Well I’m back now, in fact I got back over a week ago but this is the first chance I’ve had to sit down and write about the last month or so. Since I last posted I’ve spent a fortnight underground at the longwall and gathering the last of the data I need for my report. I also spent it saying goodbye to everyone I have met in Australia, the people who I have worked and partied with from Newcastle to Picton over the last year. I spent a fantastic weekend in Sydney and another in Picton, drinking and looking back over my time in Oz. A mere 36hrs after landing at Heathrow I was in Wales partying with the GBBikers who have been there for me all year with both support and criticism, keeping me sane. I spent my last few days in the UK back in ’08 with them and my first few days being back in ’09. Since then I’ve moved back down to Falmouth to continue my life as a student and hopefully to finish my degree. It’s strange being back here for a number of reasons. One is that many of my friends and acquaintances have since graduated or otherwise moved on. Another is that I have to pick up the threads of my friendships and try to weave them back into something stronger than before. The third is that I left unfinished business here and I still have no clue how it will pan out, I’m not the same person that left and no-one here is the same either.
My year in Australia was far from easy as anyone who has followed this blog should have realised. It has had some appallingly bad times yet some absolutely amazing ones too. I have done things and been to places which many people will never experience and I am grateful for that. I have learnt an incredible number of lessons that I could write for hours about. I have changed my views on many things and truly become far more adult as a result. One thing which I have never believed in is clinical depression. I have always been a fairly positive person, at least outwardly and when times get bad I just get on with it and don’t let it stop me doing everyday things. It has taken me months of reflection and talking about my experiences with people to realise just how low I had sunk. Apparently wanting to throw myself out of a transport while it’s moving is not healthy… could have fooled me! There were months where I had to force myself to sit in the back of the dolly car or transports just in case the urge to push myself out grew too great. At the time it was just something I dealt with by forcing myself into a position where I physically couldn’t, I thought that spending my weekends in bed, hiding away and wishing no-one would knock on my door was perfectly normal. The dread of talking to anyone in the street or a shop became subconscious to the point that I would go weeks without having an extended conversation. I became paranoid to the point of not wanting to socialise with the few people I considered friends because I was convinced that they felt sorry for me and mocked me behind my back. I desperately tried to cling on to friendships and relationships back in the UK that no longer existed just because I had nothing else to hope for. The saddest thing about it was that it became a self-fulfilling prophecy; I drove people away because I was convinced that they hated me yet they only grew to hate me because of my actions. One of the few markers of this was my massive weight gain. With half a dozen 24hr take-a-ways within a two minute walk of my apartment I adopted a cycle of eating, sleeping, working, eating and eating again. Although my months at the mine have put a lot of muscle on my bones my months in Newcastle piled on the fat. I currently weigh in at my all time heaviest of 119kg or over nineteen stone in old money. No wonder the sight of myself in the wall length mirrors in my apartment would make me despise my weakness. No wonder then that once I started work underground I immediately volunteered for the hardest, dirtiest jobs that kept me soaked in sweat from the start of my shift until the end. I was convinced that it was the only way to compensate for everything else. At times I truly thought I was losing my mind and I used to think that I was the sanest person I know!
Some of you may be glad to know that I’m pretty much back to normal now. I met some fantastic people in the last few months and their friendship and my trip back to the UK in June really sobered me up and helped to put everything else behind me. I didn’t particularly want to write about it all to be honest but I know that being open about it is the only way to leave it behind. Depression is nothing to be ashamed of yet even as I write this I’m cringing at what people might think. The word itself to me is distasteful, it conjures images of weakness and no-one, least of all me, likes to admit weakness. My words and actions during certain times have burnt bridges with certain people, you know who you are. I’m truly sorry, I was far from in my right mind but that’s no excuse. Hindsight is a wonderful thing and I’d do anything not to type those words which ended up hurting me more than they did you.
Right enough of that Emo-bullshit, back to my usual brash and arrogant self ;P
Since I’ve been back people keep asking me “how was Australia?” and to be honest I can’t give them a straight answer. There were far too many ups and downs to say either way. However when I was in Wales my friend Emma asked me “are you happy to be back? Do you regret doing it?” and it got me thinking. Yes, I am very happy to be back and no, I don’t regret it. The whole year has been a fucking farce from the start to finish. At no point did the company deliver anything they promised and for the last 6 months I was effectively cut off from all support and left to my own devices. Yet now I’m back it’s completely irrelevant. Nothing matters except that I learnt a shitload about coal mining and I survived to tell the tale. I refuse to become a bitter and boring wanker who sits and bemoans my luck to any and all who will listen, filling people’s ears with pathetic whining. I’m back with my friends and family, doing what I want to do, where I want to do it. Admittedly things could be better but they could be a damn sight worse too. I have a roof over my head, food in the cupboards and mates to drink with. That’s all I need. I just want to move on and concentrate on my degree, getting fit and having fun. I’m going to live for the moment because it could all turn to shit at any time. I’m starting from scratch and though I’m sure I’ll screw up plenty of times it’s a great way to cut the chaff out of my life.
Well that was so full of clichés it made me want to vomit haha! I love criticising my own writing, even though I try to avoid them at all times sometimes clichés serve a purpose. After all, they wouldn’t have become clichés if they weren’t accurate. I’m no great writer by any means and I just type as the thoughts come to me, I could edit and re-edit but at least this way you read it as I think rather than some manufactured piece of bullshit.
I have written over 1400 words so far and have only covered a few of the subjects I wanted to. I don’t know if I’ll post again or even if anyone will read this but it is a possibility. I always have plenty to say so we shall see.
Keep digging,
RTC
9 September 2009
2 August 2009
Bad Times Are Coming...
This Thursday just gone the mine laid off 70 contractors and they have announced that in exactly 2wks another 100 full time employees will go.
That's 170 blokes with no job as of two weeks today. I had to stand there and watch their faces as they were told the news. The contractors were literally told to pack their gear and never come back, I saw one break down and cry. The rest simply looked gutted.
Maybe 50 of the jobs will go from guys who will take voluntary redundancy, they will all get hefty payouts, some up to $500,000. They were laughing and smiling at the announcement in anticipation of this. The rest, however will be the young guys that have given up well paid jobs elsewhere for a chance at entrance into the industry. They don't have the experience or the contacts to get jobs elsewhere and can look forward to years of job searching before something similar comes up. Not to mention that they will get a months wages and that's it.
