Fort McMurray is a joke man
dino_bobba_renno @ Wed Mar 26, 2008 5:25 am
ShepherdsDog ShepherdsDog:
Aging_Redneck Aging_Redneck:
probably the best thing to do is work one of those schedules like 3 weeks in, 1 week out. go after training and experience(instead of overtime and money), then find a job in a different part of the country.
A buddy of mine worked the field for about 10 yrs. He was a former firefighter and had a shitload of safety courses. He worked as a rig pig for a few years and eventually ended up a safety boss. He said it was a money trap for him and while he loved the money he hated traveling, the dirt, the hours and the general living conditions, but he couldn't think of a job that would pay him as much as he was making. He eventually quit though and became an environmental officer for the province....less pay, but he now has an office and regular hours.
It's a trade off. You can take a job that payes less but your home all most every night and you have a steady job. One thing people forget is that the field is pretty volital, you can work for 6 months and then sit for 6 months so while the money is good you have to be good at managing it for the slow times. We haven't seen much for slow times lately so I think many of the young guys just piss away what they make assuming it will never end. I learned the hard way a few times over not to do that.
Oh and the mud, I'm an office now but I don't miss that one bit. Eveything I owned had mud on on it when I was in the field but mind you I lived out of a duffle bag and everything I owned was in it.
suedem @ Wed Mar 26, 2008 5:45 am
So, would anyone here know anything about trucking work?? I would be looking for a contract for a "walking floor"...hauling wood chips, mulch, compost etc.
ziggy @ Wed Mar 26, 2008 6:10 am
ShepherdsDog ShepherdsDog:
YTF do you farm when you can make a shit load more welding? This is the same as my brother in law. He has his master tradesman as a mechanic, yet all the money he makes at the dealership goes back into the farm. Works all day in the shop and comes home to work with cattle and/or field work, depending upon the season. Right now it's not too bad, except that it's calving time.
Guess it's in their blood.Sad when you watch a bumper crop just sit their because it wont stop raining.I've seen a few years like that but they just keep plugging along.
ziggy @ Wed Mar 26, 2008 6:17 am
suedem suedem:
So, would anyone here know anything about trucking work?? I would be looking for a contract for a "walking floor"...hauling wood chips, mulch, compost etc.
Used to have the number for Raffins trucking here.They have a steady coal haul from the mines in south east BC to Exshaw near Bannf.Each truck makes 1 trip/day and lately he has been bringing in drivers from saskatchewan because of the shortage.I know they have at least another ten years on the contract.This is not fort mac though,housings a bit cheaper here in the south side of the province.There's also going to be a massive coal slack haul here in the Crowsnest pass this summer as they have a mountain of slag to haul to get canada's biggest mountain resort under way.
ziggy @ Wed Mar 26, 2008 6:29 am
dino_bobba_renno dino_bobba_renno:
ShepherdsDog ShepherdsDog:
Aging_Redneck Aging_Redneck:
probably the best thing to do is work one of those schedules like 3 weeks in, 1 week out. go after training and experience(instead of overtime and money), then find a job in a different part of the country.
A buddy of mine worked the field for about 10 yrs. He was a former firefighter and had a shitload of safety courses. He worked as a rig pig for a few years and eventually ended up a safety boss. He said it was a money trap for him and while he loved the money he hated traveling, the dirt, the hours and the general living conditions, but he couldn't think of a job that would pay him as much as he was making. He eventually quit though and became an environmental officer for the province....less pay, but he now has an office and regular hours.
It's a trade off. You can take a job that payes less but your home all most every night and you have a steady job. One thing people forget is that the field is pretty volital, you can work for 6 months and then sit for 6 months so while the money is good you have to be good at managing it for the slow times. We haven't seen much for slow times lately so I think many of the young guys just piss away what they make assuming it will never end. I learned the hard way a few times over not to do that.
Oh and the mud, I'm an office now but I don't miss that one bit. Eveything I owned had mud on on it when I was in the field but mind you I lived out of a duffle bag and everything I owned was in it.
First thing lots do is push the Alberta redneck sterotype by buying the biggest shiniest loudest diesel they can.
As for the mud and clay,a guy might as well have ten pound weights on each boot.
You give up scrapeing it off after awhile.
suedem @ Wed Mar 26, 2008 6:44 am
So where is this Raffins Trucking Ziggy?? If you can give me the name of the place maybe I can track down a number
Thanks
ziggy @ Wed Mar 26, 2008 7:04 am
suedem suedem:
So where is this Raffins Trucking Ziggy?? If you can give me the name of the place maybe I can track down a number
Thanks
I sent you a PM with his number,give him a call in about an hour or so.
Thanks
Furious @ Sat Jun 28, 2008 3:18 pm
Can someone confirm this for me?
I currently hold a 3rd class steam ticket and am gainfully employed at the local pulp and paper mill on Vancouver Island, BC. I assumed this was a pretty damned good place to live. But our department has lost 10+ guys who are running off to work at Fort McMurray. I think maybe 25+ tradesmen have left the mill as well.
Is MONEY everything?? I have a lovely wife, 2 young kids. WTF am I gonna do with them in Fort Mc???? And nowadays to buy a house there, like what we have here, I'd have to spend $700,000.
Please you guys, tell me I am NOT nuts for staying here on the West Coast for less pay?
Heck by all the articles, you can't hunt or fish in Northern Alberta now anyway due to the tailing pond and other assorted pollutants. Is this true too? cuz I love my hunting and fishing.
mtbr @ Sat Jun 28, 2008 3:21 pm
Contrary to the BS greenpeace as been pushing tailings ponds do not cover all of N Alberta.
