Well, that was an action-packed first week! I started my new job on Monday, and it has been a blast so far - and it's a relief to be working for an organisation that is organised! I walked into the office on Monday morning, to be presented with a laptop, cellphone (for work) and a stack of business cards, and was immediately given a full site induction covering everything from the location of the ladies' to the office hazards and assembly area. I approve!
Monday and Tuesday were spent preparing for a hazard/safety/risk audit in Christchurch, along with some rapid reading-up on some areas that I'm not that familiar with (some of the Approved Codes of Practice for construction and occupational diving). Wednesday was Waitangi Day, so I had a day off (that was well-planned!) and Thursday and Friday I accompanied the GM to Christchurch to assist in an audit of a major construction project.
That was fascinating. We visited five sites, including a tunnelling/mining site and two marine-based areas, and did a full safety site and systems audit. It was really interesting watching and listening to my boss: he's been doing these things for many years and I learnt an awful lot just from listening to how he asked the questions - and what questions he asked. I was in charge of the camera, taking pictures of the sites to help us jog our memories later - I also managed to get a couple of rather artistic pics as well as all the construction-type ones.
Thursday evening I was able to catch up with my sister and hubby and see their new place - and admire their garden! I have promised to properly rub in the fact that their tomatoes are going great guns and Dad's have died.... although I might have to plan some quick escape routes first! They also gave me a bit of a tikki-tour of Christchurch, which was great - I haven't been down there since about 1991 and it's changed a bit since then! They were so enthusiastic that they almost sold me on the idea of moving there! It was certainly very pretty and well-kept, and I loved all the beautiful mature trees everywhere.
We got back late on Friday night - our flight had been delayed due to the hijacking at Christchurch Airport earlier in the day, but we did get home in the end. I was pretty knackered: we'd been climbing up and down all over the port and ships all day in full PPE (hard-hat, boiler suit, hi-viz, and boots), so it had been a pretty energetic day after a very long day the day before as well.
Meanwhile, hubby and small daughter had returned for the beginning of the Playcentre year on Thursday, and apparently small daughter spent most of the three hour session investigating the fluid properties of water in the water play area. It was warm and she dried out fast - and all that messy play is what Playcentre is for, after all! She was certainly pleased to see me when I got home on Friday night though.
Right now I'm avoiding finishing the chapter in the book I'm currently studying: Safety, Culture and Risk: the organisation causes of disasters. It's a good book and the author (Andrew Hopkins) is a leader in his field - and can write a good story too! - but it's quite warm and my concentration isn't all that flash right now. I've told myself I'll finish at least four sections of the book by Monday as I'm a bit behind in my study, due to the trip to Christchurch.
Pachyderm
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