It was really quite emotional standing there with guys that I've worked with for 6 months, seeing their lives go to shit in 5 minutes. Especially as my job is 100% safe and knowing that in a few years it could be me standing there giving them the same news. Some of the guys that will go have been so good to me, helping me with all sorts of stuff and yet when I'm flying back to the UK to resume my studies they will be unemployed with little hope of getting a new job.
These next three weeks are going to be pretty shitty, I just want to get them over and done with and get on that plane. As selfish as it is, I want to avoid the fallout from this announcement and pretend that everything will carry on as normal.
That's 170 blokes with no job as of two weeks today. I had to stand there and watch their faces as they were told the news. The contractors were literally told to pack their gear and never come back, I saw one break down and cry. The rest simply looked gutted.
Maybe 50 of the jobs will go from guys who will take voluntary redundancy, they will all get hefty payouts, some up to $500,000. They were laughing and smiling at the announcement in anticipation of this. The rest, however will be the young guys that have given up well paid jobs elsewhere for a chance at entrance into the industry. They don't have the experience or the contacts to get jobs elsewhere and can look forward to years of job searching before something similar comes up. Not to mention that they will get a months wages and that's it.
It was really quite emotional standing there with guys that I've worked with for 6 months, seeing their lives go to shit in 5 minutes. Especially as my job is 100% safe and knowing that in a few years it could be me standing there giving them the same news. Some of the guys that will go have been so good to me, helping me with all sorts of stuff and yet when I'm flying back to the UK to resume my studies they will be unemployed with little hope of getting a new job.
These next three weeks are going to be pretty shitty, I just want to get them over and done with and get on that plane. As selfish as it is, I want to avoid the fallout from this announcement and pretend that everything will carry on as normal.
22 July 2009
Iiiiiiit's emo-time!
Well this isn’t exactly what I wanted to be writing about; unfortunately it’s all I have to say. I haven’t updated this blog in ages simply because I don’t have anything funny or interesting to say.
The fact is that I have less than 5wks until I leave Australia and I have achieved nothing. Fuck all. Zilch. Jack Shit. Nowt. I have been thinking about it for quite a while now and realised that out of the long list of things that I wanted to achieve in this year I have accomplished none of them.
One of the few things I have got out of this year is a very good insight into coal mining and soft-rock mining in general. I’m all set to begin a career in coal mining. Guess what I never wanted to work in? The one type of mining I found boring? The type of mining I looked down upon? Yup, you got it, I’m now an expert in my least favorite field. Fucking. Brilliant.
Here’s some of the things I wanted to get out of the last 12 months:
- See lots of different areas of Australia.
- Learn to scuba dive
- Get fit for rugby season.
- Make lots of friends, maybe even get a girlfriend.
- Get a motorbike and explore on two wheels.
- Save enough cash that I don’t have to worry about working for my 3rd yr.
- Learn shit loads about mining to make life easier in my 3rd yr.
Well that doesn’t seem too hard now does it? Let’s see what I managed:
- I’ve seen Newcastle, parts of Sydney and Picton, most of it wasn’t worth seeing.
- Haven’t even seen anyone else scuba dive, let alone do it myself.
- Have only just joined a gym due to the prices. Now I’ve hurt my back and can’t go anyway.
- I’ve consistently struggled to make friends, I’ve met some great people but they’re all much older or younger than me so I really haven’t ‘clicked’ with anyone. Don’t me started on the gf front, not even kissed an Australian girl which to be honest, I’m ashamed about. Fucking lame.
- I spent $200 getting my license and then realised that in no way, shape or form can I afford to buy a motorbike and still buy food.
- I stupidly signed a contract for less than half the cash we were promised… admittedly I could have saved up maybe $4-5000 (2000 GBP) but would not have been able to do the few things which have made this year bearable.
- I haven’t learnt a single thing about hard-rock mining. My course is predominantly hard-rock based. My soft-rock knowledge really won’t help until after I graduate. Fucking excellent.
So excuse me if I sound like a pathetic failure but uh, I pretty much have failed pathetically. It isn’t all bad though, I will admit.
I have learnt many, many valuable lessons this year. The biggest one is NEVER to accept less than you’re worth. I should have ripped that contract up and got a job that paid me properly and where I was given substantial work to do. One of the most depressing things about this job has been that at no point has anyone cared if I turn up or not. Several times I slept through my alarm, missed my lift to work and no one said a word. I even took 3 days off sick and they didn’t notice. It really makes me feel like a valued member of the team…
The second one is NEVER to jump ship just because you think it’ll be better elsewhere. I had a great life last June and was genuinely very happy. For some reason I thought I could be happier by leaving everything and everybody behind and moving 12,000 miles. This doesn’t work, trust me. If you’ve got a good thing going, stick with it for fucks sake!
The third is not to stick with something if it makes you unhappy. I should have arranged another job and jumped ship. Unfortunately I chose to stay in Oz which meant I couldn’t change companies for visa reasons. If I had another chance I’d have got work in the UK or Canada or Africa… anywhere but here! Working in a Scottish open pit and travelling home at the weekend would have been preferable in hindsight.
Well that was fucking depressing, you may understand why it’s taken me 2-3 months to work up to writing it. No-one likes their failures spelt out in front of them, least of all me. However I love ending on a high note so I’ll leave you with the pleasant thought that in just over a month I’ll be back in the UK, just as rude, crude and irritating as I was when I left, if a bit more cynical and bitter :D
The fact is that I have less than 5wks until I leave Australia and I have achieved nothing. Fuck all. Zilch. Jack Shit. Nowt. I have been thinking about it for quite a while now and realised that out of the long list of things that I wanted to achieve in this year I have accomplished none of them.
One of the few things I have got out of this year is a very good insight into coal mining and soft-rock mining in general. I’m all set to begin a career in coal mining. Guess what I never wanted to work in? The one type of mining I found boring? The type of mining I looked down upon? Yup, you got it, I’m now an expert in my least favorite field. Fucking. Brilliant.
Here’s some of the things I wanted to get out of the last 12 months:
- See lots of different areas of Australia.
- Learn to scuba dive
- Get fit for rugby season.
- Make lots of friends, maybe even get a girlfriend.
- Get a motorbike and explore on two wheels.
- Save enough cash that I don’t have to worry about working for my 3rd yr.
- Learn shit loads about mining to make life easier in my 3rd yr.
