Dave...this is for you - yes he's really working up there - it's not all just fun.

This will be the location of the Kupol airport and runway, once they can start making concrete - the main reason our guys are there. I hear they are looking for ticket agents, ramp agents and "Green Paper" specialists...

The equipment is up and running now and we will complete the batch plant as far as we can go tomorrow. Since we have run out of work, we will start running the water lines to the plant.
They also have some other equipment that is broken, so we volunteered to repair it to keep from getting bored. We have no idea when they will get us personnel to train.

It was hot here today - almost 50 degrees and bugs came out. The mosquitos are HUGE. Got to go to bed, trying to get everything in and there is only 24 hrs to do it.

I (edited for content by Wife of Nanook) and miss you.
Nanook

After Work Adventures

Now that you asked, plungers must have been on the spare parts list too!!!. Sorry to hear about your daughter's toes but now you don't have to worry about toe rings, (well on that foot anyway) .
Randy took us for another walk - it was a hoot. Very long and our asses were dragging, but it was beautiful and takes ones mind off of things. Makes you think about how some troubles may not be as bad as we might think...
Seeing as you mentioned the gestapo, it’s actually the KGB shhhh! I was talking to some of our new friends and while I was showing some pictures that Kristin had given me to show them, Alex or Sasha or whatever alias he is going by, is writing a report on me for committee. So I told him I am going incognito because I am scared of KGB. He said everyone is afraid, and I told him that's why I am. If no one is scared of them I would have no reason... Well, it was funny to me...
best regards shubornik
P.S. Here are some pics. 1st one is a wild russian chicken - well it was a good thing we ate before we left. The next one we had walked across what we thought was an innocent pile of snow but turned out to be the snowbank from hell... the snow was crusted over and when we got to what seemed the deepest part we broke through. Up to our ass one leg and our knees in our noses with the other leg. It’s one of those kodak moments where you wished you had a recorder. We laughed our wet asses off for near 15 minutes. Coming soon to a theater near you: "Snowbanks From Hell – Just When You Thought it was Safe to Go Back in the Snow". This will be shown as a double feature starring the biggest damn mosquitoes you ever seen, they hatch right out of the snow... at first we thought it was the chopper but they had landing lights and when they flew past you could see the numbers on their sides. They were so big we found bones and they scared Randy so bad he had a nightmare aboot them carrying him off (he is canadian).

A resurrected Shubornik at a shrine at the top of Kupol. Really.

One of the 3 mile hikes after work. Apparently Shubornik and Nanook don't get enough exercise during the day...

Snowbanks from hell...

Notes from Shubornik...

Hey, thought you would like these photos- I’m a regular Allen Funt, aye? First photo is from the "man lift", and oh, by the way, the helmet he stole. The second is Terry climbing Kupol rock. I will let him tell that story. Third photo is he at the bottom of the rock and I at the top. The next one is Randy and Terry with Kupol rock in the background. And last (literally), but not least Randy and Terry about 3 photos before my camera died. We are treated very well, but they think I am Canadian and that Randy and I are brothers. You know how all us Americans look the same…HA HA. We miss all the amenities that we as Americans take for granted. Some of these people work here for months and although it might seem intolerable, it is all some of these people have to look forward to. These people are not as different as some might want you to think. The only difference is what they and we deem important.
We miss you all and hope to be home soon. (loosely translated: before our visas expire!)
Larry, a/k/a Shubornik
P.S. Russian word for today is van toos’. (emphasis on the toos’, which from what I understand is the same in Russian (go figure) for plunger…I really hope nobody hears THIS story..!

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Memorial Day Parade - Milwaukee, WI - Lamster Neuman Post 2787. Remembering those who paid the ultimate price fighting for the freedoms we enjoy today.

Fathers and Sons...

