Wednesday, November 29, 2006
Location: Pincher Creek, Alberta

It’s been a few hard days on the road with temperatures staying steady around –30C or –42C with the wind chill factor. This is not the type of weather you want to encounter when you live in a van, trust me, I know.

After leaving the Bison ranch, I headed down through the towns of Hardisty and Killam. In Hardisty I shot some footage of the Tank Farm, which is the location where all the oil traveling from northern Canada arrives for storage, before heading south into the United States. I’m always a little disappointed in industrial complexes, as they’re always quite ugly and don’t provide much in the way of good photography. In Killam, I captured some footage of the huge grain complex, a replacement of the traditional prairie grain elevators, and a major symbol of industrial agriculture.

Heading south I arrived late in the afternoon in Drumheller, and man o’ man was it ever F%^$ing COLD!!! I parked behind Canadian Tire amongst some serious oil industry trucks: Exxon, Halliburton, and other smaller pipeline outfits. They’re everywhere in Alberta these days… Part of the BOOM cycle. I parked behind Canadian Tire since all the way from the ranch, the van’s charging system had been acting strange, and that evening, after walking Moses, I returned and turning the key found my sweet Veronica DEAD. No juice. This is not what you want at –42C. Luckily, I was able to get a customer leaving Canuck Tire to give me a boost. “This is the third vehicle I’ve given a boost tonight. It’s just too damn cold for cars!” she said. “I appreciate it! And I’m really sorry to hassle you is such awful weather.” I reply. “Haha, no problem, I’m used to it! I’m from Saskatchewan!”

The next morning in leaving Drumheller, I shot some footage of the giant dinosaurs that can be found all around the city. As I stood underneath them, fingers freezing up, I had to smile to myself. You see, here are these dinosaurs, covered in blowing snow, to remind me that the some unfortunate weather can be a serious disaster if you’re not ready for it. Mother Nature is definitely in control.

My van hasn’t been turned off since, except for oil and fuel fill-ups. In Calgary on my way to a CBC News World interview Veronica stalled dead again. Fuel lines starting to freeze due to some water in my diesel. BAD NEWS!!! I called my brother in Vancouver who insisted he could fix it from B.C. with his mental powers. Unimpressed and not laughing, I hung up on him. Sat for a moment, my van half-blocking the road, experiencing a state of pure panic, as the radio had just reported a minimum 12hr wait for tow trucks. I then gave it one more try, and… Ohh what a sweet sound, I was back in business. All my life my brother has been a magical man, and I’m very grateful.

CBC interview seemed to go well, I’m becoming more comfortable with being on live national news, although I never seem to say what I would like to. It’s still mindless babble and unfocused thoughts from my perspective. It’s just too fast for me. I have a small book on media relations in the back of my van, I’ve been meaning to get to it, I will before my next on camera appearance. I will work to become a master of the perfect television sound/videobyte ;-) Hehe

Oh my it’s late and this blog entry is covering sooo much.. I’m tired.

Yesterday, after the interview, I headed down to Lethbridge. Picked up a hitchhiker who was standing on the side of the highway next to his stalled van… good karma. Dropped him off at home and drifted off to sleep listening to my van’s engine hum, parked in a strip mall parking lot. Although I’d prefer to not let my engine run all night, I also really don’t want to freeze to death, and being a diesel, Veronica idles real low. 10hrs of idle/sleeping time costs me $12 in fuel, and for those of you concerned about carbon monoxide poisoning, diesel produces almost no carbon monoxide, and the rear of my van is packed with gear creating an additional exhaust barrier. Oh and then there’s emissions… as much as I’m not happy about my pollution, I figure it’s somewhat balanced out by the fact that I’m not heating an entire house. And this is the paradox to life… we all want to go green, but at the same time we love our creature comforts.

Today, I awoke, walked the dog, interviewed Lethbridge University Professor/Research Scientist James Byrne on the topic of water, his specialty, and then headed off down the road towards Pincher Creek, filming some of the wind farms along the way. As I was driving south, the wind picked up just as the radio began broadcasting severe weather warnings of blowing snow and blizzard conditions for the Crownest and Pincher Creek area.

It’s pretty brutal out there right now, 80-100Km/Hr winds, but I’m parked behind a 24hr gas station, I’ve walked and fed the dog, eaten some dinner and am cozy inside my van writing this entry.

g’night & peace,
d