Nashville hotels with indoor pool

Undergrad: 3.70 GPA in civil engineering from a large public state school
Work experience: Interned with a company for a year and got promoted to a full time hire 7 months before graduating, but left a few weeks after to take a promotion as a project manager at another firm. I have been a “project manager” for 4.5 years now. No-one currently directs to me. I do a lot of large scale land development design work for Walmarts, etc. I am a licensed professional engineer as well. Also in on the business development side of things with the firm.
School involvement: Lead teaching assistant in the engineering department where I tutored and led group sessions for struggling students. Honors college member. Vice president of an engineering club for a year.
ECs: Full scholarship cross country and track & field athlete at my university. Do volunteer work with a local nonprofit that directs track meets for elementary and middle school kids. I take on interns at work and mentor them over the summers/school-years
I am targeting a complete career pivot, and am wanting to go somewhere where I can get a lot of $$$$. Vanderbilt Owen is on the top of my list because I like Nashville a lot. Are there other recommendations that others would have in regards to $$$$? Thanks!

TL;DR: title + i’ve tried everything including vets to soothe her. Nothing has really worked. Any advice appreciated! 7 yr old husky mix.
Hello,
2 years ago i fell off of a 40 ft cliff. my dog was with me, and she got to me prior to my friends or EMTs. I don’t remember it at all. I do have vague memories of my dog licking blood off of my face, though.
She’s been beyond anxious since, especially indoors. She’s a seven year old husky mix, which I know means anxiety isn’t a shocking thing; however, NOTHING works! I am at my wits end! I feel like she hates me and it’s awful. I also want to say that I am regularly in touch with the vet as she has been prescribed prozac, gabapentin, and trazedone in the last year. According to two vets, I have tried everything available to buy.
She pants and has those wide, whale eyes. She is especially anxious if she is indoors alone with me, and extra especially anxious if it’s in our house. She became afraid of literally any TV show. Her separation anxiety returned and she still cannot without extreme anxiety or some destruction. Would start shaking just became she was indoors. shoving herself behind tables, etc. where she shouldn’t fit and could hurt herself, etc etc etc. She exhibits no aggression or reactivity. Some of the symptoms ceased once she started prozac as well.
I thought first it was my studio apartment/space related though she’d had no prior issue. We moved into a larger apartment with a balcony. There, she was constantly asking to go on the balcony but I was fine with her being out there. I moved into a larger duplex next trying to find some way to get my dog back.
I tried Adaptil, both methods. Probably every calming chew on Chewy. Multiple things like toys to increase stimulation, thundershirt, etc. When she began refusing food, I took her to the vet and they put her on prozac and gabapentin. The gabapentin no longer works so now she has trazedone — the vet gave me 3 doses, I have used the lowest and second lowest doses…I cannot afford a behaviorist but I utilize my psychology degree.
And she does get exercise. Dog park every other day, walks with neighbors and their dogs, playing with their dogs, playing fetch, etc. I know it’s nothing compared to her following my ex for miles on his backcountry skis every other day; however, I can’t do all of that anymore due to injury. I will sometimes put her in dog daycare just to give her a break from me.
She wants affection but she just expresses anxiety unless outside. Currently, she’s spending about 8-10 hours a day sleeping in the yard. It’s getting too hot for that.
So long…so sorry…ANY advice appreciated.

My small neighborhood in the Northland has at most a 22500 gallon standard pool and contracts with some company that appears to be overcharging. The neighborhood budget breakdown seems off based off my limited knowledge of the costs associated with upkeep, however I am only familiar with a personal pool. If anyone has insight that would be great. Can't seem to find a good advice on how to estimate using the internet. If things seem off, I may push for getting additional quotes next year.
The neighborhood pays ~$7500/yr for ONLY the pool company's time/labor, chemicals, opening pool, and closing pool. Maintenance to pool, licensing, utilities, repairs, etc are all separate charges that seem reasonable.
Thanks!