May 28th
Hey dad,
Hope you're havin' fun! I know I am - got a good suntan going, relaxing on my 3 day weekend - just got done mowing your lawn for Beth (she trimmed) and we enjoyed a Corona (with lime!) on the deck. How's your 3 day weekend going - are you having a barbeque, too?
Beth is typing this for me on her computer and I'm reading the Blog on your computer. What does Larry have in his hand on that one picture (the thing that looks like an orange)?
Work is fine, long hours and lots of lifting. Granted, not as many hours as YOU put in. I'm jealous of your view. I like your hardhat, too. Where did you get it?
Well - back to your blog. Can't dictate and read at the same time, you know.
Love you,
Rusty

Reply:

Russ,
A Corona would be great. After work, back in the tent everyone places their order for drinks and imagines a nice easy chair. Then it’s back to reality.
Sasha, the Russian electrician took and apple and carved a likeness of Larry in it. Sasha and Larry have become good friends and the people here have nothing, so for Sasha to make this for Larry is a great honor. The hard hat I have, was in the truck that took me to the jobsite the first day, Roy looked at me and gave it to me with orders to return it to him when I leave…I promised it to Sasha. (What are they going to do fire me???)
What’s a weekend? We work straight through--10 hrs per day, but it helps the time go by.
As for the views the pictures don’t do it justice.
See you guys in a few weeks.

Terry and the chopper they flew in on.

Siberian Buddies

Food looks pretty good - don't see any antlers sticking out of it....

Talk about a job site with a view!

May 26, 2005
Today felt strange heading off to work. We said good-by to our new friends and wished them a safe trip. When you spend 24 hrs a day with them everyone opens up with family stories. I think it’s partly from loneliness and part the need to share. But you seem to bond very quickly. At 9:00 am there is a debriefing for them and another search of your luggage for rocks. If you’re found with rocks you miss the flight, they run the material thru the lab and if any gold is found its 3 years in prison for stealing. Needless to say no gifts from here…sorry.
Several nights ago I caught one of the managers with a beer. There seems to be a black market that I’m just learning about, booze may be in our future. I’ll keep you informed.
We are told they had a beer tent until several people died brewing grain alcohol and got the mix wrong. One (in this case two) people seem to spoil it for everyone.
It’s amazing how 500 - 600 feet in elevation can make such a difference in climate. Today on the hill it was 30 degrees with 80 percent humidity (we were in the clouds). Not too bad, but the wind came up and maintained 20 mph. Larry and I were in an man-lift for several hours replacing the cement silo full indicator. This job would normally take 20 minutes but you can’t imagine the wind on bare skin.
I will make it my personal mission to find the person who developed miniature screws and decided to use several different styles in the same control box, and hunt him down. Not only that, but those of us with maturity on our side have a hard time seeing these cotton picking little screws with bi-focals.
Thanks for putting up with my little tirade.
We have decided to make some changes to our equipment to make it more user friendly. Trying to interpret information to people who have never seen equipment like this is an art form and one that I’m not equipped for. I will simplify to the point of pushing switch 1 then 2 then 3 to start the equipment and reverse that to shut down. (Boy am I starting to sound like a crotchety old man), first the screws then the interpreter…must be the cold.
Now that I read this it’s more of a collection of random thoughts or I’m just too tired to think. It’s snowing outside and the snow is going horizontal, makes for a great day tomorrow.
Good night.

Flower growing near edge of cliff.

