Norman walked a lot on the job:
"We started one morning at the end of May for the second camp, a distance of about ten miles, but the difficulties of the way must not be measured in mileage.  Scrambling over cut-down trees along the right of way, wading through streams, and picking one's way through the unclear bush, make the walk an arduous one."

Norman complained of the bugs:
The mosquitoes were increasing rapidly in number and when one was occupied with the transit or level they made good use of their opportunity. We afterwards tied netting round our ears and the back of our heads, but this did not keep out the black flies. We had at first no mosquito netting in our tent, so at intervals we had to burn paper and leaves in order to drive out the pests… It was now in the middle of June and mosquitoes and black-flies were a perfect torment. I suffered terribly, and my face and neck were all swollen up.

Norman often had indigestion:
"Our daily menu was ham, beans, porridge, tinned or dried fruits or tea.

Margaret worried about the fires, especially at Porcupine.
One day a bush fire started, the wind bringing it near our camp. The fire-rangers with the help of the contractors, put it out. At night the fire broke out again, burning fiercely near our camp. It was a weird experience: the darkness rendered darker by some burning tree, one stumbled and groped one's way toward the flames and attempted to dig up some earth in the stony and root embedded ground to throw on it. Meanwhile listening to the occasional crash of some badly burnt as it came toppling to the ground.

Norman observed the natives in his letters, so did Cooper.
"We hired a birch bark canoe from some Indians camping nearby. They made their living by trapping and fishing, while the women made embroidered articles in deer-skin. There were a number of bear skins hung out to dry at their camp, so bears were evidently to be had by those who knew where to get them. We used sometimes to see the lines the Indians left overnight in the lake, and we generally saw the hooks baited with frogs' legs. There were a number of funny little children, the smallest of them smoking."

Norman was bored a lot of the time.
We had great difficulty in keeping ourselves provided with tobacco; and when out we had to content ourselves with the stuff sold at the contractors' which was in plug form and very difficult to light. The Canadians had a habit of chewing these plugs mixed with treacle. I used to strongly object to the consequent spitting on the floors. Bathing was our chief form of amusement. We often spent the August evenings in fishing, either from the end our pier or else from the canoe in deeper water. Pickerel and trout were the fish most often caught.

Margaret asked if the new 'hand-car' was dangerous.
"With the steel now laid, our canoe was now discarded in favour of a hand car; this was a little four wheel truck, propelled by pumping the long fore and aft handles which drove the wheel gearing. As this craft was a very ancient one, with worn gears and bearings rattling, driving it was excellent exercise. One day our car jumped the track and we were all sent flying head over heels. Going round curves  was rather anxious work, for we were never quite sure that a train wouldn't be met.

Norman liked to take care of the stove:
"Our stove was quite sufficient to keep the shack warm in the coldest weather, and in fact, when one went to bed, the heat at the height of the upper berth was oppressive. Notwithstanding, one woke up in the morning feeling frozen and one had to jump out of bed to get the stove going."

Norman was bored, he didn't drink or gamble:
"The chief indoor amusement was card-playing, but the stakes not particularly high among our group. However, we heard stories of some people who had gambled away their pay for months ahead.  When there was not work to do, some men played night and day, almost grudging the time out for meals. Whisky was occasionally procured, generally a Canadian rye whisky.

Norman liked his newspapers:
"Reading material was always eagerly welcomes and we received all the newspapers and magazines. The very trashy American and Canadian magazines were favored over the British ones. I think the best of the American periodicals we received was the Saturday Evening Post."