Well that doesn’t seem too hard now does it? Let’s see what I managed:
- I’ve seen Newcastle, parts of Sydney and Picton, most of it wasn’t worth seeing.
- Haven’t even seen anyone else scuba dive, let alone do it myself.
- Have only just joined a gym due to the prices. Now I’ve hurt my back and can’t go anyway.
- I’ve consistently struggled to make friends, I’ve met some great people but they’re all much older or younger than me so I really haven’t ‘clicked’ with anyone. Don’t me started on the gf front, not even kissed an Australian girl which to be honest, I’m ashamed about. Fucking lame.
- I spent $200 getting my license and then realised that in no way, shape or form can I afford to buy a motorbike and still buy food.
- I stupidly signed a contract for less than half the cash we were promised… admittedly I could have saved up maybe $4-5000 (2000 GBP) but would not have been able to do the few things which have made this year bearable.
- I haven’t learnt a single thing about hard-rock mining. My course is predominantly hard-rock based. My soft-rock knowledge really won’t help until after I graduate. Fucking excellent.
So excuse me if I sound like a pathetic failure but uh, I pretty much have failed pathetically. It isn’t all bad though, I will admit.
I have learnt many, many valuable lessons this year. The biggest one is NEVER to accept less than you’re worth. I should have ripped that contract up and got a job that paid me properly and where I was given substantial work to do. One of the most depressing things about this job has been that at no point has anyone cared if I turn up or not. Several times I slept through my alarm, missed my lift to work and no one said a word. I even took 3 days off sick and they didn’t notice. It really makes me feel like a valued member of the team…
The second one is NEVER to jump ship just because you think it’ll be better elsewhere. I had a great life last June and was genuinely very happy. For some reason I thought I could be happier by leaving everything and everybody behind and moving 12,000 miles. This doesn’t work, trust me. If you’ve got a good thing going, stick with it for fucks sake!
The third is not to stick with something if it makes you unhappy. I should have arranged another job and jumped ship. Unfortunately I chose to stay in Oz which meant I couldn’t change companies for visa reasons. If I had another chance I’d have got work in the UK or Canada or Africa… anywhere but here! Working in a Scottish open pit and travelling home at the weekend would have been preferable in hindsight.
Well that was fucking depressing, you may understand why it’s taken me 2-3 months to work up to writing it. No-one likes their failures spelt out in front of them, least of all me. However I love ending on a high note so I’ll leave you with the pleasant thought that in just over a month I’ll be back in the UK, just as rude, crude and irritating as I was when I left, if a bit more cynical and bitter :D
25 June 2009
Return of The Pommy
Well I’m back, Just had a two week holiday in the UK and it was awesome. My itinerary looked a little like this:
W-S-M for a night.
Falmouth for two nights.
Download Festival for five nights.
W-S-M for two nights.
Falmouth for three nights.
W-S-M for a night.
I managed to see almost everyone that I wanted to with a few glaring exceptions but I had an amazing time. It was great to be back in England and have people around me who actually give a shit and miss me. I even saw most of my family which was a pleasant surprise! I can't wait to get back in September and help out all the Freshers etc like I did in my 2nd year.
Download was incredible as always, I saw so many brilliant bands like Five Finger Death Punch, Papa Roach, Faith No More, Trivium, Marilyn Manson, Slipknot, Static-X, Killswitch Engage, Korn, Limp Bizkit and of course, Scumface. It was wicked to meet up with the Northerners again and see a few other old friends over the week. Can’t wait til next year :D I’ve even got myself a half decent tan from the four days in the sun which is the first I’ve had in a couple of years.
I was pleasantly surprised on my return to find that my housemates here in Oz have missed me too! I was only gone 2.5wks yet all I’ve heard is how quiet the house was and how glad they are that I’m back! There are two blokes living underneath me now which is strange as it’s only a one bedroom place and they’re both apparently straight but hey… horses for courses. I haven’t seen them yet and they’ve made no effort to get to know anyone else in the house either. One of the girls from the back has moved out too and been replaced by another who is just as attractive haha, another excuse for a party. I’ve already had to replace her lightbulb and fix their electricity supply, images of dodgy ‘handyman’ porn films spring to mind!
Work has been great too; I’ve organised to do a round-robin of all the various engineering departments over the next 8wks so I’ll be in a great position to write my 5000 word report. I’ve got my dissertation working title too which is something to do with roof/rib support in coal mine roadways so I’ll be spending a lot of time with “Mad Dog” the geotechnical engineer to gather data for that.
Just before I left I drew up some 2D and 3D models for a torque multiplier to install 8m cable bolts using a CM instead of contractors and while I was away they had a prototype made and tested it. Now there’s a few adjustments to be made and more testing so I’ll be involved with all of that which will be very useful for my dissertation.
Caio for now…
W-S-M for a night.
Falmouth for two nights.
Download Festival for five nights.
W-S-M for two nights.
Falmouth for three nights.
W-S-M for a night.
I managed to see almost everyone that I wanted to with a few glaring exceptions but I had an amazing time. It was great to be back in England and have people around me who actually give a shit and miss me. I even saw most of my family which was a pleasant surprise! I can't wait to get back in September and help out all the Freshers etc like I did in my 2nd year.
Download was incredible as always, I saw so many brilliant bands like Five Finger Death Punch, Papa Roach, Faith No More, Trivium, Marilyn Manson, Slipknot, Static-X, Killswitch Engage, Korn, Limp Bizkit and of course, Scumface. It was wicked to meet up with the Northerners again and see a few other old friends over the week. Can’t wait til next year :D I’ve even got myself a half decent tan from the four days in the sun which is the first I’ve had in a couple of years.
I was pleasantly surprised on my return to find that my housemates here in Oz have missed me too! I was only gone 2.5wks yet all I’ve heard is how quiet the house was and how glad they are that I’m back! There are two blokes living underneath me now which is strange as it’s only a one bedroom place and they’re both apparently straight but hey… horses for courses. I haven’t seen them yet and they’ve made no effort to get to know anyone else in the house either. One of the girls from the back has moved out too and been replaced by another who is just as attractive haha, another excuse for a party. I’ve already had to replace her lightbulb and fix their electricity supply, images of dodgy ‘handyman’ porn films spring to mind!
Work has been great too; I’ve organised to do a round-robin of all the various engineering departments over the next 8wks so I’ll be in a great position to write my 5000 word report. I’ve got my dissertation working title too which is something to do with roof/rib support in coal mine roadways so I’ll be spending a lot of time with “Mad Dog” the geotechnical engineer to gather data for that.