May 25 2005
It’s hard to keep track of the days when the sun never sets and you work the weekends.
The weather has been foggy and flights in and out have been cancelled but today was Terry’s day to almost cancel the flight. This story starts back several letters ago when in Nome Alaska we were asked to transport boxes for BEMA into Russia as our own luggage. If you remember I was proud of myself for refusing to do this, I thought. Today a very large and important looking Russian came to our work site looking for me, handed me a paper to sign stating I was accepting responsibility for the 2 boxes left behind in Anadyr. He was talking to me a mile a minute and I’m sure I had a blank stare on my face as he went looking for Olga the translator.
Olga explained that someone needed to sign the paper for them to release the turbochargers, and somehow my name was on the paper in both English and Russian. It was only a release form…so I signed it. Next the large Russian started shouting at me to turn over the "Green Paper" with the help of the interpreter. I told them I did not have the "Green Paper" on me. At this point both of them said, "you MUST have the "Green Paper!", with a shocked expression like I had just broken the #1 rule of Russia…ALWAYS CARRY YOUR PAPERS.
Ok, a little panic set in and I asked for back-up. Olga got Larry and we both tried to tell them we have no GREEN PAPERS. The Russian got on his radio and next we both are asked to enter his truck and drive to the main office. At the main office there are 2 men in uniform (later, I found out they were the pilots) and the women in charge, again asking for the "Green Papers".
Larry and I both told them that we had nothing to do with this and that a kid named Cutter spoke with the officials and Bema’s agent. The women asked "what kind of name is Cutter???" In unison Larry and I said we didn’t know that’s what people call him. "Can we find him?" were the next words out of her mouth. We told her he worked as a surveyor and was in the field. They handed me a radio and told me to contact him.
In my best radio voice I took the radio and said "Whyle" (Cutters boss) do you or Cutter have the GREEN PAPERS???" Now this is broadcast thru 20 other radios and on top of that the BIG Russian pointed to the different buttons to help me operate a radio I have used thousands of time before. There was radio silence where minute before everyone was babbling, I asked again and Whyle and Cutter answered that they would be right down. At this point I felt a little more relaxed since it was Whyle who asked us to transport the items.
Yes these two had the paper and all ended well. The paper turned out to be a receipt necessary to retrieve the parts. The urgency was the helicopter was waiting for the signed paper and "GREEN PAPERS".
Why me?
In the camp on several pieces of paper we are referred to as Terrance Fellabaum and the other guy. On the drive back to the job site Larry said he was no longer offended to be the other guy for once.
Just a short note, my equipment started up and ran today. Tomorrow I will fine tune it. The batch plant is ready to run except for the replacement starter. Then we wait for the Russian operator so we can train him. He should be in camp in several days. We will stay to batch concrete then we are out of here. Maybe a week or a little longer, bad thing is only one flight per week out of here.
Love ya.

Equipment with a view

May 25th
No daily musings from Nanook today. Every morning, when I wake up, I dash off to my computer in anticipation of reading all the e-mails from him. (side note: if I wake up in the middle of the night, I’m sorely tempted to go read my e-mails, cuz I know they come in about 3am from him. But I talk myself into saving the excitement for the morning!)
When I got up this morning to check my them, his "daily musings" e-mail was blank! But the next one I received from him said that he tried to call last night but the phones were out, so he’d try today. Just got off the phone with him – it was 630am Nanook time, and 12:30pm our time.
He said it’s cold and damp, with the winds blowing about 20 miles an hour. Last night he didn’t have the energy for a shower. When the permafrost starts to thaw, the moisture gets into the air and it’s pretty miserable. Add snow and the wind chill to that and I can see where misery might creep in.
They’re still waiting for the parts from the US, which won’t arrive until June 2nd. He said without their own tools and parts, they spend a lot of the day wandering around the camp looking for some to fit their needs. Most of the crew that was working with them left yesterday, so it’s pretty much just the 2 of them working on their equipment.
I think the novelty is starting to wear off for them, and the reality of being there for 3 more weeks is setting in. I miss him a lot, (as does our lawn – I’m sure the neighbors get a hoot out of watching me try to use the lawn tractor!) but at least we’re enjoying weather in the 60’s with no permafrost or snow to cloud our days. His e-mails and sporadic calls are a blessing to me. I miss his big blue eyes, his bear-hugs, and working on finishing the lower level with him. (okay – I lied – I don’t miss the drywalling at ALL!)
Just miss knockin’ around the house with him. Keep your chin up, Nanook, and know that everyone is sending you warm wishes.

