Is there a bureau where I can file a weather complaint?  It SNOWED today.  I don't understand - what happened to the 60's and 70's?  Was it a dream?  Is someone playing a cruel trick on me, or was the last 3 days really just the whole summer for 2013?  I had a few places to go today and had to wear my coat and gloves - the wind of course was blowing about 30 MPH, adding to the chill.  Once again, my attempt to visit Williston was thwarted.  Snow and high winds made me postpone the trip.  Perhaps there's a reason for me NOT to go there.  I guess I will pull my long-johns and wool socks out of storage.

Tomorrow I start my orientation with PTI.  It will be nice to be earning money again.  I'm eager to see just how many hours I can get, because everyone I have spoken to recently seem to be of the opinion that this company will work you excessive hours.  That of course means overtime, and that's how people here really make money.  I have to be there at 10am and I'm not sure how long the day will go.  They told me that the orientation goes until you can get 2 yard trips in (close by Minot) and 2 long-distance trips.  I'm going to try to sign up for as many trips as possible and get them over with.  I'm packing a lunch for tomorrow to see if I can just keep going all day.

I'm glad my family was able to travel back to Ohio safely.  I am really missing them and it's only been a few days.  While I'm glad to have this apartment, living here alone is kind of like living like a college student again - sharing a refrigerator, sharing a bathroom, sharing the kitchen and living areas with strangers.  I'm looking forward to coming home when Sam gets home.

Looks like tomorrow I have another interview with Halliburton.  I'm excited for that and will post results.

The last couple of days have been nothing short of beautiful weather-wise.  I came on this trip packed with clothes that would survive an Arctic expedition, and now it looks like it was over-kill.  9 pairs of wool socks than may never have to be washed.  And, my long-johns may also have seen the last wear for the season.  Anyway, I was grateful for the break in the cold.  And, I am so grateful for this apartment that I have.  As I went to Walmart to get a few kitchen things and some grown-up food, I couldn't help but notice the many cars and trucks that were parked in the parking lot - many in which people undoubtedly spent the past night. It's hard to imagine unless you witness it.

Thursday afternoon and Friday I spent some time interviewing.  I interviewed for a Service Manager position in a computer store (this was merely intended to be a practice run, and the manager of the store I talked with seemed to have mental problems...)  I also interviewed for a NOC (network operating center) position with the local phone company.  That went pretty well and I think I'll get invited back for that one.  Friday morning I interviewed with a recruiter from Halliburton for a couple of well-site roles - MWD (measurement while drilling) engineer and directional drilling engineer.  Each of these positions spends their time at the well head and while they require extended time away from home, they also pay quite well.  My dear brother-in-law Ed lined this one up for me.  I came away very encouraged and so I'll report more on that job as information becomes available.  In the mean time, I'll just get ready for my intense van-driving training.

Today, Saturday, was a great day.  Beautiful outside.  No wool socks needed.  Last Sunday they announced a service project over at the Lutheran church, so I got up and met over at their church at 8am.  I figured I would get to know some ward members there.  Since I didn't know many in the ward yet, I wore my BYU hoodie so I could be recognized.  Well, turnout was me and about 15 Lutherans.  They were all really nice to me, except the pastor was not all that friendly.  I think he was eyeing me apprehensively the whole time.  Nobody mentioned anything about the BYU sweatshirt.

Anyway, they had a big platform in the back of the church where they were going to set up a pavilion, and we were going to set stakes for the roof.  Well, there was too much water from runoff to set the stakes, so we split up the group and part of them cut a channel for the water with shovels, and the rest of us went and filled sand bags and then stacked them.  The water out in the parking lot was more than ankle-deep.  It worked pretty well - here's some shots of the parking lot and the work we did:

I made some nice friends and had a good time.

This evening I went and walked around a Scandinavian Heritage Association visitors center.  It was very interesting.  Unfortunately it's too early in the year for the beautiful fountains to be running, and it was rather late at night so the pictures don't quite do it justice, but I have included a few here:

Here's a shot of the visitors center.  Now you know where the Swedes get those funny hats:

They have a tribute to Hans Christian Andersen:

That's not really him, it's just a statue.

And, you'd think that the Father of modern-day skiing would have some better equipment:

I'm going to come back and look through this really beautiful church museum   It appears like very authentic architecture, but I don't know much about Scandinavian architecture.  It also smells really good, because it made of all cedar wood.  When I was there it was already closed, so I'm going to come back.  But here's the outside of it:

This was interesting - it's the great-great-granddaddy of the horse we have at home:

No, I didn't Photo-shop this.  It is a horse that's at least 50 feet high.  Just like ours at home, except it's a lot harder to play with.  I think it's the original Trojan horse that the Greeks used to enter Troy.