I wanted to take a moment to discuss the ongoing writer's strike that has been causing ripples in the entertainment industry for the past month. As many of you may already know, the strike primarily revolves around the issue of underpayment and the lack of guarantees for regular pay faced by writers in the current streaming media model. The motion picture studios and the writers seem to be at a deadlock, with the studios being reluctant to reveal their numbers, making it challenging for writers to calculate their residuals. It's clear that the traditional compensation structure needs to be reevaluated to address the imbalance in the industry.I believe a potential solution lies in a two-fold approach. Firstly, a substantial lump sum payment could be sourced from high-powered motion picture bosses who are earning exorbitant amounts of money. This initial step could provide the necessary financial relief to resume productions and mitigate the immediate impact of the strike.Secondly, I propose implementing a compensation system similar to how streaming platforms like Spotify operate. Each time a unique instance of media is consumed, writers would receive micro-earnings. This can be tracked through cross-checking IP addresses of users (I know, privacy, but hear me out). Over time, this would guarantee payment to writers for as long as the media remains hosted on a platform. It's a practical way to adapt to the new digital landscape and ensure writers are fairly compensated for their work.In addition to the micro-earnings system, a compromise can be reached regarding royalties. Instead of traditional residuals, which have become more complicated in the streaming era, writers can receive a guaranteed percentage of the revenue generated by their work. This ensures ongoing compensation based on the success of the media.Also, the lump sum strategy to facilitate fair compensation and support writers should evolve into a "writer's fund", established by non-asshole big-money producers. This fund would serve as a central pool of funds and resources, and any willing high-powered studio bosses in the industry could contribute to it voluntarily. The funds would be managed carefully to ensure equitable distribution among writers, providing them with the financial security they deserve.This isn't like any previous strike, or even like a normal one — it's a complete reboot, not a bit of tweaking and adjusting. W have to address the imbalance in the industry, with bosses earning millions while the talented writers who make them rich are left with meagre earnings. We can create a more equitable future for all parties involved.What are your thoughts on this proposal? Do you have any additional ideas to add to the conversation? Let's discuss and find ways to support the writers who bring our favorite stories to life.TL;DR: The writer's strike highlights the need for fair compensation in the streaming era. A proposal suggests a lump sum payment from high-powered studio bosses, micro-earnings for each instance of media consumed, a guaranteed percentage of revenue, and the creation of a writer's fund for fair compensation.

I need advice! I have been unemployed since august and have been struggling to land roles in social media management. I went to a career coach and they told me that my resume was too “black & white” and for social media roles that I need to stand out and show my creativity . This resume is after me taking her advice but I’m still not getting any interviews. What should I change? Please help

Is it okay for a hotel to advertise free wifi, but add a nanny filter so all R-rated sites and up are blocked? I subscribe to ProtonVPN which worked around it, but what if you don't want the performance hit?
These filters generally work by redirecting your DNS queries to their DNS server, which 'knows nothing' about any adult sites, so returns 'address unknown'. Furthermore they block port 53, so you can't just put in 8.8.8.8 or some other public server.
The solution - OpenDNS has servers on alternate ports such as 208.67.222.222:5353 which gets through the block and resolves all the usual sites.
To do this, update your /etc/systemd/resolved.conf and add that server with its port to the DNS= line. Or however you do it in Windows, I don't know. Then restart resolved and no more VPN.
Whether or not you want to run your own machine on a hotel wifi that's obviously got some filtering stuff running without a VPN.. well I won't. But it was interesting working out how to defeat their filter.

I’m 23 (M) and I’ve been talking to this one girl for a while now. We live about 30 minutes away from each other. We’ve seen each other in person a few times but we’re mostly connected through social media. She’s also 23 and both of us have similar interests. I’m into creating films and she’s into photography. Both of us also enjoy to travel. Also we both got a lot of similar views.
For a while we were talking and everything was good. I was about to ask her out and tell her that I wanted to get to know her better. But then… I started to notice a difference in her behavior. At first we often times would have full on conversations and she’d be really invested.
But again, overtime… I noticed she started acting different. She started getting real dry and she never text me first anymore or likes any of my pictures anymore. Honestly… I think when she replies to me sometimes that she’s just trying to be nice. She seems like she has a really good heart so I think she just wants to be nice by replying to me sometimes.
I honestly thought things were meant to be between us, but… It turns out she hates me for reasons I’m not aware of. I wish she would tell me why she hates me but… if I ask her, I’ll just come off as a whiny desperate loser peasant.
At 23 I don’t really have a lot of experience dating admittedly. I grew up in a small town and there weren’t a lot of options in the dating pool. Plus admittedly I had behavioral problems back in middle school and high school and I’ve matured since then… However, it’s hard to reinvent yourself in a small town like this. I have a goal to move away and start over but I won’t be financially able until at least a year from now.
Sidenote… I just want to clarify real quick that I am not moving just to find love. I’m also moving for other reasons, because I want to live in a big city with more job opportunities, more career opportunities for the things I am interested in, more entertainment… Weather… Scenery… Food, options, etc. I know it’s unrelated, but I just wanted to get that out-of-the-way and clarify that I’m not moving just for the sake of finding love.
How can I move on from her and except that she just hates me and wants no part of me? Also how much time do I still have to find someone new in the future?

