Home Again - a success, first hitch at Lucas Camp #26 completed

I arrived home Tuesday around 2pm, fatigued from not sleeping in over 24 hours, and slightly sick from a bumpy plane ride in an 8 seater plane.

It's good to be home again. I only have 6 days off before going back to camp 26 for another 2 weeks. My last hitch can be considered as a success after the many questionable hitches I have worked before the last. Although each hitch provides some growth and insight, I am usually left wondering if my work, literally the meals I cook, are enjoyed by the workers I am catering for.
This last hitch was different. I was given numerous compliments on my meals, desserts, biscuits. The workers were obviously easy to please, and perhaps I have learned how to more appropriately cater for the tastes of the rugged mining industry workers in Australia.

Tonight I will cook Mushroom soup for dinner, and Plum Crunchy Nut Crumble for dessert.

Who and What are we mining for? How selfishness can contribute to world pollution.

Hello All.

This post originally started as an email. There was an article on the BBC news website which I found today about the side effects of drilling for resources such as gas. I wanted to share it with friends and family . While writing what I intended to be a short, "for your information" style email. There were many thoughts coming to mind. After 15 minutes I realized this was no longer the email I originally intended to write. So, I copied and pasted what I had written, in this post. I never sent the email. 

Here is the BBC news article about the possible pollution that drilling for natural gas produces.

Regretfully, I work in the mining industry, catering for a company that drills for coal seam gas. The position is only temporary, but by having this job, I unintentionally support the industry. I'm not proud of it. I dont have the power to stop these companies from mining in ways that pollute the environment. It is up to a select few, who have power to make big changes to stop the polluting of the earths pure waters and environments. I would happily give up this job in an instant if it would cause the end of pollution produced by industry. All I can do is gently express myself and hope that my actions have in some way touched another person in a way that might cause them also to strive to create a more considerate lifestyle.

Awareness and consideration does ensure the gradual reduction of carelessness. It is not a necessity of living, to pollute without care. Proper care can be employed, people only need to care more about the aggregates which make up their life, body and mind, the whole world, rather then only caring about the profit they can make and eventually loose when their life ends. 

What will we leave behind when we die?

A pile of bones, dust, and depending on what we have done in our life possibly a heap of trouble and hardship because we cared not for our world.

I think we need time to learn, time to slow down, and develop a lifestyle that is more considerate.

We all need to support our lives, but more importantly we need to care. We need to act with care and regard and respect the aggregates as the manifestation of the one life force... the many forms make a complete life. WIthout an inclusive view, we become selfish. Perhaps it is selfishness that grows into inclusiveness. Many people, including myself, need to make mistakes before we see that we can reduce suffering in life. Sadly, many people never find truth in suffering, they go on suffering and cause suffering until they die, and the effects of their actions produced by their suffering mind leaves traces of that sorrow behind.

Is that what our society is creating?
Why are we mining? Why are we polluting the earth?
Yes we need comfort, we need warmth in the winter, but we also need to be careful.
Haven't the brilliant minds of our time invented ways to harness electricity that leaves less of a trace, that better suits the environment?
WInd, Sun, Water, there is so much power in this earth already.
The world powers need time, to slow down, to re-configure their order to encourage a cleaner environment.

I wish it will happen, before too long.
Many people are already suffering from the effects of industrial pollution such as polltued water from mining, and radioactive fallout from nuclear power, how can these obvious facts be ignored?

I realize I do not have to power to make big changes in this world, I can only take care of myself and try my best to treat people and this world with kindness and appreciation.

To walk the path of life in kindness and to be considerate, I need to realize that although it is me who makes choices and lives in this body and in this world, I cannot walk the path alone. Taking care of myself while walking along with life is different then being selfish. We have to take care of ourselves to support a mind and body in which our realizations grow. But, If I think I can walk a path alone, as if I am different from all others, I am walking a selfish path. To support this world I need to unlearn what I have learnt, to let go of my selfish mind, to see that the whole universe is included on that path. There is no path without this life, no life without all things that exist.

To be selfish is to pollute the world with selfishness.
We should open our hearts to the sky above and give thanks to the universe for this brief existence and encourage others to be kind by being kind ourselves.

"Pay attention to all the leaves, the flowers, the birds and the dewdrops. If you can stop and look deeply, you will be able to recognize your beloved manifesting again & again in different forms. You will again embrace the joy of life." Thich Nhat Hanh

Into Eternity - the Finish flim about nuclear waste

I want to see this film to know more about nuclear radiation, to think about more our future.

toxic waste will remain active for more than 100000years.

we need to stop using such a frightening source of energy, we shouldn't touch it.

That can be used only by permission of a God.

Lapita in my place

He came back to my place at last!!

My mother brought Lapita on her way to my sister's palce on 23rd April.

He was staying in my parents home since last christmas,

because i had to leave Tokyo to meet Adam in Australia.

Since that time, I had a tax investigation, Huge earthquakes, Fukushima nuclear plants disaster....

He experienced all of these crisis in Fukushima.

It has been a long time since he left me, i m really happy to see him and have him always with me.

 Standing Lapita is one of my favourite poses :)

So cute!

 He is waiting for his meal.

He likes to have his head caressed, it feels so nice.

Anzac Biscuits

I have had many compliments on the Anzac Biscuits I baked yesterday. The workers claim they are baked perfectly. It's a nice compliment. I am glad to have found such a good recipe.

Here's a photo :0

The trick is to shape them well, in your hand, before baking, and to take them out of the oven when they just turn golden brown on the edge. Shaping them helps them melt down evenly, and baking until just golden brown ensures they will be soft and chewy, not dry and crunchy.

Mining Industry Catering - New Camp - Delayed Moving

I am at work now, at a new camp, Lucas Camp #26. We are in the Arcadia Valley QLD. I have been here before, with another camp. We recently moved this camp, and we have had some delays. I want to upload some photos for Akiko. It is hard to explain how we move our camps, so I thought the best way to help Ako understand what our camps look like, and how they are moved, is to post some photos.

There is a special type of truck, which is called a "suck truck" that lifts and places the rooms onto another truck.

This is the empty "lease" where our camp will be placed.

This time we had many problems and delays. The lease was not big enough. A bulldozer was called over from the nearby lease to extend the lease and level out a new roadway for the trucks to turn around.

Meanwhile the trucks are waiting... we all are waiting, for the company that owns and transports the camp to start doing something. It seemed that they were unorganized. It took a long time for only a few rooms to be unloaded.

The cows watched us silly humans. Thanks you cows for sharing your land with us :)

The sun was setting, and only one unit was unloaded, and it was in the wrong place. It was humorous, we all wondered when we would be able to start working. Until the units are down, we cant clean the kitchen, and start to cook dinner.

It took a long time, and even after a few days we still didnt have all of the camp unloaded. It has been confusing, and there have been many surprises. We have had so many extra people staying in our camp, it was unexpected and caused some stress, but we did well.

So far I have had many good comments about my meals. I am glad. Although there are a few workers here that seem aggressive, uncivilized and selfish. I'll do my best to keep good food in their mouths all day, which is all they think about, food food food. Each day is a never ending meal. As soon as one meal is over, they are waiting for the next one. Like animals, aliens from strange lands. There is rarely any feeling of friendship or kinship in the mining industry. Very few people treat eachother with love and consideration... it's ironic since the mining industry also does not treat our mother earth with loving care and consideration. I look forward to finishing this work soon.