My pants feel tighter than before (my fight against fat and weight gains)

That's right - oh who would imagine me... the most fit guy in the world with the most perfect level of metabolism... fighting against fat and weight gains. Seriously?? Who would have expected it?! All I have to do is eat, BAM I'm fit.

Before leaving for Fort McMurray, I was expecting to actually LOSE weight because of the additional walking to the grocery store (versus having a car in Vancouver) and of course, not eating my mom's amazing cooked food.

I remembered it so clearly....

I left the stove element on - Stress ensues

9:12am - I realize that I don't remember turning off the stove element this morning. I really don't. I turned it on at 6:12am. I do remember clearly turning it on to boil some soup, shaking the pan to let the bubbles rise. BUT I DO NOT REMEMBER TURNING IT OFF.

[Stress level: 80% - running on adrenaline, hoping that my roommate turned it off]

9:15am - I go to my roommate's cubicle and ask if he turned it off. He says no.
[Stress level: 100%]

9:20am - I call the landlord to check. She says she'll call me back.
[Stress level: 90%]

9:25am - She calls back and said it was off.
[Stress level: 80%]

9:27am - As much as I want to put this to rest, I don't believe her. Maybe I didn't say my room number clearly and she checked the other apartment building; I DO NOT REMEMBER TURNING IT OFF!
[Stress level: 95%]

9:30am - I keep telling myself that the landlord checked and "it's off". It's off. It's off... okay, it's off
[Stress level: 80%]

9:57am - I really don't remember turning it off. It's so hard to work when you have this in your mind. Even if there is no fire, the smell of a burnt metal pot in the carpet, clothes, bed, couch. Another 7 hours to go until I get back to the apartment.
[Stress level: 70%]

10:04am - Breathing in, breathing out.
[Stress level: 50%]

10:10am - I keep saying these to myself to stay sane:
- In my history of life, I've never left an element on when I leave the house (But there's always a first time)
- The freaking landlord says it's off.
[Stress level: 47%]

10:20am - Searched "I can't remember if I turned off the stove" on Google. One site says it's "so automatic to turn the oven off after cooking that we hardly realize we're doing it." I think back on how automatic actions are prevalent in my daily life. There are a lot of things which I do that I don't even remember; it's like second nature.
[Stress level: 40%]

10:29am - I hear a whole bunch of people talking outside my cubicle and I hear my mentor's laugh. It's a funny laugh.
[Stress level: 32%]

10:33am - I try recalling my memory if I turned it off or not. Stress increase!
[Stress level: 40%]

5:30pm - I get back to apartment. It's off.

[Stress level: 0%]

5:31pm - I realize I have memory problems

[Stress level: 20%]

Line Chart of Stress levels in relation to time:

Fort McMurray is not THAT bad

I realize I need to give you the setting of my adventures and experience. This will allow you to understand some of the things I say in the later posts.

As the title says, Fort McMurray is not THAT bad. I was totally expecting it to be a boon town; dirty, boring, and white (Caucasian). Oh how my preconceptions have been shattered.

WARNING: I will be using “colours” to describe different races; I’m NOT racist. Using colours is the only way I can describe people’s ethnicity without knowing their country (for example, can you tell the difference between an Ethiopian, Djiboutian, or Somalian?? I can’t – I didn’t even know there’s a country called Djibouti.)

Preconception #0: Boon town [WRONG]

Obviously it’s not a beautiful city like Vancouver, but it’s definitely not in the boonies. It's a city of 100,000 people. There's a "downtown" (I'd call it a downstreet), there's a Superstore, Wal-Mart, Staples, Safeway, Moxies, Earls, a few Chinese restaurants and Japanese ones, a mall (small one, mind you). There’s also an Extra Foods, BP, Subway, KFC, and banks about 15 min walk away from my apartment. Most of the houses look like they are no more than 10-15 years old, there are whole bunch of gyms and community centres (and a brand new one with NICE facilities; water park, library, gyms, rinks, courts, conference halls).

Preconception #1: White [WRONG]

Fort McMurray's multiculturalism is MORE visible than Vancouver's. Vancouver, all you see is just ASIAN. Walking around Ft . Mac, you can see people of every ethnicity here. The church I go to, it was like the United Nations. They have flags of 42 different countries hanging in the back to represent all the countries the members are from.

Even at work... in my team, there are 2 black guys, 3 Asians, 2 brown guys, 4 white guys. My mentor is from Pakistan; my team leader is from Nigeria. My cubicle is across from another Nigerian and beside an Indian. [You don't get this mosaic in Vancouver].

Preconception #2: Boring [Depends]

If you’re a party animal, this place is not for you. One of my co-workers is from Montreal; yes Montreal. He’s the pinnacle of party animal and he hates this place. No clubs (well if you consider an old tavern with a dance floor as big as your room, then yes). The closest thing to a bar here is.... Boston Pizza?

But if you have a purpose in life and NOT a party animal, it’s not that boring. Like I said in Preconception #0, there are whole bunch of community centres. I play badminton on Mondays, volleyball on Thursdays. Before it started getting cold, I went to play Frisbee or soccer in the nice outdoor fields across my apartment. Also I have a guitar here and I've done plenty of reading as well.

Preconception #3: Dirty [CORRECT]

It’s Alberta. What d’you expect?

Okay, it's not THAT dirty. It's not ... fresh and clean like Vancouver, BUT it's definitely cleaner than India!

Conclusion:

Fort McMurray is more of a family town than anything else. I wouldn't mind living here and raising a family. Why??? You'll save money because your wife or daughter won't be shopping too much here. (Then again, it's about a 5 hour drive away from Edmonton).

More stories to come!