You Can’t Have Your Cake And Eat It Too

You can’t have your cake and eat it too. There are two parts to this statement.

First.

I work in oil and gas, and have for a number of years. It is extremely difficult to do much of anything besides work your twelve-hour shift. Even though there is the potential to make a lot more money on non-camp jobs, I prefer to work camp jobs. After a twelve-hour shift, the last thing I want to do is find the cheapest place to stay, cook dinner, make a lunch, get groceries, do laundry, make my bed etc. For me personally, when I work non-cam jobs I also spend a hell of a lot more money (obviously), but when you think about how much you could have saved, it’s mind-boggling. I kick myself every single time. 

Everyone, including myself, always goes into a non-camp hitch thinking, “Imma find a cheap place to stay, and cook all my own meals. Imma find a gym and go every day. I’ll bank so much LOA, it’ll be awesome.” “This time will be different.”  Also, for me personally I think, “Fuck yeah, I’m going to bring all these books and read every night.” For me, by about day five, I’m in the bar after work, I’m eating Tim Hortons for breakfast, I’ve picked up pizza the night before so I have some leftovers for lunch, so I don’t have to make one, and I’m sure as fuck aren’t hitting the gym every day or reading. I’ll tell you that for free. And I’ve been doing this for a lotta years. Every hitch is the same. I’m well rested, I’ve gotten into the routine of gyming hard and reading, and every single fucking time I think this is just going to continue; this time will be different. 

Non-camp, fat fucking chance. For anyone who has never worked a labour job, outside for twelve hours a day, multiple days – if not weeks, in a row, it is extremely difficult to keep the ‘home routine’ up – you know what I mean. I have had significantly more success in the gyming and reading department working camp jobs. When you don’t have to worry about cooking a square meal, and the gym is just down the hall, your/my success rate has a much better chance. Sometimes I decide to skip breakfast, (when I’m on night shift), and head straight to the gym.

Once I’m finished at the gym, say 8:30am, usually the breakfast hours are over, but I can still go into the lunch room and get a half decent something to eat. Eat in my room, shit, shower, and shave, and still be in my, made for me, sheets tucked in, bed by 9 – 9:15am. I have NEVER been able to do that in a non-camp job. The getting something half-decent to eat after the gym seems to be my biggest hurdle. Plus, when you do eventually make it into your bed after a shower, it’s unmade, and there is just something that is not that comforting/appealing about that.

And for me, wanting to read and possible write sometimes as well, there simply isn’t enough hours in the day. It’s one or the other; not both. Either you’re in the gym or you are reading. In the gym or are writing. Reading or writing. I choose to go to the gym more often than not for a variety of reasons. I go to the gym, even back home, more so for my mental health rather than getting in shape. Being physically fit is just the by-product of going to the gym for me. I crave/need the natural endorphins of working out and listening to music. I also need to be in the right head-space to write, and sometimes even to read. Not to mention peace and quiet. These things take a certain level of mental capacity, that quite frankly, sometimes I don’t have after working a twelve-hour day in minus 30-degree weather; or plus 30-degree weather for that matter. So, quite often I neglect my ‘brain’ workouts and just hit the gym; only to half-ass kick myself later for not diversifying my ‘workouts’.

Now I would consider myself to be a pretty driven guy, and so when I say I’m going to do something I do it – for the most part; camp makes it a lot easier. Lots of guy over years have said, “Oh yeah, imma go to the gym every day.” “Did you see the camp has a gym, are you going to go?” Or they find out I’ve been going, “What time do you hit the gym bro? I’ll meet you there.” I don’t need to go to the gym with anybody, I just go. I’ll tell them what time I go or the routine I have, and I always say I’m going whether you’re coming or not. You make time for what you want in this life. If you want to go to the gym after/before a twelve-hour shift outside, you’ll make the time. If you don’t want it that bad, you’ll make excuses. It’s that simple. Nine times out of ten, I never see anyone. 

But everybody, and I mean everybody has a point. A breaking point, burnout, whatever you want to call it, but everybody’s got a point where they are completely over it. For twenty days, a guy can stay fairly regular – for the most part. It’s when you start getting into the five-six, eight-nine week hitches, that your body, mind, and motivation are just done; well for me anyways. 

I’ve lived this lifestyle, I know what it’s like, I’ve crossed paths with many, many a people and I find it completely humorous when people down south, from back home, tell me that if they worked in this industry that they would be different. They would go to the gym every day, they would keep their six-pack, they’d eat right; yadda, yadda, yadda.

Bitch, you’ve never worked a twelve-hour shift in your life. Bitch, you’ve never worked a labour job in your life. Bitch, you’ve never worked more than five days in a row; eight hour shifts, INSIDE!!! And you’ve got the balls to tell me that you’re the anomaly?! 

Settle down.