Just before I left I drew up some 2D and 3D models for a torque multiplier to install 8m cable bolts using a CM instead of contractors and while I was away they had a prototype made and tested it. Now there’s a few adjustments to be made and more testing so I’ll be involved with all of that which will be very useful for my dissertation.
Caio for now…
2 June 2009
Glossary:
Since September I’ve had to learn two new languages; Australian and Mining. Here is a selection, by no means comprehensive, of the words I’ve learnt both above and underground. This list is still quite short and I'll be updating it as I remember new words.
Crib: food/lunch/snacks.
Crib-time: when you have ‘crib’. Officially, this is 40mins a day but actually closer to 2hrs.
Crib-tin: tin for carrying food for crib plus a wide array of miscellaneous items that may or may not be useful. This includes porn, porn and sometimes porn.
Smoko: a short break, usually mid-morning, has nothing to do with smoking.
Shifter: adjustable wrench, more commonly used as a hammer to ‘shift’ stubborn fittings.
Bull hose: 3” black rubber hoses that are near impossible to connect/disconnect without the use of a ‘shifter’.
Bat-bags: plastic bags that hang from the roof, each must contain a minimum of 6kg of ‘stonedust’. Often used for target practice and great for slicing with a knife when someone is working underneath.
Stonedust: limestone dust, used to prevent explosions due to coal dust. Is sprayed everywhere in coal mines, most ends up inside your overalls or in your eye.
Arvo: afternoon or “beer o’clock”.
Doggy: dogwatch or night-shift, see ‘doggers’.
Doggers: people who don’t turn up when promised or who turn up, drink all your beer then leave.
Rib: the walls in a mine and the area at the base of the walls for example: “chuck that bull hose in the rib”.
Rib-borer: a small, handheld, air powered drill used to drill 4ft holes in the rib or floor. Underpowered and often useless due to lack of a ‘turtle’.
Turtle: either a small metal oil container used to lubricate rib-borers or a stream of gas bubbling up through a puddle. Both can usually be found on the floor, the former under several feet of mud.
Vent tubes: 4m x 0.7m fibreglass tubes used to ventilate the working face. These are always located at least 3 pillars outbye when there is no Eimco available. Handles are invariably broken.
Eimco: now known as LHDs or load-haul-dumps these machines are the workhorses of the mine. Normally driven by the least competent person available.
Inbye: towards the working face, fresh air at your back.
Outbye: away from the working face, towards pit bottom, fresh air in your face.
Pit bottom: Area at the bottom of the drift where all men, vehicles and supplies are organised and dispatched. The favourite hangout for useless gits like fitters, leccos, drillers and bludgers.
Fitters: mechanics, responsible for keeping all machinery working. Can often be seen racing around in their ‘ute’ but rarely seen working.
Leccos: electricians, responsible for keeping all electronics and power supplies working. Never around when needed.
Drillers: these guys operate the drill rigs that take core samples and drill gas drainage holes. Biggest bludgers in the pit.
Bludger: someone who doesn’t work or shirks their fair share of the work. Often used to describe dole-scum, politicians, leccos and drillers.
Ute: a ‘utility’ vehicle, otherwise known to the rest of the world as a pickup truck. Often driven by ‘hoons’ and tricked out to the max with alloys, lowered suspension and tinted windows.
Hoons: the chavs of Australia, see ‘ute’ and ‘stupid-fucking-redneck-bastards’***.
Soft-cock: derogatory term used to describe someone who won’t stand up for themselves or who doesn’t follow their words with action. Otherwise known as a complete pussy.
Drug bus: not an enterprising young drug dealer who delivers but a minivan that turns up randomly to test mine workers for illicit substances. Randomly turns up after every major sporting event.
Out-of-service tag: Supposedly a tag to inform others that a piece of machinery is broken, how it is broken and what to do about it. In 95% of all cases this is summed up quite eloquently in a single word: “fucked”.
Feds: mine workers/ lazy bastards
Staff: managerial level workers/incompetent bastards.
*** I may have made that last one up….
Crib: food/lunch/snacks.
Crib-time: when you have ‘crib’. Officially, this is 40mins a day but actually closer to 2hrs.
Crib-tin: tin for carrying food for crib plus a wide array of miscellaneous items that may or may not be useful. This includes porn, porn and sometimes porn.
Smoko: a short break, usually mid-morning, has nothing to do with smoking.
Shifter: adjustable wrench, more commonly used as a hammer to ‘shift’ stubborn fittings.
Bull hose: 3” black rubber hoses that are near impossible to connect/disconnect without the use of a ‘shifter’.
Bat-bags: plastic bags that hang from the roof, each must contain a minimum of 6kg of ‘stonedust’. Often used for target practice and great for slicing with a knife when someone is working underneath.
Stonedust: limestone dust, used to prevent explosions due to coal dust. Is sprayed everywhere in coal mines, most ends up inside your overalls or in your eye.
Arvo: afternoon or “beer o’clock”.
Doggy: dogwatch or night-shift, see ‘doggers’.
Doggers: people who don’t turn up when promised or who turn up, drink all your beer then leave.
Rib: the walls in a mine and the area at the base of the walls for example: “chuck that bull hose in the rib”.
Rib-borer: a small, handheld, air powered drill used to drill 4ft holes in the rib or floor. Underpowered and often useless due to lack of a ‘turtle’.
Turtle: either a small metal oil container used to lubricate rib-borers or a stream of gas bubbling up through a puddle. Both can usually be found on the floor, the former under several feet of mud.
Vent tubes: 4m x 0.7m fibreglass tubes used to ventilate the working face. These are always located at least 3 pillars outbye when there is no Eimco available. Handles are invariably broken.
Eimco: now known as LHDs or load-haul-dumps these machines are the workhorses of the mine. Normally driven by the least competent person available.
Inbye: towards the working face, fresh air at your back.
Outbye: away from the working face, towards pit bottom, fresh air in your face.
Pit bottom: Area at the bottom of the drift where all men, vehicles and supplies are organised and dispatched. The favourite hangout for useless gits like fitters, leccos, drillers and bludgers.
Fitters: mechanics, responsible for keeping all machinery working. Can often be seen racing around in their ‘ute’ but rarely seen working.
