"It's life Jim, but not as we know it......."

Thank you for hugs and kindness. Slowly emerging from my web.
China, 1985/86, the hills in the distance are the New Territories of Hong Kong. The rubble in the foreground is the newer territory of SW Shenzhen, People’s Republic of China. Nobody, not even the builders knew this would become the new coastal route to a yet unimagined new HK airport.
To the right you can see two builder’s huts. Living on the job is a reality. Staying clean was important, so there is washing getting coated in rubble dust, there are water supplies everywhere, for example that huge pipe crossing the road; that will have to disappear. 
This particular stretch of road holds quite a few memories. Odd thing to say about a road? It had been a single track tarmac lane. Suddenly the area was hit by a plague of bulldozers and thousands upon thousands of two-legged ants. Then came the terracotta bricks, China has lots of terracotta. Rubble? Easy, knock down existing buildings and make quarries larger. Transport rocks in Soviet era trucks. Build monsoon drains, gullies capable of draining flooded roads during Typhoons. Drive roller into a storm gully, leave overnight, unlit. Next day remove the wreckage of a huge truck from the side of the roller. Collect remains of truck driver who has done a Wiley Coyote through the windscreen. 
About 500m beyond the water pipe there was a site that resembled a masterpiece by Breugel the Elder. By day, row upon row of men and women hunched under baskets of asphalt staggered up a long ramp in order to empty the contents into giant vats, heated by wood fires, constantly being stoked to maximum heat. As the Tar melted it was poured into trucks and taken to the roadway. There, the tar was slowly sprayed onto the new rough road surface and flattened. Ta Da, one highway. The above process went on 24 hours a day. I did not have the camera equipment to do the scene justice. 
Why buy, build or create giant machines when you have an unlimited labour force? Health and Safety would have a purple fit if they ever went into China and audited any company or builder. Worker’s rights, pensions and holidays? “You’re ‘avin’ a larf Rodney!!”

Australia our boss had an idea, he would use a handheld radio and his boat as part of a search and rescue project. On Saturday morning he told me he would call as I was on my way to the rig. 
Saturday dawned, I dawned later. As Alan, a young and excitable chap, and I flew North we heard a voice utter our callsign.
Marek - “Victor Hotel-Whisky Oscar Alpha, this is Marek, do you read?”
Alan - “Hi Marek we read you five by five.”
Marek - “Where are you?”
I struck like a King Cobra after a baby rabbit!! Alan’s hand was whipped from the button of his radio transmitter. Robert was in prayer, paused and said, “I’m in the front!” 
Alan was confused, Marek, or Metric as we all called him never replied, apparently he had guests onboard and they were in fits. 
You may wait eons for such opportunities. When they occur you have to be ready to consummate that moment.