I was always told to keep your audience waiting....

Wow, long time no blog. It's not that I haven't started writing once or twice, I even got about 4 pages deep once, but it was all about work and that wasn't very interesting when I read it back. But here comes a different type of blog. An emotional tale of my last say 6 months… maybe a little longer and the future as I see it.
So the background, I hated working in Scotland, living there was ok, but work consumed my life and in turn sucked me down. I got out and moved into a different type of work life balance, one I thought I would actually enjoy. Since November 2008 I have been working in the Algerian Sahara still with Schlumberger. I am supposed to be working 6 weeks on and 3 weeks off. This happens sometimes, but what ever the ratio, I get to leave 4-5 times a year and not think about work for several weeks at a time. This is what I asked for, and at the time I had huge plans. Well plans fall through, sometimes for lots of reasons, sometimes for a few. My plans fell through because I realized that I don't like being alone. I might have known that for sometime, but this new posting really set that in stone.
So how do I combat this issue, well I make sure I spend as much time as possible with people, friends. Seeing the majority of my best friends live in Calgary, I have been visiting there a lot. I haven't officially made Calgary my home yet (Happening in October I think) but it may as well be. So with that settled and a place to go 4-5 times a year, I should be happy. But …….. I'm not.
I do have a pretty amazing life if you only care about how much money you have in the bank. I do care about that, well, I care more what that money can buy me, but still not happy. I think I figured out that seeing my friends 4-5 times a year is not enough to make me happy. It’s a little sad that I am not happy hanging out with myself alone, but I guess that’s just the way it is.
So what do I do? How to I solve the problem? I think it is at the point where I have to make a major life change, and I don't know if I have totally figured out what that is yet. I think one thing that will make me happy is to have a serious relationship. I'm not sure if I have really had a serious relationship in quite a long time (ever???), but I think I am ready for it. The problem is, I can't start a relationship with someone only being around for 3 or 4 weeks at a time. Any girl that would be fine with this is not a girl I am interested in, so right now my life excludes this from happening. I think it is important enough that I will have to change my life to accommodate dating, and hopefully finding someone to settle down with and make a life with. It's not like I haven't dated. I was dating a girl for almost 4 months, I saw her for a total of 12 days, not exactly what I (or she) was looking for. I have done the online dating thing, and actually met 3 people outside of the computer. What I learned is:
1) People never look better in real life
2) Anyone that went to school for anything starting with Psych is a crazy bitch and I should stay away
3) When I meet people that I like and want to see again, I need to figure out how to see them again. (Getting on a plane and flying to Algeria is not a good way to accomplish this)
4) Online dating can be really fun and occupy hours of your time, but I am not looking for a pen pal.

In the goal of keeping this brief I will stop there as I can already tell this is completely uninteresting and need to wrap it up. However, maybe an online dating blog should follow because I have learned quite a bit on the subject
Anyway, here is the plan. The way forward if you will. I am trying to open up some options. I know where I want to live, that part is simple, now I just need to figure out how to live there. Because I'm not Canadian I have 4 options that I can figure out.
Get transferred to Calgary (very unlikely given my recent transfer to Algeria and the current layoffs in Canada). Apply for jobs with other companies in Calgary where they would sponsor me for a work permit. Apply on my own for a Canadian work permit then apply for any job in my field. Go to the U of C and get my Masters.
I think working in Calgary would suit me more than going to school there, however I also think it will be near impossible to get a job there right now. Oil prices are picking up, but Gas prices are staying depressed and that is a major factor in hiring right now. So U of C looks like a pretty good option if I can get in. That is a pretty big if, I applied 5 years ago (and if I had gone my life would have been very different and I don't even know if I would have passed my first semester there) and did not get in. Now all I have is an extra 5 years of work experience, a little less hair and a somewhat subdued ego. Will this be enough, I guess I will have to wait and see.
The other benefit of going to University is the dating pool is opened up. When I did my undergrad I went on a couple of dates, but again nothing serious. But 90% or my friends met there long term partner in university so by those odds I am sure to find my future wife at the U of C. I guess I could always just go and sit on a bench there and read an interesting book and wait for girls to approach me, but I'm not sure if it will work out as well as actually attending classes and study sessions etc.
So I think that is the plan for now. Apply for the non existent jobs in Calgary and apply for the existent, but already rejected once, masters program at the U of C. Plans after that are in the air, but at least in the short term I have a exit strategy, which is more than American's can say in a few other places in the world right now.
Sorry for boring everyone, but I needed to get proverbial pen to paper to actually mentally get the ball rolling. Too many euphemisms, well tough, I didn't make you read it!