Super Shannon Falls Flat on Her Face

Hmmmm, I was doing so well. Being so productive. I was getting so much done and feeling so good about myself. And then utter and complete bad luck/stupidness/ditziness. Why did I have to have such a failure of a weekend!? Okay, perhaps a bit over dramatic. Here is what happened:

I had my first high risk asbestos abatement job for a certain company that we do a lot of work for this past weekend. It was in a little town just over 2 hours (in normal driving conditions) away. Now, something always manages to go wrong on these jobs. Trust me on that. Even when it seems like a small easy project that should run completely smoothly, either I or someone else screw up or something completely unpredictable goes wrong. So keep that in mind. Side note: I was once discussing jobs for the certain company with a friend and I was listing all the things I was worried that might go wrong on the next one. She told me to stop being such a pessimist. I had to think about that for awhile because I certainly don't want to be known as a pessimist. But at this job, the better your skills of pessimism, the better you are at your job. Because like I said, something always goes wrong. The more things you can imagine going wrong, the more you will be able to plan for.

So anyway, as fore-mentioned, this was my first high risk asbestos abatement. High risk asbestos abatements could also be called "summon all possible powers of anal-retentiveness" asbestos abatements. Here is a little rundown of what I mean. We had to remove asbestos-containing insulation from some exhaust ducting from a boiler. There was not much of it and once the contractor actually started removing, it took 2 guys about an hour. However, it took 3 guys 12 hours to set up. They must put up air tight barriers so that nothing can get out of the removal area. They must construct three air-lock-type clean rooms that they have to walk through when leaving the removal area. It is kind of like in the movies when people are decontaminating from virus research - except not quite that sophisticated. They wore full hazmat suits (the big white ones) and full powered face masks. The had to shower (in the shower that they set up) in the second clean room before leaving the removal area. Plus I did 4 hours of air monitoring before they started. Plus I did air monitoring all over the place while they were working. Plus, when they finished the removal, we had to leave it for 8 hours then I had to do 4 more hours of air monitoring before they could finally remove all the stuff that they had set up. Overkill - sometimes it feels like it to be honest. But that is the nature of the job and what is required to keep everybody safe.

So get this: They had finished the removal and it was time to let everything sit overnight. And up to this point IT HAD GONE FANTASTICALLY. What? Nothing wrong yet? This was unfathomable. Yet there I was in this little town away from home and all that stood between me and being home in time for a late lunch the next day, was some clearance air monitoring and the contractor's cleaning up. The productiveness I had planned for the next day! Even my well trained pessimisstic side could not come up with anything that could cause me trouble. Oh how much I still need to learn.

I awoke the next morning at 6am to start my clearance air monitoring. I was expecting the contractor to arrive around 11 so I wanted to make sure I did not hold them up. When I returned to the hotel to pack up (after turning on my pumps), I flipped to the weather channel (my guilty pleasure). My smile froze and slowly started to fall until my jaw was in an open position of unbelief. Instead of the snazzy local forecast, there was a red meterlogical alert. Guess where my little town was, right in the middle of the "getting 15-20 cm of snow, travel not recommended" zone. The contractor called about an hour later and said he would be awhile. So much for that Kraft Dinner at home that had my name all over it (Sundays I take a break from healthy eating and enjoy whatever tempts me most - I sort of take that break on Fridays too. And once in awhile on Saturdays...). So I am stuck waiting for this guy.

Still hoping that I might get to make it home for a late supper, I check out of my hotel room and go wait at the building where we had been working. Now let me just say that we had had to shut off the boiler while we were working on it and it was beginning to get a tad chilly in this building. So he finally gets there at 5:00pm (so really I did not have to wake before the sun to get my sampling done - although on the bright side, the samples were fine and everything had passed) and says he will be about a half an hour. That means, of course that he finishes at around 7:00pm. It is still snowing, dark and the roads are not supposed to be good. I decide maybe I should stay the night. The bright side, the hotel has a hot tub and I brought my bathing suit. Warmed by thoughts of this evening plan, I cheer up, thank the contractor for all of his hard work and close the back door he is leaving through. But what is this? Something is not right. The key is not turning right. I look down and I am holding the head of the key in my hand. The rest of it is STILL IN THE DOOR!!!!! The key actually broke in half. And of course it was before the door locked. "This is just the type of thing to help refine my sense of pessimissm" I say as I try to look on the bright side. "Think of it as a professional development seminar".

Of course this means I have to stay there until a locksmith can be found (ironically they tell me he is going to have to come from Saskatoon - exactly where I am trying to get to). With the bad roads, I could be there for awhile. I have not eaten supper. I have no place booked to sleep. And I have nothing to do in a very cold building. While pessimism reigns, optimism is not dead! They find a locksmith much closer to small town! Hooray! With road conditions and such he only takes about an hour and a half to get there and about an hour and a half to fix the door. I can finally go to the hotel, which is heated, and sleep. Alas the hot tub is closed but oh well.

So I awake Monday morning. Gonna take it easy on my way home. The job is done for goodness sake, optimism may return in full force. Like I said, I do not want to be a pessimistic person in normal life - just on the job where it is required. I stop to return the DVD that I had rented the night before. And I did something that until 6 months ago I had never done. I locked my keys in my running car outside the video store. I was simply putting the dvd into the drop slot. The store was not even open. My habit of locking the door as I get out of the car without realizing it took over. Sinking dread. Roads suck - tow trucks will be busy. Crap.

I phone the roadside assisstance people and start crying as she tells me it will be a 90 minute wait. I admit - I broke down - I had not eaten anything yet that day (breakfast was of course in the car on the passenger seat) and there was a guy in a CAT trying to clear the parking lot. Plus I was going to be royally late for work. I just wanted to get home and return to being Super Productive Shannon! It had been going so well. But I sat there crying and scaring the lady on the phone so much I think she was ready to call the cops for fear that I would sit by my car until the tow truck got there and slowly freeze to death (there was nothing really open yet and the hotel was a good long walk away - plus my mitts and touque were in the car on the passenger seat). The guy in the CAT laughed at me and said "Girly, you are really up the creek". I laughed between my sobs and he told me about a store that opens early just down the block. So I walked in there and sat with very red eyes and chatted with a very nice man about the stock market (apparently Gold is hot again - but you did not hear that from me). The very nice man must have a wife and many daughters because I have never been around a guy who handled tears that well.

Well, that is what happened. But in keeping with my attempt to have a positive optimistic outlook on life (outside of work of course) rather than a negative one, I shall now attempt to list all the good things about this weekend to balance out the bad.

1 and 2. The job itself was actually a success. That is worth two points at least because that is the most important thing.
3. The roads were still a bit icy on my way home but I did not get into a car accident. Bonus.
4. I met a nice man and learned about stocks.
5. I found out which Chinese restaurant NOT to eat at in the small town. As a result, should I ever go there again, I will have good dining experiences.
6. The DVD I rented as a result of not going home was called My Date with Drew. It was extremely cute and I enjoyed it much.
7. I was just thinking a couple weeks ago that I had not had a good cry in a long while and I felt like it would be a good release. Wish granted.
8. I went for a really good run on Saturday night while stuck in the small town at my hotel (pre-storm).
9. I got all my work done over the weekend because I had so much waiting time. Which was good since I did not quite make it into the office on time on Monday...
10. I might be soon in the running for best customer of my roadside assisstance program. I mean, this is the 3rd time I have locked my keys in. Surely I qualify for some kind of gold membership?

Anyway, my productivenss has definately not been where I had hoped this week. I feel like I am running up a very steep hill. But if I can make it to the top, what did not kill me, will only have made me stronger. Right?