Job CANCELLED ! Received confirmation of plane tickets then received a call shortly after to inform the project had been shutdown by the client. The oil rig was required by insurer to have soil and bedrock samples if it was to jack up the legs in port. Decision was made to move the rig to another port somewhere else in the world to have work completed in a certified port. Thus, end of my employers contract and end of my story for now.

Medical Preparations Day

Up at 4:30am to take oldest son to the airport for his snowboarding/extended family time vacation in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. I bought him the plane ticket for Christmas which he was extremely pumped to cash in on today. He never slept all night. When I texted him at 4:30 to see if he was up I was informed he hadn't been to bed and was currently enjoying grilled cheese sandwiches. Kids....

I squeezed into an early appointment for my CAPP ( Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers ) offshore medical tests. Testing normally take 75 minutes but ran over 120 due to a few hiccups with tests. Always an issue stabbing my veins for blood collection and today was no exception, delay one. Blood pressure A1,  109 over 60. Pulse 54, EKG perfect, hearing loss noted on high end probably due to industrial noise loss from early years in the business. Blood in Urine....delay number two. Doctor had to write a informational letter for my home doctor regarding path forward. X-rays for kidney stones was his immediate concern for working offshore. If a flare up was to occur without immediate medical help it could be an issue. Thus offshore medical fitness for duty to work was only approved for a 3 month period until X-ray results are in. If found good then it will be extended for 2 years. Yellow Fever vaccination nurse was home sick, delay number three. Can't leave without it so it was a scramble to find another spot that had opening for vaccine on short notice. We did, in Halifax later in day. 10 years the shots are good for and I believe I had one 6 years back from a short trip to Nigeria. I scooted home and tore through old files to find my immunisation records and as luck would have it delay number three was no more.

Due to the length of CAPP medical I missed my GP doctor appointment which I required for Malarone ( Malaria Pills ) prescription. Luckily they could rebook me for later in day. My doctor also sorted arrangements for follow up X-ray and further blood and urine tests. If I don't fly tomorrow ( still waiting for ticket ) I can get all recommendations completed tomorrow . 

Just off the phone from client. Tickets will be booked tomorrow for Thursday, Friday or Saturday. So bright and early to hospital to finish follow up tests, good news bad news there. Andddddd they requested my son join me as we just lost one team member. What's the chances of that ! I just put him on a plane this morning to Vancouver, crap !

Time to call around and see if I can find a quality Level one or two rope access technician to fill a now open spot.

The scramble to get ready

Well Wednesday is fly day.......maybe. Still no plane ticket as we await my visa status in Cameroon. Apparently an easy country to obtain a work visa. Send scanned copy of passport,pay money, get visa. So it's hurry up and wait now. 

Busy days of preparations,tidy up loose ends at home and sort proper footwear and clothing for work environment that remains a tad unknown for certain. Today was my birthday which zipped by in a heartbeat. Took my mother to hospital today for a cath test which is a dye test for the heart. Test came back good news as no blockages were found. Still mystery as to why the pains in chest. Echogram is next step. 

Finally finished packing today last hurdle is offshore medical tests in morning followed with yellow fever shot. From there I have yet another doctors appointment for Malaria pills. Then wait for ticket confirmation. The U.S company I'm working for confirmed another local climber who is also a great certified welder to join the team. Will be nice to have another hometown technician on site. 

Had a nice evening with the wife and 4 kids over birthday pizzas and cheesecake. Nice to be home with everyone and not on the road as so many other birthdays have been spent.

 Best get some sleep as I have to be up 4:30 am to drive my son to the airport for his snowboarding trip to Vancouver. Following day even earlier to take my wife and youngest son the airport for Florida trip I had to cancel for work.

The Beginning

After 18 years of working in the rope access industry throughout the North American market my career path hit a wall that turned into a mere speed bump. I've had a U.S work visa for 15 years while living in Canada as a Canadian citizen while raising a family of 4 with my wife Karen. While attempting to renew yet another U.S work visa , my 6th, 2 weeks back it was my misfortune to run into an Immigration Officer having a bad day or perhaps a bad life judging her demeanour. Thus my normal career path was temporarily derailed, time to regroup. With the majority of my clients in the U.S and my 2013 work schedule now debunked it was time to put together a resume and seek new challenges.

Fifteen minutes. Fifteen minutes after I finished my résumé and emailed it to a potential employer whom has projects all over the world. I was contacted for a project they claimed  perfect for me. Limbe Cameroon, where the #%*~# is that ? I was applying  to be part of a small rope access team as a climber grunt, apparently I'm over qualified for that position. Instead I will be running a 24 man rope access team of welders and inspectors working on a 3 legged jack-up rig docked in port at present in the aforementioned Limbe Cameroon.

Fly day is Wednesday lots of preparations to do before then. I will keep family and friends and anyone interested in this new adventure via my first blog. Manny Williams always tells me I should create a blog site so Manny here it is.

Let the games begins.