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G&K

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About G&K

  • Birthday 12/05/1953

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  • Gender
    Male
  • Location
    Bago City, Negros Occidental, Philippines

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  1. Thanks Jesse. We're all good. Still waiting for Rocel to get her Permanent Resident Visa for Canada so I'm coming back on my own for now. Sure am going to miss the Philippines. Love it here even if there are no RVs!! Geo
  2. Thanks Jack. On a plane tomorrow morning. Its going to be a scramble to find somewhere to live and a job. Geo
  3. I try for 7 seconds Jack as we are usually so heavy and I so don't want to be doused in liquid Nitrogen. Back in Canada on the 9th. Job hunting then. Jumped back here today to see how folks were coping with Harvey. All the best, Geo
  4. Thanks guys!!! Good to be back. Plan on working into breakup in April, then back to the Phils to maybe September, then back here with the family for a few years split between Canada and the Phils. We have family both here and there so splitting our time seems to make sense. I am very fortunate that Essential Coil Well Service wanted me back. Lots of changes, but so far they are all good. Having fun and learning something new each and every day!! Geo
  5. After propping my flipflops on a beach in the Philippines since April 7 2016, I find myself roping a Nitrogen tanker at 56,500kgs loaded around northern Alberta and BC again. lol What is old is new again. Unfortunately, they pretty much won't let anyone over 60 back into the Middle East after the last slowdown and I'm still a couple of years short of my pension. The boss is still in the Philippines and I miss her and being there. We hit -42*C a couple of weeks ago and this is NOT what I'm used to. lol Geo
  6. Train wreck looking for a place to happen. Good thing you caught it!! Geo
  7. Settled in at Milton Heights Campground near Toronto. Volvo is at Sheehans Truck Center for some love.
  8. Well, yesterday was "interesting". I guess it goes to show that you should never present an immigration officer with anything out of the ordinary. It is always easier to say no, and probably safer from a career perspective. I'm little ticked off over the immigration process yesterday. It was pretty unpleasant, not because of any law or regulation we fell foul of, just seems like a lot depended on the personalities involved and good luck if you hit the wrong person. Rocel and I don't have the easiest case to understand because of the complication of living and working in Doha up until last month, so, as indicated in the US Immigration web site, we put the whole thing down in a one-page summary letter and added all the backup documentation to verify the truth in her application. Rocel speaks excellent English, but not natively fluent. And she was already nervous about this process as no one wants to talk to government officials that control your destiny, from ANY nation, if you don't have to. So the Consul grills her verbally, but won't look at any of the provided documentation she supplied. It was fronted by a concise one page summary letter, for crying out loud, that explained why she wanted to go the the US, how long she wanted to stay, her ties to countries outside the US to make sure she would go home at the end of the visit, and finally she explained exactly how she would pay for her visit. Would have taken less than a minute to read and digest. And the consul completely ignored all of this. As Rocel wasn't working any more in Qatar and she was on a Canadian tourist visa, end of story. Entry denied. Now in the interest of balance, the Canadian system is about as screwed up, but in the opposite direction. There, you are never allowed to speak with a human being. EVERYTHING has to be presented in writing, and if it isn't clear enough, entry denied. Took two tries to get her Canadian tourist visa as we were too casual on the first submission. Traveling the globe with Rocel has also been a very good introduction to institutional racism applied towards travelers in the modern world. As an older white male Canadian I have a free ride pretty much anywhere. Yes, sir, visa on arrival or no visa at all, how long would you like to stay sir? No problem sir. Have a nice day sir!! If you are brown and from the developing world you have the Devil of a time getting a visa into most developed countries. Even a tourist visa. The automatic assumption is that you are trying to find a job and its assumed you will overstay your visa deadline and become an illegal alien. To be fair, it does happen enough that there are good reasons behind the prejudices. But we supplied the correct paperwork to make that a non-event. It would be pleasant if the govt officials charged with a task actually did their jobs instead of just wielding a "denied" stamp. If we hadn't done the letter and provided all the supporting documents I could understand this a lot better!! The bad guys seem to be able to cruise across our porous borders with little consequence, but trying to do it up front and legally has some interesting challenges if you "aren't from these parts". lol Geo
  9. Thanks Phil. It has been interesting, but everyone in this business has their tales of woe just now. I'm really glad to be back on Vancouver Island, its way over 100F in Doha already. All the best, Geo
  10. Hi Darryl, I was in Kurdistan for 6 months, then spent the last 18 months in Qatar. It was supposed to be a 3 year contract, but the oil price got in the way. I've been home in Sidney BC since May 26th. My sea freight furniture shipment arrives (I hope) on July 8th after which I'm free to travel. Karen and I split up mid-October last year after making not quite 41 years together. Rocel and I got together in January, but because she if from the Philippines all the ease of travel we are used to is denied to her. It took two tries to get her a tourist visa to Canada, and we are sitting on the edge of our chairs waiting to see if the US will let her in. If it works out OK, we will fly Victoria - Vancouver - Orlando - Nashville and pick up the rig from JW's place in Unionville, TN sometime around mid-July. We are for sure going to come through Alberta in probably early to mid August as I have to renew my Alberta class 1 which requires my physical presence. Maybe we can finally meet up?
  11. Well Ladies and Gents, I'm back in civilization at bit before planned. Weatherford laid off 11,000 plus from their 65K workforce and guess who got caught in that one? lol Since my split with Karen in October last year I have found someone else. Her name is Rocel and she is here with me in Sidney, BC, Canada. Took a bit of work to get her Canadian tourist visa as she is from the Philippines. We have applied for a US tourist visa for her, and if all goes well after her interview on the 25th we will fly to Nashville and pick up the rig from JW sometime in mid-July. Then back to Ontario so I can get emissions certified and re-registered, then hopefully back to the West Coast and home in Sidney. We hope to spend some time in the southern USA visiting friends and family as far south as the Keys. If any of all y'all are around we would love to meet up. All the best to you all. Geo
  12. It's Friday so it must be Laramie. Still sunny but colder. 75 is not good for fuel consumption or trailer tire temps, but we're well positioned for Oakley tomorrow. Geo
  13. We're bound to hit some bad weather now, just washed the truck at the Blue Beacon in Twin Falls last night. Poor thing hadn't had a proper bath since Alberta. I need to find a place to get my wheels polished and the trailer and truck waxed. Needs the old wax stripped first, I have the correct stripper. Anywhere between Oakley KS and Atlanta GA would work. Anyone have ideas? Thx Geo
  14. It would probably be just plain mean to mention the sun is following us south. It was another beautiful day here, about 73* going through Boise this afternoon. Ended up at Anderson's RV park in Eden!!?! Seems appropriate. With the weather in Kansas, good thing that truck is Canadian Jack and knows how to drive in snow. Geo
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