Gotta get to bed.

All right, now I'm mad.  It took 2 days longer than normal to process my background and license checks - what is it, do they have some newbie in there that can't figure out how to submit a background check?  Or is that department just made up of lay-abouts standing in the back sipping coffee shooting the bull and saying, "Yo dog, I'm on break."?  To sum, instead of starting yesterday, I'm starting May 1 - a week later.  I have to go through an orientation of some type, I suppose to acquaint me with the little-known safety nuances of maneuvering a mini-van full of choo-choo fixers back and forth from Dunkin Donuts.

We don't think this bump in the road is worth a course correction, so I'm going to stay the course of using this van-driving job to find a better one.  However, I'm going to take some time tomorrow to drive out to Williston to check it out.  And, I have an interview with Halliburton tomorrow morning - looking forward to it.

Also, I had dinner tonight with an acquaintance from Boise who has been working out here in Minot for 3 years.  He has a nice setup, his employer supplies housing and transportation, but the hours are long.  Long hours translate to overtime, so that why people do it.  It might be something I can get involved in at some point.

The weather here today was absolutely beautiful!  It was sunny and in the 50's.  Supposed to get into the 60's tomorrow and Saturday.  Still, the mud and ugly dust is everywhere.  I get into the car and accidently brush my coat against the door, and I look like I slept under a bridge.  Awful.

Well, I have some news to share.  I have a place to stay, and I have a job!  The place I'm staying in is a room in the basement of a house on the west side of the city.  The house is owned by a Ukrainian couple, who rent the top floor to a family in the Minot 2nd ward.  I haven't met the owners, but the family from the ward upstairs is really nice.  They have a son who's about ready to submit his missionary papers, and a daughter who's Elsa's age.  The apartment reminds me very much of a missionary apartment - much nicer than anything in Guatemala, but probably about average for missionaries in the states I would assume.  It's big, it's clean, it's warm, and my rent includes utilities and wi-fi.  I share the basement with a kid from Boise (of all places) who works for a tool rental place in town.  He seems nice but I don't know much about him yet.  Here's a pic of the outside of the house:

Not the greatest picture but I'll get better ones later.  Here's the kitchen:

And my room:

Also a washer/dryer:

One thing you get with a place with lots of snow, is lots of mud when the snow thaws.  All the streets are so muddy and filthy - cars, sidewalks, street signs, nothing is free from the sandy mud that cakes everything.  So I'm sure I'll be using that washer a lot.

Another thing they have a lot of here is something that George would appreciate:

Right, trains "hooked together going."

However, one thing that is conspicuously absent are beggars.  There are no beggars anywhere.  Anyone who wants to work, pretty much can.  Which brings me to my work situation.

I have a job as a van driver - we pick up railroad maintenance crews and take them out to the trains.  The crews have times that they need to service every car in a 2-mile long train, so we'll take them out to the train, drop them off at the first car, then take them to the second car, and so forth all down the line.  This is something that will be an interim until something better comes along.

Today was all about church - three wards straight, to be exact.  Half-hour break in between each ward meeting.  And snow - lots, to be not-so-exact.  Of course, no North Dakota adventure would be complete without the 8-inch overnight dumping.  Funny thing though, 8 inches of snow to people here doesn't even register as a squall...  It's only a "dusting" to them.  They have had quite a bit of snow here this year though - in fact, to give you a reference point, the motel I'm staying in tonight is across the street from Walmart.  You know how big Walmart parking lots are... And, in the middle of the WalMart parking lot, there's a pile of snow that looks like Perfect North without the chairlifts.

When I woke up at 6am to get ready, the wind was howling at my window like a pack of wolves.  I looked outside and I couldn't see the car, which was buried under the 8 inches of snow.  I quickly got ready and had breakfast, compressing time to plan for an extra 30 minutes of travel time because of the "dusting".  I excavated the car and set off for the church.  Having familiarized myself with the area the night before, I was confident I could get to the church without trouble.

Well, with the snow still falling sideways and blowing across the roads, I drove toward church.  Very slowly.  Unfortunately, due to the dusting, I missed the road to the church and went a couple miles out of my way.  Neighborhoods of houses quickly turned to wide-open spaces like Nebraska, and I realized that I was not where I expected to be.  With little room to turn around without possibly getting the car stuck.  I figured if I got stuck out here, they wouldn't find me until June.