May 24 2005
Hit the doze button on the alarm and rolled over - not a good thing to do. 40 minutes later we were scrambling to put layers on. Walked outside and thought it was foggy out. No - we’re at 2500 feet and in the clouds. Cold is one thing damp and cold is another.
Breakfast was fast not sure if I tasted anything. Ran out to catch the truck and no truck. It seems that our driver Randy also overslept. Everyone said the same thing: that it was just hard to get going today.
Olga, Dan and Lyle ship out in another day and have not one care about serious work. So it was another day of story telling and laughter, it really helped, considering the weather.
We had to sweep a light dusting of snow off of the equipment to work on some items, and several hours later it melted. The parts we ordered from the USA have arrived in Milwaukee with the exception of one part, due in tomorrow. Now we are waiting for shipping instruction and a PO for several of the items.
Around 3:00 the last connection was made on my equipment and we started testing. As always, there are glitches but nothing major as of yet.
The big news of the day is that the bathrooms are working on top of the hill. The bathrooms are much nicer than at camp, might have to alter my habits a little.
Managed a shower tonight - might have to stretch these out a little farther, as the showers are gross. Wood floors that are never dry, no benches to sit on to undress. It’s the old balancing act to undress and dressing without dipping your clothes into a puddle and as you know putting clothes on while wet is a sticky problem. Then there is the long walk home with wet hair…sorry mom.
Another week or so I’ll have this down pat.
Take care.

Here are our "Wisconsin" boys - lookin' a little scruffy!

They are living in the 16 man gray tents in the back. I think the tents in the front are the shower/bathroom tents.