I am a software developer with permanent WFH option. I want to take a week long staycation in July or August.
Requirements:
1). High speed internet 2). Laundry 3). Beach or Backwater access 4). Swimming pool.
Please recommend a good hotel that fullfill these requirements. I am flexible with budget.

I recently worked for a company in construction building commercial pools, I was at this company for about 3 weeks before having an injury the doctors were certain that is due to my workplace conditions. The project was a new build installing a big pool and building which resulted in a lot of fumes and dust and a ton of standing water. We did not work with masks or no preventative PPE around these conditions other than a hard hat. We had to use high grade primer, which is supposed to be used with a mask but no instructions were used to use one, I’m talking the kind of primer that you get one sniff of and feel high. An osha course was required to be on this job, which I was also let work without. I would have to go into the standing water to pump it out again with nothing preventative. Everything was fine until one Saturday I wake up with severe pain in my chest, which got worse so 2 days later I went into the ER. Turns out I had bacterial pneumonia, was put on antibiotics and sent home. At a follow up about a week later my doctor said that I need to go back to the ER, which they found out that the bacterial infection had gotten way worse . This resulted in having to get numerous tests done and being admitted to the hospital for 6 days and numerous tests to follow upcoming. Upon all the tests and speaking to the doctors they say they are almost positive it was contracted due to my work. Doctors also say my lung will never go back to normal or be at its peak unless I do surgery. Do I have a case for personal injury or workplace practice?

Firstly, this is by far the hardest solo flawless in the game. High enemy counts, the 500k health buffer on both bosses, extremely punishing mechanics (by dungeon standards), and some of the most aggressive enemy types in the game. I’ve never felt as tested in this game as I have during my attempts—and I loved almost all of it.
Secondly, I think the health pools are fine. I think the community’s discourse on the Boss’ overall health is lopsided in the sense that they’re arguing for everyone in a key circumstance where only a select group of people would be even willing to attempt it at all.
The whole point of Solo Flawless runs is the challenge yourself. It’s a test of build knowledge, game sense, and most of all, stamina. Only those with adequate experience, or willingness to acquire that experience, should be the ones completing these dungeons solo and most of all, flawlessly. I do not think that health needs to scale with player count, nor enemy counts, or anything of the like. The point of doing a dungeon solo is to challenge yourself in a way that you can’t find in other content. To scale the solo runs down to solo players would undermine the entire point of Solo runs entirely.
If this rings elitist to you, it’s because it probably is. I don’t think a large majority of the community should be completing solo dungeons, or solo flawless dungeons. It exists as a personal challenge for those willing to partake. To make it more accessible would undermine the entire point of doing it. It’s one of the few places where lategame Destiny players can test themselves, it doesn’t need to be accessible to every player in the game.
And to nip any interpretations of my character from this post, I should say that I regularly Sherpa new players into raids all the time. I’m sympathetic to players who less capable of a specific challenge. Nonetheless, I am unmoved in my belief that Dungeons should not be made more accessible to solo players.