I managed to get turned around and found my way back to the church.  Good thing I left that trail of breadcrumbs.

I made a lot of new acquaintances - the three wards here are very similar to our own, except about half the size.  Most of the people are transplants - in fact, I only met four people who were a ND natives.  A lot of folks were from Idaho, which I'm told is where the coolest people come from.  One of the men here is a B-52 pilot - flies 4 sorties a day.  He said to look for the bombers taking off in the morning.  I'm excited for that.  Another guy is an operator of a nuclear missile silo.  Talk about cool.  He apparently is the one who physically turns the key and presses the button.  Another guy has a brother who served his mission in Romania and knows Sam.  Small world.

Two goals on my plate today - find housing for me, and find a job for you (my family).  I had a couple contacts on the housing side.  One very strange ward member sought me out and said that his wife had walked out on him two weeks ago and was renting a room out.  He was dressed in a tee-shirt and jeans, and wearing some five-toed shoe-like apparel.  Let me remind you, it was 23 degrees this morning with 20-MPH winds and snow.  He said the cold doesn't bother him.  I figured that he just couldn't afford a coat.  He was eager to show me his apartment, so I drove him to his place, partly out of a sense of obligation and partly out of curiosity.  He lives in section-8 housing, and it wasn't pretty.  He was a talker and went into torrid detail about his failed marriage and the wrongs done him.  He shares custody of his three children with his first wife (it was the second who left him) and has them every other weekend.  When he asked me if I would mind sharing a room with his 9-year old son on his custody weeks, I screamed internally, "EJECT EJECT EJECT!!!"  Anyway, I knew this wasn't going to work.  I will be checking out a more suitable reference tomorrow.

On the jobs front, there seem to be plenty of entry level positions available.  I came here with the attitude of being willing to do anything, but I need something with more responsibility and pay.  So we'll see.  I have an interview pending with Halliburton that I'm excited about, and several other contacts to follow up with.  More on that later.

I learned an important lesson last night - don't cancel an invitation to stay at someone's home while taking a 20-hour trip unless you've confirmed with the other person...  Big mistake.  However, it was not all my fault.  Driving through Chicago and part of Wisconsin last night was awful - snow blowing sideways, drivers sliding all over the road.  Come to think of it, I have never driven through Chicago when it hasn't snowed, regardless of the season.  So I actually missed my third appointment to crash on a couch since it was so late and I couldn't predict when I would arrive.

So anyway, I did discover that Wisconsin has some of the most beautiful and accommodating rest stops in the world - here's one of them:

It's hard to see with all the snow that was falling, but trust me, it was pretty nice.  Here's an inside shot:

I even had my own bathroom:

And, it even came with one of these installed, but I'm not sure what it is:

I finally felt like I had had enough sleep by about 5am, so I set off across Minnesota.  Time went by fast and I made good time.  I also learned that there's an Alexandria in Minnesota - probably not the same one as in Romania:

Then, I hit North Dakota...  I felt like I was in the Bermuda Triangle - the more I drove, the longer the trip got.  Here's a shot of me trying to get a picture of the "Welcome to ND" sign:

Here's some of the more exciting pictures of North Dakota:

The last leg of the journey was the worst.  Jameson to Minot - 175 miles of basically logging trail.  Two-lane, very narrow.  Rocks in the road.  Animals of several varieties wandering across.  BIG trucks flying by at 75 mph plus.  And of course, blinding snow showers.  Sums up to about 4 hours of moderate panic.  But I did make it and I'm sitting in my motel room blogging about it.  My prayers will be extra long tonight.

Tomorrow I plan to attend all three wards in Minot.  Since they don't overlap in time, that will take about the whole day.  I'm looking forward to making some new friends!

I'm making preparations to leave for Minot, North Dakota...  Minot is a medium-sized city in the north-central part of the state, close to various oil production areas.  This will be quite an adventure for me - I've never done anything so impetuous.  Leaving home to look for work.  I expect to leave Cincinnati on Friday about 6am and travel to Minneapolis MN.  Then, Saturday I'm off for Minot.  I'll be staying in a hotel Saturday and Sunday nights.  I'll attend probably all three wards on Sunday (they don't overlap times) and see what contacts I can make.

Monday or Tuesday I'm hoping to have offers and a more permanent place to stay.