The Two M's

Once again, I left for a project in reality on very short notice, so sorry about another absence.

In my part of the world, there were (and ongoing) record number of forest fires burning around the countryside, with some nearly out of control. The destruction of huge swaths of land have made news headlines, both locally and internationally.

Not too long after a State of Emergency was declared, I received word about potential fire camp jobs and I readied myself for that opportunity.

Thanks to good timing and before the phone rang to send me on my way to parts unknown, I was able to complete the limited time event to park a free Mercedes-Benz 190E 2.5-16 EVOLUTION II in my Real Racing 3 car collection.... 

....and made very good progress in the series that needed it.

When the call finally came in, I had to trade my virtual Mercedes for my real life Mitsubishi, pack my stuff up and hit the highways. Leaving home and cresting the mountains that surrounded that first day revealed what was awaiting me on the long journey ahead of me.

The entire way was nothing more than driving into a wall of smoke (of varying distances), with only the surface of the roads changing.

Even after the sun went down, not like I saw it much during the day, the smoke remained.

The second day of traveling brought more changes in the roads, but the lovely smoke remained to accompany me along the way....

....except for this odd and unexplained stretch of blue sky. Good thing I took a picture, nobody would have believed me.

I had forgotten what the usual "vehicle of choice" was for those who live in the north, but was quickly reminded of this when I snapped this shot. Much to the credit of everyone there, I wasn't teased about the size of what I arrived in. I think Mitsubishi's reputation is what saved me from that.

Don't be fooled into thinking the gravel road in the above picture is smooth, the camera doesn't capture it's true, deceptive nature in it's entirety. Washboard, meteorite sized craters and soft shoulders that can pull vehicles from the road were some of the daily challenges that I faced.

During the day, these hazards were somewhat easier to distinguish from other features of the road and avoid, at night I found two out of the three listed without any real effort.

Even some local visitors were experiencing this, take a look at the front wheel opening.

Since I worked during what the clock claimed to be a dayshift, I managed to squeeze in a race or two out of the game before attempting to sleep. Trouble was that cellular service where I was at wasn't the greatest and accessible Wi-Fi wasn't an option.

Top that with an update that was just released and would have added a lot more to my usual phone bill meant I was reduced to playing offline against non-human opponents.

Little did I know at the time, this picture served to be a "vision" of things yet to come. It wasn't until later I learned that some bad things were going on at another fire camp that had been disbanded that day and those same folks were moving into ours that night.

When dawn broke the following day, me and the crew were told that our two week job had been cut short and were going to be sent home. Only nine days in, what a shame. Needless to say, if I don't feel welcome at a certain place, I want to get out of there as soon as possible, even if that means racing the night....

....with sporadic fog patches.

Nevertheless, the Mistsubishi RVR and I survived a lot of bugs, very rough gravel roads and this lingering smoke smell I am still trying to get rid of. However, it was the first thing I did when I got home that might not surprise you....