The Steamtug Blog

I finally started back at Shell Geelong Refinery after an initial hickup where I took 3 months holiday!

My contract in Russia finished in October and I found myself sitting on the visitors seat in the main office foyer yet again. I did my induction where they teach me and a whole lot more people about what a refinery is, and the dangers of working there… ( I used to be the instructor for this!!) then started work in my old office under the training department, but this time as the trainee. I remembered all the people that sat in this trainee seat while I explained everything to them, now it was me they were teaching how to “such eggs”.

It made me so crazy that I went to see the kind lady in the HR department, who helped my look on the computer at my leave balance. Hmmm with my stored up annual leave, plus all the long service leave they owe me, I can take more than 1 years holiday! So I went back and told my boss I was taking 3 months off!

Since my last writing, I have been to the biggest swap meet in the Southern Hemisphere in Ballarat, I visited Sovereign Hill (I am a member, so go there whenever I feel like it) and been out on the boat a few times.  And my eldest son Mitchell has started university. So we have settled him into accomodation in the big city. He is learning what it is all about to be a uni student with the late night parties etc during “O” week. I miss him, especially when he doesn’t come home for underwater hockey and I have to play without him supporting me on my team.

I also went to the wooden boat festival here in Geelong which had a steamboat on display which has re-kindled my dream plan of building my own one day…

My my how quickly 3 months can pass, and I am back here in the refinery studying to regain my old gradings I had before I left for Russia, in between filling up road tankers with solvent. All too boring… I wonder what will happen in my life next? Am I destined to do this for the rest of my days? Or will somthing interesting come up? Only time will tell….