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Wurkin in the oil patch
On Nov 20, 10:14*am, Frogwatch wrote:
On Nov 20, 10:41*am, Joe wrote: On Nov 19, 12:35*pm, Frogwatch wrote: Someone here mentioned doing offshore oil work and I worked on drill rigs in Wyoming when I was younger so thought it might be just what my 19 yr old son needs to get his head screwed on straight. *Make some money, see what real work is, see how rough people can really be and THEN go to college. So, found him the ideal job, no experience needed, 20 days on 10 off, they pay for room and board while on, reasonable pay, work on rear deck of boats setting anchors for drill rigs. *They actually need people. *Went home and told my son to go online and apply. "NO WAY, I dont want to do that", he says. *"You just want to get rid of me". *To which I say, "Yeah, and so what, it's good money and you are hardly earning anything right now". He resists saying he's taking classes at community college and does earn some money but I say 6 hours a semester is BS. *I tell my wife about this job and she sides with him saying "if he goes off on one of those boats he'll lose his gf, you know how hard it was when you did that stuff". *I think, being only 19, he needs to lose the gf so I am going to apply more pressure. RIPhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zQoRpJsrwsU&NR=1&feature=fvwp Joe I spent several years being a drill stem tester and loved and hated it. *Because I had a BS *in physics, the company had this weird idea that I'd be great for all the truly f%$cked jobs so saw just about all the crazy things that can happen. *After a week, I never let anyone know I had ever been anywhere near a university, *It was dangerous, hard and exciting and a I learned a lot about people AND earned money for grad school. *It was a job meant for high school level people, not for a techie type but it was something I will always be happy I did. I saw well blow outs, I saw a rig destroyed when the company insisted on pulling pipe full of mud filled with gas. *I saw pipe stands fall on people on the rig floor, *wireline with 4000lbs tension broke 6' from my head when I was dangling 90' off the rig floor in a sling holding a 48' pipe wrench, pipe differentially stuck so bad it had to be cut off, watched a hand fall thru the fingerboard from unexpected H2S, my gas mask was my best friend, and on and on and.....GREAT experience.- Hide quoted text - - Show quoted text - I'm not saying it is not the right step for your son. But if he were not a big burly football player type it might be best to avoid the anchor boats as a first gig offshore. I would have a hard time working anchors not knowing and trusting the crew. If the boat is setting semi anchors you are talking about 35 thousand lbs racing down the deck, and things that get into the way do not exist. I've never worked on a rig, been on a 100 of em, mostly PR and crew changes but never stayed long. We worked a H2S rig once and it's scary stuff for the boats, as the gas is heavier than air. They even made sure you had intact eardrums as it could seep in that way and kill you. We made a point to stay up wind. Joe |
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