Posts

Showing posts from August, 2013

Out of Office Assistant

I'm out of here.  Less than an hour of work left and just over 2 hours until the van leaves for the airport.  It has been a slice but I need this break.  I'm exhausted.  I can't wait to land in Kelowna tomorrow afternoon.  It's going to be my best arrival home yet.  As I mentioned before I won't likely be posting for a few weeks.  Too much fun stuff to do.  Plus don't you all have something better to do than to read my blog???

Teamo Tequiero

Image
Home home home home home. That's all I've been able to think about all week.  Realistically probably since my visitors left almost two weeks ago.  My mind and desire to be here left on the plane with them.  This past weekend was a bit tough as all I wanted to do was to be home.  This week I've been extremely bored.  I've spent a significant amount of time online shopping and browsing (laptop arriving soon and a few MEC purchases).  Work hasn't been too busy and most things are under control for my impending departure. Other than that I've been going to the gym or working out daily so I'm interested to see what the results are when I get home.  I feel like I've been pretty disciplined this rotation and I'd like to see some results.  It's funny what the magic of camera angle can do.  I think these two pictures speak for themselves. Warm up the bus!!!

Time

Compared to the other guys that I work with I have a pretty good schedule.  We are all required to work 37 weeks a year which means 222 work days on a compressed schedule.  While they routinely work 6 week rotations I normally keep mine well under that.  Our roles are different. Being in finance/accounting there are certain periods that I need to be on site for.  For example every month end period I need to be here for.  This normally means that I’m here for the first two weeks of every month.  If the month end is also a quarter end, then I’m normally here for an additional week or two as well which can result in some longer rotations.  While this system has been working for my Canadian counter parts and the Canadian partner, my Canadian boss in Cuba would prefer if I was “on site” more.  While I still work the same amount of days as my counter parts I am required to be at certain meetings and events in Canada periodically.  Also my Canadian boss in Canada has been a strong supporter

Leaps and Bounds

I feel that my life has been best rewarded when I make leaps.  When I don’t play it safe but instead take an uncomfortable jump.  These decisions are normally accompanied by severe bouts of nervousness. This has rewarded me both professionally and in my relationships.  Professionally after years of working for the same firm I made the decision to jump to leave public accounting and to go work in industry.  While the company I went to initially didn’t last long I was able to continue jumping from one venture to the next continuing to learn and develop my skills.  After several years of that I took the leap to move to Cuba.  Wow what a shock to the system that was.  I can’t believe it has now been three years that I have been here.  My current relationship (Spouis Blomley aka Teamo Tequiero) has been fraught with leaps.  First there was the leap to even meet up and hangout in the first place given our histories.  Then there was the leap to take it a step further.  Then there was

Did anybody see the elephants wearing pink shoes in a field of peonies???

A fter the muerta vaca the rest of the trip was pretty relaxed and low key.  So if you are looking for entertaining stories then you should probably look elsewhere.  Also sorry for the delay in getting this posted but I ran into a few issues.  I was tired, internet problems and then had a case of writers block.  So anyhow without further delay here we go. We did a quick day trip to Moa so that everybody could see the town, my room and a trip around the plant.  Nobody was feeling their best this day as something had gotten ahold of our stomachs.  I blame the numerous hours in the sunshine, consuming an assortment of alcoholic beverages, and lack of water.  While it was a relaxing day for the passengers I was exhausted from driving and navigating the various obstacles.  The following day we again got up early (much to the chagrin of some participants) to go on a catamaran, snorkeling, dolphin excursion.  Our sun screen captain ensured that we were all properly lubricated and or