This week we didn’t have a scheduled speaker so we were happy to welcome back as a visitor a past member, David Watts, and our president gave him the opportunity to tell us a bit about what he has been up to.
David had to reluctantly leave the MBA when he made a career change.
David took a course as a crane operator and after several months of not a lot of employment decided to go west.
David left the middle of this past January and 2 weeks later secured work.
Dave has been working for Mammoet one of the largest heavy lift operators in the world. http://www.mammoet.com/ Mammoet is a Dutch company and the word Mammoet is Dutch for mammoth.
Mammoet operates cranes with lift capacities of up to 2500 tons.
When first started he was getting limited time as an operator/ apprentice. A short time later he was offered a position as the yard operator which meant more work and at higher pay. He is responsible for maintaining and inspecting the heavy equipment the company uses. Working 20 days on and 10 days off Dave is able to return home every few weeks. Dave was out west for 5½ months before he made his first return home.
Dave and his wife have been contemplating selling their home here and moving out to Fort McMoney but the prices of real estate have them wondering if that is a good move. Mobile homes sell for $450,000 and monthly rent averages about $2500/month.
The pay is very high and banks are very willing to give mortgages to those with jobs. Dave told us that there are many that make more that he does and yet have a hard time making it from pay day to pay day. These people are the ones that have more than one vehicle and all of the other toys for boys you can imagine.
Dave told us that nobody seems to know for certain what the population is with the figure of 100,000 to 200,000 being the range that is given. People there are for the most part very friendly and Dave attributes that to the fact that so many are Maritimers or Newfoundlanders.
While there is trouble there if you are looking for it you will be able to do very well if you keep your head down and your mouth shut and never say I know.
We look forward to Dave visiting us again the next time he gets home.