Grande Prairie

I walked into Weyerhaeuser today and there was that familiar pulp mill smell...brought back memories of my time in Mackenzie. Yup it's the very same smell. It almost made Grande Prairie feel like home; not home like Vancouver, but home as in Mackenzie home, something I could identify with.

Grande Prairie is a booming town, and it helps with all the oil patches that are digging up more money out of the ground. A lot of people have moved here because of the job opportunities here, and most of the industrial jobs are fairly high-paying (indeed the numbers have shocked me so far). So far everybody I've met, including the cab driver last night, is from elsewhere; mostly Calgary, Edmonton or Toronto. I wouldn't mind moving here if the chance popped up, although somehow I know this isn't the place for me. Too bad.

People here are a bit different. They lean more towards the town people feel rather than the city feel. It's almost nostalgic working with the people at the mill today...they felt the same as in Mackenzie. I'm sure there are certain politics at the workplace; but on the surface, everybody felt like family. And a huge family at that. Yes I miss some of the people from Mackenzie...and Sparwood. Met quite a few good friends there, whom I've lost touch (yup typical me) , a few "brothers" and a few "dads".

Drove and walked around downtown today since I got off early. Or I mean on time at 5pm...actually 10 minutes before since the other guys had to take off. Weather's perfect; maybe a bit chilly for some people, but I loved it. I can see this town being windy and dusty in the winter, and I probably wouldn't like it then. But the drive from the town limits (I think the sign said "city limits", but Grande Prairie is a town to me. Any place whose downtown spans over less than 8 blocks is a town to me) is quite nice. Nothing scenic really, because the trees are all yellow now. But the drive itself is nice. There's a very steep slope on one side that takes you down to more trees (kinda like driving right along Wreck Beach) and there are no rails, so it's a bit scary. One thing I noticed though is that people seem to obey speed limits here. I'm definitely not used to driving at 70km/hr on what feels like a highway...had to catch myself slowing down so many times. On my way back to town, I just gave up and sped by at 100km/hr...hm...maybe I shouldn't be publishing this online. I wonder if I could get a ticket this way?

Gotta get in at 7am tomorrow. There's still some trouble-shooting and correction to be done to the logic. Then the real game starts. I'm a bit concerned about the change in the logic control loop...and the material quality; but I shall find out!