Leccos: electricians, responsible for keeping all electronics and power supplies working. Never around when needed.
Drillers: these guys operate the drill rigs that take core samples and drill gas drainage holes. Biggest bludgers in the pit.
Bludger: someone who doesn’t work or shirks their fair share of the work. Often used to describe dole-scum, politicians, leccos and drillers.
Ute: a ‘utility’ vehicle, otherwise known to the rest of the world as a pickup truck. Often driven by ‘hoons’ and tricked out to the max with alloys, lowered suspension and tinted windows.
Hoons: the chavs of Australia, see ‘ute’ and ‘stupid-fucking-redneck-bastards’***.
Soft-cock: derogatory term used to describe someone who won’t stand up for themselves or who doesn’t follow their words with action. Otherwise known as a complete pussy.
Drug bus: not an enterprising young drug dealer who delivers but a minivan that turns up randomly to test mine workers for illicit substances. Randomly turns up after every major sporting event.
Out-of-service tag: Supposedly a tag to inform others that a piece of machinery is broken, how it is broken and what to do about it. In 95% of all cases this is summed up quite eloquently in a single word: “fucked”.
Feds: mine workers/ lazy bastards
Staff: managerial level workers/incompetent bastards.
*** I may have made that last one up….
31 May 2009
Plenty More To Come
I haven't given up on this blog, I've just not taken the time to sit down and write. I've got about half a dozen posts sitting in my head, I just haven't digitised them yet. I was awakened to this fact by a certain cyber-stalker of mine so now I feel guilty enough to start typing, cheers Loz ;P
I'm flying back to the UK in 5 days for a 2week holiday including DOWNLOAD!!! Can't wait! I'll be going home to see my Mum and my WSM friends for two days before heading to Fal for two days before heading to Download and then back to Fal for the remainder of my time at home.
Work is better now as I've started to move around the departments so I've spent a week with the surveyors which included a day on the beach at Wollongong and I'll be moving on to gas drainage and geology when I get back at the end of June.
I've also got a bunch of new housemates, a couple living opposite me, a new girl replacing a now-ex-boyfriend at the back of the house and a soon-to-be-found tenant for the apartment below me. Unfortunately the couple living there who have become my good friends have been evicted for some rather spurious noise complaints. They're leaving tomorrow and so I should have one or two new housemates by the time I get back from the UK.
I've been partying pretty hard with both my housemates and some guys I met through them so my Facebook and Myspace are chocka with new pics... check them out.
I'm flying back to the UK in 5 days for a 2week holiday including DOWNLOAD!!! Can't wait! I'll be going home to see my Mum and my WSM friends for two days before heading to Fal for two days before heading to Download and then back to Fal for the remainder of my time at home.
Work is better now as I've started to move around the departments so I've spent a week with the surveyors which included a day on the beach at Wollongong and I'll be moving on to gas drainage and geology when I get back at the end of June.
I've also got a bunch of new housemates, a couple living opposite me, a new girl replacing a now-ex-boyfriend at the back of the house and a soon-to-be-found tenant for the apartment below me. Unfortunately the couple living there who have become my good friends have been evicted for some rather spurious noise complaints. They're leaving tomorrow and so I should have one or two new housemates by the time I get back from the UK.
I've been partying pretty hard with both my housemates and some guys I met through them so my Facebook and Myspace are chocka with new pics... check them out.
I'm still alive
But barely breathing. Have had the flu and I'm still coughing 3wks later :(
All right, here’s some technical stuff for you. I’ve decided to do a fairly long post covering the technical side of the mine I’m at. I know that most of the people reading this have no interest in mining whatsoever but it should give you a better idea of the conditions I’m working in and hopefully more of what I say will make sense. I’m hoping to get the OK to take the mine’s digital camera underground with me to get some pics so you’ll have a frame of reference. There are some funny bits in here too so don’t write it off too soon (funny being entirely subject to my twisted sense of humour). Technical terms will be kept to a minimum, if you don’t understand one, Google it, you lazy fuck.
All right, first off, the mine that I’m working at shall now be known as TC. It’s a longwall mine about an hour south of Sydney that produces hard coking coal with damn-near-perfect chemical composition putting it in the top 2% of all hard coking coal for desirability. It has its own rail loading facilities and its own washery (for washing the stone and crap out of the coal) which again boosts the mines viability by a large factor. TC is about 2km from the nearest town and approx 9.3km from my front door. This means that the new longwall blocks run under the town of T, the freeway running south from Sydney and the main train line from Sydney to Melbourne. Luckily we’ve only caused enough damage to demolish 3 houses and substantially rebuild another 3 so far… oops. The trains are also speed-limited above the mining area which is costing the mine about $30,000 a week in charges from the various freight/passenger services! There is also a large river only a few km down the road and to cap it off a fault (big crack in the earth) called the Nepean Fault as well as several smaller ones run through the mining area. Faults in coal mining terms mean lots of water, lots of methane/CO gas and potentially a lot of deaths if someone fucks up and mines into one.
TC has had a fair few owners over the last 15yrs or so, mainly because it’s an expensive mine to run and the Union have their claws in deep. Finally it’s been bought by “X” who are the first multi-national company with a lot of experience to own the mine. Unfortunately this has caused a fair bit of angst among the workforce simply because X isn’t stupid enough to bankrupt itself pandering to all the petty demands of the Union unlike several of the previous owners. The constant change of upper management hasn’t helped this either as a decent working relationship between the “feds” and the “staff” can take years to develop. For those not familiar with the lingo (like me 4 weeks ago) the “feds” are the workers and the “staff” is all of the office workers, engineers and management types that stay on the surface. There is an awful lot of resentment between the two groups because the feds are convinced that the staff just wants to make their lives a misery with endless paperwork, not enough overtime and poor decisions while the staff is convinced that the feds are lazy, stupid and can’t be trusted to do the job properly. Unfortunately they are both right to a certain degree so I’ll leave that sleeping dog right there…
Access underground is by a “dolly car” on train tracks which is raised and lowered on the 2km drift by a winder. The secondary means of egress (escape) is the drift belt, which means lying everyone down on the belt and starting it up, hopefully stopping it before anyone gets launched onto the stockpile. There are two shafts, no.2 and no.3 which are primarily ventilation but no.3 is soon to have a 20 man cage fitted for escape if there is a fire in the drift. I got lucky and got to help out with an exercise where we had to load an injured guy on a stretcher into the existing cage in no.2 shaft. Now I know that I’m only a student but having done a fair amount of hoisting techniques and the minimum standards for man riding cages etc I was shocked. For nearly twenty years the workforce at TC has been relying on no.2 shaft in the event of a fire at pit bottom or in the drift. I can confidently say that they would have had casualties, if not a large number of deaths. The shaft has but a single cage, capable of carrying 5 people OR a stretcher and 1 person. The journey to surface takes 6 minutes and the round-trip is nearly 15 with loading times. It would take over 7hrs to evacuate all workers at that rate! The fact that this system was implemented before it was compulsory to have compressed air breathing units underground makes it even more shocking. Until 12 months ago the trapped workers would have had to survive on whatever fresh air reached down the shaft… completely inadequate to keep 300 blokes alive I can tell you. Now however, thanks to new legislation all coal mines have to have CABA units (air tanks with masks) in each panel, near the working face with refill stations and spares every 1500m. There is also a large “fresh air base” near the shaft which has enough spare units and refill stations to keep everyone underground alive until they can get out. I won’t even start on the lack of guides for the cage and the likelihood of rope entanglement etc etc….