Hey guys, I just did a 10 day history/culture Nile cruise and wanted to share some of my celiac adventures now that the world is opening up again.
Some caveats, Egypt was just getting its tourism feet under it when the revolution happened in 2011, and then really started to push that again just before the spicey cough hit everyone. So it really felt like I was dealing with a lot of established businesses who had recently replaced a lot of staff, I suspect that a lot of the really experienced front of house tourism folks got hit really bad by it, so the overall institutional knowledge level was lower than what I'd otherwise expect. That said, everyone was super eager to please, most spoke 2-3 languages.
I'll try to break this up into some manageable chunks.
Egyptian cuisine in general: There are a lot of influences, so you get a big mix of foods that are now part of the culture. Breakfast may well have been called Breadfast, because of the number of pastries and similar dishes. But in general they do a lot of grilled meat (halal obvs) and veggies. Spices are pretty direct/simple not a huge number of sauces or dips, so in general lunches and dinners were easy enough, and I'm generally just a coffee=breakfast guy anyway, but heaps of fruit were pretty normal as well.
First hotel, New Cairo Hyatt: massive breakfast buffets, pretty decent lunch and dinner options, I did my usual of "What's the easiest thing the chief can do gluten free" and got a steak and roasted veggies. They really didn't seem to have much ability to do GF baking, or have many good GF options, but again, it's a very new hotel and the staff are trying to learn the needs of their market.
Last hotel Cairo InterContinental: Older hotel, obviously hired in staff from other places in Europe to bring up the training level, waiters had really good knowledge of celiac requirements, and overall had great procedures for dealing with that in the restaurant (had some other problems resulting from new staff, but seemed to be a training issue, and again a massive buffet with almost nothing safe for breakfast)
Train: We did a sleeper train on two legs of the journey. No really safe options for food, think airline meal, but only one option for dinner, and breakfast was three types of bread. Thankfully we didn't have to waste much of the food, as we were able to find folks who wanted it. It's worth mentioning here that while there is a lot of poverty in Egypt, and it's clear who's living kinda rough, there is both a sense of pride and community that meant we saw very few people just begging for food, they were more likely to try to sell something (anything) to a tourist rather than just beg, but we were able to give out the extra food, and it was both appreciated and shared. I don't want to make it seem like it was better than it was, but for a country that has functionally not had a working government for 60 years, they still make things work and get stuff done. It's by far not an ideal situation, but it is what it is, and I ended up with lots of packaged breadrolls to give away. I was able to pick up a few packaged food things that were from the EU so had compliant labels, and that was fine.
Cruise: The Nile cruise had pretty good food selections, pretty big buffet, and the worst day for me had only two options, some grilled chicken and sauteed veggies. Generally, I also had rice or roast potato, and sometimes an option of two proteins, just depending on sauces and such. Very limited breakfast options, and no dedicated deep-fryer, so that did limit some things. No desserts at all apart from fruit.
Food at sites/ restaurants: Generally pretty good options, very upscale places, so good knowledge, but again, lots of buffets, so not ideal, two places were just straight grill/bbq sort of things, so that was fine.
Overall: So as I mentioned earlier, most of the people were super eager to please, and very accommodating, they also tended to speak more than one language. That being said, even though I had a printed celiac info card in Arabic, and a very good guide, there were some times where it was hard to understand if they were just agreeing to be agreeable, or really trying to inform me, or if they didn't really understand my concern at all. I did get tagged out by something at some point. Given that about a third of our tour group got some sort of gut bug, which I think I also got (but who can say for sure) it's hard to know. I was as careful as I reasonably could be, but when dealing with buffets and potential cross-contaminations, it was challenging. That being said, would I recommend a similar trip for anyone else? Yeah, I would. You just need to know yourself, if you have debilitating symptoms, then probably not, but if you can generally manage, then it's likely worth the overall risk. The tour companies and people will get better with time. As I said, something got me, but have no idea what, and realistically it may not have been a gluten reaction, it's very possible that I got a bug early on in the trip and just toughed it out until I medicated near the end (I can be somewhat stubborn). That said, they do "tipped" toilets so having cash on hand for toilets is a thing, they like their bidets, which is kinda good when the guts are not great, and pack a lot of your own tissues/sanitizer. It was really hit-and-miss what places would have no TP, and there was no real way to predict it. The toilets were generally pretty clean when we found them, but again, not always. The general rate was 10EGP but ranged from 5-20 to use a toilet outside of the major hotels, and airport. It was a general annoyance to everyone on the trip, but not enough to be a major problem. I think everyone was more bothered about how many tips were needed that were not really explained by the travel agents, but it wasn't a huge cost factor. Also, we could have gotten away with just handling all that in Euro or USD, in fact, if we were to go again, I'd try to get all the tour costs priced in USD and take that, as it was harder to get EGP in Australia (but we are getting well off topic now).

