Tuesday, October 04, 2005

the double life I live these days...

It really feels like a double life.

Go to the mine, come back to Santiago, go back to the mine, go back to Santiago, it is some sort of strange cycle that has my head spun up a bit. And my shift is rather easy. The people who actually work here pull shifts suck as 7 on 7 off, 5 by 2 10 by 5, not exactly stable living.

A number of people have commented that they feel like strangers in their own home, that their children don't listen to them because they aren't around. The money is good, and it is Chile's strongest, and biggest industry. With the price of the copper where it is, around 1.80, which is very high, the demand for production from the owners is very high. This means alot of stress for everyone involved in the business.

I feel lucky, in that I get a sense of how it is without having to fully subject myself to the lifestyle. It is a good gig for the short term, in my case, 20 weeks, but I couldn't imagine working here for years on end, on a longer 7 by 7 shift...

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