The underground conditions are pretty varied depending on which area of the mine you go to, the older workings are pretty much dry but prone to roof falls and have high gas levels due to all the goaf (mined out) areas which bleed gas through poorly sealed tunnels. The current workings are slightly sloped due to them following the 2m seam as it rises and falls. This means that at one end of the longwall there is a development panel which is very dry and has few gas problems meaning good advance rates and a lot of coal cut. The end I’m working at however is at one of the lowest points in the mine and we constantly have water and gas problems. We wade through about 200m of mud to get to the face and that’s with a dozen pumps running 24/7, you can see water bubbling out of the floor and it can rise several feet in a few hours. This end of the mine is very close to a large fault which wasn’t detected in the original survey so a couple of years ago they were mining right towards it until the roof started falling in on a daily basis and they left a continuous miner overnight to find it underwater in the morning. That means that they have had to abandon a large section of tunnels and cut them all over again to re-route the conveyors and service pipes (water, air etc) at a huge cost and time delay. As of this week there are now 3 panels working in different areas, plus the longwall. This is stretching them right to the limit as there are 5 continuous miners in operation, each needing a whole raft of support such as shuttle-cars, LHD’s, conveyors, boot ends, ventilation etc. plus the manpower to operate them. The two longwall development panels are operated as “super panels” with two CM’s each driving one heading plus cut-through's. The third panel which is replacing the failed panel mentioned above has just one CM but has 4 headings plus cut-through’s to drive. They have the added pressure of knowing that if they are excessively delayed that the old panel might have a major roof fall and so halt all longwall and half the development production until they can finish.
That brings me nicely on to the state of the machinery at the mine. It has been in operation for over twenty years and has replaced its machinery several times. However the current batch ranges from 3-12yrs old and is plagued with problems. Thanks to the constant need to be cutting coal and making money, over the year’s maintenance schedules have slipped and once this happens they never recover. This means that machines which really need to be dragged up to surface and completely overhauled are simply kept in service with a series of minor repairs. This is incredibly wasteful and my panel alone spent nearly an entire week sitting on our arses because our CM was out of action thanks to mechanical problems. The more downtime we have, the more targets slip behind and so when we resume production we have to try and make up the lost time which means the machines are pushed too hard and break down again. This cycle is perpetual and the only way it will change is if, God forbid, the mine is forced into care and maintenance and all the machines are pulled out and replaced or fully serviced. A prime example is the state of the transport fleet; there are supposedly 16 underground transports available yet in reality this is never more than 10 due to repairs etc. All it takes is for one or two to breakdown underground and suddenly no one can move around as all the available transport is being used. This happens at least once a week, only a few days ago a group of us including our panel deputy (like a shift boss) were stuck at pit bottom because there weren’t enough serviceable vehicles to get us into the panel. There is a single grader to keep the roads in a fit state; this was recently away for 5wks for a full service and in that time we were losing a vehicle nearly every day due to damage from bad roads…
Ok, confession time, the above 1500 words were written a month ago! I’ve been incredibly slack about typing this stuff up but luckily there’s not much more to say… We’ve now got a 6th miner and shuttle car on surface waiting for the current maingate/tailgate development to finish so it can go into mains development in 900 panel. We seem to have escaped the worst of the economic downturn, the last month has been full of rumours about the pit being shut and mass lay-offs etc but we’ve had a few more small orders to keep the place ticking over. More later…
All right, here’s some technical stuff for you. I’ve decided to do a fairly long post covering the technical side of the mine I’m at. I know that most of the people reading this have no interest in mining whatsoever but it should give you a better idea of the conditions I’m working in and hopefully more of what I say will make sense. I’m hoping to get the OK to take the mine’s digital camera underground with me to get some pics so you’ll have a frame of reference. There are some funny bits in here too so don’t write it off too soon (funny being entirely subject to my twisted sense of humour). Technical terms will be kept to a minimum, if you don’t understand one, Google it, you lazy fuck.
All right, first off, the mine that I’m working at shall now be known as TC. It’s a longwall mine about an hour south of Sydney that produces hard coking coal with damn-near-perfect chemical composition putting it in the top 2% of all hard coking coal for desirability. It has its own rail loading facilities and its own washery (for washing the stone and crap out of the coal) which again boosts the mines viability by a large factor. TC is about 2km from the nearest town and approx 9.3km from my front door. This means that the new longwall blocks run under the town of T, the freeway running south from Sydney and the main train line from Sydney to Melbourne. Luckily we’ve only caused enough damage to demolish 3 houses and substantially rebuild another 3 so far… oops. The trains are also speed-limited above the mining area which is costing the mine about $30,000 a week in charges from the various freight/passenger services! There is also a large river only a few km down the road and to cap it off a fault (big crack in the earth) called the Nepean Fault as well as several smaller ones run through the mining area. Faults in coal mining terms mean lots of water, lots of methane/CO gas and potentially a lot of deaths if someone fucks up and mines into one.
