tuesday - Monday night was my first night sleeping in the new house. I learned that there are many more bugs in this house, and the mosquitoes tormented me all night. Eventually I got up at 3:30 am and followed the Giants winning the World Series online. I went into the office at 5 am. My objective for the day was finishing the rough draft of a report for Lloyd and putting samples over the James Table. I finished this by 11 and Lloyd and I went over the report. Then he took me out to take more samples and I ended up working until 5 pm. It's been a long day, but the overtime pay will be nice.
  • Tomorrow - Finish the report and then I'm back to TGME in Pilgrim's Rest for some more sampling!
  • Almost forgot, I shot a few rounds of Lloyd's 9mm pistol at the tailings dam today. It was actually very frightening to feel how much power there was in such a small hand gun. I think I'll stick to the air rifle shooting pellets from now on.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Thanks Doug for blogging, I appreciate your updates, keep doing crazy stuff in south africa. What are you thinking about staying/coming home?