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I should probably start investing into a second team now for Forgotten Halls and MoC later on, currently am TB51/E4
So my main team is: Bronya / Seele / MC(E5) / Nat(E3)
Probably will work on: M7(E1) / Sushang
IDK yet Pool: Himeko / Dan Heng (E2) / Asta / Herta (E3) / Serval (E1) / Qinque / Pela (E1) / Hook (E4)
(Everyone not on main team is currently lvl60 or lower, for the most part 40 or lower with nearly unleveled lightcones and/or gear)
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Thanks! and srry for no pics

I'm trying to find a full time job or at least one where I could make about $400 each week. Going back to school is not an option either for reasons I'd prefer to not get into.
I tried retail, but they don't pay enough, make me get carts (did it for a year when I was in school and don't want to go back), make you collect trash and clean bathrooms. I'm not comfortable with that last part.
I can't work in restaurants for similar reasons and being in a hot kitchen makes me uncomfortable (felt like I was boiling alive when I was busser, plus didn't pay enough).
I tried office work, but the work and my boss stressed me out so much I felt like I was suffocating and gonna go crazy after a few months.
I can't do warehouse/hard labor because I couldn't make it past several 9 hour shifts back to back. I was in too much pain to really move around by the end of it, plus pay was still little.
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I enjoyed writing video game/cartoon/movie story ideas, but I need a job I can do now. Doing reporter or journalism isn't an option either. Tried similar things in school, only felt stressed and miserable.
I've tried getting recommendations, but all lead to dead ends. Usually being things I can't do, not because of something like doubt or mindset, but because I've tried to force myself to do similar things and couldn't do it.
I've been recommended things like being a farmer, a security guard or even learning to code when I was in college as a major. I don't like being out in nature (hate bugs and don't really like plants), I heard stories from a security guard relative I have who would get attacked or threatened from time to time (sounds terrifying), and learning to code was one of the most anxiety/stress inducing things I have ever experienced in life (I felt so relived when I gave up trying to learn it after several years).
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A lot of people tell me to suck it up, or stop being defensive, but I tried what they said. I really did and I still couldn't do it for long. I wish I wasn't this way or maybe I could find something.
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I've been hopelessly looking for work from home jobs. receptionist, office work, or even data entry, even though I know I will not be able to handle it for long. I even tried sales, but I couldn't even finish the training because I knew I wasn't a people person. The stress prevented me from sleeping the day before a test and I didn't bother going anymore (my mind and memory was really bad from lack of sleep).
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If I had a choice I want to find something where it's okay to make mistakes (won't take several people to fix, and no one gets really pissed off at you), the work is mindless/repetitive that you could do for hours while shutting off your brain, there is no sense of danger (like working with dangerous equipment or dealing with dangerous people), and the environment is indoors.
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If it helps with the thought process, I have a BA in cinema (did not learn any skills except story writing in college), and I have 2 years of customer service experience.

Bee inspired by our natural world and create an adorable Buzzy Bee Puppet in Grin Low Woods.
With Babbling Vagabonds.
Sessions throughout the day.
Free.
Part of the BCA Stronger Roots projects.
Book via Eventbrite.
Poole's Cavern & Buxton Country Park, Green Ln, Buxton SK17 9DH, UK
June 2, 2023 at 10:30AM
June 2, 2023 at 03:30PM

1.Guinea pigs have no sweat glands, and heat regulation by means of sweating is not possible for them, meaning these rodents are exposed to great health risks in summer. Temperatures of 25°C and above can leave them susceptible to heat stress, from 30°C there is a high risk of death from heat.
2.Guinea pigs can then lay down on the surface and cool their bodies down. And just like humans, when it is hot for us we drink more water. Same thing for guinea pigs. Ensure that there is ample, cool and clean water for guinea pigs to drink.
3.Consider partially covering the cage with damp cloths and towels -signs of heat stroke in piggies include listlessness, laying in a stretched-out posture, panting, and drooling.
4.Cooling mats are a thing for guinea pigs and can be bought at local pet stores. Optionally wet cloths can be a cheaper option.
5.Outdoor accommodation - if you're keeping your guinea pigs outside, their hutch should be sheltered from direct sun and direct wind. In temperatures below 15°C, you should move them indoors.They are very sensitive to temperature.

