Day 283! Wow… I was super exhausted today that I even forgot to put a title as I posted this. Laboring is simple work but so tiring. There’s a ton of repetitive tasks and carrying that it can quickly wear you out. But at least I was working with a fun group of guys today!

I woke up nice and early again today. It was day two of the same job and we still had plenty of work to do. So I got out of bed around 5:30am and then got ready for my day of work!

I kickstarted my day with avocado toast and oats. Avocados are a nice treat! It was my breakfast (with fried eggs) for a while when I lived in Kansas City.

My friend Laz was on the job with me again today and he met me down in the kitchen for breakfast. My other friend, Callum, was up too.. which I was surprised by. Turned out, he hadn’t been to bed yet.

This actually ended up being very lucky! Immy was supposed to work this morning but wasn’t up yet. Thankfully for her, she randomly sent me her schedule for the week through WhatsApp. And after double checking, Callum went to wake her up since they were in the same room.

Immy came scrambling downstairs and then quickly out the door since she was already pretty late.

Laz and I then set out on our 20+ minute walk to the university’s south lawn.

It was a brisk morning, but it wasn’t windy and the sun was starting to rise so it wasn’t too bad out so far. For some reason there were some hot air balloons out early for the sunrise.

7am hit and we got to work! Since all of the marquees were already up, most of the work today was dealing with the interior.

We started off the day putting on walls to the final marquee. We then spent the next while carrying metal legs into the marquees. These legs were for exhibition stands… and there was a lot of them.

So much so, I hit a point where I just popped a headphone in to make the monotonous work more enjoyable. It really helped and I should’ve done it sooner! On top of carrying the metal legs, we had to carry some orange weights… yeah more orange weights, and lay a bit more flooring. We also had to start putting together the exhibition booths.

It took a while, but lunchtime finally hit. Ben, Victor, and I headed to the food court. I decided to get a similar cheap meal like yesterday. But instead of wings, I got chicken tenders.

I really enjoy hanging out with these guys and also the Open Air Events staff. They’re fun to joke around with and help make the tough work a bit easier.

When we came back from lunch it was time to continue building the exhibition stands. Ben, Victor, Nathan, and myself were working on a bunch together. It was fun chatting as we went and then out of nowhere, one of the managers threw on some drum and bass music which made the work a whole lot more fun!

We worked and worked and worked and eventually finished the job! We had a bunch of extra pieces of steel to move back to the truck… but after that we were finished for the day.

We got sent off before 5pm which made for an 8-9 hour day. My feet were aching and no blog post could fully describe how taxing these labor jobs are. However, it was a nice and long shift and since I got paid on Thursday, I’ve been able to start paying for things with the money I’m earning.

Laz and I made our way back to the hostel and on our way back, I received a text from Tom, the ARC manager saying no work Saturday and that I was given great feedback from the Open Air Events staff! Not bad New’s at all!

Even though my feet felt as though they’d fall off, I showered, and then headed down for dinner. I didn’t take a picture since it’s the same as the past couple of nights. But it was noodles, chicken, tomatoes, and marinara sauce.

After eating I made my way to the TV room where I played a bit of guitar before doing an hour of reading. Once that wrapped up, I threw on the rest of Princess Mononoke. After that finished I put on Kiki’s deliver service. I didn’t finish it; but I plan on doing it soon.

I was going to end my night here, but Lewis brought some beers to enjoy on the bench outside of our hostel. Our hostel is a dry one but luckily there’s a nearby bench that we can use to drink at.

After a couple of beers, it was time to go to bed. I was exhausted and really ready for sleep! I was a bit disappointed my shift got cancelled for tomorrow. But I’ll welcome the chance to sleep in!

In terms of job hunting, I’ve received some emails but they want me in person for interviews… which unfortunately won’t happen currently. So hopefully I can convince them to do online calls! Otherwise… we’ll see what I can find.

I also texted the liveaboard again… and heard nothing, so hopefully we can get a conversation rolling soon!

– Elie