As I stated before, I’d like to think I have I high self-drive, but you know, nobody’s perfect, and there is always going to be somebody out there better than you. However, in all my years of working in this industry, I have only ever met one dude that was more self-disciplined than I was when it came to the gym. This nigga would eat clean, crush the gym EVERY FUCKING DAY, and to top that all off, the sick cunt would also do cardio. Yuck, like seriously, what kind of sick cunt does cardio?! Keep in mind, this is after a twelve-hour shift. He was welder, deadly dude, always into trying all sorts of different things too. He’d mix up his workouts, change muscle group days, try intermittent fasting, the whole nine-yards. Like, I’m telling yeah, this guy was a straight savage. Plus, did I mention, the sick cunt would do cardio every night?! Wash it down with a chicken and veg dinner?! Every day. His name was Simon. Guy was a legend. But as I was stating before, in all my years of working in this industry, I’ve only ever met one Simon. Everyone else has talked a big talk but has never walked the walk like Simon, or Tyler. So, when a clown from down south suggests that they will be the anomaly, I just chuckle to myself. 

You can’t have both, it’s one or the other. If you want to make savage money, you’re going to have to sacrifice some things. I understand that you have a six pack and go to the gym everyday while working your 40 hour a week job. But, the reality of this line of work is that you aren’t going to eat as clean as you should, you aren’t going to get the proper amount of sleep every night, and you’ll be struggling to find the energy and motivation to crush the gym like the savage you are when you work in oil and gas. I’ve filled in on a lot of rigs, met a lot of hands in my day and been inside many a camp gyms, and rarely do I see another soul in there. AT BEST you might be able to maintain what you’ve got. 

There’s only ever been one Simon…

Second.   

Now, this point has become less prevalent in recent years, but has shown up in a slightly form in recent years. When you’re younger working in this industry, early 20’s, a lot of friends will say, “I wish I had your money” or “It must be nice having all that money.” Something to that effect. No one really seems to remember you haven’t been around for three or more weeks. There are sacrifices that you make so you can line your wallet more than most at 21, 22, 23 years old. Nobody ever mentions how they missed you at the last birthday party, or Halloween, or whatever the occasion of the month would be, but they sure as fuck will tell you how deadly it was. Now in more recent years those comments seem to have subsided; I would think for two reasons. One, when you’re a young dude with lots of money, you spend it, like a wild man on days off, and so friends see this and get jealous. Two, now that my friends and I are in our thirty’s, we are a lot more responsible with our money – less ‘showing off’, and most of my friends have been the broke college students already, and now have stable careers with a good, stable income. 

However, it’s the friends who have worked in this industry, that no longer due, where the jealousy seems to be coming from in recent years. It’s not a secret that these jobs can be isolating and extremely hard on relationships. The couples that I know, were a least one person works in oil and gas, they live in the area, Fort St. John, Grande Prairie, Edmonton, etc., to make the relationship successful. Maybe one of them is from that area already or maybe they are both from down south, whichever. But as the relationship develops the strain on these types of jobs become a little much. At least one of them becomes sick of the cold/lifestyle and wants to move back home(south), maybe kids are involved at this point so some help from the grandparents would be of some assistance. Eventually, the strain becomes too much, the long distance is too much, and so he quits. No harm, no foul, and I get that. I have often thought about how difficult it would be to be in a serious relationship works these long hours so far away from home; especially if kids were involved. Now this is the kicker. IT’S THESE GUYS that are now making comments about how they could be making oil money, or at bare minimum they wish they could. Well fuck man, you made your choice. You wanted to get laid on a regular basis, you wanted to have kids; now the wife doesn’t want you away from home anymore, which, to be honest, is more than fair, so you got a job down south. It may not be as much money, but at least you’re home with your wife and kid every night. Like what could be better?!

So again, you simply can’t have your cake and eat it too.

I think lot of us, including myself, want results, and we want results now! The old saying ‘Rome wasn’t built in a day’, is so fucking true. Good things take time. Everything will fall into place in due course. However, sometimes we have to make sacrifices. And nobody seems to want to do that. Especially in our social media culture, all we ever see are other people’s highlight reels. We never see what is going on behind the scenes, or what it took to get there. Fuck yeah, I’d love to have a six-pack, I would love to have shared-experiences with someone I love, but for right now, I’m making a lot of money, and I’m choosing to do that. I recognize what I’m giving up so that I can do that. In the same breath, I’m trying my best to limit the negative impact on other aspects of my life by going to the gym as much as I can, and reading and writing whenever the mood strikes me. But for people who have never do this before, to tell me that if they came up here, which by the way, they never do, that they would do all of these things; try working up here first and then tell me how many extra-curricular activities you’re doing after work. Same goes for the guys that used to work up here; bro, you still could be, but you made the choice to get shacked up, have some kids, and move back down south.

You simply cannot have your cake and eat it to; at least in my experience.

It’s one or the other. Life requires sacrifices.