Hello lovely readers,
Welcome to the second and final discussion of Ducks: Two Years in the Oil Sands by Kate Beaton. This autobiographical comic was Canada Reads (an annual "battle of the books") winner for 2023. You can read the first discussion here.
Summary
The story picks up one month after that horrible party. Kate sleeps with Mike. She continues to get weird sexual comments from the men she works with, but she has started to laugh the comments off. Many of the men seem to have problems with her giving them orders, and her superiors get pissy with her for minor things or for wanting ‘special treatment’. Joe, a fellow Nova Scotian, overhears her swearing in frustration and tells her that everyone at the mine is just yelling at the guy next to them for work they’re not doing themselves, but that people tend to be friendlier to people from their own region of Canada. Kate wonders aloud to Doug whether the oil sands make people better or worse.
The men at the mine have heard that Kate’s ‘little friends’ (her sister Becky and friend Lindsay) are going to be joining them, and she warns them to leave them alone. When Becky and Lindsay arrive, they are wearing skirts and they quickly notice the staring and weird behaviour from the men on site. Kate apologises for it, and they wonder why she is saying sorry.
Kate tells Becky and Lindsay that the other men have been leaving her alone since most people know about her and Mike, and they tell her it’s because in their eyes she’s ‘claimed’.
They take a trip to Gregoire Beach, but Kate doesn’t wear a swimsuit or go swimming. Becky asks her what’s up with her, as she’s noticed something is wrong. Kate talks about how everything at the beach seems so normal, but that she isn’t. However, she doesn’t explain further.
Kate looks for other jobs online, and sees a post for a job at the Maritime Museum of British Columbia in Victoria, the capital of British Columbia.
Not long afterwards, she sees the man who forced himself on her at that party. He and the group of men he’s with see her and they start laughing.
Kate hears a man playing Peter’s Dream on his guitar, and joins in singing the song.
She goes to Becky’s room and tells her that she needs to leave the oil sands for a while, even though she and Lindsay have just arrived. She asks her to promise that she and Lindsay will look out for each other, and finally tells her about the assaults. Becky tells her that it wasn’t her fault, and wishes she had been there sooner to protect her as that’s her job as the big sister. She tells Kate that it happened to her too, at her university dorm. She tells Kate she should go.
We leave the oil sands, for a year in Victoria. Kate gets the museum job but it’s no more than 21 hours per week, so she gets a second job. In a coffee shop, she hears the song An Innis Aigh playing, and tells a woman who was wondering aloud about the language that it’s Gaelic.
Victoria seems like a nicer place than the oil sands, but it isn’t perfect – the city big problems with homelessness and mental health, but none of the old, rich people living there care [read runner note – according to Victoria’s Wikipedia page, the city is known for its disproportionately large retiree population. Some 23.4% of the population of Victoria and its surrounding area are over 65 years of age, which is higher than the overall Canadian distribution of over 65 year-olds in the population (19%). A historically popular cliché refers to Victoria as the home of "the newly wed and nearly dead"]. Kate is fired from her job for not taking American money and not wanting to sell the merchandise badly enough. One of her colleagues (I think?) sees her drawing a comic, and suggests that she should make a website.
Kate tells her parents that on her days off she works at a grocery store, and her father wonders what her degree was for. Shortly afterwards, she is fired from the grocery store for yawning and ‘being surly’. She goes on a date, but panics when the guy tries to kiss her at the end.
Kate can’t get a reprieve from her student loan payments, even though she paid half of it off the previous year with her oil sands earnings. She decides to go back to the oil sands to pay the rest off, and says goodbye to the museum.
After that brief reprieve, we’re back in the oil sands, this time at Shell Albian Sands. Kate has taken a job in the warehouse office, and her living quarters are a bit fancier than at the previous sites. The site also has a Tim Hortons, Wi-Fi and a gym, even yoga classes. Lindsay tells her that a lot of the warehouse crew from Long Lake have moved up there too. One of her new colleagues is Hatim, who is creepy in a new way, plaguing her with messages despite having a wife and children.
The team get a congratulations message with a gif for achieving three million man hours without a lost time incident (LTI). Kate’s boss, Ryan, tells her that they don’t have LTIs at the site because they look bad for the company, I guess implying that they cover them up.
She sees Doug again, who seems to feel that she’s all high and mighty now with her office job, and struggles with her ‘bossing him’ since she’s younger than him (and presumably because she’s female). When she has to cover a warehouse shift, Doug laughs about how she’s down from on high and has gone soft. He tells her that he sang with The Men of the Deeps and even sang for the queen, which she doubts because he has a terrible voice. She sings a bit of Coal Town Road (which I’m kind of disappointed doesn’t sound like Old Town Road) and asks if she could be in the choir too, but he seems annoyed about her singing a mining song when she’s not a miner.