DominionLend @ Wed Jul 02, 2008 5:25 pm
I feel that Fort McMurray is by far one of the greatest places to live in Canada. I love the people as you have all walks of life coming to be apart of one of the greatest discoveries in Canada
Furious @ Mon Jul 07, 2008 8:39 am
Really?? I am hearing that the cost of living is thru the roof and that the infrastructure doesn't exist for the amount of people needed to get this 'Great Discovery'.
Are you being sarcastic? Can u throw out some Pros of Fort McMurray please?
Thanks
danikyvor @ Fri Jul 11, 2008 1:13 pm
The not fishing and not hunting is a load of rubbish. The fishing is great up there, as long as you fish upstream Athabasca. The Clearwater has some fantastic fishing spots as well.
But no, I don't think you're crazy for staying out on the west coast. That's where we'll move if we ever do from the UK.
Furious Furious:
Can someone confirm this for me?
I currently hold a 3rd class steam ticket and am gainfully employed at the local pulp and paper mill on Vancouver Island, BC. I assumed this was a pretty damned good place to live. But our department has lost 10+ guys who are running off to work at Fort McMurray. I think maybe 25+ tradesmen have left the mill as well.
Is MONEY everything?? I have a lovely wife, 2 young kids. WTF am I gonna do with them in Fort Mc???? And nowadays to buy a house there, like what we have here, I'd have to spend $700,000.
Please you guys, tell me I am NOT nuts for staying here on the West Coast for less pay?
Heck by all the articles, you can't hunt or fish in Northern Alberta now anyway due to the tailing pond and other assorted pollutants. Is this true too? cuz I love my hunting and fishing.
I currently hold a 3rd class steam ticket and am gainfully employed at the local pulp and paper mill on Vancouver Island, BC. I assumed this was a pretty damned good place to live. But our department has lost 10+ guys who are running off to work at Fort McMurray. I think maybe 25+ tradesmen have left the mill as well.
Is MONEY everything?? I have a lovely wife, 2 young kids. WTF am I gonna do with them in Fort Mc???? And nowadays to buy a house there, like what we have here, I'd have to spend $700,000.
Please you guys, tell me I am NOT nuts for staying here on the West Coast for less pay?
Heck by all the articles, you can't hunt or fish in Northern Alberta now anyway due to the tailing pond and other assorted pollutants. Is this true too? cuz I love my hunting and fishing.
Svartskegg @ Sun Jul 13, 2008 1:20 pm
Furious Furious:
Really?? I am hearing that the cost of living is thru the roof and that the infrastructure doesn't exist for the amount of people needed to get this 'Great Discovery'.
Are you being sarcastic? Can u throw out some Pros of Fort McMurray please?
Thanks
Are you being sarcastic? Can u throw out some Pros of Fort McMurray please?
Thanks
Here are the pros: If you already own property, you can sell and move somewhere else with a big wad in your pocket.
If you like waiting for medical services, then the ER at the only hospital is the place for you. Most local doctors do not take new patients.
I know that everyone will want to live in a 1000 square foot '70's vintage mobile for $250,000.
Daredevils will enjoy the drive to and from Edmonton. Especially on heavy traffic days. There is something strangely thrilling about narrowly avoiding being turned to paste by a logging truck in a blizzard while dodging crackheads doing 200 kmh.
If you need something from the store they'll order it for you.
There's a month's wait to get your vehicle into the shop for most things, so you can feel justified in buying the new monster truck you've always wanted.
The hunting is good, provided you can get far enough out there that there's some game left. The fishing is good, but the Walleye population in the only accessible local lake is collapsed. This will justify your purchase of a V8 powered jet boat to navigate the shallow rivers.
There's more, but I think you've enough to go on.
ziggy @ Sun Jul 13, 2008 2:31 pm
a 1000 sq foot mobile? 
Best to commute then and stay at the camp.Theres bus service now from 12 hours away.
Set it up with a coworker to swap shifts(shift exchange) and you could work 2 weeks and take 2 off.Equipment operators are making a minimum $100,000/year as advertised on the HRDC sites,thats without OT.
danikyvor @ Sun Jul 13, 2008 2:32 pm
Walleye population in a LAKE? What are you on about???????
Svartskegg Svartskegg:
Furious Furious:
Really?? I am hearing that the cost of living is thru the roof and that the infrastructure doesn't exist for the amount of people needed to get this 'Great Discovery'.
Are you being sarcastic? Can u throw out some Pros of Fort McMurray please?
Thanks
Are you being sarcastic? Can u throw out some Pros of Fort McMurray please?
Thanks
Here are the pros: If you already own property, you can sell and move somewhere else with a big wad in your pocket.
If you like waiting for medical services, then the ER at the only hospital is the place for you. Most local doctors do not take new patients.
I know that everyone will want to live in a 1000 square foot '70's vintage mobile for $250,000.
Daredevils will enjoy the drive to and from Edmonton. Especially on heavy traffic days. There is something strangely thrilling about narrowly avoiding being turned to paste by a logging truck in a blizzard while dodging crackheads doing 200 kmh.
If you need something from the store they'll order it for you.
There's a month's wait to get your vehicle into the shop for most things, so you can feel justified in buying the new monster truck you've always wanted.
The hunting is good, provided you can get far enough out there that there's some game left. The fishing is good, but the Walleye population in the only accessible local lake is collapsed. This will justify your purchase of a V8 powered jet boat to navigate the shallow rivers.
There's more, but I think you've enough to go on.