TC has had a fair few owners over the last 15yrs or so, mainly because it’s an expensive mine to run and the Union have their claws in deep. Finally it’s been bought by “X” who are the first multi-national company with a lot of experience to own the mine. Unfortunately this has caused a fair bit of angst among the workforce simply because X isn’t stupid enough to bankrupt itself pandering to all the petty demands of the Union unlike several of the previous owners. The constant change of upper management hasn’t helped this either as a decent working relationship between the “feds” and the “staff” can take years to develop. For those not familiar with the lingo (like me 4 weeks ago) the “feds” are the workers and the “staff” is all of the office workers, engineers and management types that stay on the surface. There is an awful lot of resentment between the two groups because the feds are convinced that the staff just wants to make their lives a misery with endless paperwork, not enough overtime and poor decisions while the staff is convinced that the feds are lazy, stupid and can’t be trusted to do the job properly. Unfortunately they are both right to a certain degree so I’ll leave that sleeping dog right there…
Access underground is by a “dolly car” on train tracks which is raised and lowered on the 2km drift by a winder. The secondary means of egress (escape) is the drift belt, which means lying everyone down on the belt and starting it up, hopefully stopping it before anyone gets launched onto the stockpile. There are two shafts, no.2 and no.3 which are primarily ventilation but no.3 is soon to have a 20 man cage fitted for escape if there is a fire in the drift. I got lucky and got to help out with an exercise where we had to load an injured guy on a stretcher into the existing cage in no.2 shaft. Now I know that I’m only a student but having done a fair amount of hoisting techniques and the minimum standards for man riding cages etc I was shocked. For nearly twenty years the workforce at TC has been relying on no.2 shaft in the event of a fire at pit bottom or in the drift. I can confidently say that they would have had casualties, if not a large number of deaths. The shaft has but a single cage, capable of carrying 5 people OR a stretcher and 1 person. The journey to surface takes 6 minutes and the round-trip is nearly 15 with loading times. It would take over 7hrs to evacuate all workers at that rate! The fact that this system was implemented before it was compulsory to have compressed air breathing units underground makes it even more shocking. Until 12 months ago the trapped workers would have had to survive on whatever fresh air reached down the shaft… completely inadequate to keep 300 blokes alive I can tell you. Now however, thanks to new legislation all coal mines have to have CABA units (air tanks with masks) in each panel, near the working face with refill stations and spares every 1500m. There is also a large “fresh air base” near the shaft which has enough spare units and refill stations to keep everyone underground alive until they can get out. I won’t even start on the lack of guides for the cage and the likelihood of rope entanglement etc etc….
The underground conditions are pretty varied depending on which area of the mine you go to, the older workings are pretty much dry but prone to roof falls and have high gas levels due to all the goaf (mined out) areas which bleed gas through poorly sealed tunnels. The current workings are slightly sloped due to them following the 2m seam as it rises and falls. This means that at one end of the longwall there is a development panel which is very dry and has few gas problems meaning good advance rates and a lot of coal cut. The end I’m working at however is at one of the lowest points in the mine and we constantly have water and gas problems. We wade through about 200m of mud to get to the face and that’s with a dozen pumps running 24/7, you can see water bubbling out of the floor and it can rise several feet in a few hours. This end of the mine is very close to a large fault which wasn’t detected in the original survey so a couple of years ago they were mining right towards it until the roof started falling in on a daily basis and they left a continuous miner overnight to find it underwater in the morning. That means that they have had to abandon a large section of tunnels and cut them all over again to re-route the conveyors and service pipes (water, air etc) at a huge cost and time delay. As of this week there are now 3 panels working in different areas, plus the longwall. This is stretching them right to the limit as there are 5 continuous miners in operation, each needing a whole raft of support such as shuttle-cars, LHD’s, conveyors, boot ends, ventilation etc. plus the manpower to operate them. The two longwall development panels are operated as “super panels” with two CM’s each driving one heading plus cut-through's. The third panel which is replacing the failed panel mentioned above has just one CM but has 4 headings plus cut-through’s to drive. They have the added pressure of knowing that if they are excessively delayed that the old panel might have a major roof fall and so halt all longwall and half the development production until they can finish.
That brings me nicely on to the state of the machinery at the mine. It has been in operation for over twenty years and has replaced its machinery several times. However the current batch ranges from 3-12yrs old and is plagued with problems. Thanks to the constant need to be cutting coal and making money, over the year’s maintenance schedules have slipped and once this happens they never recover. This means that machines which really need to be dragged up to surface and completely overhauled are simply kept in service with a series of minor repairs. This is incredibly wasteful and my panel alone spent nearly an entire week sitting on our arses because our CM was out of action thanks to mechanical problems. The more downtime we have, the more targets slip behind and so when we resume production we have to try and make up the lost time which means the machines are pushed too hard and break down again. This cycle is perpetual and the only way it will change is if, God forbid, the mine is forced into care and maintenance and all the machines are pulled out and replaced or fully serviced. A prime example is the state of the transport fleet; there are supposedly 16 underground transports available yet in reality this is never more than 10 due to repairs etc. All it takes is for one or two to breakdown underground and suddenly no one can move around as all the available transport is being used. This happens at least once a week, only a few days ago a group of us including our panel deputy (like a shift boss) were stuck at pit bottom because there weren’t enough serviceable vehicles to get us into the panel. There is a single grader to keep the roads in a fit state; this was recently away for 5wks for a full service and in that time we were losing a vehicle nearly every day due to damage from bad roads…
Ok, confession time, the above 1500 words were written a month ago! I’ve been incredibly slack about typing this stuff up but luckily there’s not much more to say… We’ve now got a 6th miner and shuttle car on surface waiting for the current maingate/tailgate development to finish so it can go into mains development in 900 panel. We seem to have escaped the worst of the economic downturn, the last month has been full of rumours about the pit being shut and mass lay-offs etc but we’ve had a few more small orders to keep the place ticking over. More later…
25 April 2009
17 April 2009
Updating the update
The post below was written nearly a week ago and a fair bit has changed since. The biggest thing is that it's looking increasingly likely that the mine I'm at is going to close. They're almost certainly going to lay off the contractors in the next two weeks and maybe as many as 100 of the full time workers. I'm pretty safe but it's going to be bad times for the next month or more.
On the other hand I have a working fridge now and my internet card is on it's way...
That's all I have...enjoy.
On the other hand I have a working fridge now and my internet card is on it's way...
That's all I have...enjoy.
