Holdfast Training Services Trial Blog

This week has been quiet as the Project Leader, Barry, has taken 2 weeks annual leave back on the Emerald Isle which means that all is quiet on the Jetty front.  Barry has left me in charge by virtue of my seniority and ability to get things done but there is not that much happening.  On the Friday of the previous week we had received a letter from Bechtel stating that the project start date would be in the window of July to October.  This means that we have no certainty, no ability to commit to contracts as we don’t know when they’ll start and I have that nagging feeling that if it continues on I may be at risk of failing to complete my DOs.  That said, things may start in July and potentially the enabling works could begin before that, which is actually one of my subcontracts.  Once the birth has happened and my paternity leave over I’ll need to fully assess what is happening with this project and whether my DOs are achievable.  I suspect that this might best be discussed during the CI’s visit in late May.

The week has been spent finalising Activity Method Statements to find out that the risk assessment format has just been changed by JHG and need to be rewritten. Joy! So at least that’s something for next week.  Also, I have been working on some pile testing stuff in conjunction with the Brisbane design office.  Finally has been trying to get involved in meetings and discussions that Barry would normally be in to find that people are only interested in the organ grinder and not the monkey!  This week I have allowed it to happen but next week I will be a little firmer with them and make sure that they include me in their discussions.

One good thing that did happen was that I organised a trip on Friday to the JHG workshops in Rockhampton, an hour and a half north of Gladstone. We went and saw the pile gates for one of our piling barges and inspected their workshops as one of our suppliers.  A good trip, similar to the Civils trip to NuSteel, only with slightly less to see and nowhere near as tidy around the edges.  Some big positives though in that neither of the junior engineers had been to/seen a workshop like this so a good development opportunity for each of them.

Not a great deal else to report without a site to actually be working on!  (Note the frustration in the writers tone tempered with the fact that his wife is about to give birth and being quiet on site is not such a bad thing when about to take 2 weeks paternity leave!)

It has been a sad week personally with the loss of not one but 2 dogs.  Jackson was put to sleep and then on Saturday I got a call saying that Blaze had started whelping! Unknown to us, Blaze had been knocked up by the foster carer’s dog, which was supposedly neutered! Blaze is 7 (70 in human years) and in no state for this and so she went to the vet for a c-section.  After Blaze had got out of the car a still-born pup was found wrapped in blankets.  The vet x-rayed her and could not see any more pups which is not surprising with her age.  So an overall sad week for Blaze and my parents who have stepped in and had to deal with all of this trauma.  It’s also been fairly hard on Team Serevena with mini-me the third due any day now as we enter week 40 of the pregnancy.

Looking ahead, next week will be fairly quiet again giving me the opportunity to finalise AER 2 and my thesis proposal. It’s also a bit stop start with Wednesday off for Anzac Day on Wed.  I have been invited to the dawn service and shall be attending to pay my respects.  Beyond that, it’s building up for another R&R break the following week so most people will be winding down from now on.