Busy, Busy, Busy

How busy is it? Drilling is still slow but if your looking to get into the industry then Decommissioning is where it's at. Dangerous? Yes. Decommissioning is the end of the life for the well, and at this time there is no requirement to have BOP's on the well while doing work. I am sure there is something being written up about it now but the company that can do it the cheapest will usually get the contract. Plus there are companies popping up all over with little or no experience to plug the wells so it can be dangerous. However the work forecast looks good, with the "Idle Iron" policy in affect there should be lots of work out there.

I'm Back

There has many changes in my life, new addition to my family, new job, new adventures in general. Overall life has been great since the last time I posted. I will post a funny story I heard just the other day later, but first I was asked by a friend to tell you about his new website. Now I normally wouldn't do this but it directly involves what I do and many others. His new company is called Louisiana Explosive Training, and he was just recently approved by the state police to start teaching explosive safety for the oilfield. Here is the link to the page http://louisianaexplosivetraining.com/ and if you scroll to the bottom he even has Facebook since all the kids are doing it. If you or your company is in need of this training the look him up.

Still Oil

No matter what they say you have to see it first hand. Working out in the West Delta field the last couple of weeks I have had time to see the BP oilspill first hand. Although 5 months ago now there is still oil in the water. Now I support BP's efforts, but I know for a fact there is still oil on the surface of the water. I saw it just the other day, not just a small sheen, but not thousands of gallons either. But there is still oil in the water and the skimmers should be out still picking it up. Work wise for me though we are busy as hell. The government is scared and wants all the old wells that have been shut in for years plugged. And that equals work for myself and other P&A companies. Looking to get into the oilfield? It's still a good time.

Oil,Oil Everywhere

It has been a while since my last post and the oilfield in the Gulf of Mexico has drastically changed. Unless you have been living under a rock for the last 3 months then you know all about the Deepwater Horizon accident. I will not go into detail about it on here, but there is one fact you need to know. I realize this is a horrible accident but the gulf will recover. THERE ARE 643 quadrillion gallons of water in the gulf. So when people ask me if the gulf is jut a big bowl of oil I reply with" are you fucking kidding me?". Come on people. Yes there is oil in the gulf, but it will be ok.

E-Line

Alright, I have some inside information on a company looking to hire some people immediately in the Lafayette LA area. If you are a experienced Electric line Engineer, Specialist,or Operator that actually runs the job, not just a helper contact me immediately and I can give you more info. Excellent benefits and pay.

Fire Watch

Fire watch is a very important job offshore. It could save a life or many lives. That being said sometimes fire watch isn't taken as serious as it should. It's not a hard job. If you haven't done it or been around one the fire watch is a job where you watch for fire while Hot Work is being done, anything like cutting, grinding, or welding. The basic things are monitoring a gas detector for dangerous gases, having a fire hose or fire extinguisher in hand or close by, and after the hot work is done then you have to stay and monitor the area for 30 minutes. Not hard huh? A job I don't mind volunteering for. But during fire watch you must stay awake and alert where the hot work is being performed. Now as exhausting as that may sound some people find it hard to stay awake during this time. For example, while doing some work on the plus 10 ( the area about 10 feet above the water line) some cutting was being done with a cutting torch. Some pretty basic work that was approved and and a hot work permit was filled out. The fire watch we will call "Johnny" loved being fire watch because he could catch up on his sleep. Johnny and Rick put on there work vest and proceeded to the plus 1o, where the torch and fire hose was lowered down and the hose was turned on. As Rick started cutting Johnny sat down on the stairs and proceeded to lay back and "do fire watch" as he described it, the rest of us called it sleeping. Johnny was good and asleep and from what he said he was dreaming. while holding the fire hose. After everything happened that I am about to explain Johnny said that he was dreaming that Rick was on fire. So Johnny woke up out of his dream still thinking that Rick was on fire dropped the hose and pushed Rick off the platforms plus 10 and into the water. Wearing his life jacket Rick was now floating in the gulf, and Johnny picks up the fire hose and throws the end of it to Rick to pull him back to the platform. Needless to say Rick was pissed. Now all of this sounds unbelievable, and I might not have believed it either if Rick wasn't completely soaked when him and Johnny came walking back upstairs.

Back to work

Wow what roller coaster ride, not only emotionaly but physically. I was employed by one of the largest oilfield service companies for a matter of about three weeks until my former employer called me back. Now being a loyal person I do not like to jump job to job especially in todays job market but when money pays your bills and not loyalty It's time to go towards the money.So leaving a company after three weeks doesn't look so well notonly on a resume but also on me as a person. However my old employer coincidently my previous employer gave me all my seniority back along with my same pay. Not bad considering when I was caught up in the lay off hoopla the remaining emploees got paycuts. I was told the lay off was because I was low on the totem pole which was true only being there about a year. And I learned there was alot of us laid off, to many in fact that now I am back I am working my ass off. But I'm not complaining I have been on the other side of the ball. Now I understand that a few of my co-workers had stuck their necks out and wanted me to come back which I am greatful for. It's nice to have people that you don't even know all that well looking out for you. I like to think of myself as a likeable person who can get along with just about everyone and the people I don't care for I can just fake it. I am a loyal and honest person who enjoys his job and I do a good job, all qualifications that make me a good friend and employee. Now on to my physicall roller coaster ride. When I applied for the big company, I'll call Red I had to take a physical. Not to bad from the last time I remembered that I had taken a while back but this one was different. I had the typical breath and DOT urine which wasn't bad but then came to the "Work Steps". What a pain in the ass. One of the tests was to squat down and move pegs with both hands up and down the board. Easy Huh? Ya it was for the first 10 minutes. I don't know how long I did this but It seemed like forever. The other things were like carrying a tool bocc up and down stairs and basic stuff you would do day to day working offshore.