Kate’s sister Becky is still working at Long Lake, but lives in Fort McMurray, and Kate goes to meet her there; she says it’s much better than living in the camp. She tells Kate, that one time a guy jumped out of the closet in her room, but she was able to kick him out. She always locked her door, but often heard the handle jiggling at night. She even had a stalker, who managed to get into her room with a bottle of alcohol and suggested doing body shots – she didn’t report it, but when he got fired everyone thought she had.
Kate struggles to read some of the order sheets because many of the workers are bad spellers or have unclear handwriting; many of the older men at the mine left school in grade six. Lindsay tells her about one of the lead hands from Newfoundland, who can’t read, and was humiliated by the other workers when they tried to make him read the safety memo aloud so they could laugh at him. Lindsay says she’s never seen a grown man ashamed like that, and they discuss how he’s one of the nicest guys there.
A group from the Calgary office visits the mine site, and Kate has to find the nice hard hats and safety vests for the visitors, the ones the actual workers can’t have because they’re too fancy. Basically, they have to put on a show for the head office people – everyone has to look sharp, make things tidier than normal etc. One of the visitors takes a photo of Kate. After they leave, Damian asks if he can have one of the fancy new vests, but they were taken back to Calgary even though they don’t need them at head office.
Kate continues doing her comics, and her colleagues occasionally read them. Ryan finds some of them in the scanner, which she had used to upload them to her website, and tells her not to leave her stuff lying around at work.
Becky and Kate discuss what it would have been like if their father had gone out to the oil sands to work when they were children, as many people did. They wonder if he would have been like the other men they work with, and how they must all be normal at home. Kate says she tries to remember that there are a lot of men who don’t bother her, but she doesn’t remember them because they’re not the ones in her face.
Their safety lectures tell them basic information about how ice is slippery and is all over the ground, which presumably every Canadian already knows. One of the men remarks that it’s not about safety, but an arse-covering exercise so that a worker can’t sue them if they fall. Kate doodles a pony in her notebook (thank you u/Amanda39 for linking to this comic in last week’s discussion!).
Many of the staff have families that they don’t see very often. One of the men gets a phonecall from his wife’s phone, which he answers thinking it’s an emergency as she never calls during the day; it turns out to be his young son, who is calling to see when he’s coming home next.
Brian asks Kate if she heard about the ducks (TITLE DROP!!); three hundred of them got stuck in a tailings pond at another oil sands site [read runner note – two years later, Syncrude was actually found guilty of the death of 1,600 ducks]. The site begins installing anti-waterfowl devices, and the staff are reminded that they have to wear PPE at all times. They’re also told about the death Gerald Snopes, another worker; some of the men talking amongst themselves, and Ryan tells them to have some respect. He had a heart attack while operating a crane, and threw himself out of the cab so that he wouldn’t land on the controls and cause an accident.
Kate hears about a road accident involving some men from Cape Breton. She asks Davy about it to see if she knows them, but neither of them do. Kate finds the news articles and feels annoyed that they were misidentified as Calgary men.
Kate notices some welts on her back; Lindsay has them too but doesn’t know what it is. Kate mentions all the dust they have to wipe off everything, and how there’s so much crap in the air. Lindsay wonders what kind of cancer they’ll have in 20 years.
Kate finds Doug building a scarecrow for the tailings pond, which is meant to scare off the ducks. Probably another arse-covering exercise.
Activists from Greenpeace try to block an oil sands pipeline, and 11 people are arrested. One of the workers gets angry about it, asking who will put their life on the line to unclog the pipe Greenpeace has blocked, and that it sure as hell won’t be the president of Shell. Kate hears about another death – a contractor was in his trucks, and one of the heavy haulers drove over it, crushing him.
Lindsay writes an article for a grassroots paper, giving the inside perspective on working at the oil sands. Kate considers doing a comic about it for them. Lindsay later wonders if she made a mistake writing her article, as many of the comments are critical, including many from women which Lindsay did not expect.
Kate sees a video on YouTube of Celina Harpe, an elder in the Cree community of Fort McKay, talking about the effect of the oil sands on the First Nation. Kate had not realised when she arrived there that Fort McKay was a First Nation, nor that it was so close to Syncrude. She thinks about how she’s not the president of Shell, but she’s still working there, and she can’t extract herself from having come.