Long time, no write bollocks
Yeh I know this is well overdue but thanks to the incompetency of my employers I still don’t have internet access except for when I can get to the local library, apparently Picton hasn’t heard of internet cafes yet. I should have received an internet card/dongle a month ago which would let me receive my company emails and access the net. The wonderful department that deals with them though decided to email me about it… they couldn’t understand why I didn’t receive them when I had no internet access. After a few long-winded phone calls I got put through to possibly the most irritating woman on the planet who promised me she’d call me when the card was sent. After two weeks of no contact I called her to find that yes, they’d been fucking emailing me again!!! How fucking hard is it to understand the concept that I have no email access??? I was promised that it would be sent last Monday yet come Thursday it still hadn’t arrived so now I have a 5 day Easter break and nothing to do but write this bollocks.
On the positive front I finally had a delivery on Thursday of a fridge/microwave/iron/toaster etc but Sod’s Law struck again and not only did my housemate who received the delivery not get a receipt for the delivery cost (leaving me $70 out of pocket) but the fridge doesn’t work. I left it 24hrs before I turned it on but it won’t go cold. I’ve tried everything suggested in the manual but no results yet. Of course being the bright spark I am I had the delivery before the long weekend so nowhere is open until Tuesday morning, leaving me with a big useless lump of metal and plastic clogging up a corner of my apartment. So, on Tuesday I also get to call my estate agents about the fact that only 1 out of 4 coils works on my electric hob, the toilet is cracked right down the bowl and they still haven’t fixed the broken fly screens.
There is, however, a light at the end of the long, long tunnel. I only have a 2 day week next week, oh joy of joys. The company has a “picnic day” on Tuesday (Easter Monday I’m off, of course) so that leaves me with just Wednesday and Thursday to work before my weekend starts on Friday. Then we’re having a big house party on Saturday with a whole load of people coming including a bunch of girls so at least I’ll have something to perve on if nothing else.
It’s all looking good for Download too, my sis has bought my ticket for me and BA have just announced that until November all returns from Sydney to London will be $1500, a good $300 cheaper! Once I get my access to expenses forms etc I should have the dosh in a mere 4 weeks. Then 4 weeks until I fly back to watch one of the greatest line-ups of all times. Faith No More, Slipknot, MM, KSE, Devildriver, The Prodigy, Silverchair, Limp Bizkit, Papa Roach and loads more, I can’t wait! After that I only have to survive about 6 weeks before I fly home for good. I may well come home a few days early for DL and pop down to Falmouth for a day or two around the 7-9th June.
Apart from that most things are going pretty well atm, my housemates are cool and we’ve had a fair few informal gatherings with mates of theirs and plenty of booze. At least I’m interacting with humans again! Work has been pretty cool too, I’m still working in a development panel with one of the crews. I’m basically just one of the crew so I can learn how it all works and see what problems they have and how to try and solve them. My panel is one of a pair, working towards each other from either end of a longwall block to eventually provide the maingate and tailgate of a longwall. The longwall blocks we’re currently cutting are nearly 4km long so there is a fair way to go. The work is hot, messy and bloody hard but I love it. I don’t have any tickets yet but there is a fair chance I’ll get my bolting ticket and maybe even my shuttlecar or transport ticket in the next couple of weeks. I may have to check with my boss back in Newcastle just because all of the equipment I’d be using is our major competitors and I don’t want to piss him off. I’m 90% sure he doesn’t give a shit but I’d rather check first. I won’t tell him that I’ve already spent several shifts stripping and repairing the apron/bolting rig on one of the miners. I’ll try not to mention that the workforce don’t seem to be too happy about getting our machines at the end of the year either…
That’s about it for now, I think. Leave me comments peeps and as soon as I have full-time net access you’ll be the first to know!
On the positive front I finally had a delivery on Thursday of a fridge/microwave/iron/toaster etc but Sod’s Law struck again and not only did my housemate who received the delivery not get a receipt for the delivery cost (leaving me $70 out of pocket) but the fridge doesn’t work. I left it 24hrs before I turned it on but it won’t go cold. I’ve tried everything suggested in the manual but no results yet. Of course being the bright spark I am I had the delivery before the long weekend so nowhere is open until Tuesday morning, leaving me with a big useless lump of metal and plastic clogging up a corner of my apartment. So, on Tuesday I also get to call my estate agents about the fact that only 1 out of 4 coils works on my electric hob, the toilet is cracked right down the bowl and they still haven’t fixed the broken fly screens.
There is, however, a light at the end of the long, long tunnel. I only have a 2 day week next week, oh joy of joys. The company has a “picnic day” on Tuesday (Easter Monday I’m off, of course) so that leaves me with just Wednesday and Thursday to work before my weekend starts on Friday. Then we’re having a big house party on Saturday with a whole load of people coming including a bunch of girls so at least I’ll have something to perve on if nothing else.
It’s all looking good for Download too, my sis has bought my ticket for me and BA have just announced that until November all returns from Sydney to London will be $1500, a good $300 cheaper! Once I get my access to expenses forms etc I should have the dosh in a mere 4 weeks. Then 4 weeks until I fly back to watch one of the greatest line-ups of all times. Faith No More, Slipknot, MM, KSE, Devildriver, The Prodigy, Silverchair, Limp Bizkit, Papa Roach and loads more, I can’t wait! After that I only have to survive about 6 weeks before I fly home for good. I may well come home a few days early for DL and pop down to Falmouth for a day or two around the 7-9th June.
Apart from that most things are going pretty well atm, my housemates are cool and we’ve had a fair few informal gatherings with mates of theirs and plenty of booze. At least I’m interacting with humans again! Work has been pretty cool too, I’m still working in a development panel with one of the crews. I’m basically just one of the crew so I can learn how it all works and see what problems they have and how to try and solve them. My panel is one of a pair, working towards each other from either end of a longwall block to eventually provide the maingate and tailgate of a longwall. The longwall blocks we’re currently cutting are nearly 4km long so there is a fair way to go. The work is hot, messy and bloody hard but I love it. I don’t have any tickets yet but there is a fair chance I’ll get my bolting ticket and maybe even my shuttlecar or transport ticket in the next couple of weeks. I may have to check with my boss back in Newcastle just because all of the equipment I’d be using is our major competitors and I don’t want to piss him off. I’m 90% sure he doesn’t give a shit but I’d rather check first. I won’t tell him that I’ve already spent several shifts stripping and repairing the apron/bolting rig on one of the miners. I’ll try not to mention that the workforce don’t seem to be too happy about getting our machines at the end of the year either…
That’s about it for now, I think. Leave me comments peeps and as soon as I have full-time net access you’ll be the first to know!
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