Just a quick update from my rig work. I'm now on the downside of my two-week hitch in California. I'm all done by Tuesday night, and fly home Wednesday. Just in time for about two months off (theoretically)--which is a welcome respite after working 4 out of the last 5 weeks. Before anyone says "awwww, poor you! didn't we ALL work 4 out for the last five weeks?" I say ha. My weeks were 12 hours a day, 7 days a week :-) SO yeah. I'm looking forward to this time off :-)
I'm still amazed at the whole process of oil extraction. I always had vague ideas of the process (rotating pipe into the ground while pumping in fluid to flush out the debris created from the rotating drillbit). But man. I'm in awe at how complicated it really is--there are a hundred different variables affecting another 1000 different moving parts, all MASSIVE in size, and all vitally important to ensuring that the other parts work together in harmony, to ensure that this round hole gets deeper and deeper, moving through layers of strata that can be punishingly hard to drill through.
Its fun just to be up on the floor, 70 feet or so above the ground, and watch it all unfold. All those metal stairs are great exercise too :-). I was leaning over the railing the other night, looking at the mud below. Speculating with one of the guys how soft the mud would be in the event we fell off, and how many bones would break. Then we looked up at the guy on the "monkeyboard" (the platform at the very top of the derrick) which sits another 90 feet or so above us. Now THAT guy would be messed up if he fell... And he's up there wresting with 90 foot lengths of 4500 pound pipe stands....
These guys are a different breed up here--typically easy going, fun to josh around with, and all aware of the fact that if something breaks and flies off, someone can lose a limb or head, in an instant. Everybody has their stories, and some of them are pretty hair-raising. It is just interesting to be a part of. Also THE most un-judgemental people I've ever seen. So freaking different from anything else I've ever done.
But anyway. That's that. Looking forward to getting home and just being home for a while.
Thursday, December 11, 2008
Wednesday, December 3, 2008
Life in Taft, California...
Spent my first shift on a actual rig last night. My crappy Blackberry camera really can't do it justice--this thing is MASSIVE.
Its been an eventful month since my last post... IN short order I (or we, as the family case may be)...
1. Finished up my classroom training after returning from Scotland.
2. Went right into a 2 week hitch (14 straight 12 hour days, with rig pay...) at our 'command center' in Provo, learning the ropes of monitoring systems from rigs around the globe
3. Spent 4 fun-filled days in Menifee, CA with jared and Emily for Thanksgiving
4. Started my current 17 day stint in Taft California at our test/training rigs with Oxy.
Couple notes--Thanksgiving was a blast. Spending time with Jared & Emily only served to remind how much we miss them. Hanging out with them is like meeting up with your best friends from old high school days, only better. The kids had fun too--although Ashton's infatuation with all things Nintendo WII now has me a little concerned... He went a little notes over it, for an eight year old. Ali craves time with her girl cousins (I wonder why????) and Aidan added to his growing collection of infatuated little girls vis a vis Natalie. His so good with them. I chalk it up to his gentle nature and kind demeanor. that, and the chicks or all ages just dig the guy. I am worried about these boys of mine.... Both of them had older girls hitting on them in Hungary--reason #2435 that it was ultimately a good idea to come home to Utah....
I don't miss movie prices in California--no 4.50 early matinees there--we all went out one night to see BOLT, in 3-D, and while the movie was pure throwback fun to classic Disney flicks of the past, I felt a little violated by good 'ol Cali at having to cough up 77 bucks for 6 tickets. GAAAAAH! And Holly wood wonders why people are going to the movies less and less--HMMMM 3 guesses, you Mensa geniuses...
We headed back to Nephi pretty early on Saturday, in order to beat the Zoobie hordes who would invariably return to campus either Saturday or Sunday. This, in hindsight, was a wise move. Sunday night, in looking off at I-15 from our upstairs window, it was BUMPER TO BUMPER TRAFFIC, MOVING AT 35 MPH. In FREAKING NEPHI. We saw nothing but tailights as far as could be all the way north. And all those cars didn't come from Scipio or Fillmore, which tells me traffic was heavy like that probably to Cedar City or St. George.