May 23, 2005
Nothing worse than waking up to wind whistling thru the flaps of your tent and Randy (the construction foreman) shouting "dress warm it’s going to be a bear out there". The mood was set for the day.
The ticket counter at the airport weighed my bag that had my winter clothes in it and the magic number was 43 pounds. Now the only thing that was double in there is the long underwear and socks. I’m guessing I had 30 pounds of insulated clothing on, …and yes… I was the kid lying on my back in the snow pile asking for help up.
The bad part is that once dressed and out of the tent you’re dressed for the day. One last check to make sure everything you need for the day is with you, then into the cold and wind. The cold hits you and yes now you have to go to the bathroom. I now completely understand why there are only 4 urinals for a camp of 280 people. You can’t get thru 4 layers of clothing in time. Enough about the bathroom issues, although I will touch on it later, but not about me, thank heavens.
Eating in a room they keep at 80 degrees, with full dress winter clothing is miserable so now there are two strikes against the day. What else? Calls to our family to surprise them was a treat, we miss them.
Larry, our truck mates and I head up the hill to work. The wind up there is worse. The equipment fought us all day. Parts failed time and time again, and we were up against a clock. They are preparing an oil tank farm and need concrete ASAP. The mixer motor has been an issue for several days. Today we blew up the device that starts it - can not be repaired. We got people out of bed in Wisconsin to overnight parts but it sounds as if overnight delivery to Kupol, Siberia is between 7 – 10 days.
At this point I feel the need to tell you about the trip to the main communications tent to disturb our friends in Wisconsin. Our friend Roy, the 72 year old, gave us a ride to the tent, but on the way we discussed the problems with the bathrooms here, such as when you sit down your knees are inches from the plywood door and with all the clothing it’s hard to reach down to retrieve your pants without hitting your head or butt or some part of your body into something. At this point Roy pipes up to tell his bathroom story that happened today. (I’m sitting here with the computer on my lap laughing so hard I can’t hit the right keys) On his ride to the hill he thought he needed to pass gas and got "more than he bargained for". This proper English speaking gentleman was just so nonchalant about what happened and Larry and I were rolling on the floor. He has a British type humor that continued to keep us in tears the rest of the day.
Sorry about the sidebar but it set the tone for the rest of the day, as things got worse the stories from the people around us just got funnier.
Back to the day.
Since we couldn’t work on the mixer anymore, on to adjust the conveyor belts. Everything was looking good until one of the other workers came running to inform us the tail pulley just fell out of the bearings. Larry and I were able to repair this problem with a few choice words and brut strength. Next we found the weighing system that’s 20 feet in the air installed wrong. With 20 -30 mph winds we spent the rest of the day trying to work up there.
Works boring and sucked today, I need to talk about or truck mates.
These people help to keep each other sane with stories from all over the world. Olga is our translator, 21 yrs old and leaves us in two day to return home. She took the job thinking it was a job in an office and for the last month she has froze but never complains. When she returns she studies for her finals and the family takes a vacation to Moscow, St. Peters and other places. She is from Magadan, Siberia.
Randy is from somewhere in Canada, and has worked all over for mining operations. He came here for the adventure more than the money. He is in his late 50’s and he has a story regarding drinking and a bear at their base camp dump. All they wanted to do is scare it off using horns and other noise makers that didn’t work. The next night - more booze, and this time a home made acetylene bomb in a garbage bag that the bear got tangled up in and didn’t explode. That’s when the drinking took over and the guy in charge of the dump crawled on his hands and knees to reset the bomb that was attached to the bear. It finally exploded but the bear came back the next night. Should I say more booze and a 55 gallon drum filled with food for the bear the next night, but this time it had a primer wire used to detonate TNT wrapped around the 55 gallon barrel set to explode when moved. No bear that night until about 4:00 in the morning the camp woke up to the explosion and found only the barrel with the shape of a bear head impressed into it. The next day they shot the deaf bear.
Dan is our electrician from Canada but works where ver a job is. I think Mongolia is the next job he’s taking. His last project was in Trinidad where he met his wife. They live between Canada and her home. He leaves in 2 days and we will miss him.
Then there is Stacy who is a skinny, squirrelly over energetic guy who operates the heavy equipment and is currently building a ramp for us to fill the bins. Last summer he and his brother volunteered to build the base to a monument for the small town he lived in. The town was assembling a time capsule and after a few adult drinks decided to install their own. In the time capsule they put Twinkies, Hustler magazine, other items of zero interest and a Kodak camera filled with pictures that they hope they are dead before the capsule is opened.
There is Sasha, our Russian electrician that knows enough English to butcher everything he says. He is so animated that everyone has tears in there eyes from his stories. When he gets mad at me he calls me a Slovakian.
There are more stories about Roy and his stinky kid:
The suspenders that he was standing on in the bathroom stall while he was trying to pull his pants up and couldn’t until he moved his foot. The suspenders snapped him in the "junk" (Rusty’s word not mine).
This group of people sure helps make the time go fast and I look forward to coming home. 11:00 pm and I need some sleep. The cold is draining and everything takes twice as long.
See ya.

May 22, 2005
Woke Larry up this morning and the first words he said "Do we work Sat and Sun?" I couldn’t remember. We got dressed walked to breakfast and during breakfast we were told there would be a safety meeting Sunday at 7:00 AM. It was 6:15 at that time and we started to leave when a friend said we should stay for the meeting and that’s when we realized we had worked thru the weekend.
Safety meeting was held in Russian with an interrupter for the Americans and Canadians. In the meeting they discuss driving, clothing, eyewear and gloves so your hands do not stick to the metal. The buddy system was the big topic - watching after each other. There is a suggestion box and each item is read aloud. Someone suggested moving the women’s tent closer to the men’s tent because of the dangers of sneaking around. The safety director scolded us all for that one.
Snowed a little over night but not too bad maybe 1 inch just enough to blanket everything. By noon today we had the equipment wired and ready to start testing. We powered up and all was OK. Then the fuse blue, "no problem just get another one" - this from the Russian electrian, Sergio. That’s when I discovered most the spare parts missing. Time to improvise and we were up and running again. Next we had to check the rotation of the motors…the largest motor starter on my system blew up. Again, no parts. Wandering around some of the abandoned equipment, I found a piece that would work. I hope they don’t need it. Finally all the systems checked out and with any luck I will start equipment tomorrow.
The main concrete batch plant has a bigger problem. When we went to start the main mixer motor it pulled so much power it shut down the generator. Again no spare motor or repair parts. Try again tomorrow.
Hygiene tonight: walked to the showers and have it from several reliable sources the tent #1 has the best showers. I carry everything in, hang up my towel, get undressed and turn on the water…only cold water. I look over, only to see the hot water tank in pieces, get dressed gather my belongings and head to tent #2. This time other people are showering so I’m pretty confident at this point. Again undress and just as I step into the shower I realize my towel is in tent #1. Dilemma, continue with the shower or retrieve the towel, you guessed it, go get the towel. No matter what, it sure felt good to take a shower and feel the heat.
Time to play a few games of Spider and listen to Jimmy Buffet songs.
Try again tomorrow

