Yes, Virginia, There is a Santa Claus...and other Miracles

"The Gang"

June 14, 2005
Today was a success! 14 cubic meters delivered to the job on time. Was heated to 68 degrees F. The Russians/Canadians poured all the piers perfectly under the watchful eyes of the head of Bema Gold. (www.bema.com) Yes, a surprise visit from the big wigs and everything worked as it was supposed to. Will miracles never cease?

The next miracle will be clear sky’s for Thursday. Today (Tuesday here) the weather went south in a hurry. 30degrees, windy, wet fog, (or maybe we were just in a cloud) but everyone froze. If the weather is bad here or at the landing site in Kempervee, the flight can not leave and we are held a week. Pray for clear skies.

Today we took photos of the gang but in trying to clean up to get back to camp in a hurry, I forgot the camera on the hill. I’ll take more photos tomorrow and load Beth with pictures. Her choice as to what to post. (side note from W-OF-N: I'm not posting the naked ones, Nanook!)

After spending a month with a lot of the guys from Canada, Portugal, US and "the French Canadians" as they prefer to be called, there are several themes that keep re-appearing. The obvious one is the Adventure Junkie: going to and seeing new places and accomplishing things a lot of us in our wildest dreams would never think of doing. The second is the Get Out of Jail Quick Person: there have been 4 people through here that have or still own their own business. Things have gotten tight or they are living on the edge of bankruptcy, so in several months, they can make enough to pay off or help their business. The last is the Casual Worker: Work for half a year and take off the other half to hunt and fish until their wife or girlfriend kicks them out again.

No matter which category they fall in, I have never met a group of individuals that are as well qualified, hard working and great to be around as these people, and I feel privileged to have been part of this.

My next big worry, the Passport. Where is it and will they return it?
Stay tuned.
Nanook