The original plan was to come back late Sunday afternoon or even on Monday, as I still had a full week off from work (I love this two week on/two week off schedule) but that was shortchanged when my hitch to California was moved up from February to now. So, after only a week off, I had the unenviable situation of driving back from Menifee on Saturday, only to get on a plane to Burbank early Monday morning.
THAT flight was fun. Not. Here I am with a million Delta miles, upgrades up the wazoo (ie I haven't flown in coach on a domestic Delta flight in about 3 years...), and I get STUCK ON SOUTHWEST! OUT OF A DELTA HUB IN SLC!. That's what I get for having a last minute ticket, I guess.. To make matters worse (in addition to the standard Soutwest cattle call seating cluster%$^&*...), I had to fly to Phoenix first. Making a 70 minute flight to Burbank a 5 hour odyssey. Heck, I could have driven from Nephi in eight hours, and that would have been more relaxing.
But I digress. I am finally out on a rig. My two compadres and I went through the one-day California rig safety training, required of everyone--from the engineers to the first-time roughnecks-- who will go onto any rig in the state. So. I finally a good idea of what prison school must be like. Bwaha.
I'm now on a schedule from 530PM to 530AM. Until 16 December. SO lucky me, I get to spend my 37th birthday (man 37 sounds OLD!)
On the plus side, I'll have about 4 weeks of time off waiting for me afterward....
I'd post something political, but I am still in denial over this whole Obama thing. Maybe later....
Its been an eventful month since my last post... IN short order I (or we, as the family case may be)...
1. Finished up my classroom training after returning from Scotland.
2. Went right into a 2 week hitch (14 straight 12 hour days, with rig pay...) at our 'command center' in Provo, learning the ropes of monitoring systems from rigs around the globe
3. Spent 4 fun-filled days in Menifee, CA with jared and Emily for Thanksgiving
4. Started my current 17 day stint in Taft California at our test/training rigs with Oxy.
Couple notes--Thanksgiving was a blast. Spending time with Jared & Emily only served to remind how much we miss them. Hanging out with them is like meeting up with your best friends from old high school days, only better. The kids had fun too--although Ashton's infatuation with all things Nintendo WII now has me a little concerned... He went a little notes over it, for an eight year old. Ali craves time with her girl cousins (I wonder why????) and Aidan added to his growing collection of infatuated little girls vis a vis Natalie. His so good with them. I chalk it up to his gentle nature and kind demeanor. that, and the chicks or all ages just dig the guy. I am worried about these boys of mine.... Both of them had older girls hitting on them in Hungary--reason #2435 that it was ultimately a good idea to come home to Utah....
I don't miss movie prices in California--no 4.50 early matinees there--we all went out one night to see BOLT, in 3-D, and while the movie was pure throwback fun to classic Disney flicks of the past, I felt a little violated by good 'ol Cali at having to cough up 77 bucks for 6 tickets. GAAAAAH! And Holly wood wonders why people are going to the movies less and less--HMMMM 3 guesses, you Mensa geniuses...
We headed back to Nephi pretty early on Saturday, in order to beat the Zoobie hordes who would invariably return to campus either Saturday or Sunday. This, in hindsight, was a wise move. Sunday night, in looking off at I-15 from our upstairs window, it was BUMPER TO BUMPER TRAFFIC, MOVING AT 35 MPH. In FREAKING NEPHI. We saw nothing but tailights as far as could be all the way north. And all those cars didn't come from Scipio or Fillmore, which tells me traffic was heavy like that probably to Cedar City or St. George.
The original plan was to come back late Sunday afternoon or even on Monday, as I still had a full week off from work (I love this two week on/two week off schedule) but that was shortchanged when my hitch to California was moved up from February to now. So, after only a week off, I had the unenviable situation of driving back from Menifee on Saturday, only to get on a plane to Burbank early Monday morning.
THAT flight was fun. Not. Here I am with a million Delta miles, upgrades up the wazoo (ie I haven't flown in coach on a domestic Delta flight in about 3 years...), and I get STUCK ON SOUTHWEST! OUT OF A DELTA HUB IN SLC!. That's what I get for having a last minute ticket, I guess.. To make matters worse (in addition to the standard Soutwest cattle call seating cluster%$^&*...), I had to fly to Phoenix first. Making a 70 minute flight to Burbank a 5 hour odyssey. Heck, I could have driven from Nephi in eight hours, and that would have been more relaxing.