21 May 2005
Great start to the day, good night sleep, fresh air and breakfast. The food is very good. For breakfast you have a choice of brown eggs, sausage, French toast, pancakes, pastries, coffee, tea, juice, milk and cereal. Stay away from the coffee/tea due to the theory of one cup in equals an unlimited amount out.
Now that may sound funny but the following is a typical dress code:
Insulated socks, sock liner, and insulated boots. Underwear, long underwear, pants and insulated work coveralls. Tee shirt, insulated shirt, long sleeved shirt, hooded sweat shirt, insulated vest, and coat. Jimmy Buffet hat, insulated head shield, (only eyes show when the wind blows other wise it keeps the neck warm) hood over all that and a hard hat. Back to my point watch what you eat and drink!!
Tomorrow is supposed to be colder I will add a second pair of long underwear and a second head shield.
Today the weather changed again from bearable to ooohhhh shit. In a matter of an hour big temperature drop with wind then snow - not quite a white out but close. The men I work with have been here almost 3 months and have endured 60 to 100 below weather. They are extremely good, hard working men. They are married with families, and travel to where the jobs are . $40 – 70 dollars per hour for the starters more for the experienced, I feel privileged to have them consider me one of them. I expected them to be roughneck type but instead talking to them they live in very good homes. One has a plane (he flies), another has a home in Canada and a condo in Thailand where on a job he met his wife.
The people here are from every corner of the world. When I asked if they would go to Iraq to work almost everyone said yes. Same answer from all, they fell the odds are in their favor and the money is great.
Not much else to write about, there having cookies at nine tonight but it’s too cold. In fact I decided my hygiene level will hit new lows, no shower, just can’t picture throwing all the clothes on, maybe tomorrow.
With any luck we may start testing some of the equipment tomorrow after noon but I spoke with the construction manager and the weather is supposed to go down hill the next 5 days, and work seem to slow down he said. DUH!
Stay tuned.

Here is is trying on his "artic wear" (thanks, Al for the hat), the night of his going away party.

What's he doing in Siberia???

This blog is intended as a journal of one of my husband's many adventures. (I should clarify... it's about one of his many adventures; not one of my many husbands!!! - he's the only one I have.)

He is on a month long trip to install an aggregate heating system in Kupol, which is located in the Far Eastern federation of Russia, in the Chukotka Region. Kupol is a dormant volcano. They live in a tent city - the nearest real city is Bilibino - about 100 miles away.

(For those novices in who wonder what an aggregate heating systems is....here you go:
It is a heating system which allows the aggregate compounds (sand, gravel, etc. ) to be heated to a point where it can be used to make concrete. In colder climates (I think this qualifies!) the aggregate freezes and concrete cannot be manufactured. As part of the
ontract on this project, he agreed to install the system. Hence his trip to the artic circle.)

He left the good ol' USA on May 17th, 2005. He will return on June 18th. 30 days without his toes to keep me warm. He has e-mail access and has started sending updates on his adventure. I'll post them as often as I can!