At another safety meeting, the staff are down the safety pyramid, which has different levels: at the base it has at-risk behaviours, then near misses, then minor incidents, and it all leads to a major incident or a fatality.
Kate receives a phone call from a reporter at the Globe and Mail who had seen her comics about the oil sands. She asks several leading questions about her experience as a woman at the remote sites and the harassment, but Kate feels uncomfortable giving her examples. She later tells Lindsay that she couldn’t talk to the reporter as she felt like she just wanted gossip, and that the story was already written before she called.
The leering of one of the other workers bothers Kate in the lunchroom, and she tells Lindsay about her assaults. Lindsay is horrified that Mike and Brian laughed at her when she told them about it. Lindsay tells her that it happened to her in university as well.
Kate calls her parents to tell them that she’s finally paid off her student loan, but she needs to keep working at the site because now she has no money. She’s going to try making it as a cartoonist, and her parents are unimpressed.
Kate notices that Ryan is acting strangely, being absent a lot and not doing his work, and it can’t fully be explained by his recent divorce. She hears about other workers who are taking cocaine and behaving strangely too. She asks Ryan if he’s ok and he brushes it off. Kate contemplates the safety pyramid again. She finds a piece of paper on Ryan’s desk with an appointment for the employee assistance program. Emily later tells her that Ryan has left suddenly, and that they need to figure things out until a replacement is found.
Kate wonders why there are so many safety meetings but none have ever talked about drugs or alcohol. Her coworkers say that everyone knows why there is so much of both, and that the company can’t have safety meetings about illegal activities anyway.
Kate finally gets to leave the oil sands and go home. Her colleague Norman gives her prints of some of his photos of the northern lights as a leaving present, including one of a rainbow. Before she leaves, the company organises a staff photograph with all the workers on the site. Kate sees the man who assaulted her the second time, and he recognises her but can’t remember her name or who she is, and asks her how it’s going.
Kate trains her replacement, and finds out that she’s earning more than her despite not having any experience in tools. She complains to John about it, and finally rants about all her shitty treatment in the oil sands. She goes to see Gary in the head office, and demands her full bonus, which was going to be docked because she was leaving. Gary tells her it’s company policy. She tells him about the harassment, and he claims she could have come to them about it, but she fires back that he knows she couldn’t have. Gary agrees to give her the bonus. Her colleagues organise a going-away barbecue, and even Mike attends.
Back in Nova Scotia, Kate is reunited with her family. While out enjoying the seaside air, she chats to a farmer who tells her he’s keeping a field for his son who is working out west in case he ever comes back and wants to build a house. A man called Lauchie visits the house before moving west himself, and tells them there’s something for everyone out there and that the young people have everything they want. Out in Halifax with friends, she and Becky see a man from one of the camps, who tells Becky that they had a bet on who would sleep with her first. Their friends who haven’t worked in the oil sands can’t believe they’d let a man talk to them like that.
In the book’s afterword, Kate talks about how the book chronicles her specific experience at a specific time. She is wary of sensationalism of her story, especially because sexual assault is so common that it’s not actually sensational. She notes that neither of the men who raped her probably consider it to have been rape. She is also critical of the treatment of Indigenous people, and says the YouTube video of Celina Harpe was a “sword that cut through my ignorance”. We also find out that Becky died of cancer, and that her former coworkers pooled money together to send to her.
Bookclub Bingo 2023 categories: Non-Fiction, Graphic Novel (grey), Mod Pick (grey)
Other links:

• The first discussion
• Canada Reads page about Ducks [I hadn’t realised that Station Eleven, another recent bookclub read, was the runner up]
• Kate Beaton on Wikipedia
• Hark! A Vagrant, the archive of Kate Beaton’s comics website
• The original Hark! A Vagrant sketch comic about the oil sands (links to all five parts; I’ve posted the parts individually below this in case that’s easier)
• Original Ducks Part 1
• Original Ducks Part 2
• Original Ducks Part 3
• Original Ducks Part 4
• Original Ducks Part 5
• Lindsay Bird was one of the people in the book whose name wasn’t changed, and in 2019 she published a poetry collection about working in the oil sands called Boom Time. There’s a CBC article about the book here.

The questions are in the comments below. Thank you for joining me and u/fixtheblue in reading this book!

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