But I digress. I am finally out on a rig. My two compadres and I went through the one-day California rig safety training, required of everyone--from the engineers to the first-time roughnecks-- who will go onto any rig in the state. So. I finally a good idea of what prison school must be like. Bwaha.
I'm now on a schedule from 530PM to 530AM. Until 16 December. SO lucky me, I get to spend my 37th birthday (man 37 sounds OLD!)
On the plus side, I'll have about 4 weeks of time off waiting for me afterward....
I'd post something political, but I am still in denial over this whole Obama thing. Maybe later....
Saturday, November 8, 2008
I love the Onion....
Best recap yet of the election aftermath...
Obama Win Causes Obsessive Supporters To Realize How Empty Their Lives Are
Obama Win Causes Obsessive Supporters To Realize How Empty Their Lives Are
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
All Hail Dear Leader of New American Soviet Republic...
Come on, it had to be said :-) Just prepping the ground for when the "wealth gets spread around"....
Pass the Pepto...
Uugggghhh. The unthinkable has happened. We have our first real live Manchurian president. Yippee. I am reduced to hoping that somehow he will now NOT turn out to be the product of his very limited professional resume, socialist education, and Marxist upbringing. I'll try to be an optimist. He'll have my prayers.
Ah well. Carter brought us Reagan. But only after 4 tough years of 21 percent interest rates, 10 percent inflation, and 12 percent unemployment. It'll be a long four years...
Weird and sad for me to realize that the next time we get to pick a president, Andrew will be a SENIOR in high school. Poor kid.
At least over the next four years my new favorite website will get even more funny...
www.thepeoplescube.com
Ah well. Carter brought us Reagan. But only after 4 tough years of 21 percent interest rates, 10 percent inflation, and 12 percent unemployment. It'll be a long four years...
Weird and sad for me to realize that the next time we get to pick a president, Andrew will be a SENIOR in high school. Poor kid.
At least over the next four years my new favorite website will get even more funny...
www.thepeoplescube.com
Settling in for a long exciting night...
OK OK. It will only be exciting if McCain/Palin pulls this off. If they don't, it will be the exact opposite of exciting. According to Agi, who knows communism firsthand, an Obama victory will signal the very apocalypse. She is in near shock, unable to fathom how any American could vote for the guy who is campaigning on & for: wealth redistribution, open distain for the Bill of Rights, reinstatement of the Fairness Doctrine (see ya later Rush!), vastly increased tax rates, and the most naive foreign policy of anyone since George McGovern.
So. It might be a long night. I am trying to see the bright side of this. Sure we would cede control of the entire federal judiciary to redistributionist, activist liberals for the next 40 years, but on the other hand, it took 4 years of an idiot peanut farmer to get us Reagan.
We'll see....
So. It might be a long night. I am trying to see the bright side of this. Sure we would cede control of the entire federal judiciary to redistributionist, activist liberals for the next 40 years, but on the other hand, it took 4 years of an idiot peanut farmer to get us Reagan.
We'll see....
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
Bring Me a Shrubbery!
Another sweet day. Arguably the best so far of the trip. After a 2 1/2 hour drive to Edinburgh, we toured the MASSIVE Edinburgh Castle--home to a rich history of historificalicious Scottish characters including Robert Earl of Bruce (of Braveheart fame) and Mary Queen of Scots. From a size/scale perspective, this is right up there with the Tower of London as one fo the coolest, awe-inspiring places I've visited in Europe.
It sits on a HUGE outcropping of eons-old volcanic rock, as shown below:
Looking up at this thing, I could imagine how wet-your-pants intimidating it must have looked to the invading English.
The view from the castle over the city and North Sea was equally cool:
the castle itself was incredibly interesting. Similar to the Tower of London, it did a fantastic job of trying to portray what life was like in the castle during "ye olden times". I'm certain they couldn't actually replicate the smell of the period, but the displays and 'living dioramas' in the prison area, regiment garrison, great halls, cathedral, chapels were all superbly put together.
