Time to move on,

I was just 16. I had a few friends who approached me with the idea that we should all move in together at an apartment building in Calgary. Doing so would mean I would have to drop out of high school. Hind sight reminds me how foolish that notion was, but the 16 year old I used to be thought it was a great idea. I told my parents what I was planning on doing, and if memory serves me correctly, it didn't take much convincing. I wonder sometimes if my departure wasn't a blessing in disguise for them. One less mouth to feed in a house with an extremely tight budget. After the market crash in the 80's my Father had to close up shop. He owned a fairly busy construction company called Peregrine Industries. He had a contract on a large scale job on some commercial property in north-east Calgary and if it wasn't for the crash, things would have been very different for the family. My story probably wouldn't have changed much. Somethings are inevitable.
   Once the business closed it's doors, it wasn't long till the phones started ringing again. This time though, it was the collectors. Shortly there after, we lost our house and moved into a rental just around the corner. Oddly enough, the house we moved into was the exact same as the one we left. Single story bungalow, my room was again, in the basement. Which made the act of sneaking out at night, all the easier.
   I remember packing two suitcases. That was all I was allowed to leave with. I suspect they were suggesting that if I was going to leave, they would do nothing to make it easier. Fairs fair. I cant recall exactly how I got to my new home. I suspect one of my friends gave me a ride. The place was called Frobisher Towers. It was just off of Heritage drive, east of Macleod trail. What a dump. Upstairs was my room, complete with lime green shag carpeting. Also on the second floor was one other bedroom, a small storage room and of course the bathroom. Downstairs was the living room, kitchen and one small bedroom. Fairly large from what I can recall. The first few weeks were a ton of fun. Up all night, sleep all day, not a care in the world. Then I ran out of money. I had to find work and in those days, jobs were not as readily available as they are now. I ended up taking a job at the McDonalds. The interview was quite memorable. I came in desperate and told my situation to the manager who was interviewing me. He told me that when he was my age, he went through the exact same lifestyle change and took me under his wing. Even offered to pay for my meals for the first week till I got my feet on the ground. His kindness was lost on me. I took advantage of this and it wasn't very long till I ended up getting fired. I was all dressed up as a Mommas boy. No idea how the world worked and not a single brain cell to rub together to figure it out. After being fired I went home. Luckily for me one of my room mates found that a nearby company was hiring for a job up north. I had no idea what up north meant, but it sounded interesting. Food and lodging were paid for and I didn't need any experience. I was going to do something called a "Jug-Hound" for Grant Geophysical.
   It took three days to get to where we were going. I didn't think roads went that far north. My time was spent in a place called Rainbow Lake. I was grateful upon entering the hamlet of Rainbow Lake that I was there in the spring. The town mascot was a giant mosquito and I can tell you first hand having gone back there working for another company, there is a very obvious reason they chose the worst insect on the planet as a mascot.
   My time spent working as a Jug hound was probably the most labor intense job I have ever had. I went up as a Momma boy, but I sure didn't come back as one. I came so close to quitting. The only reason I didn't quit was if I did, I would have to pay for my own way back, and if they fired me, THEY would have had to pay for my was back to Calgary. I walked away with 1500 bucks in my pocket for a months worth of work. It didn't last very long. While I had come back perhaps more "worldly", I was still a then 16 year old soon to be 17 with no idea how to budget or organize my finances and "save for a rainy day" and boy did it rain.
 Soon one of the room mates realized he was on a sinking ship and bailed out. It wasn't very long till I left too, leaving one guy on his own. I spoke with him years later and after exchanging pleasantries, he said in a very cold tone, " You left me there." I didn't talk to him till a few years ago after one of our high school chums died from viral pneumonia. Tim Stuart the comedian extraordinaire. Good man. I called up Jeff and met with him and one other to let them know that Tim was dead. You could still see the angst in Jeff's eyes.
   I stayed in Calgary for a short while. I was homeless for about a month or so and knew full well that returning home was not an option. The streets of Calgary are easy to hatch the bare necessities if you can get rid of one thing. Pride.In order to beg or do what ever you needed to do to eat or find shelter, pride was the worst thing you could have. I tried finding some sort of employment to make an honest living, but who's going to hire a dirty kid with no education and no fixed address. Hell, even I wouldn't have hired myself back then. I was a bum.
   I ended up one day (maybe a month or so after leaving Frobisher towers) having a conversation with some people I met. They spoke of how easy it was to get work out in Banff. all you needed was a pulse and the willingness to work. Desperation gave me both of those traits. I was on the highway later that day, thumbing a ride to Banff, in search of a warm bed and a good meal. That was exactly what I found and then some.
   My first night in Banff was spent at the YMCA hostel. It was located in a building down the street from the fabled Banff Springs Hotel. The very next morning I was told to go apply at the Buffalo Mountain Lodge on Tunnel Mountain and by that afternoon I was a housekeeper. Remember what I said about pride. I didn't care if I had to dress up like a clown and dance like a fool. This place gave me free lodging, free meals and a fair wage to boot. Many a stories were generated here. But I'll save those for later.... For now I will sit back and remember those crazy nights...

In Saecula Saeculorum