Keith's Odyssey to Planet Fitness: 12 years in a blur

I just realized a couple days ago that it's been 12 years since I completed Ironman Canada. Holy Doodle! August 30, 2010, or in database speak, 2010-08-30. Which is really the only way to express a date. Don't get me started on XL and American date formats.

I wrote up the experience back then, here's a list of the relevant blogs, if you've arrived late to the party. Even then, I was pretty sure it was going to be one and done. I felt no need to prove that the first time wasn't a fluke. I thought I'd continue doing shorter distances for a while, but it turns out I did only one more, the half distance, then none. I did a few other races, and the last one of those was in 2017. That was a half marathon from Black Diamond to a cinnamon bun, I mean, the Millarville racetrack, while Michelle rode her bike and documented the whole thing. (Hint, the photos document the only time a specific thing happened for me.) If you really want to read about my races, you'll need to look at the blogroll to see the dates, then look back by dates to find the actual blog. I'd be a bit surprised if anyone does.

I was just starting the contracting phase of my so-called career about then. My second stint at Skystone started by their request, there were two more contracts I looked for, then the work started looking for me. Once it hunted me down in New Zealand, and essentially captured me as I got off the plane at home. We arrived home on Friday, chatted to them on Monday, started Tuesday, and on Wednesday they asked for a copy of my resume to have on file. It's good to be in demand.

As a contractor, I only worked at some subsidiary of Enmax, Skystone, Talisman (now Repsol), Penn West (now Obsidian), Altagas, BPD Zenith, then Altagas again. There was a stint at Keyera in there, but they wanted me as a temp employee, not a contractor. Plus some contract photography work for Green Fools. Some days seemed to drag along the way, but looking back the whole thing is a blur now.

Some of my contracting buddies are like that, working a few long term contracts. In some ways they're almost like employees. Others bounce in and out of contracts, mostly to new companies, sometimes back to an old one again. Often you run into the same people again and again. Kevin at Skystone, EOS, and Talisman. Denis at Skystone and EOS. Sean at Skystone and Penn West. Jason at Penn West and Altagas. Andrea at Penn West and Altagas. Patricia and Jennifer at Penn West and Keyera. (Patricia is now at Altagas with Andrea, so I just missed her there, I wonder if she is picking up on my work?) Max and Simon at BPD and Altagas. Gary at Amoco, BP Amoco, and Cenovus via BPD. Todd at Skystone and Cenovus via BPD. Oksana was at Skystone during my second stint but I don't remember actually meeting, then at Green Fools, and Altagas. There's probably more that aren't coming to mind at the moment, and there's almost certainly some that overlapped and I never knew. A company can be a big place, and often I was too hard at it to pay much attention to what else was going on. It was one way of avoiding meetings.

When I was starting my work life I was told to never burn a bridge by pissing off a former employer. You never know if you'll need that company again, or a specific person that was in that company and now gets to decide if you get hired. I did it once, and it felt good, but it wasn't the best idea in the world. For most fields, the world is a fairly small place. Once you start getting up near the top of the pyramid in any field, you'll almost certainly know, or know of the other people in that space. A good reputation is essential.

One of the things I really liked about Skystone was periodic informal morning coffee discussion of who had moved from company A to B or had been promoted, what company was looking for which skills and could we supply a contract body, what person was looking for work and did anyone know anyone that might need them, how so and so made out running their turnaround, who was taking or offering which certification courses, and just generally what was happening in our slice of the oil and gas industry. At one point I knew or knew of almost all the chief inspectors and senior inspectors in the pressure vessel world. Since I was running what came to be known as the second biggest vessel database in the province, I got to be known to them as well. It was no surprise for me to be chatting with the data clerks for the Alberta pressure vessel regulator about data integrity or to my counterparts in other companies because the A&D activity never stopped.

The blog has talked a bit about dialing back on fitness. The long break while in New Zealand was part of it. It's like my arms had forgotten how to swim when I got back, and my legs did not want to run anymore. I got to thinking about all the ways 80+ KPH on a bike could go wrong and decided I didn't want to find out first hand. The road construction near here make being on a bike a much more dangerous proposition.

So now I'm swimming regularly (up to 247.5 K this year so far), and taking the camera for fairly regular walks. I could be doing better. Then again, here I am the age I am, still up and around. Not on any medications, though I'm amused that some people say I need to be sedated to calm me down, and some have hinted I need something stronger than coffee to perk me up. I'd like to think I'm still with it, as they say about some older people, though some might disagree. I made no secret during my last contract that there were some times I felt like the guy on the team that should have retired at the end of the previous season.

What other changes in 12 years? Still married. A few relatives have died, some a surprise, some not. And longer term, I can remember older relatives saying, when I was a small child, that the world was going to hell in a handbasket, or similar sayings. That certainly is still true in many ways, but people have been saying that forever. But if you only look at the downside, yeah, the world is a terrible place, getting worse hourly.

Maybe stop paying as much attention to the bad news. In lots of ways, the people directly involved with the bad news can take care of it, and if they can't, and think you can help, they'll come ask. In the mean time, as I like to say, stand out of the way of people being productive. Stop giving the bad actors attention.

More importantly, get involved in making some good news. It doesn't have to get reported on CBC or CNN, just make the world a better place for those around you. Not just your family and friends, but also the stranger in the parking lot that's having a tough time getting out of that spot. Give them a minute. Put your own garbage in the trash can, and pick up some garbage during your walk. Don't be THAT guy in traffic, weaving in and out trying to get ahead, or ignoring the pedestrian trying to cross. Volunteer for an organization that's looking for help, and pretty well all of them are. If you're minded to donate to the food bank, give them money, not some old can of what might still be food you found in the basement. Mind your own business, but don't be so obnoxious about it that it screws up other people.

TV shows and movies show us millions of ways to be cruel to each other. Turn that off. That's why I couldn't watch Game of Thrones, and I had such high hopes for it. I forget who the author is, but a character in a book once asked, 'why is it so many people know so many torture methods, and are all too willing to use them, and so few know how to give a good foot rub and fewer actually do it.'

I've been struggling to find a photo to go along with today's blog, so you get Michelle, BRBE! Meeting her late in 2013 kind of got me back on the exercise bandwagon, after having fallen off after Ironman. We ran hundreds of kilometres together, all over Calgary. We did long bike rides out in the boonies. We spent lots of time in the Repsol pool and hot tub. We supported each other at races. She is a huge part of why the last 12 years is a blur of fun times.