In walking through their displays and dedicatory shrines to soldiers past, I really enjoyed reading of the history of our Revolutionary War from their perspective. Found out that quite a few American "POW's" from the revolutionary war were housed there alongside their compatriots of the period from Holland, France, and Denmark.
And I even loved the name of the "pub" up in the castle:
"Red Coat" Cafe. Ha. Takes me back to my Johnny Tremain-reading days.
After finishing up in Edinburgh, we leadfooted it out of town to reach Doune Castle before it closed. Doune Castle, you say? Everyone who recalls Bring Me a Shrubbery! The Knights of Niiii, or tossing a cow over the wall knows the significance of this place--one fo the most recognized sets from The Classic..... Monty Python & the Holy Grail.
And I have to say--this visit kicked all sorts of arse! It really made my trip...
We got there just as they were about to shut the doors for the day. As we just made it in, we actually had the run of the castle to ourselves--three of us able to fully check this place out, sans crowds, screaming babies, or anything else. The castle is one of the coolest castles I've been through--it is kinda hard not to become 14 again when exploring the place, easily imagining how cool it would be to live in a place such as this. Unlike most other "guided" or restored castes I've been through, this one was virtually all open for exploration, with only a very small section roped off.
I could actually go all the way up to the roof, and from there, the views, late in the day at dusk, were pretty stunning. Don't tell the wife, but I actually took advantage of the solitude to skirt around the barriers and climb up to the highest points of the roof, where only knee to waist high ramparts separated me from the green grounds a couple hundred feet below. The views tell it all!
This coolest pic ended our 40 minutes there, and made the 3 hour drive back to Balazs's apartment in the dark (and snow) totally worth it....
Tomorrow its our wind-down-get-ready-to-go-home-day. We may spend our last bit of time this week back up in Aberdeen, hanging out with other friends from work who have just arrived for their HUET training course.
Aaron
It sits on a HUGE outcropping of eons-old volcanic rock, as shown below:
Looking up at this thing, I could imagine how wet-your-pants intimidating it must have looked to the invading English.
The view from the castle over the city and North Sea was equally cool:
the castle itself was incredibly interesting. Similar to the Tower of London, it did a fantastic job of trying to portray what life was like in the castle during "ye olden times". I'm certain they couldn't actually replicate the smell of the period, but the displays and 'living dioramas' in the prison area, regiment garrison, great halls, cathedral, chapels were all superbly put together.
In walking through their displays and dedicatory shrines to soldiers past, I really enjoyed reading of the history of our Revolutionary War from their perspective. Found out that quite a few American "POW's" from the revolutionary war were housed there alongside their compatriots of the period from Holland, France, and Denmark.
And I even loved the name of the "pub" up in the castle:
"Red Coat" Cafe. Ha. Takes me back to my Johnny Tremain-reading days.
After finishing up in Edinburgh, we leadfooted it out of town to reach Doune Castle before it closed. Doune Castle, you say? Everyone who recalls Bring Me a Shrubbery! The Knights of Niiii, or tossing a cow over the wall knows the significance of this place--one fo the most recognized sets from The Classic..... Monty Python & the Holy Grail.
And I have to say--this visit kicked all sorts of arse! It really made my trip...
We got there just as they were about to shut the doors for the day. As we just made it in, we actually had the run of the castle to ourselves--three of us able to fully check this place out, sans crowds, screaming babies, or anything else. The castle is one of the coolest castles I've been through--it is kinda hard not to become 14 again when exploring the place, easily imagining how cool it would be to live in a place such as this. Unlike most other "guided" or restored castes I've been through, this one was virtually all open for exploration, with only a very small section roped off.
I could actually go all the way up to the roof, and from there, the views, late in the day at dusk, were pretty stunning. Don't tell the wife, but I actually took advantage of the solitude to skirt around the barriers and climb up to the highest points of the roof, where only knee to waist high ramparts separated me from the green grounds a couple hundred feet below. The views tell it all!
This coolest pic ended our 40 minutes there, and made the 3 hour drive back to Balazs's apartment in the dark (and snow) totally worth it....
Tomorrow its our wind-down-get-ready-to-go-home-day. We may spend our last bit of time this week back up in Aberdeen, hanging out with other friends from work who have just arrived for their HUET training course.
Aaron
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