I am escaping Finally

I have been feeling pretty miserable here as the weather was crap and cloudy and the machines I am working on are crap as they are always falling over so as to speak and life is such a drudge here, crappy food and terrible accommodation. It has been a challenge to keep going without having a breakdown especially with no beer.
So out of the blue I got a mail from my manager giving me the “get out of jail free card”, I was jumping for joy as I am now heading for Sakhalin Island in Russia for the summer. I am only going to relieve someone who has family problems, I am not sure that means someone is dying or his wife has left him and the kids for an Albanian drug lord. But at least it means I am getting out of the jungle 1 trip shorter than I had thought of. The bonus of this is I get to visit a part of the very remote world and take some photos and all at the company’s expense. This is just far better than I had expected as I was desperate not to go in winter as it is a bleak desperate place and only a potato and vodka to keep you company on the long cold winter nights. Plus the idea of doing any work in the cold weather seems impossible, touching cold metal to do some repairs is not fun but at -25C it is a nightmare, so the summer in the volcano capitol of Russia and some possible photo opportunities. The bonus is I get to have a week in Florence doing some training and getting my visa, oh life can be good sometimes but I still have a week of struggling here with all the crap this place can give me including eating goddam chicken three times a day, I will be sprouting feathers and crowing like a cockerel before I leave.