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